Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 156: Life and death (2)

Ophelia and Dante left the castle by horse, wanting to avoid drawing attention to themselves with a carriage. Ophelia rode with Dante since she wasn’t skilled at riding a horse.

Ophelia took their outing as a chance for her to see more of the Hastings land. To familiarise herself with what could be her forever home.

As they got further away from the castle, they didn’t come across many homes.

Dante rode to what appeared to be a deserted area with many trees and fields.

"It is a good place to settle down," Ophelia noticed.

"She picked where she wouldn’t be disturbed. Sometimes, I have to keep an eye on her since she tends to kill anyone who gets too close to her home. She doesn’t want to be killed because of her crafts. She is innocent otherwise. We will walk from here," Dante said, stopping the horse.

Dante slid off the horse and readied himself to catch Ophelia.

Ophelia followed suit in getting off the horse and jumped down into Dante’s arms. "Will she be angry that you have brought a visitor?"

Dante set Ophelia on the ground and replied, "She might be upset I didn’t give her any notice, but she will get over it. She doesn’t like to admit it, but she likes the company."

Ophelia looked around as Dante tied the horse to a tree. "I hope that is true. If I choose to live where there isn’t anyone around for a good distance, it is because I don’t want company. You must protect me if she isn’t in the mood for visitors."

"She will not harm you, but I will be your knight in shining armour. It is this way," Dante said, holding out his hand for Ophelia to take.

Ophelia accepted Dante’s hand and walked beside him. "How did your family find her, and did they not harm her because they learned from their mistake?"

"I don’t know how they found her, and it would have been silly to kill her when she could be the only one to help us. There was someone who thought to kill her because she couldn’t give us the answer, but my father stopped it," said Dante.

"Your father was wise. If I were this stranger and heard you had not learned from your mistake, I would have turned you into a pig and then roasted you for dinner. What?" Ophelia asked, feigning innocence. "You were cursed because someone in your family killed a woman he betrayed. If you hadn’t learned from the first time, you deserve to be eaten."

"Not by me, of course," Ophelia said, disgusted by the thought of eating a person. "By a wild animal. Though I suppose it would be more evil to feed you to the rest of your family. Why did you let go of my hand?" She questioned, noticing Dante stepped away from her.

"Because your thoughts scare me," Dante confessed.

"I wouldn’t truly do it. I am not so evil," Ophelia replied.

"So evil? Then there is some evil in you. I learn more about you every day, and some of it scares me," said Dante.

"I scare you? Need I remind you of the reason we are here? Mr Beast," Ophelia teased Dante.

Dante sighed. "Part of me regrets telling you of my curse."

"That part of you must stop. If you hadn’t told me and I found a beast running around the castle, who knows what might have happened? There is someone ahead," Ophelia said, watching as a woman gathered flowers in the distance.

"It is her. Wait here," Dante said, walking ahead of Ophelia. "Ester."

"I knew I sensed someone was coming to bother me. Didn’t we agree to leave each other alone?"

Ester, the woman in the fields, looked up to see who had come along with Dante.

"Who did you bring to my home?" Ester asked, eyeing the woman behind Dante. "I hope you aren’t coming here to fool around in my garden."

"She is my wife, and these are wild flowers. It is not a garden," said Dante.

"I have been taking care of them to decorate my home; therefore, it is my garden. Shouldn’t you be dead by now? You look very much alive to me," Ester said, poking Dante with a stick. "If you came here for me to kill you, I won’t do it. It doesn’t matter how many times you ask."

"I have never asked you to kill me," Dante said, following Ester as she started to walk to her home. Dante motioned for Ophelia to follow.

"Then, it must have been one of the ones before you. You, Hastings men, all look alike. What have you come to trouble me with? Try to turn your wife into a beast because she thinks it will be romantic? I told you that I don’t have the power to curse anyone, so go," Ester said, flicking her hand to chase away Dante.

"We’ve come here to speak about breaking the curse. My wife knows-"

"Then I will only speak to her, so why don’t you go on your merry way and pick me more flowers? My home needs some beauty," Ester said, turning around to shove a basket in Dante’s arms. "Only the yellow ones. If you bring me any of the white, I’ll get rid of your pretty little wife."

"I know you don’t mean that, Ester. Why must you try to be so cruel when you enjoy my company? Be nice to her since she’s only trying to help me. Ophelia, you can come speak to her," Dante said, remaining by Ester’s side as Ophelia came forward.

"Hello. I am Ophelia Hastings," Ophelia said, extending her hand to Ester.

"Ester," Ester returned the greeting. "My flowers, Dante. They aren’t going to pick themselves."

Ophelia lowered her hand and gave Dante one last look before he walked away.

"His mother, are you fond of her? Are you close?" Ester asked, eyeing Ophelia from head to toe.

"No, we are not close- Oh," Ophelia gasped, startled by Ester touching her face. "Is there something wrong with my face?"

Ester turned Ophelia’s face left and right until she got a good look at her. She moved her hands from Ophelia’s face once she saw enough.

"Do you not care for your life?" Ester asked, hitting Ophelia’s leg with her stick.

"I do. Am I in danger?" Ophelia asked, starting to feel wary of Ester.

"It cannot be that you care for your life. The longer you stay at his side, the more likely you are to die. The beast will kill, but if you want to escape your fate, run while you have a chance," Ester advised Ophelia.