The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 445: Official (1)

"I hate you," Annalis muttered, panting as she glared at Rafael who pinned her down.

"That’s not very nice, Annalise. You put up a good fight for a long time. Many of the knights would be jealous of you. Would you like to go again?" Rafael asked, slowly moving the sword out of her hand. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Annalise would like to go again, but her body was tired and she blamed it on a day of playing around with her friends. If this was another day when she was well rested, he would be the one pinned down. Then again, she knew to never expect all her fights to happen when she was full of energy. This meant she had to train more to be prepared.

Annalise closed her eyes, trying to get over the pain she experienced. All she wanted to do was lay on the ground for a moment and have Rafael bring her water.

"Did I hurt you?" Rafael asked, concerned now that she was breathing heavily and scrunching up her face.

"The armour kept me protected. I am fine," Annalise said, slowly opening her eyes as the pain went away. "I might have overdid it tonight. Did I seem slow to you?"

"No," Rafael honestly answered. "You were quick to block my attacks. I was lucky to get the best of you once and bring you down."

"Good. That means I have not slacked off so much that I’ve become terrible. It is good that you got the best of me because it feels like hours since the fight started. Look at how much the candles have melted down," Annalise said, looking at the candle in one of the lanterns. "This means that I don’t get to see the surprise. What a shame. I was hoping to win to see what it was."

"I told you that there wouldn’t be any losers tonight. Before you dwell over your loss, consider that we are even now. At the manor, if you had not held back, you would have won then. We are even now and later we would have to spar again to break the tie," Rafael said to cheer her up.

"Then I will train for the third match and be the winner. I’ve been slacking off since we headed to Lockwood. I’ve been finding other things that I enjoy other than using a sword, but I must keep up with my training. So, what are we to do now? Would you like something for winning?" Annalise asked, back to normal now after taking a moment to catch her breath.

Rafael let go of Annalise’s hands and sat up, moving to be seated at the side of her so he would not have his weight on her. "I would like an honest answer to my question. I’ll give you time to think about your answer," Rafael said as he took off his armour.

Annalise sat up, curious about what he wanted. While Rafael took off his armour, she looked around for her helmet which fell off after she landed on the soft grass. She was not yet ready to take off her armour in case she decided to challenge him to another match.

She knew what caused her to lose and was almost ready to correct it so the tie could be broken. It was only when she looked over at the food did she knew they needed to take a break to eat before the food would be too cold.

Before Annalise could get up from the ground, Rafael returned to her side with the box he had set aside to keep protected during their match.

Annalise stared at the box already knowing what it had inside unless Rafael was overly romantic tonight to give her some other jewellery in a box meant for one thing. She didn’t take him as the type to use this box for something else and get her hopes up.

Annalise bit her lip, trying not to laugh at how they were an odd couple. How sparring with each other followed by a proposal worked for them. She had guessed that he might have been planning to propose, but then asking that they spar threw her off from thinking it was going to happen tonight.

She was filled with excitement from getting to spar with him and now seeing this box left her feeling like her heart was going to burst somehow.

Annalise stayed quiet to let him open it first so she could see if it was what she believed it to be. She already had her answer if it was a ring. There was nothing to think about when she had already started to plan her life with him.

Rafael opened the small box, revealing the ring he had carefully made for this moment. It was long overdue that Annalise got to see what belonged to her.

"We have started to plan our life together, but it’s time I start it off the right way so you know how serious I am. I’ve been carrying around this ring for weeks now, waiting until we return to your home to propose to you. I got your father’s permission to ask for your hand, but it all comes down to your answer. Will you marry me, Annalise?" Rafael asked the question that was on his mind all day.

"I need to hear the full story of how you got my father to agree to it. Yes, I will marry you, Rafael. Honestly," Annalise lowered her head, feeling the second time she wanted to cry for the day coming on. "What is with everyone trying to have me cry today?"

"Who bothered you?" Rafael asked.

Annalised chuckled, wiping her tears which came from her happiness and from Rafael suddenly turning protective. "It is not anyone you need to fight. I had a moment with the girls today."

"I see. I will put on the ring for you. I need your left hand," Rafael said, taking up her hand to help her out of her armour.

"We are such an odd couple, but I love it. It will be a good story to tell that you knocked me on my ass and then proposed to me. We’ll have to keep it from my father. He’ll scold me for losing and then try to hurt you for winning," Annalise said, watching as Rafael placed the engagement ring on her finger.

Though the ring was on her finger and she had already said yes, Annalise was yet to believe that she was officially engaged. That they were one step closer to her taking on the Callahan last name.

Annalise couldn’t look away from her hand at the ring which sat perfectly. It wasn’t too big to not suit her since she was not fond of big flashy jewels that attracted unwanted attention, but it was far from small.

"When did you have the time to go to anyone to get a ring made? You were always at the manor," Annalise said, trying to find out how she missed this. She was glad she did so the surprise wasn’t ruined, but still curious.

"I made time during the few days I left home because it was important. I took one of my old swords to have it melted down for the band. Do you like it? If you don’t-"

"You better not try taking my ring away from me or you will find yourself pinned down," Annalise said, moving her hand out of his reach. "I love it the way it is."

She loved it even more knowing that a piece of it came from a sword. Now if she ever had to slap anyone whilst wearing the ring, she could say that she slapped them with a sword.

"Rafael, I need your help," Annalise said softly as something came over her. "I need you to help me out of the rest of the armour and out of the clothes under it. Quickly."