The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 227: Calm (1)

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes. I seem to have a lot of fun when you are not around," Annalise answered. "Has she stuck by you the entire time I was gone with your mother?"

Annalise smiled at the little girl hiding behind Rafael. "Has she told you her name? Look, I brought you more berries. This town seems to be full of them since every step I took, there was someone selling berries. Take as many as you like," she said, stooping down with the bag of berries.

"Is it really berries or did you get distracted by candy?" Rafael asked, leaning over to get a good look at what was in the brown bag. The child didn’t need candy right now.

"I did not buy any candy and if I did, you shouldn’t be so concerned about it since you once bought me a bag of candy. It is only berries since she liked the ones I had earlier. We can sit here and eat together unless you have some friends you would want to share with. No?" Annalise added after the little girl sat down. "Aren’t we friends for you to tell me your name?"

The little girl placed her hand in the bag while staring at Annalise. "Lydia," she spoke softly and then placed a berry in her mouth.

"Lydia is a pretty name. I promise the giant and I won’t tell anyone else your name. It’ll be our little secret as friends. Don’t eat so much at once or you’ll choke. There’s plenty for you to eat so you don’t have to rush. Rafael," Annalise said, looking up at him. "Do you mind stepping a little to the right to block out the sun? We should make some use of your height."

"Who is the employer here?" Rafael asked as he moved. He only moved so Lydia could be out of the sun while keeping some light on Annalise.

"You are the employer. Oh, great commander of the Callahan knights. Berry?" Annalise asked, holding up the bag to him.

Seeing that Lydia was enjoying herself with the small bag of berries, Rafael decided not to take any from her. "No. Let her have it all," he replied. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Lydia took one of the berries in her hands and held it up to Rafael for him to take one. He moved the rope so she could swing on it longer. He should have one since there were many.

"A knight mustn’t turn down an offering from a lady. You have to take it or you will be seen as rude," Annalise said, enjoying the exchange. Lydia was like a little cute sheep the big bad wolf wouldn’t be able to resist stealing. So cute that it wouldn’t be able to bring itself to eat her.

"Thank you," Rafael said, accepting the berry from her.

Annalise continued to hold the bag of berries for Lydia as she ate and soon she was also offered one. Annalise gladly accepted it and ate the berries with Lydia and Rafael when one was offered to him.

Thelma stood at the open gates with Beatrice, looking on at Rafael, Annalise, and Lydia. "I’m surprised. I’ve been working on getting her to be around someone without running away to that rope to play. Perhaps I was too hard on the girl," Thelma said, feeling like she did wrong by questioning Annalise.

She was only worried about the marking and the trouble she thought it brought.

"Annalise has a special way of making people come out of their shells. I don’t think all hope is lost for me. They look like they would make a nice little family, don’t they? Time will tell if they will get together and come back for her. Don’t be so hard on Annalise because you don’t know much about her. I like her and look at Rafael. The boy is smitten," Beatrice said, enjoying the sight before her.

Beatrice wished there was an artist walking around for her to pull him here to paint what she was seeing now. This would be considered calm before the storm of a ball tomorrow.

"I see now that he is. You should head back now so you have time to do something else before the sun goes down. Thank you for coming. The children were so excited to see the knights. I must go inside to help prepare dinner for them so I can’t stay here with you for long. I will get your husband to come," Thelma said and then left Beatrice alone to try pulling River away from whatever he was doing now.

"Thank you, Thelma," Beatrice replied.

Beatrice wished she didn’t have to interrupt Rafael and Annalise, but it was time for them to go. They spent most of the day in town and at the orphanage. Now it was time to go home to spend some time with each other before dinner.

Beatrice wanted to take a walk with River after not being around him for many hours since he was fixing broken things in the orphanage. Rafael and Annalise would need to find something else to do during that time.

"It is time for us to leave. Thelma has gone to get your father and then she will be preparing dinner for the children. The little one will need to go wash up with the others. Hello," Beatrice said, leaning forward slightly to greet Lydia.

Lydia stepped out of Beatrice’s view by hiding behind Rafael.

"Oh, what a shy little thing she is," Beatrice said, falling in love with Lydia. Each time she came to the orphanage, there was a child she wanted to take home to raise. Until her troubles with her brother were taken care of, she knew it wasn’t safe to have a small child around her.

The child would have to stay inside with her to be out of reach from whatever Travis was planning and as much space as her home had, Beatrice didn’t want a child only going outside the garden to play.

"You can take the rest of the berries and share with some of the other children. It was nice meeting you," Annalise said as she got to her feet. "I will come to visit you again before we need to leave town and go home."

Lydia took the bag of berries from Annalis and went to hide behind her since she was still wary of Beatrice. "Don’t go," she pleaded with Annalise. Who was she going to play with if Annalise wasn’t here?

"I can’t stay. I work for him so I must be wherever he is and it is time for you to get washed up before dinner. I will come once more to see you before we leave. You shouldn’t shy away from the other children. You need to make friends. Will you?" Annalise asked.

Lydia nodded her head even though it wasn’t something she wanted to do.

"Good. I will walk you back inside. It is getting late and you shouldn’t be outside on your own when the sun starts to go down. I will bring more berries and other fruit the next time I come. How about I bring candy too? Don’t listen to the giant that you shouldn’t have any candy," Annalise said, holding Lydia’s hand to walk her to where all the other children were playing.

"Shouldn’t you be gathering your knights instead of watching Annalise walk away?" Beatrice asked, fully enjoying herself today.

"Yes mother,’ Rafael replied, walking away to get the knights ready to leave.