The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 346: Fired (3)

Aria wished she had paid attention to who was coming into the dining room so she could have stopped talking when Rafael showed up. She was in a tight spot now and Rafael standing behind Annalise added to her losing her confidence.

What was she to say now? That she was going to say Annalise couldn’t dismiss her though she had earned herself the title of the lady of the manor? How were they to suddenly go from working with Annalise to addressing her as a lady?

Aria would have expected Beatrice to know the type of person Annalise was. Beatrice wasn’t so easily fooled by the women who walked in here looking to gain Rafael’s favour. freewebnøvel.com

’And now the room is silent,’ Annalise thought. Aria should have taken the chance she gave her to walk away.

"Speak," Rafael said, his voice low, but it was more terrifying than if he had yelled at Aria.

"She was a maid," Aria softly spoke. She had morals she would not throw away. One should get ahead using hard work, not using Annalise’s games. Why should Annalise be continuously rewarded for doing nothing? "An employer should never be involved with his maid. I was once her friend. She is not-"

"I thought I gave Mavis a clear order to have the maids watch their mouths. Not only are you not doing your work, but you took it upon yourself to speak to Annalise as you like. I don’t care what person you or anyone else thinks she is," Rafael said, speaking to all maids present in the dining room.

It was the maid before him now and then it would be another one brave to speak to Annalise when he wasn’t around. When he wasn’t present was the only time they would think they could speak to Annalise as they liked because they most likely did not believe she could have them fired.

Rafael looked down at Annalise who seemed to not be paying attention to what was being said. He was curious why she hadn’t sent the maid out of the manor and been done with it. Was she trying not to look like she was getting ahead of herself and enjoying what she could do now by firing a maid on the first day?

Rafael was never one to tolerate anyone, be it a maid, knight, or guest to act as they wanted in his manor. He always spoke of not letting your problems with someone affect your work and to follow the orders he gave. It was rare that he fired someone, but as of right now, he would do it often so Annalise wouldn’t be arguing with anyone.

"You are to pack your bags if you reside in the manor and be out by noon. A second after that you are trespassing on my land and I am free to throw you in my dungeon. The people there would love a new friend," Rafael said, going to his seat to join Annalise and his mother.

Annalise perked up, interested in how many people were in the dungeon. She was yet to figure out where it was. There weren’t doors leading under the manor and there weren’t any rooms she saw that could be the dungeon.

The day would be fun if she got to see who Rafael was keeping in his dungeon aside from Olivia.

Annalise smiled, watching Rafael as he sat down. If she kept this up, she might be able to convince him to take her on a tour there. She started to imagine what tools he used to torture someone.

Aria knew that it was coming because Annalise had already started to speak of her not continuing her job, but to hear Rafael say it was a hard blow. She needed the job. It was just hard to stay quiet when she witnessed how Annalise got a seat at the table.

"I-I was looking out for your best interest. You do not know her like I do. She has claimed to not be interested in you, but now she sits at this table. From the beginning, you were playing favourites with her because she was warming your bed. I have worked hard!" Aria yelled, approaching the table.

Ezra picked up one of the knives on the table just in case he needed to stop the whiny woman from getting close to Annalise.

"Tell Mavis to come here right away," Rafael said to one of the maids lingering around. If he were to stand up and escort the maid out, she might end up not going out the gates. He tapped his fingers on the table, trying to keep calm so he could remain in his seat.

"I have given my all into keeping this manor clean. I was deserving of getting to personally serve you or your mother. I thought better of a man like you-" Aria stopped, her skin getting a weird sensation from the screeching noise of Annalise pushing her chair back.

Aria welcomed Annalise standing up. Since she was going to be fired for speaking the truth, she would get everything off her chest. Yes, she was jealous. How could she not be jealous when Annalise got the work she wanted when she was a terrible maid?

It was frustrating for Aria to see more men not thinking clearly. To see how they ignored the truth because they were sleeping with someone. She had to speak up for the other maids who felt just as frustrated as she was. She had been silent for too long and that silence allowed for Annalise to climb higher.

Aria wished she had gone through with telling Mavis the things Annalise did wrong so Annalise could have been fired long before she had a chance to become the lady of the manor.

Annalise couldn’t listen to any more of Aria’s whining or start listening to how she was disappointed in Rafael. She was hungry and eager to see the dungeon. Aria should count herself lucky that Annalise wasn’t aware of how to enter the dungeon.

Annalise ran her fingers along Rafael’s shoulder as she walked behind him to get him to relax. There was no need for him to get worked up and escort Aria out when she was around for someone to say he was rough with a woman.

It wasn’t only Rafael’s reaction that she was worried about. Annalise had noticed Ezra picking up a knife. At home, anyone in her family wasn’t disrespected like this. Her grandmother might be called crazy here or there because they didn’t believe in her close relationship with nature, but there was still respect.

Annalise considered it her fault for not properly taking care of Aria before Rafael came to the table with Beatrice. She was not bothered by Aria speaking to her, just annoyed because she wanted to eat in peace, but with the order given to the maids to treat her with respect, she should have put her foot down and sent Aria away.

Annalise was now the lady of the manor which meant she could fire someone as she liked, but she was not yet accustomed to it which was why she wasn’t quick to fire Aria after Aria did not walk away when she sent her to find Mavis. It was a mistake she was not going to make another time so Rafael wouldn’t need to come to save her from what the maids were saying.

Annalise stopped an arm’s length before Aria and said, "Come with me."

Aria balled up her fist. She tried not to cry over losing her job. If Rafael was going to give better jobs to the maids warming his beds, this was not the place for her to be. She wanted to grow higher by working hard, not by using Annalise’s methods.

Annalise wasn’t a lady in her eyes therefore Aria was not going to bite her tongue. "You are nothing more than a whore who will find that it wasn’t worth it," said Aria.

She despised women like Annalise and hated her even more for pretending like she had no interest in Rafael. Aria bit her lip, becoming angrier over Annalise ruining everything she worked for and getting things handed to her.

She could not continue to hold back and stepped forward to close some of the space between her and Annalise while raising her right hand to bring it down to connect with Annalise’s face.

It was for Annalise fooling her.

The slap echoed in the dining room and as Rafael stood up along with Ezra who was confused as to why Annalise allowed the woman to slap her when she could have stopped it from happening, laughter was heard coming from Annalise.

"Oh, Aria. You can’t complain to the town guards about what will happen next since you started this," Annalise said, unphased by the stinging feeling on her cheek. She would have simply escorted Aria out but having someone put their hands on her could not be easily overlooked.

"I," Aria said, stunned by her actions.