The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 55: Conflict (2)

Chapter 55: Conflict (2)

"Well, there is something that does not make sense happening here. There are people who have been here longer than Annalise and actually do their jobs, yet we have not been given the same chances as you. Lady Beatrice, I can stomach and even Giselle, but the duke shows up, and you were suddenly there to serve him with Mavis? I am not a fool. Where are you going?" Aria asked when Annalise started to walk away from her.

Annalise stopped walking and turned to look at Aria and Cara. Aria took a step back as if she were worried that Annalise was going to do something to her, and Cara looked to be in disbelief since they had gone from talking about the duke to this.

"You’ve obviously got your mind made up, and I am not in the mood to stand here and hear it. If this has been on your mind since Beatrice was here, you could have come to me and spoken about it. I now wonder if when I asked you when we all serve together was your attempt to set me up," Annalise said, remembering the slight mistake she made when serving Beatrice dinner.

Aria had told her to watch Mavis when they were meant to watch Edwin. Annalise thought nothing of it then, and she wasn’t going to dive too deep into it now, but she was aware of Aria now. A friend who let her jealousy get the better of her and tried to sabotage her friend.

It was annoying for Annalise since she had done nothing special to serve Beatrice and the duke. Beatrice simply liked something she said, and it wasn’t like she was still serving the duke now. She brought them a drink and glasses, then left. As for Rafael, she was trying to get him to stop watching her to see what she was doing.

No one would ever believe it, but she had wanted to lay low.

She didn’t have it as easy as Aria thought since she was outside chasing after chickens not long ago. With some luck, Rafael was there to help her. At this point, Annalise believed she could stand still, and be given a special guest to serve, and others would think she did something more.

"I am not going to explain myself to you, so believe what you want though I believe it is a waste of your time and energy. Just know that I will be watching you now that I know there is some hatred and jealousy there. I considered you a friend, and if you were to be picked to serve the young master’s guest, I would have been happy for you. It’s a shame I can’t get that from you. I am tired of this," Annalise said, continuing to walk away.

Being at odds over something like this was foolish in her eyes. She expected this from Laura or Tanya, but not from Aria, whom she spent a lot of time with in the two weeks she was here.

Annalise now felt like she had strayed from her plans by forming unnecessary friendships with some of the people here. These friendships were never going to last anyway. Sooner or later, she had to leave everyone she came to know here and forget about them.

"Annalise!" Cara called after her, moving to follow Annalise, but then she stopped and looked at Aria. She wanted to speak with both right now, but Annalise was walking away and showed no intention of staying behind to talk. "How did it get to this point? If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have brought up the duke."

"I’ll be quick with you, Aria. I have known you longer than Annalise, but I care for you equally. You know she is not one to pull tricks to get ahead of any of us. If anything, she’s just trying her hardest not to get fired. I feel jealous of her too, but I know she would be happy for me if I were to be picked to serve Rafael or anyone else. That is what friends do. You’ve placed our little group in an awkward place," Cara said, as this could continue for much longer if not fixed soon.

Cara did not want to be in the middle of the conflict between Annalise and Aria. ’Well, it seems to be an issue on Aria’s end since Annalise doesn’t seem angry,’ she noted.

"I am not going to apologise for how I feel about the jobs she gets. It is not fair and you know it. I am a better maid who works hard, yet I am stuck with simple jobs. I could use that money. Annalise should not be allowed to keep working for a Callahan. She’ll embarrass the young master one of these days," said Aria.

Aria now had the thought of telling Mavis that Annalise was the one behind the snake in the room. Annalise had admitted it to Cara, who then brought it up to her. If she were to let Mavis know about this or, better yet, approach Rafael sometime after dinner to tell him about it, Annalise would definitely be fired and everyone else would have a chance to do the jobs given to her.

Cara didn’t see her words getting through to Aria anytime soon, so she handed Aria her sheets and left to find Annalise. She warned Annalise from the very beginning of how crazy the girls could get when Rafael was giving one of them attention, but she had not brought up the jealousy that would come from one person getting too many good jobs.

"I am not even worried about Annalise since she is a tough one. I have to worry about what stupid idea Aria will come up with," Cara said, sneaking a peep over her shoulder at Aria leaving. "When this is over, I am going to push the two of you into the river for making me feel like your mother. I am not that old. I hope dinner goes without trouble. Do not ruin my time with the duke," Cara said, clasping her hands to pray to anyone who would listen.

Time quickly passed, and luckily, Annalise and Aria did not bump into each other to be stuck in an awkward reunion until now that it was dinner and they were both supposed to be serving food.

Annalise paid no attention to Aria, whom she had caught staring at her when she had looked around the busy kitchen at the food she wished to eat right now. She didn’t know if Aria was expecting her to go over and say something or maybe back out of serving tonight so it would make Aria feel better.

Annalise didn’t care what it was. She had the goal of showing she could be a good maid to serve the king when he arrived for the competition. Annalise had no time to be arguing with Aria over silly games, but she did have a feeling to be wary of Aria’s actions. She had a bad feeling due to the fact that Aria was standing next to Laura and Tanya, who kept smiling her way.

"Ladies," Mavis said, clapping her hands to get their attention. "It is time to serve dinner. Be mindful that it is not only the young master out there but the duke as well. Nothing must go wrong."

Annalise wished Mavis had not said that because when you say out loud that nothing should go wrong, it always does.

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