The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 134: A walk together (1)

Chapter 134: A walk together (1)

"This one fits me much better. I should have gone for this one in the beginning so a dress would not have been ruined because of me. Thank you for getting it for me. I apologise for you having to help me with my dress," Annalise said, closing the bathroom door after she walked out.

She smiled seeing that Rafael was still not looking her way. Did he think she would walk out without any clothes on?

"I am dressed now," she added so he could turn around.

"We will be leaving soon," Rafael replied, focusing on the sword that was hung up on his wall. Now that he had a chance to look, it seemed like it had been moved. "Annalise, did you try to clean my sword again? Did you not learn from the first time?" He asked, turning around to face her.

He was in turn stunned by the sight of her in the red dress and this time, she let her hair down. It was much better when she let it down like this.

"I did not try to clean it again. It looked like it wasn’t straight so I tilted it. I am sorry," Annalise answered. She wanted to jump up and down while clapping her hands because of her ability to lie on the spot.

"Never mind. We must go down to leave," Rafael said, going toward the door to open it for her. He had tortured himself by deciding to leave with Annalise and requesting that she dress up. Now that he was aware that he felt something for her, the smallest thing about her did not go unnoticed.

"What should I do with this?" Annalise asked, holding up the dress that needed to be repaired. "Can I return it to my room-"

"Leave it here. I will have someone add to it so it will fit you. It will not go to waste. Now come before the coachman thinks I have decided to stay home," Rafael said, keeping his hand on the door so it would not close.

"Then I shall pay for it-"

"Annalise," Rafael spoke above her before she could offer to pay for something that he offered to do. "Paying to have a dress made bigger and mended will not hurt my pockets. Just accept it and do not speak of being kind or I will have you sent to collect eggs and put away the chickens again."

Annalise frowned. "That would be cruel for you to do. Then I will accept your kind gift. I will leave it here," Annalise said, going to his bed to put the dress on it. "Wait. What if Mavis or Edwin were to come inside to check your bedroom before you return? Won’t they find it odd for a dress with the back torn to be folded on your bed?"

"No. They will just think I have snuck a woman in without either one of them noticing. It is unlikely that either one will come here. Mavis is leaving with the maids and Edwin must be off somewhere in the manor, drinking tea while enjoying the peace he finally has. It is only you who will worry about that dress being there," Rafael said, leaning back on the door to keep it open since Annalise was taking her sweet time to leave.

"I see. I guess it would be more of an issue if a knight were to come into your room and see it since they don’t believe you like women. Oh!" Annalise covered her mouth with her hand. "I am sorry. It is not what I think. It is what they and many others assumed, but I did not. I think you are a man who has been with many women. A long list to surprise the knights."

"I have not. I can count them on my hands," Rafael replied.

"A gentleman, that’s what you are," Annalise switched her tune. "You are not a bastard who sleeps with many women."

"Hmm," Rafael hummed. "Your opinion switches with the direction of the wind. Which do you truly believe? That I am a man who holds no interest in women or that I have slept with many?"

"I don’t see why my opinion matters. I only made a mistake and let what I heard come out of my mouth. Please forget what I said or punish me for speaking so casually to you. This is not something your maid should have said. I am deeply sorry," she apologised, bowing her head in fake shame. Her father raising her to speak her mind had come to bite her in the ass many times.

"Do not apologise because I enjoy it when you speak without thinking when it is just you and me. Now answer me. What is it that you think about me?"

Annalise’s eyes widened when Rafael’s shoes came into view where she looked down at the floor. She did not raise her head to avoid looking at him.

"Annalise. I try not to push your boundaries when it comes to touching you so please look at me on your own," Rafael said. He knew that this conversation could be easily moved on from, but he was curious about what she thought of him.

Annalise did as he asked and lifted her head to look him in the eye. "Truthfully, I cannot pick either option since I do not know what you are like with women. So far, I have just seen you push them away, but given their personalities, I don’t blame you. Perhaps you are one of the few smart people who instead of going to the first person who shows up in front of you, you are looking for the person you love."

"You," Rafael started to speak.

"Or maybe you are just taking a break from women since you are so occupied in the kingdom’s wars. I don’t know," Annalise added, shrugging her shoulders. She didn’t know much about him with women and she didn’t care to know. "What I do know is that the coachman will think you have gone back to your ways of hiding instead of attending gatherings. We must leave now, Rafael."

"Of course," Rafael sighed, stepping to the side to give Annalise space to leave. Somehow, her answer was better than anything else. She helped to snap him out of what he intended to do at the moment.

Just because he acknowledged that he liked her, did not mean he had to act upon it and behave any differently. He needed to remain the same as he was when he first placed Annalise as his maid. Soon, the feelings would pass if he ignored them.

"I cannot believe that I have fallen into so much denial," Rafael said, almost disgusted with himself.

What would anyone think if they were to hear the internal battle he was having with himself? Before this got out of hand, he needed to speak with someone to get their honest opinion. Not his father who would tell his mother, the knights who would try searching for who he spoke of, the king’s whose mouth could swallow the kingdom in one bite because of how big it was-

"Rafael," Annalise’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "I am holding the door for you. Have you changed your mind about going?"

"No," he replied, walking toward the door. "We are still going."

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