The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 324: Puppet (2)

Rafael couldn’t pinpoint when his hand moved to grab Joel’s neck but he didn’t mind that it was there. Joel lacked the ability to know when to shut up or what not to say to someone. He was almost curious about what was going on in Joel’s head to think what he said was a good idea.

He knew what Joel meant by saying he was waiting for Annalise and her people to be turned into slaves. It was the same disgusting talk he had heard before of wanting the women for sexual acts. Another reason for him to strangle Joel was for mentioning slaves when it was not something the kingdom did anymore.

Rafael had conquered many lands for the king and never once were the enemies who survived turned into slaves. The kingdom had long moved on from turning someone into a slave because of how many people were being sold off for money and it truly wasn’t a slave that men like Joel wanted. They were looking to have the women sent to the red light district or kept in their homes so they could try something new.

All Rafael thought of was Annalise as a woman Joel was looking to capture. Joel would not succeed but the mere thought of Joel attempting something fueled his anger. He tightened his hold on Joel’s neck not minding if he were to break it. He would deal with the complaints from the palace court when the time came.

"Don’t even think about trying something," Christian said, unfolding his arms as he walked forward to the group of guards Joel came to them with. They wanted to move to attack Rafael while he was holding Joel, but they ignored they were surrounded by knights. "You walked yourselves right into this."

"Honestly, I would prefer that they try something so I can have a bit of fun," Logan said, going to Rafael’s right while Christian stood on the left. She might have wanted to kill him but Annalise was still his friend so knowing where Joel was trying to go with his words made him want to fight.

Joel tried everything to free himself from Rafael’s hold. "She’s a fucking savage you traitor! Just wait until I tell the palace about your betrayal. Not wanting to do what you were sent for all because of a woman. I’ll tell everyone."

"You would need to be alive to speak," Rafael replied, walking to the side of Joel while still keeping his hold to make Joel follow him.

In the beginning, he was going to try to talk calmly with the guards to let them know there wouldn’t be any more fighting, but his patience had run out and they only had Joel to blame for it.

His mind was telling him to end Joel’s life, but before that, he was going to use Joel as a puppet. Inflict pain on Joel to have him agree to everything he was about to tell the guards.

Rafael didn’t stop walking as he neared the group Joel came to him with. He didn’t need to since they parted to let him pass. They were all talk and no action. Claiming they could defeat him but were silent when he stood right in front of them.

This was the one time Rafael would like them to pick a fight and actually go through with it so he could let out some of the anger he was feeling.

"You bastard!" Rafael heard someone to the right of him yell. He looked over his shoulder to prepare for an attack.

Luckily, Christian was following him along with Logan and stopped the brave fool who decided to attack. Christian stopped the guard from reaching him allowing Rafael to continue to where he was taking Joel.

As Rafael continued to pull Joel by his throat, the number of knights walking behind him increased. Since it appeared like the guards had finally tried to fight Rafael, they were following in case more guards decided to join in.

"Let go of me you fucking traitor!" Joey yelled, trying his hardest not to trip as Rafael dragged him like a little child would with their rag doll.

It was a great insult for him to be held like this when he had just become a captain thanks to Martin dying. Joel wasn’t going to be made a fool by Rafael Callahan. There was still time before Rafael reached where all the guards were gathered so he could save himself from being embarrassed even more.

Joel hopped on his left foot while lifting his right foot to try to kick Rafael’s feet to trip him up. Once he got Rafael to release the hold he had on his neck, then Joel could properly fight him.

Unfortunately, with Rafael roughly pulling Joel forward to follow him, hopping on one foot to try to kick and make Rafael fall ended up in Joel losing his balance and stumbling to the ground.

Rafael let go of Joel before he could be taken down by the idiot. He turned around to watch Joel whose eyes were closed and his face scrunched up most likely because he had injured himself. Rafael could only shake his head at Joel thinking that was a good idea. To try to kick someone while he was being pulled and he could barely keep up.

Rafael bent down to grab two handfuls of Joel’s shirt and pulled him up for him to be back on his feet. Rafael ignored the hissing sound Joel made when he got back up on his feet.

Joel felt a stinging pain in his left ankle but he couldn’t focus on that now when he could attack Rafael. He raised his right hand to throw a punch but was pushed back by Rafael shoving him in the chest before his hands could get high enough to connect with Rafael’s face.

Joel wasn’t ready to give up yet and put his hands up to fight Rafael. It was about time everyone saw that Rafael was not as great as they made him to be. He was riding on the glory of his father and it was only because of his friendship with the king and a few of the wealthy that he was able to rise above all of them who went to the palace to try to become a knight but failed.

If Rafael wasn’t friends with the king, he would be right here at the border just like the rest of them who failed to become knights.

"It’s about time someone put you on your ass, your cocky bastard," Joel said, circling Rafael to find the best spot to throw another punch. To Joel’s dismay, Rafael smiled.

Rafael smiled because of the comment about him being cocky when it wasn’t him telling all these stories about himself. When he won a fight, he didn’t speak about it unless Tobias wanted to know how the victory came about and there was already someone who knocked him on his ass.

Seeing Rafael smile only ticked off Joel some more and then there was Rafael not putting his hands up to fight back. Rafael also did not look angry anymore. He looked bored as if he couldn’t be bothered by Joel.

Joel gritted his teeth and made another attempt to swing at Rafael, but missed again as Rafael stepped out of the way and from the corner of his eyes, he saw a fist coming toward his face.

Rafael punched Joel dead on the left side of his face causing Joel to drop sideways to the ground with his eyes closed.

"Did you kill him?" Logan asked, coming forward to check on Joel. He was certain he heard a faint cracking noise when Rafael punched Joel.

Rafael shook his right hand and looked down at Joel who was still breathing but he was unconscious. Joel should be grateful that it was only a punch and not death like Rafael first had in mind when he grabbed Joel’s throat earlier.

Though his mind still urged him to kill Joel, Rafael resisted so he would have one less problem to deal with when he reached the palace with Annalise.

Rafael turned around to continue going to where the guards were. This might not be the only time he punched a guard tonight. "Bring him. I still have some use for him."