The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 172: Advice (4)

Chapter 172: Advice (4)

"You are doing well. I won’t have to worry about you dying when you leave for war. You were trained for the best so of course I wouldn’t need to worry," River said, looking at the well-crafted sword Rafael gave him to use.

"It doesn’t sound good for you to be complimenting yourself in the middle of complimenting me. What happened for you to suddenly be in the mood to pick up a sword? Is he causing trouble again?" Rafael asked, referring to Travis.

Since his father stepped away from being a knight, it was rare that he picked up a sword unless there was danger. It was to stop his mother from worrying about her husband getting injured.

"He has nothing to do with the mood I am in today. It has just been a long time since you and I had a good sword fight. You remembered a lot of what I taught you and even added a few tricks of your own. As much as you have been training, I hope you have been resting. Your body needs time to rest or you will pass out at the wrong time one of these days," River said.

"For the last time, I do rest. How many times must I say it?" Rafael asked, tired of the conversation about resting.

It wasn’t like he spent all day with a sword in his hands. He spent more time in the study than he did out here. He assigned captains to train the knights when he had other things to do.

"From what I saw this morning, I must agree that you were resting well."

Rafael frowned. Dealing with his mother was already something he had to bear with, but now his father was joining in. "Teasing doesn’t suit you, father. Leave it to my mother. You are supposed to be the parent I can run to so I can hide. Did you come here to have fun or is there something you want to say?"

"Both. I really wanted to spend time with my son and have a word with you while your mother is distracted. Just like your mother, I am also amused by the fact you have fallen for your maid and you were so quick to admit it to us. I’m surprised you didn’t try to come up with an excuse to keep this from your mother," River said since Rafael was always secretive about his women.

"She hates when I lie to her and I could already see her piece together what was happening. There was no point in lying since it might bite me in the ass one day. Are you here to tell me that I should forget everything I said in the past and try to court my maid?" Rafael asked as he placed his sword down on the wooden stand.

"No, I don’t want to make you break the rules you created. You’ll need to do that on your own. I just want you to be careful. With your uncle in town, he will target everyone you care for. If something were to happen between you and Annalise, you have to be prepared for it to catch his ears and for him to target her. I don’t know much your feelings are-"

"I just like her," Rafael interjected. It wasn’t anything more than that for anyone to notice something. "It will stay there and then fade away."

River could not help but laugh. "Now I know how I looked when I thought my feelings for your mother would go away. The more we deny it, the more life throws something at us to prove just how much we love that person. Why would it be so bad for you to court her? The worst that can happen is her turning you down."

"As long as you approach her respectfully because of the difference in status she will feel, she might turn you down gently if she cannot open her heart to you, and she will remain here. You’ll always wonder what could have happened if you at least made your feelings known if you keep up with being silent and let her slip out your fingers," said River.

"She is here to work. I doubt the last thing on her mind was to come here and fall for her employer. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable to leave a job that she enjoys. She is also already bothered by Logan having feelings for her. Me telling her that I also like her might send her running out of the manor. If it is meant to be, I will wait for it to happen," Rafael said, not seeing any need to rush.

"I will try to keep your mother from meddling since she is the impatient one. You’ve brought her a lot of joy with this news since she had taken a liking to Annalise. She once asked me if I would steal Annalise away from this manor and have her come work for us. You should know your mother will expect her to travel with us," River said, knowing Beatrice must have brought it up to Annalise by now.

They had all had a family ball to attend outside of town and during that time they were to visit the orphanage River grew up in to offer money and gifts for the children there.

"There won’t be a lot of eyes on the two of you out of town as there would be here in the manor. You can test if there is a chance she might have feelings for you. We leave the day after your competition so decide quickly if you are bringing her along with us," River said as he put his sword beside Rafael’s sword on the wooden stand.

River thought of another way to tease Rafael about his love life. It was very rare that he would get the chance to do this so he had to enjoy it while it lasted.

"You’re supposed to be keeping her by your side to protect her from Delilah, but I heard the young woman was sent out of town so there is no danger for Annalise. Did you tell her that Delilah was sent away or will you make up stories that Delilah is plotting something to keep Annalise by your side?"

Rafael regretted not throwing his father down onto the ground when he had the chance in the middle of their sparring match. "Once again, this doesn’t suit you. Leave it to mother. Delilah was not sent away forever. From what I am told, she was sent to visit her aunt, but she will be back. Before that, I already decided to make Annalise stay as my maid and it had nothing to do with my feelings," he answered.

"Right," River said, not believing a word that came out of Rafael’s mouth. He never thought he would see the day that Rafael would be in so much denial over a woman of all things. "Annalise is coming."

"Stop playing your silly games, father. I will not fall for it," Rafael said, refusing to turn around to look in the same direction as his father. He liked it when his father would disappear when it came to these kinds of conversations. "You need to get out of your home and be away from mother for a little while. You are turning into her."

"I prefer to be near my wife. I await the day you shall be inseparable from your wife. Annalise!" River called to the woman making his son a mess. He watched Beatrice tell her something and then Annalise came running to see what he needed.

River looked to his left at Rafael who tensed up. "Get used to it son. Once those feelings start, we’re done for."

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