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0.79% The Knight's Mysterious Maid / Chapter 4: A lady’s thigh (2)

Chương 4: A lady’s thigh (2)

"Mavis and Edwin hired odd people in my absence. I give you three days," Rafael said, looking away from the maid he knew to be named Annalise because her name had been said two times by Mavis. 

"To show you my thigh?" Annalise tilted her head, not seeing why he wanted to wait three days to see her thigh.

Rafael once again turned to face Annalise who was undoubtedly insane. "I don't want to see your thigh. I was referring to how many days it will take for you to be fired. I won't help you again."

"Oh," Annalise released her dress. "I was only offering to show you my thigh so you could get over me seeing your sword. I should get back to my job, right?" She added as Rafael just stared at her.

'Sword?' Rafael thought it was a creative way of speaking about a man's manhood. 'I give her a day.'

She was quite different from the other maids, who got silent when he entered a room. Rafael already saw why she was turning the rest of Mavis's hair white. This maid spoke what was on her mind, perhaps to the wrong person many times, but as long as she stayed out of his bedroom, he didn't mind her staying employed. It was up to her to be on her best behaviour around Mavis.

"Sweetheart!"

"Good morning mother," Rafael turned his attention to the second entrance of the dining room where his mother walked in from. His mother, Beatrice Callahan, practically skipped to the table.

"Good morning," Beatrice smiled cheerfully at Rafael and wrapped her arms around him to make up for the time they had lost due to his travels. "It's good to have you back. You are not hurt, right?" She asked, squeezing his cheeks with the palms of her hands as she turned his head left and right to inspect his face. "Good," she sighed in relief.

It was torture to be without her son for almost two months. There was rarely any communication as his letters would take almost a week to reach her. Each day she spent awaiting updates about his battles added a new strand of gray hair to her head.

"You are back safe and sound," Beatrice repeatedly kissed all around his face to make up for lost kisses. She didn't care that he was not a little boy anymore. Rafael would never be too old to receive her kisses.

Like the obedient child he was, Rafael remained still while his mother did her normal ritual to welcome him home. In the corner of his eye, he saw the maid Annalise smiling at the sight before leaving with the others to bring in breakfast.

"I swear I will strangle the King with my own two hands if he does not stop depending on you to always go off on some journey to fight. I love Tobias, but he'll make an enemy out of me if he keeps this up. So," Beatrice let go of Rafael to pull a chair closer to him. "Did you bring home a woman from your travels? A child?"

"You are the only mother that I know who looks forward to her son bringing home a random woman and child. I returned home alone," Rafael said, watching the anticipation oozing from his mother quickly dry up.

Beatrice sighed, mentally scolding herself for thinking Rafael would at least return home with a woman he was smitten with. "How long must I wait to hold a grandchild or have a daughter-in-law to dote on? Everyone speaks about their grandchild taking their first step or their daughter-in-law stopping by to keep them company. I can only talk about your achievements for so long before I am asked about your wedding."

"Be honest and tell them that I am not looking for a wife, or tell them to mind their own family matters," Rafael suggested.

"It is not just that Rafael," Beatrice touched his hand. "I worry about you spending so much time fighting and not enjoying the warmth of a family. You always keep to yourself, and I fear you might not find anyone to spend the rest of your life with when war becomes boring. Your father was the same way."

"Here we go again-"

"Hush! You got your dashing looks from me but inherited your father's personality. By some luck, he was able to express how much he loved me. I don't mind if you hold off getting married, but I want you to one day experience the happiness I felt with your father. It gave me you," Beatrice smiled as she pinched his right cheek. She missed the days when his cheeks were chubby.

"I won't pester you about it any further since you have not been home long, but I want you to promise me that if there is a special young lady in your life, you will introduce her to me. Unless there is something you wish to say to me," Beatrice folded her lips as she couldn't bear to say it.

"Mother," Rafael replied, knowing what she was trying to insinuate.

"My lips are sealed. I hope you don't mind if I join you for breakfast. I came here as soon as I heard you were back. Your father would have joined me, but a rotten tree fell onto our neighbour's home and he's trying to help before he comes to see you. We must celebrate your return with a party," Beatrice randomly decided, ignoring Rafael's obvious disapproval by his frown.

"You know I love a good reason to throw a party. It will be for your friends and the men who returned with you from the long journey. They need a good laugh and a drink before you have them training to their death once more. Enjoy the little things in life and your time with loved ones before you have to leave for weeks again," Beatrice palmed his face. "You are my talented son but I fear you will never return one day."

"Mother, you are trying to guilt me into letting you hold a party here. As long as it is something small for the knights, I will allow it, but you must give Edwin and Mavis some time to prepare for it," Rafael agreed to the party but he was already feeling like he would regret it.

"Oh, Mrs Callahan," Mavis's voice came out higher than usual. She clapped her hands once and said, "You look beautiful today," she commented on the pink dress which made Beatrice look youthful.

"Thank you, Mavis. I hope you have been taking good care of my son. Oh, a new face," Beatrice looked behind Mavis to a maid she never saw before. "Introduce yourself dear."

Mavis looked behind her to see if Beatrice was referring to her newest headache and when she laid eyes on Annalise standing behind her with an innocent smile, she felt a prick of pain in her head. "This is-"

"Is she mute? Let her say her own name. You know I like to keep an eye on the servants coming in and out of this house," Beatrice said, giving the young woman a look over. It was a shame Rafael didn't take an interest in those who worked for him. She wouldn't mind if he fell in love with one of the young ladies here. Some of them were pleasant.

"Annalise Woods," Annalise introduced herself. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Callahan."


