The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 66: Gather the servants (1)

Chapter 66: Gather the servants (1)

Rafael stopped a little over an arm’s length from Annalise and Aria, careful not to step on the rocks he saw Annalise collecting in the river. "There is not to be any fighting," he said, looking at Aria since she had tugged on the basket Annalise was holding.

He didn’t know why they were feuding, and he didn’t care about the reason, but seeing that this same maid had come to him last night, this needed to be dealt with.

"Pick up the rocks," Rafael said, still looking at Aria. She caused them to fall, so she needed to pick them up.

Aria glanced at Annalise, who had turned her head to look out the windows again. Annalise made a big speech a moment ago, but now she could not look at Rafael. It was hard not to think there was something between them. "We were not fighting," she said, so Rafael would not think she was causing trouble.

Aria desperately needed to get past what she did last night. Rafael was the last person she wanted, seeing her at odds with Annalise.

"She thinks I have been flirting with you to be your mother’s maid and serve the duke," Annalise revealed, causing a loud gasp from Aria. Since Aria did not believe her, it was best she heard how ridiculous her assumption was from Rafael.

"Y-You," Aria stuttered, wondering if Annalise had lost her mind to be bringing this up to Rafael. She was already in hot water for the things she said last night.

"I said there was nothing, but she does not believe me," Annalise continued. It was a bit insulting for anyone to say that she wanted Rafael when there were so many better men at home. Then there was her little issue. ’Where is Thomas when I need him?’

Thoma would lose his mind hearing someone say she was flirting with Rafael or something more, and he would kill them for her. It was a rule to never mix with the men and women from the Castro kingdom. It was seen as a betrayal to be with the people who were killing your own.

"I told you to end this," Rafael said, irritated with the fact she was carrying on what he denied last night. He needed to speak with Mavis and Edwin as soon as possible to have them end these conversations about him entertaining a maid. It would never happen.

Rafael had experiences with a few of the maids making advances at him in hopes something would come out of it, but he would ignore them, and some would stop trying to get his attention.

"I," Aria said, biting her lip. This was just bad timing for her. She looked at Annalise once more. She had placed her in a difficult spot without knowing it. They should have kept their issue to themselves instead of repeating what she said to Rafael.

Rafael touched his forehead as he sighed. "Pick-"

"I will pick them up myself," Annalise said, going down to start picking up the scattered rocks. She didn’t want their beauty to be ruined by Aria’s touch. Seeing Aria be so panicked around Rafael was already enough.

"Get Mavis and tell her to gather the servants right now," Rafael ordered Aria. He had to put an end to the maids being upset with each other because they assumed he had a relationship with one or was playing favoritism. Never once had he personally given a maid a job. That was up to Mavis or Edwin. "Right now!" Rafael raised his voice when Aria would not move.

Aria flinched and lowered her head to avoid his gaze. This, unfortunately, meant she had to watch Annalise. In her eyes, Annalise was playing innocent. A second ago, Annalise looked like she would kill her. Aria nervously played with her fingers as she walked away to find Mavis.

No matter what she did, she somehow placed herself in the position to be the one fired while Rafael shielded Annalise. It wasn’t fair, and now Aria feared that Rafael’s ordering her to find Mavis would lead to her getting fired. She let her emotions get the best of her, and now she could possibly lose a job she desperately needed.

Annalise froze when Rafael stooped down to her level to help her. She did not raise her head to face him. One, to avoid him staring at her so intensely like he always did, and two, since she did not like how close they were.

"I will admit that trouble does seem to find its way to you," said Rafael. He couldn’t find her fault in her disagreement with the maid who was just here. Serving his mother got her in Delilah’s sights, and then with one of the maids.

Annalise placed a handful of the rocks into the basket beside her. "Am I going to be in trouble when Mavis comes? I don’t want to be chasing after chickens again."

Rafael smiled as he remembered hearing the chickens being threatened to be roasted over a fire as if they could understand. "I recall you only chasing after one chicken while my knights did the rest of the work. If not for my knights, I might not have gotten my eggs this morning."

Annalise felt offended that he didn’t think she would have been able to handle those chickens and get a few of their eggs so he could enjoy his breakfast. "I didn’t need you or your knights help. You would have gotten your eggs one way or another and some chicken for dinner if any of them had gotten bold."

"Is that so? Why didn’t you turn the knights away when I called for them to help you?" Rafael asked. She would have been attacked by those chickens if the knights had not stepped in.

"What fool would send away a group of able men from doing their work? I was being smart," Annalise said, tapping her head. "The only bad part about getting away from doing my work so quickly was having to serve the lady for a moment. Oh!" Annalise clamped her hand over her big mouth.

Rafael stopped to watch Annalise, who looked up at him with wide eyes. He didn’t see why she was suddenly nervous.

Annalise realised how casually she was talking to Rafael and about his guest. This was a recipe for disaster if she stayed around him much longer. "I’m sorry. I must get to my work," Annalise said, moving fast to gather the rest of the rocks so she could get away from him.

Rafael was amazed by the speed at which she suddenly moved. "I want all the servants to gather in the yard so you do not have to go back to work yet-"

"Then I will put these away and head to the yard," Annalise said, holding onto the basket as she got to her feet. "Excuse me, young master," she excused herself and then hurried away. If she wanted to not find herself in trouble, she needed to stay far away from him, which was the opposite of what she came here for.

Rafael stared at Annalise, confused by what had happened. What had caused the sudden switch in their conversation? He looked down at his right hand, where there was still a reddish color rock he had picked up.

Seeing that he needed to speak with the servants shortly, he would give it back to her, or since it was just a normal rock, she could easily replace it whenever she went back to the river.

Still, Rafael tightened his hold on the rock and then placed it in his pocket.

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