Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 112: Silence (1)

At the Hastings’ mansion, Alice knocked on Ophelia’s door, ready to wake Ophelia and get her dressed for the morning. She heard the knights speaking of leaving in an hour and wanted to prepare Ophelia to be on time.

"If she doesn’t answer, leave her be," Thomas said as he approached Alice.

Alice knocked again. "I am not going to be the reason she woke up late. I don’t want to be on thin ice with her or Lord Hastings. It is always a hassle to wake her. I dress her for bed, yet it is like she doesn’t get any sleep. I cannot wait," she said, opening the door.

Alice searched the room for Ophelia, but she was nowhere to be found. She laughed as she exited the chamber.

"Lady Hastings is missing, and surely, I will be blamed for it. You as well, since you are not at her side. We are to be with her every step she takes. Would she be so foolish as to go out alone?" Alice asked, pacing back and forth.

"Lord Hastings would know if his wife wandered out alone. You should wake him and tell him that you cannot find his wife. Or," Thomas said, looking at Dante’s door. "Maybe she went to speak to her husband early in the morning. Lady Hastings couldn’t have snuck out without a guard seeing her."

"You are right, but if they are speaking in his chamber, I don’t want to be the one to disturb them. You should go since she likes you more. You remind her of your brother," Alice said, pushing Thomas forward.

Thomas walked toward the door and knocked on it twice before leaving Alice to be the one to speak to Dante.

"You traitor," Alice whispered.

On the other side of the door, Dante was awoken by the noise. Alice was becoming a little noisy as the days passed. She didn’t have any reason to be since he made it clear he would move on from what she did.

Dante tried to move his hand to rub his eyes, but felt a weight on the right side of his body. He didn’t have to look to realise his wife, who once slept on the other side of the bed, had crept closer to him during the night.

Dante laid still like a log.

It was unusual for him to be in bed so late since he always checked the surroundings of the mansion early in the morning and spoke with his knights.

"As comforting as this is, you must wake up. Your food will go cold," Dante said, trusting the mention of food to get Ophelia moving.

"You cannot use food to move me," Ophelia said, ignoring that it worked. "I apologise for taking your side."

"I gladly shared it with you. You might want to move fast since your maid is outside panicking. She worries you might be missing," said Dante.

Ophelia opened her eyes and stared at the door. She had not felt Dante get out of bed, so how did he know what Alice was saying or that she was panicking?

"Was she yelling? I don’t understand how you would have heard her," Ophelia said, shifting her gaze to Dante.

It felt wrong to let him out of her sight since she didn’t know what his secrets were.

"She knocked on the door, and she is not quiet," Dante answered.

"Just as I am not quiet in my chamber? I cannot hear you when you walk around, yet you could hear me? I agree it is time for me to leave," Ophelia said, moving quickly to slip off the bed.

"Ophelia, it is natural that I am light on my feet. I learned to be quiet for ambushes," Dante tried to explain.

Ophelia walked towards the door. "That I understand, but you must also understand that there is so much which is confusing to me. Since I don’t have the answers, I am a little wary. Thank you for offering your chamber and bed to me, but I must go."

"Are we back to the beginning, all because I overheard your maid or you in your chamber?"

"No, I never said that we were taking any steps back. I have a right to be confused and question what I notice. I don’t regret that I came here, nor will I try to avoid you, but I would like to get back to my chamber. Since you can’t share your secret, it is best that I go before I get even more curious," said Ophelia.

"We’re going to be leaving this morning," Dante shared. "Best to get out of the capital before we are pulled to the palace again. I know you don’t want to upset the king to avoid him going back on his order, but for your safety, we must leave now."

"I trust your judgement. I will go with Alice to gather my things and be out shortly," Ophelia answered.

Ophelia continued to walk to the door, and before she could turn the doorknob, she faced Dante. "Just as I am working toward sharing my secrets with you, I hope you can do the same with me. I don’t know whether it is that you think I would be afraid or that I would share it. I hope you can start trusting me."

"I do trust you, but I worry I may scare you. It is best to leave it unknown and trust that I will never hurt you," said Dante.

"Hmm. I believe we can’t fully trust each other if there is something important you hide from me. I laid in bed with you, something I have only done with my brother. That is how much I have grown to trust you, but the concern about what you hide will block me from trusting you more. I won’t fear you," Ophelia promised Dante.

"Time will soon tell if you are true about not fearing me. When it comes, I hope you do not run," Dante said, hopeful they would stay as they are now.

Ophelia smiled. "As long as you ease me into it, I won’t run. You forget the kind of men that I once lived with. You cannot be more of a monster than Joel or Nigel. I urge you to think of all that we have said and done thus far. I will see you soon," she said, opening the door.

Alice sighed in relief upon seeing Ophelia. "My lady, you are safe."

"We must get ready to leave," Ophelia said as she walked by Alice.

Ophelia thought of what she told Dante as she walked to her chamber. Like Dante, she hoped she could be true to her word to not run.