The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 348: Secrets (1)

After Aria was taken out of the room, Thomas and the others joined the dining room for breakfast, completely unaware of what happened before their arrival.

Annalise enjoyed sitting at the table, enjoying food and conversing with everyone. She was back to not missing her parents too much as everyone here made her time in the manor feel like she had a whole new family already.

As everyone finished with their breakfast, Ezra took Annalise’s guards to have a look around the manor to get accustomed to their surroundings and know where to escape other than the gate should they need to get out of there.

Thomas stayed behind with Annalise to keep an eye on her in Ezra’s absence. He walked behind Annalise and Beatrice, listening to their conversation.

"If you don’t mind, I will get to work on changing around your bedroom now. The guest room might be a little bit too boring for you as it is now. Some of River’s old armour which might be a little rusty should be in storage. You can look through them if you want. River can tell you the story behind each," said Beatrice.

She remembered when River came home he would bring his ruined armour to tell Rafael stories about what happened to the armour. Most of the River’s armour was still stored here because they were a piece of his great victories while few were kept at their home.

Rafael followed his father in not throwing away all of his armour and kept a collection of the ones in good condition. Some are in his bedroom while others are in storage.

Beatrice didn’t mind the two storing them because she believed it was something great to leave behind for people who didn’t have the chance to meet her husband or son to see their armour one day.

"I would love to see them. I hope the one from when he fought my father is still here. He knew that I was from there, but he is not aware of whose daughter I am," said Annalise.

"Yes. I still need to have a word with my husband for not telling me about your secret. He forgot our promise to not hide something from each other. I know it was just a guess he had, but I would have loved to be told. I could have meddled to get you and Rafael to talk about it," Beatrice said, planning to ask River what else he hadn’t told her.

"There he is," Beatrice said, walking ahead of Annalise to greet her husband. He couldn’t have had better timing.

Beatrice ran to River, not caring about the maids watching her run around in the manor. She had to check him to make sure her brother did not hurt him.

Annalise stood back with Thomas, watching from afar as the two reunited. Now that River was here, Annalise doubted her room would be changed today or she would be hearing stories about River’s fights since the couple had much to talk about.

Annalise looked to her side at Thomas who was already watching her. She was not ready to speak yet so she walked ahead knowing he would follow her. She had to give him a little more of a cold shoulder to make him regret telling her father.

Now that she was away from Rafael thanks to him having to start writing and sending off letters to the palace, she could search for the dungeon freely and then look for some breakfast for her spider.

While Annalise started her search for the dungeon, far away from the manor, news of Rafael’s return was spreading.

Siena sat at the large table, eating her breakfast in silence so as to not disturb Travis. She tried to eat quickly so she could return to her room, but at the same time, she had to be careful to not let Travis notice she was in a rush to get away.

Travis had been in a foul mood ever since Rafael left town with his mother and River had been quick to kill anyone Travis sent his way. Siena walked on eggshells around Travis to avoid being the one to face his anger.

At night if she ventured outside her room to go on a walk, Siena heard a strange noise as if someone was hitting a wall. After ending up on the floor Travis’s room was on and hiding when the door opened, she witnessed one of Travis’s men being carried away with arrows in his chest.

She had to cover her mouth to stop her voice from being heard so Travis wouldn’t know she was aware that he was killing his servants at night to let out his anger. Siena started to pay attention to the faces she didn’t see any more and was able to put together that Travis was getting rid of those closest to him who might be the ones failing to find Beatrice or kill River.

Siena watched as a maid walked up to Travis and whispered something in his ears.

Travis flicked his fingers, sending the maid away. He put down the paper which had nothing interesting to read about. "Today will be a good day for the two of us, Siena. My dear nephew has returned to town with my sister. You must be excited to see him."

"I am," Siena answered, forcing a smile.

"You remind me of my sister when you smile like that. No matter what she was feeling, she wore a smile before our guests or around our parents. I liked her then. She was more obedient and wasn’t costing me any money. Now, I want her dead more than anyone I ever had problems with. Do you know why?" Travis asked, looking at Siena’s almost empty plate.

He snapped his fingers and pointed at her plate for more food to be added so they could keep talking. If she became concerned about her weight, she could take a walk around the large garden.

Siena put her knife and fork down then put her hands on her lap to give the maid space. "I do not know why. I was not told the full story of why you and your sister are not close other than her marriage to River."

"Well, it was all about that. Our parents spoiled us when we were younger so when it came time for us to marry, I married a woman I could benefit from and then it was Beatrice’s turn. My dear little sister wanted to be selfish and not play her role. She cost my parents money. Cost me things I was looking forward to having," Travis explained.

"Then there was the shame that followed for my family to have to hear the mockery from my sister running off with a man who had no status. To have fools far below me laughing at me and my great family name, why shouldn’t I want my sister dead? Don’t you agree?" Travis asked, picking up his knife to use.

"Reputations are important. I have seen names be tarnished and watched houses fall. I can only imagine how you felt what she did would ruin your family," Siena answered.

Travis smiled, impressed by her answer. Sometimes it was better to speak to her than the idiots he hired. "I stepped up to save my family from being laughed at. I wanted to kill her long ago but then that man started to grow popular. Now my nephew has ties to the palace. I can grow my family name more when I step foot in the palace. I won’t be laughed at twice, Siena."

Travis wouldn’t allow for the engagement with Siena and Rafael to fail.

"I will not let you down," Siena promised.

"I know you won’t and you can start by telling me more about the maid my nephew took on the trip. Word has recently reached my ears that he was close to her during your time away. You did not share that with me when you returned. Keeping secrets from me now?" Travis asked.