Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 143: Trouble (3)

Remus looked away from Cecilia.

If Remus broke the most important rule in the castle, then he could count his days in the castle goodbye. No, he might be killed.

Cecilia smiled after seeing the doubt in Remus’s eyes, despite how he tried to hide it. "Was it not I who helped your family in their greatest time of need? You entered the castle when you were old enough to serve my son, but your parents served me well. Or, have you forgotten?"

Remus bowed his head. "I have not forgotten. I’m certain the others have not forgotten how much you have helped their families. I’ll do it," he accepted the plan.

"Of course you’ll do it. You want to help my son, after all. I will be in the castle near the end of it once Dante is back to his normal state. He will need the warmth of a mother’s hug when it is done. Tell me, have you heard more about her brother coming to the castle?" Cecilia inquired.

"Lord Hastings sent out men to personally escort the brother and the Valthorn who will accompany him-"

"What do you mean, the Valthorn who will accompany him?" Cecilia perked up. This was the first time she had heard of this. "You mean to tell me that not only will her brother now be in the castle, but a Valthorn will be there with him? Is Dante mad?" She yelled.

Why was the castle all of a sudden becoming a gathering for Valthorns when the point was always to keep them off the Hastings land?

Cecilia palmed her face. "That curse is making my son go senile. That is the only explanation. I should have stepped in to stop the marriage plans when the king spoke of it. I should have made him marry Victoria long ago. That was my mistake, but I won’t make more mistakes."

Cecilia thought of writing to the men with status and influence around the castle to get them to talk sense into Dante.

"If I may," Remus requested the chance to speak.

"Speak."

"What if Lord Hastings has created the opening to kill three Valthorns? Lady Hastings, her brother, and the third Valthorn could all fall. If it is Nigel Valthorn to visit the castle, then Lord Hastings could get rid of Lord Valthorn’s only heir," Remus suggested.

"It is true, but we will fall right back into war. Dante would have to be ready for battle, but if we can kill Joel’s only son, then this war will die with Joel. It is perfect," Cecilia laughed.

The time for the Hastings family to succeed had finally come.

"Find out who will be accompanying the boy to the castle. I have a few plans to make, but the most important one is seeing that Dante kills her. Blame it on that beast inside of him. Have you found no way to heal my son? I cannot endure this any longer," Cecilia said, wary just from the thoughts of the full moon.

Cecilia couldn’t go through another moment of hearing what Dante did to himself while he was caged or hear descriptions of the beast. She wished the curse had ended with Dante’s father. No, it should have stuck with the man who caused it.

Cecilia rubbed her forehead. "Why am I forced to suffer like this?"

"That reminds me," Cecilia said, looking at Remus once more. "Why did my son take part in the hunting event? Was it truly for that woman’s sake?"

"It appears to be so. That is what all the knights who were in the capital said. It appears Lord Hastings also spoiled the lady with new dresses, shoes and-"

Remus ducked to avoid the brush Cecilia threw.

"Has he lost his mind? To do it in the castle is already absurd, but to act as though he loves that woman in the capital is embarrassing. I can hear it now. Lord Hastings has been captivated by the Valthorn woman. All his efforts will be overlooked thanks to this!" Cecilia yelled, her voice going hoarse.

Cecilia needed to keep herself calm for the sake of her health, but Dante was doing everything to make her a madwoman.

"I cannot sit by while he ruins the castle. For now, every action up until this point will be blamed on that beast. Along with ending the war, I must get that beast out of my son one way or the other. I don’t care if we must drag him to a church again to pray it out of him. I cannot stand this!" Cecilia exclaimed.

Cecilia wished for her family to be normal.

"For now, go ahead with preparing the plans for killing that woman. You must stay out of sight for as long as you can so she cannot send you out of the castle. That time will soon be upon us," said Cecilia.

Cecilia needed Ophelia dead by the end of the full moon. As long as they kept Ophelia’s death a secret, the Valthorns would still send Ophelia’s brother, and if the Hastings were lucky, Nigel Valthorn.

A knock on the door was heard.

"Lady Cecilia?" Victoria’s voice was heard.

"Go," Cecilia ordered Remus, pointing to the window for him to make his escape.

At the moment, Cecilia didn’t trust Victoria. She knew that to get back into Dante’s good graces, Victoria would share all that she overheard.

Cecilia waited for Remus to go out the window, then answered the door. "Come in."

Victoria entered the chamber and looked around for the second voice she believed she heard. She frowned, confused by it only being Cecilia in the chamber.

"I thought I heard voices. Were you speaking to yourself?" Victoria asked.

Cecilia laughed. "Why would I speak to myself? You heard wrong. Why did you come to visit me?"

"I saw lights in the distance in the direction of the castle and thought something was wrong. Surely, he would send someone to tell us if there was danger in the castle. He cannot be so angry that he would exclude us, right?" Victoria asked, trying to be hopeful.

"He would tell us, but if he didn’t, news would still reach me. You mustn’t worry about my son. He will come back to you in due time. Why don’t you and I have a little outing to distract ourselves? I enjoy dressing you up," Cecilia said.

Victoria didn’t think now was a good time for an outing when she wanted Cecilia to focus on finding her a husband, but if it kept Cecilia from troubling Dante, then Victoria would go along with it.