Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 21: Selfish (3)

Dante entered the training grounds where other knights were present, but after seeing his arrival, they hurriedly left so they could not be dragged into his harsh training methods.

Dante didn’t pay any mind to the knights for now. They would be forced to train under his watch soon, but for now, he would allow them a day to rest.

Rick was the only one brave enough to approach Dante.

"I’m sorry. I should have waited for your order before I placed her in the dungeon," Rick said, knowing his actions were wrong.

"The next time you act without my command, you can leave my castle. The others can make mistakes, but one of my second in command cannot. You know better," Dante scolded Rick. "Don’t make orders based on personal judgments. Base it on evidence."

"I’m sorry. I heard that Victoria was poisoned and then walked into your wife holding a knife with your mother nearby. I should have calmed myself and looked into it more while you were away," Rick said, regretful that he did something to disappoint Dante.

Rick still thought Dante acted too fast to free Ophelia and was missing a chance to accuse the Valthorns of plotting against them, but he shouldn’t voice his opinions since he was acting on personal feelings.

"Hate her all you want, but she is still my wife. Unless you see her commit the crime, I will be the sole one to decide if she is placed in a dungeon. Understood?" Dante asked as he unsheathed his sword.

"Understood," Rick answered. "I told the other men not to act out of order."

"Good. Now, find me a suitable tutor for my wife. They must come to the castle quickly to teach her all that a lady needs to know by the time we depart to see the king," said Dante.

Rick didn’t understand why Ophelia needed a tutor. "Shouldn’t she have been taught how to do so already?"

"It appears Joel and his wife didn’t care about her upbringing. At first glance at her hands, I could tell she is a lady that worked perhaps her entire life. They gave her enough to do well on the wedding day and threw her to the wolves," Dante said, taking pity on Ophelia.

"Why didn’t you ask that Lord Valthorn send one of his blood daughters? It’s not-"

"The king knows she isn’t Joel’s daughter, but he accepted the offer. Ophelia was bestowed the Valthron name when she was a little girl, and Joel acted as though he cared for her. Had he sent one of his spoiled daughters, I might have killed her already," Dante said whilst staring at his sword.

Since Ophelia didn’t seem to care about the war and didn’t care for Joel, it saved her.

"If she wasn’t treated well by the Valthorns, then maybe she might be of use to us. You must reconsider seducing her," Rick suggested.

Dante smiled since that wouldn’t be as easy as Rick thought. "My dear wife hates me, and I prefer to keep it that way. Besides, though she might dislike Lord Valthorn, I believe her word that she doesn’t want anything to do with the war."

Rick scratched his head. "So why accept the marriage? Unless her mother was in danger, or they held her captive until the wedding day, she could have escaped or rebelled on the wedding day."

"To protect his daughters, Joel wouldn’t allow her to get away. I want you to hire men to find out what led Ophelia to accept the arranged marriage. The answer might prove if she is our enemy or a woman who should be let free when this ends," said Dante.

Eventually, Dante’s marriage to Ophelia had to end. The truce wouldn’t last forever because Joel would never stop plotting, and Dante intended to kill Joel.

The king turned a blind eye to Joel’s actions merely because he despised Dante. Accepting Ophelia as Dante’s future bride was another way for the king to upset and control Dante.

"We have a few spies left in the Valthorn castle and in the town. I’ll send the order by a messenger bird now."

"No, send someone to do it. It’s risky if our birds are shot down again. Prepare a guard to be at Victoria’s side when she is out of her chamber. I want to know where she goes and who she meets with," Dante said, his suspicions on the rise.

"Forgive me, but do you not trust Victoria?" Rick asked, hoping it wasn’t so. "She’s loyal to you. She would never betray you or your mother."

"I trust Victoria, but she still makes too many mistakes. Do as I say and send the doctor here," Dante said and then walked away from Rick to continue with his training.

Rick stared at Dante for a moment, trying to place what Dante was planning, but like always, he couldn’t figure it out.

Rick soon left, and as Dante wanted, he sent Eliza to Dante.

When Eliza walked into the training ground, she flinched, startled by the sound of the wooden target being broken by Dante’s sword.

Eliza was scared to approach Dante even though she had not done anything to warrant being afraid.

"Come forward," came Dante’s order.

Eliza did as he commanded. "Lord Hastings," she greeted.

"Have you found the cause of Victoria’s illness?"

"I have not, Lord Hastings. I searched the food, went into the kitchen, and the guards escorted me to search the servants’ quarters, but nothing was found. I cannot speak confidently on what poison was used, but I am trying my best," Eliza promised.

"Miss Victoria is strong and is recovering quite well. She might not have ingested much of the poison," Eliza explained.

"But still, after searching her food, you could not find traces of a poison. You may stop searching and go back to your other work. I shall tend to Victoria," Dante said and set down his sword since training was now over.

"I don’t understand," Eliza said, thinking she still needed to watch Victoria and look for poison.

"It doesn’t need to be explained. Do as I say," Dante said as he walked by Eliza. "I am becoming quite tired of all of you questioning my orders. Perhaps you need to be reminded of your place."

Eliza was left stumped. Though she was asked to let it go, she feared not looking into it further, as someone else might be harmed.

’I must find it in secret,’ Eliza thought.

While Eliza planned to go against Dante’s order, Dante made his way to Victoria’s chamber.

Upon arrival, Dante’s presence was announced, and the door was soon opened by Nora.

Dante strode in with his arms behind his back and found Victoria awake on her bed.

"Dante," Victoria smiled as she sat up.

"Leave us," Dante ordered Nora.

Victoria nodded for Nora to obey the order.

Dante waited for the door to close before going closer to the bed. He inspected Victoria’s appearance and said, "Of all the plans you could come up with to stay, you chose a foolish one."