Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 152: Return (1)

Ophelia had her bath after Alice returned, as well as an early dinner. She sat quietly in Dante’s chamber, awaiting news of his return as well as news of the knight being captured, but the knight had gone into hiding somewhere in the castle, so other knights were currently searching for him.

Ophelia tried her best to stay awake, but she was tired and soon sleep overcame her.

Ophelia slipped in and out of a deep sleep as she tried to stay alert for any danger. Her chamber could be the place where the knight revealed himself.

In the early hours of the next day, Ophelia was awoken by movement on the bed. She slipped her hand under the pillow, searching for the knife she kept with her, and when he fingers touched it, Ophelia grabbed the knife and sat up.

Ophelia pointed the knife at the intruder, but to her surprise, it was not who she expected.

Dante held Ophelia’s hand and lowered the knife. "Never have I had a knife pointed at me in my own chamber. You are the first of many things for me," he said.

"You are back already. How?" Ophelia asked, releasing the knife to let it drop to the bed.

"Tracking the duke was the hard part, which took up most of our time, but once I spoke with him, we returned home. Would you have preferred that I take one more day to return?" Dante asked, looking around the chamber as he noticed there were additions to it.

"No. I was only surprised that you made it back so soon. That must mean you two didn’t fight," Ophelia said, relieved.

There was still a good chance for the two men to protect each other from Edward.

"No, but I want to kill him now. What he wanted to say could have been placed in a letter, but I understand wanting to say it directly. He had awful timing," Dante said, still annoyed. "He disturbed our wonderful night."

"We had already kissed and were going to have our dinner. Duke Vale didn’t ruin the moment, so why are you annoyed? I can understand if you were upset to be away from your bed for so long. It would upset me too," said Ophelia.

"He pulled me away from my castle just to speak and rid me of the chance of knowing what could have happened that night. The bright side is I have finally gotten you back into my chamber, and it looks like you have made yourself comfortable here," Dante said, noticing a dress hung up for the next morning.

"Have you taken my absence as the time to move in here?" Dante asked, hoping it was so.

"No. It wasn’t meant to be for a long time. It was only to help Alice because I slept here during the night, so she would get me dressed here. I will have it all moved in the morning when the servants are awake. I will give you back your bed," Ophelia said, sliding to the edge of the bed. "You must be tired, so I will let you rest."

"Not so fast," Dante held Ophelia’s hand. "Your husband just returned, yet already you want to abandon me. Are you not curious if I was injured?"

"You said he only wanted to talk," Ophelia said, not falling for Dante’s trick.

"Yes, but the ride to see him was a difficult one-"

"Why would it be difficult when it is your land? Wouldn’t that mean you need to work on improving your land so it goes well next time? I should leave you to work on it. You are not going to get one over me," Ophelia said, enjoying the way Dante’s plans so effortlessly failed.

"Indeed, I will not. Why do you have the knights tracking down someone in the castle?"

"Oh!" Ophelia gasped, only now remembering she was waiting for Thomas to return. "It is the knight I told you of. Thomas knows who it is. I don’t have proof he is plotting to hurt me, but this knight left the castle in your absence, and now, he is hiding in the castle. It is the problem with having a large home."

"Now that I am back, I will find him. He will panic since there are only a few ways he can sneak out of the castle, and it was reported that they covered all the paths. You seem to have been busy while I was away. Was there any more trouble?" Dante asked, purposely keeping Ophelia in his bed.

"If you are asking about your mother, she did come after knowing, but I didn’t change your order. I hope that when it goes around that she wasn’t let into the castle, it will be shared that your order forbade her from entering the castle," said Ophelia.

"I think we both know you will get the blame for it," Dante answered and felt sorry for Ophelia.

Ophelia sighed. "Of course I will. Aside from the knight the others are searching for, there wasn’t any other trouble. I had a good time with Mary. We might have had a bit too much fun in the castle, but it was worth it."

"You didn’t drink, did you?"

"I knew not to, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself before Mary. I didn’t do anything that would send her away from my side. She is a wonderful woman. It is too bad she is wasting on an awful man whom I’ve never met, but I just have the feeling," said Ophelia.

"I’ll need to thank Mary for keeping you happy in my absence. So, about you staying here since it’s already nearing the time for the day to start. I see no reason for you to get out of bed simply because I am here. I can take the floor," Dante offered, trying to keep Ophelia where she belonged.

"It would be wrong of me to keep your bed when you returned from a tiring journey," Ophelia said, still wanting to leave.

"I agree. We must share the bed. There is a warm bath being prepared for me in another chamber since I didn’t want to disturb you. Would you be so kind as to prepare clothing for me to wear to bed? I trust you will do it," Dante said as he stood up.

Dante walked away from the bed before he could hear more of Ophelia’s objections. He had a chance to continue their interrupted night and would not miss it.

Ophelia was tempted to go back to her chamber, but for this one day, she would allow Dante to have his way.