The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 135: A walk together (2)

Chapter 135: A walk together (2)

"I will hold the door for you. Do not move," Annalise said, standing up to open the carriage door for Rafael after the carriage stopped. "See, I learn quickly."

Rafael exited the carriage and at the sight of the large crowd in the market, he felt like going home already. He could already hear questions he was not going to answer being thrown his way.

Annalise closed the door behind Rafael so the carriage could leave to park somewhere. With all the other carriages she wondered how they would find it later when they were ready to leave.

"Where would you like to go first?" Annalise questioned, looking around at the different foods in front of her. The apple he bought for her didn’t seem as special now that she looked around. Then they were men throwing swords in the air. "Is it possible for us to throw-"

"No," Rafael quickly replied. Put a sword in her hand to throw and someone might lose their head. "They have practised daily to throw around those swords and not harm themselves or anyone else. They won’t allow you to touch their swords. You have already done enough damage to the palm of your hand."

"There was hardly any damage. It did not hurt and the bleeding stopped quickly thanks to you taking care of it. I have been through worse working with the animals at home. I am not fragile," Annalise said as they walked further into the market.

"We bleed when we are cut. You are not some kind of God to withstand all pain. You might be tougher than most women, but you must still handle yourself with care. I am yet to understand why your parents would let you out of their sight. Put that responsibility on your brother to watch you," said Rafael.

Annalise looked to her right at Rafael. If he knew that her father was the man looking to kill someone like him and the king, he would not be wondering about her father. Her father had to be sending out men to search for her. The note she left for him about leaving to see what information she could find from this kingdom would have him turning red from anger.

"My father knows that I can protect myself. He is just overprotective and I can’t argue against it because he has every right to be. This world is dangerous for us to be far away from the people we can trust. You might not believe it, but I am more responsible than my brother. It is only that my interests are different from yours that you think I will bring harm to myself," Annalise replied.

She noticed how a few of the people they passed stopped to look at Rafael. It had to be more of a rare sight to see him here than she thought.

"Rafael," she whispered, drawing closer to him. "I know you are not fond of my methods, but if you walk around with let’s say a snake, no one would try to approach you. Your frowning isn’t enough to keep them away."

"I am not walking around with a snake," Rafael replied. It wasn’t that he was afraid of them, but he did not want to have one in his hands for a long time. His words would be enough to send them away since he was done being nice to the people who pestered him.

"I could hold it for you and when someone comes around, I would do this," Annalise said, stepping in front of him to show how she would guard him. "You should get to enjoy the night without people staring at you or looking to approach you about marriage I assume. It is not like you could have covered yourself with a cloak since you are so big. Your height, I mean."

"What else was I supposed to assume you meant?" Rafael questioned, smiling as she tried to avoid his gaze.

"It is your body, not mine. You should know I meant," Annalise answered, looking to her left to avoid him. She meant height from the beginning. Who was supposed to be the pervert here?

"That made no sense Annalise. You are unable to meet my gaze. If you are curious about what they are selling, you are free to stop and take a look," Rafael said after he noticed her eyes lingering on some of the candy made.

"I am meant to be accompanying you-"

"You will find that to be very boring. If there is something that catches your eye, you should stop to buy it now since it might not be here when you return. There is nothing that I am in need of at the moment so we can stop for what you want," Rafael said.

"Then, this one," Annalise said, going to a stall that showed off small colourful balls.

Rafael contemplated if this was a good decision. She did not seem used to sweet treats. There had to be a reason her family did not allow her to have them often. Even if she lived on a small farm away from a town, she still had to see candy at some point.

He stood beside her as she looked at the different colours. In his opinion, they all tasted the same. It was only that the design for each was different. Women would buy them just for how they looked.

"How do they make these?" Annalise wondered. She wanted her mother to try something like this, but they would be thrown away the moment she showed them in fear that they might be poisoned even though no one knew who she was.

"Four," Rafael said, handing a gold coin to the man who made them.

"G-Gold," the man stuttered, surprised to be paid so much. Many more could be bought with this one coin.

"Wait!" Annalise stopped Rafael.

"I can afford-"

"That is not what I wanted to say. We should be able to have almost a bag full for one gold coin. It says that one piece of candy is worth one copper coin," Annalise said, pointing to the small sign with the price. "He should get what he is paying for."

Annalise smiled, ignoring the look of anger from the man who thought he could get four pieces of candy sold for one gold coin. "You should place them into a bag for Sir Rafael with a smile," she said.

Annalise took the bag of candy for Rafael and handed it to him when they started to walk again. "You shouldn’t just give away money like that. Even if you won’t eat all, you should share what is left over with the knights."

Rafael looked at the bag of candy in his hand. "Why did you give this to me? I do not like sweets."

"Because you paid for them," Annalise stated the obvious.

"I did not buy them for me," Rafael replied, holding out the bag to her.

"Why would you- I can’t repay you for a gold coin worth of candy so soon. The most that I have on me is a silver coin. I was holding to buy a small knife with it," she said the last part in her head.

"I am not looking for you to repay me. I bought them because you seemed to like them. If you do not want them because it is me who paid, I will throw them away," Rafael said, pretending to take the bag from her.

"No," Annalise said, sticking out the bag to the left so Rafael could not reach it. "It would be a waste of your money and candy if you throw it out, so I will eat them for you. However, you should not waste any more of your money. I will buy what I like so you should only buy things you want for yourself."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l