The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 362: The talk (3)

"There you two are. I was starting to think I had to eat breakfast alone with River. Not that I mind," Beatrice said, tapping River’s hand before he sulked over her words. "Do you come with gifts?" Beatrice asked, looking at the old box in Annalise’s hands.

"Kind of," Annalise answered, looking at River.

"I left the news up to you to share," Beatrice said, referring to Annalise being the daughter of the man River once fought. She only confirmed River’s suspicion that Annalise was from the border. The rest was for Annalise to share. "Mavis, please have the maids leave us and make sure no one eavesdrops on our conversation. I will call for you when we are ready."

"Understood," Mavis said, clapping her hands for the maids to hurry out. After the incident with Annalise slapped by Aria, she was on the watch for more maids acting a fool.

"Thank you," Annalise said to Beatrice and Rafael for him pulling out her chair. "Do you remember fighting the leader of my people at the border?" Annalise asked River.

She sat on the right side of the table, facing Beatrice while Rafael sat at the head of the table, being in the middle of her and Beatrice. River was seated beside Beatrice like always.

"It was one of my greatest fights and also the one that questioned how good your leader was," River answered. He could never forget the fight which felt like hours because neither he nor the leader were ready to give up and die.

It was still surprising years later that they came to a draw and decided to walk away from the fight. River couldn’t remember how they decided to end the fight and have both sides go home.

"That fight was a story I requested to hear before going to bed. I have always looked forward to seeing the man who fought my father," Annalise confessed. The child in her felt excited each time she looked at River.

Others would see River as a monster when the story was told, but Annalise had always wanted to see the fight with her own eyes. See who matched her father’s skills. She was more a fan of River than she was of Rafael.

River looked to Rafael who nodded his head, confirming that it was true. "You are the leader’s daughter? You are the next person to take over?" He asked, finding it hard to believe someone with so much power was freely walking around the manor. Walking around them.

"Yes. You wouldn’t know it, but my family’s last name is Woods. I will soon take after my father when the truce is done and sealed. He fought hard to kill you because if you succeeded, you would have led the knights to our home where I was with my mother or I would have become the leader far earlier than my father wanted," said Annalise.

"I have been patiently waiting to see you fight so I can have a better idea of how the fight with my father went. My father is still eager to settle the score with you and be the one to win. My mother won’t allow it so future family dinners won’t be with my father trying to kill you," Annalise joked to make light of their weird family.

"And I wouldn’t let River try to fight your father. They are too old for that now especially with our children being together. I look forward to meeting your parents. River," Beatrice said, tapping his leg under the table. "It would be better for you to say something and not just stare."

"I’m sorry. I’m just finding it hard to get used to his daughter sitting before us. You need to improve who you let into the manor," River said, seeing it as a big problem she was able to be in the manor for long before anyone suspected she was from the border.

"I’m already making changes to who is hired," Rafael said, already knowing that something like this couldn’t happen again. Annalise could have been here to kill him and knowing that she was a good fighter, she could have succeeded.

"I don’t have anything against your father for me to suddenly not like you, Annalise. Our fight was long ago and I have moved on from it. As you might know, I have other people who need to be dealt with. I will do my best to not make family dinners awkward. Forgive me if I am still a little shocked about who your father is," said River.

"It is fine. Anyone here would be shocked to know about my family. When I went home, I spoke to my grandmother about your father, Nicolas Callahan. It turned out that the woman he loved came from the border. This box has memories of their relationship and I think it is more fitting for you to keep it," Annalise said, passing the box to Rafael for him to pass to his mother and then River.

River already knew that Iris was from the border. This fact was the only thing along with the marking at the orphanage that Nicolas shared with him years after Iris went away and never returned. He was never told about a box and now that Nicolas was no longer around, he looked forward to seeing what belonged to his late father.

"My grandmother gave it to me to watch over, but it is only right I share this with you. Iris is the reason my grandmother is so excited that I am with Rafael," Annalise said, watching River open the box. "She hopes for us to have a happier ending to their story. For couples with one person from each side could freely visit both lands."

"It was kind of you to give it to River," Beatrice said, happy for River to have more memories of his father. There wasn’t much Beatrice could give River to let him enjoy memories of Nicolas so she was grateful to Annalise for this surprise. "We used to have a lot of those flowers around our old home. We should plant some more," she said, recognising one of the old, dried-up flowers River took out.

Unfortunately, it broke apart when he placed it on the table because of how old it was, but Beatrice thought of replacing it with a fresh flower to add more life to the box.

River was too invested in the box to speak, but as he took out the letters which were the last memory to be taken out, he said, "Thank you. I look forward to looking over each one, but when I am finished, I will hand it back to you."

"Why?" Annalise asked. She thought River would want to store it somewhere safe since it belonged to his father and Iris. Now that she saw how happy he was to go through the box, she disregarded her idea to have her and Rafael keep adding to the box along with Beatrice and River.

"You and Rafael are a lot like Iris and my father. I can always ask you to see the box when I want to. Beatrice and I have been thinking about what we would pass down to Rafael and this box should be included. It contains memories of the first Callahan that I know of and the woman who would have become his wife," River said, carefully packing everything into the box to avoid ruining them for Rafael and Annalise.

"Recently, I was thinking of what we would pass down as family heirlooms. I will add some of the things I treasured during my marriage that are of value to this box for you two to inherit when you wed. When the time comes, you can pass it down to your children," Beatrice said, excited to get started on starting a new family tradition for all their relationships to be remembered for generations.