Chương 5: Quite the character (1)

"Woods? I have never heard of such a last name. With your looks, I am sure you are not from around here," Beatrice said, giving Annalise a look over. If you lined all the servants up, Annalise would stand out with her wild hair. "You're different. Luckily, I happen to like different things."

"She is, isn't she?" Mavis forced a smile and pretended to agree with Beatrice. In her opinion, Annalise was the bad kind of different. She was hoping the lady would dislike Annalise and be the one to kick her out right away but with her terrible luck, Mavis now had to deal with Beatrice liking Annalise.

"It is hard to believe you are the young master's mother. You look so young," Annalise commented, finding the older woman to look young for having such a grown son. Annalise would have never believed Beatrice was Rafael's mother if she wasn't aware of the Callahans.

'She knows how to flatter someone. She's smart,' Beatrice thought as she tapped her finger against the table. Annalise's comment didn't come out as if she was trying too hard to make Beatrice like her. She was subtle with her advances. 'Well, this is interesting.'

Beatrice was used to the maids overly complimenting her in hopes she would pick them as her personal maid when she came to visit Rafael, or they thought pleasing the mother would help them get close to the son. She wondered which Annalise was trying to aim for.

"I like her," Beatrice smiled as she made up her mind. "Mavis, make sure she is the one to tend to me when I come for visits. You know Rafael is going to become busy with training instead of taking a moment to rest, and my husband will find someone who needs help to pass his time. I'll need someone like her by my side to keep me company."

Rafael didn't think Annalise was the most suitable person to keep his mother company. His mother was already quite the character so she didn't need someone with a mouth like Annalise's to further influence her. He had not gotten past Annalise's offer to show him her thigh. Rafael did not know Annalise but he already had a feeling there were worse things to come out of her mouth. "There are other maids-"

"Why not this one?" Beatrice quickly asked, picking up on the fact something must have happened between Rafael and Annalise. Rafael never stopped her from picking any maid she liked to tend to her when she visited. Was there a silver lining at the end of this day?

Beatrice gave Annalise a look over once more as she wondered if this was Rafael's type. She had gotten it wrong over the years if it was.

"Nothing," Rafael dropped it before his mother could get the wrong idea. It was obvious she started to overthink his words as she flashed him a big smile, and her eyes pleaded with him to tell her more. "Enjoy breakfast and find something to pass the time until father arrives. Stop frowning."

"I would if you brought home some good news," Beatrice pouted. At this rate, she would have to play with her sister's grandchildren since she was not getting any of her own any time soon. "Mavis, excuse Annalise from her duties to have her remain by my side. I prefer her company over my son at the moment," Beatrice tried to guilt Rafael into spending time with her.

"Yes ma'am," Mavis replied, still bothered by the lady's choice. She preferred to have one of the maids who followed her to be close to Beatrice. It was the best way to get any news on what was happening between mother and son.

Mavis was not going to waste time trying to bring Annalise under her wing. It would only start another series of headaches. It was much easier to wait for Annalise to mess up and for Beatrice to fire Annalise or for Mavis to fire Annalise herself.

Annalise found Beatrice to be more likeable than she anticipated. She was getting close to Beatrice faster than she planned, but it was better this way. She needed someone in the Callahan family to latch onto so Mavis could not keep trying to fire her. It also helped her plans concerning the Callahans that Beatrice seemed like the type to keep talking about Rafael's affairs. Annalise would use Beatrice to get information on Rafael.

"Your coffee," Annalise started to pour Rafael's coffee for him. She tried not to spill any as she focused on his cup.

Rafael glanced at Annalise's hands and then at his mother's. Annalise's hands were almost similar to those of a woman who had never worked a day in her life. He was curious, but then again, he didn't know much about Annalise. She could have lived an easy life until her parents decided it was time for her to work.

All of the maids working here did not come from poor backgrounds where they worked every day of their lives. For some, this was their first job, and they picked his home because of the good pay.

Rafael shook his head, feeling foolish for questioning her hands, but he couldn't help being so observant. It could be blamed on the fact he had just returned from long days of fighting and travelling, where he needed to be cautious about every single thing around him during that time. He had not settled down enough to not be on edge in his own home. It was a hard task to not grab for a weapon at the faintest odd noise.

"Are you alright, young master?" Annalise asked after noticing Rafael seemed lost in thought. Instead of giving her a response, Rafael only stared at her. Annalise thought he was asking her to leave him alone with his eyes, so she moved on to serve Beatrice coffee.

Beatrice couldn't help but sigh. Her question was answered now that she witnessed Rafael and Annalise interact with each other. There was nothing going on between the two. Rafael was still her silent precious son who had no time for women so she needed to live with this fact.

"Would you like coffee or tea?" Annalise asked Beatrice when she came over to her side. She wished to suggest a wine to help Beatrice deal with Rafael. Rafael was her only employer, and his silence was hard to bear. She couldn't imagine what it was like for Beatrice. "Wine?" She took a risk to ask.

Beatrice looked up at Annalise, for a moment thinking she misheard what the young woman suggested. Judging by Annalise biting her lip, Rafael looking at Annalise like she lost her mind, and Mavis turning red, Beatrice knew she had not heard wrong.

Beatrice snorted and quickly covered her mouth with her hands because of the unladylike noise. She tried not to laugh but could not refrain from doing so. "Wine?" Beatrice chuckled. "Yes, wine with breakfast would be lovely dear, but I'm afraid I must leave that for another day. Some juice would be nice."

"I will get it for you right away, Mrs Callahan," Annalise replied, happy to see Beatrice was not a stick in the mud like everyone else.

"Lovely, isn't she?" Beatrice asked Rafael. She was starting to consider stealing Annalise away from Rafael's home.

"That's not the word I would use," Rafael replied, having an entirely different opinion about the new maid.


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