The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 320: A moment alone (1)

Annalise was surprised to have a quiet dinner with her family after her father passed the plate with vegetables to Rafael. She knew that he was not yet thrilled about her relationship, but he was making an effort. A better effort now.

His pettiness slipped out here and there, but it wasn’t too evident for everyone to feel like an argument was coming. Now that Annalise saw he was making a better effort to get to know Rafael and not try to pick a fight with him, she laughed at some of the comments that slipped his lips instead of getting frustrated.

"See, you had nothing to worry about mother. He ate everything that was on his plate. Now, if you don’t mind, I will escort Rafael safely back to his knights. Unless he’s allowed to spend the night here?" Annalise asked, looking at her father since he would be the only one to disagree.

Rafael touched Annalise’s hand to get her attention. "I can’t stay. I already informed the knights I would be returning tonight and I have to deal with the guards before they get out of hand. Perhaps another night I will stay if I am welcomed."

"Well," Annalise said, standing up while holding Rafael’s right hand. "I will take him back return right away-"

"Do as you want. Take him and come back or stay there," Phillip said, surprising everyone. "It’s not like she’s going to listen to me."

He didn’t want her spending the night near all those men even if she knew most of him, but his words didn’t reach anyone’s ears.

"Until he has gotten the guards to calm down, I don’t think I should spend the night there. It would also be best to give a proper introduction to the knights and guards in the morning so they aren’t confused by who Rafael brought back with him tonight. I will return soon," Annalise promised.

Since she was going to be leaving with Rafael to go to the king soon, she didn’t mind another night away from him. Annalise could sleep better knowing that he was not too far away from her. If she missed him at any point, she could just ride out to meet him.

Phillip stood up to see the two of them off and to walk Celeste to her home. "Once you have gotten their guards to calm down and not look to avenge their fallen captain, I will arrange for a group to set out with you and Annalise. Only when you have those guards under control will I let my daughter leave home to go to the palace."

"Understood," Rafael replied. He didn’t plan on leaving until he was certain the guards weren’t going to attack the second he started to head to Lockwood.

Their plan to push for peace would go to waste if the guards attacked when he was not around.

"I need to get his armour and clothes upstairs," Annalise said, letting go of Rafael’s hand to run to her bedroom.

Phillip looked over the clothes belonging to him that Rafael was wearing. He didn’t have to see what Rafael wore under his armour to know that his clothes looked better. If Rafael looked good right now, it was because of his clothes. "I don’t want those clothes back," said Phillip.

"I do. I doubt you will be wearing them again so please send them back to us when you can," Celine said, getting up from her seat. She walked over to where Rafael stood to give him a proper goodbye. She didn’t know if they were going to meet again before Rafael would leave so she had to give her goodbye now.

Celine went right into hugging Rafael as she felt they had gotten close enough to say goodbye to each other this way. She couldn’t see any reason why Rafael would not one day become a part of the family so she would get used to warm greetings like this now.

"It was nice meeting you, Rafael. I hope this won’t be the last that I see you. This all started off rocky because some of us were either in the dark or worried about what would happen to you two, but I want you to know that you have our blessing for whatever concerns your relationship," said Celine.

Celine stepped back and started to fix his shirt which was a little too out of place for her liking. "Don’t worry about it, Phillip. I will work on him. As long as you keep a smile on her face, I will continue to help you however I can. Would you like some food packed to take back? Unfortunately, it is not enough for you to share."

"Thank you, but I’ve eaten enough for the night. My knights gathered supplies needed to keep themselves fed for a few weeks so they cooked their own dinner tonight. It would not be as tasty as what you prepared tonight, but it will keep them alive. Thank you for the invite," Rafael said, appreciative of the effort she made from the beginning to get to know him.

If not for Celine being willing to get to know him, he would not be standing here right now. Rafael agreed with Annalise that in some ways Celine reminded him of his mother. In days when he started to miss seeing his parents, Celine was just the person he needed around.

"I don’t like to travel far from my home so that means you have to come back to see my home," Celeste said, joining in giving Rafael a hug goodbye. She looked forward to where Annalise and Rafael’s relationship would go from here.

Celeste placed her hands behind her back after hugging Rafael and walked to the door thinking how good it was that Phillip had not listened to her idea of offering that Annalise marry the king to unite the two sides. It was much better this way for Annalise to be with a Callahan man. It brought up memories of her old friend.

"I got everything," Annalise said, returning with a sack she placed Rafael’s clothes and armour in along with the box belonging to Iris. "We’re leaving. You know, if I don’t return home in an hour or so, you don’t have to go straight to thinking the worst. We might stop to talk."

"Fine, but don’t think I will be stopping your father if he wants to ride out to check on why you have not returned. I’ve done enough for one day with having your side. Now I want to wash up and go right to bed. Try not to talk too much so that we become worried," Celine advised Annalise. Now that her goodbyes were said, Celine started to gather the plates to wash them.

Rafael took the sack of his things from Annalise and held her hand to walk with her. He didn’t pay any attention to whether or not Phillip was fine with them holding hands. Other than the kiss they shared in Annalise’s bedroom, Rafael had kept his hands off of her long enough. He awaited having a moment alone with Annalise again.

As Annalise and Rafael started to walk to the door, Phillip said, "Wait! Take this with you."

Annalise watched as a knife from the table was placed in the palm of her right hand. "I think it would be better if I took a sword or axe, but thank you. Hopefully, I won’t have to use it. I will see you tomorrow, grandmother," she said, pulling Rafael toward the door before her father tried to give her more things to protect herself.

Unless the knights or guards were sneaking onto their land, Rafael was the one who needed weapons.

Annalise exited the front door first to check for a crowd and luckily, there were only people passing by or around their homes. Rafael wearing her father’s clothes instead of his own might help him to blend in. She led him to the horses tied at the side of the house so they could leave right away.

It wasn’t long before she heard chatter and whispers about a strange man.

Annalise looked over at Rafael and found him to be in his own world. Rafael got up onto his horse still holding the sack with his belongings. She was lucky that he was not a person easily bothered by what was happening around him.

"I will do my best to get them used to you so they don’t stare," Annalise said as she got up on her horse.

"I don’t think their stares will ever stop because of who the woman I am with is. I just need to get used to the fact that I am courting a princess so there will be attention," Rafael replied.