Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 36: The ball (4)

"Now that you have wed Lord Hastings, do you not need to see your family? Are you not worried about what others will think of you?" Freya asked, forcing herself to keep a smile.

It infuriated Freya that she was right about Ophelia all along. Ophelia should never have been chosen to marry Lord Hastings.

"Should I speak up and tell the guests why I don’t want to sit with my family? We have never been close, so why should I act like it now? Consider it a gift that I am not going to sit with you now, but in the future, we can have dinner," said Ophelia.

"I want to speak with you. You didn’t say goodbye to us," Bella spoke up.

It saddened Bella that Ophelia wouldn’t be near, and now that Ophelia was standing before her, Ophelia didn’t want to speak.

"It appears the distance has done something to my daughter. I admire your closeness, but I ask that you allow me to speak to my daughter alone. Her sisters miss her, as you can see," Giselle said, trying once more to get rid of Dante.

Giselle harboured a bit of jealousy toward Ophelia due to the dress and jewels she wore. It was evident that Dante wasted no expense to show off Ophelia.

It didn’t sit well with Giselle that she had wed her daughter off to a man wealthier than her husband.

"I prefer to have him at my side. How is Theo doing? I was just speaking to my husband about my brother. Lord Hastings would like to meet him," Ophelia said, avoiding Dante’s gaze.

It was wrong to use Dante without asking, but if Ophelia didn’t use his name, her mother wouldn’t answer.

Though it didn’t show, Giselle was furious that Ophelia brought up Theo. Not many knew that it was not one, but rather two children Giselle had before she wed Joel. Giselle liked to keep her past private, which was why she rarely spoke of Ophelia.

"Theo is well. His doctors take good care of him," Giselle answered, feeling a jab in her chest with each word that left her lips.

"All this time, I never knew that you had another child. You kept them away from the palace when you visited with your husband and his children," Dante added to the fire.

"Ophelia and Theo were never ones to enjoy the attention, so my wife did what was best and let them remain home. We shouldn’t speak too much about Theo since it is a soft subject for my wife. You know better, Ophelia. I would hate to think you are always so careless around your husband," said Joel.

Ophelia looked away to avoid Joel’s gaze. Her body tensed up as she thought of what he would do if they were alone.

"Lord Hastings, what use is the truce if we cannot speak? Ophelia is safe in the care of my daughters and my wife’s presence. There is something I want to bring to your attention, and I would like to involve my son," Joel said, eager for his son to be pushed to the forefront.

Ophelia’s eyes widened.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Nigel Valthorn would be present, but Ophelia hadn’t thought of him. She tried not to.

Nigel was far worse than his father with what he called his punishments. Unlike Joel, who spoke of Ophelia as his disgraceful stepdaughter, Nigel didn’t see Ophelia as family, so his punishments were always cruel.

Dante noticed the change in Ophelia’s behaviour and knew it was time for them to leave.

"My decision still stands that we will talk about the truce tomorrow, unless you want to speak now of the men you sent to follow my horse?" Dante asked, revealing a secret he wanted to hold onto a little longer.

Joel’s lips folded into a thin line. "Come, we must find your brother," he said, deciding to back off for now.

Ophelia didn’t watch her family walk away since she was too wrapped up in her fears.

"Come with me," she heard Dante whisper.

Ophelia followed Dante. She welcomed a moment to get away from all the prying eyes and to be away from her family.

Dante led Ophelia to a small room away from the ballroom. He loosened his hold on Ophelia’s hand now that they were out of sight.

Ophelia took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I just need a moment," Ophelia said, touching her forehead.

"Take all the time you need. I welcome a reason to get away from the crowd," said Dante.

Dante watched from a distance as Ophelia tried to comfort herself. The simple interaction she had with her family painted a big portrait for Dante.

Besides her brother, Ophelia had no one. She didn’t have her birth mother, as it appeared Giselle didn’t want to speak about her children.

"Was it Joel or his son that left those marks?"

"Since you can’t tell me about your secrets, then you must understand that I don’t want to tell you about mine. I don’t want to speak about my family. Please," Ophelia pleaded.

Ophelia wanted to forget the details of how she was punished.

"Then let us speak of the favour you asked of me. The one to let you leave when the war is over. It must be that you want to take your brother with you. I shall help you to find a way to get your brother by your side. When the war ends, I can prepare a home for you to stay in," Dante offered.

Ophelia turned around to face Dante. "I don’t know any of Joel’s secrets."

"I don’t need you to. Your only use to me was pleasing the king and putting a break to the war in the eyes of the kingdom. I meant it when I said I don’t trust you to plot against the Valthorns with you," Dante said, staying true to his word.

Ophelia didn’t understand. "Then what could you want now? I am already acting like your loving wife. What more could you want?"

"If they try using your brother against you to force you to kill me, tell me. That is all," Dante requested.

"How can you trust that I wouldn’t give in to his plan and stab you to be done with this once and for all?" Ophelia asked, though it was something she would never do.

Why was Dante being so kind?

Dante took small steps toward Ophelia, and in response, Ophelia took small steps back until her back collided with the wall.

"It is not that I trust you. I find you to be a wise woman. We both know your brother is as good as dead if you kill me under Joel’s orders. You’re free when this is over as long as you take neither side."

Dante averted his gaze from Ophelia and glanced to his right at the door.

"We have an eavesdropper. Play along," Dante whispered and leaned forward as if to kiss Ophelia just before the doors opened.