The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 373: Offer (1)

Rafael knocked on the door to let his father know he was there. "Mother is having fun with Annalise picking out dresses and here you are looking over maps," he said, entering the room his father had taken over.

"I know where Travis lives. Now I can move before he does something to someone we love. I can’t have him getting in the middle of your relationship. I can’t allow my past to interfere with your present," River said, continuing to look over the map.

"He doesn’t own the mansion. He’s renting it for a few weeks. Someone is bringing me the plans for the house from one of the workers who built it. I’ll get him out of your hair soon. No matter what your mother says, don’t tell her about him anymore," said River.

Beatrice was doing better these days to not panic when Travis’s name was said, but River didn’t want her thinking or hearing about her brother.

"She says she is fine. She only knew about Travis because she was walking around early this morning," Rafael said, inspecting the markings his father made on the map. "He might be hosting a party to announce my engagement."

"He won’t be alive to host a party then. He has nothing to make you attend the party. I will attack before he has something. We only need to hope we are not missing what makes him so confident. Are you hearing screams?" River asked, looking up at the ceiling. There should be a bedroom above the room they are in.

"I did not," Rafael answered, trying to hear what his father heard. "If there is trouble, someone will come to me. Do you want me to join you in killing him?"

"I don’t plan on killing him," River replied. "That’s an easy way out of all the shit he’s pulled over the years. I’m taking him somewhere. Not here or at my home. Somewhere to hide him if the town guards come looking. I’ve been getting it prepared with everything I need since you left. What I need help with is a distraction to take him."

River continued to explain, "One that he wouldn’t expect since he is smart. I need it at night so we won’t be spotted to be placed as a suspect. Taking him means that your grandparents will come looking for their heir. I worry about your mother seeing them again."

"Is mother afraid of them? She told me more about her past with Travis and I believe her parents were aware something was going on between her and Travis," Rafael said as it was too unlikely they would ever notice a change in his mother.

"They did because I went to her father to tell him after I had enough of seeing your mother walking around like a ghost. I was told to stay in my place and if not for me, Beatrice wouldn’t need to be punished to be reminded of her duty. Her father at least knew," River said, clenching his fist.

They were so caught up in what they would gain from Beatrice’s wedding that they ignored the drastic change in her. The young woman who used to always be smiling walked around like she didn’t know how to smile. It was in River’s eyes the Normans could all go to hell.

The reason he didn’t want Beatrice to meet her parents would be her feeling conflicted. Beatrice hated her brother, but there was some love there for her parents. She was open to them sending a letter to meet again so they could see their grandson.

They were never going to become one big happy family, but they would at least see each other again. River wasn’t thrilled about it because he worried about them ignoring Travis’s bullshit and trying to get Beatrice to forgive him.

"I will see what I can do to get Travis to come out of his home. I have a maid he sent to get Annalise in my dungeon. We can find some use for her. I am here to help if you need it. You don’t need to do it alone because it is your problem from the past," Rafael said, reminding his father that there was more help instead of doing this alone. "It will be only you torturing him when we get him."

"Thank you. If there is something I need, I will ask. As of right now, I am just waiting on the plans for his home so I can decide how we take him. It would be good if we knew someone on the inside to tell us how many men he has. Do you think the maid he hired was inside his home? He could have used someone else to hire her and never met with her," said River.

"I will have one of the men in the dungeon ask. Father, have you considered that we would be well within our right to attack if Travis attacked us first? We would only have to make it look like he was killed and his body unrecognisable for you to take him. We would also need to provoke him to make it look like he made the first attack. It would be better if his attack is done at the manor or your home," Rafael suggested.

"We already had two attacks. One when he sent men to my home and the maid you have. We could use the maid to twist what Travis hired her for. Give her a little money and offer her freedom from the dungeon. We’ll need Annalise since he was after her. Are you okay with that?" River asked since it would have her knowing more about their plans.

She didn’t need to be involved in a fight. She only needed to recall the maid trying to kill her when the town guards would come asking questions. They all needed to have the same story Annalise was attacked inside Rafael’s home.

"She will be up for it, but I will still ask her first. We can still provoke him to make him attack us. He’s so cocky that he won’t resist sending us a message to not mess with him. We’ll need to be ready so no one gets hurt during that time. Not us, not my knights or servants,’ Rafael said, wanting to avoid any injuries on his side.

"It is possible for us to do it without anyone getting hurt if we plan properly. I can change up my plans while we wait for the map of the mansion to be delivered. We need to continue to keep your mother and Annalise from walking around the town even with guards. I know Annalise can defend herself, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Especially with all this talk about guns these days," River suggested.

Now that his father mentioned it, Rafael did have to worry about guns because they were floating around easily for anyone with money to get their hands on. He forgot to ask Annalise if she or her people knew anything about guns.

"You’ve been in here for a few minutes and already helped me. I," River stopped to stare at his son. "Bend down a little. Why are you getting taller than me?"

"I am not bending down for you to pat my head. Perhaps with old age, you are shrinking," Rafael commented to tease his father.