Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 41: Threat (3)

Ophelia cautiously exited the bathing chamber.

"Were you injured?" Ophelia inquired, curious to know if some of the blood Dante wore was his own.

The blood soaked Dante’s pants and dripped from his fingers.

"No," Dante replied, making way for Ophelia to walk further. He wanted to tidy his appearance before he scared her even more than he felt she already was.

Ophelia averted her gaze back to the men on the floor. She walked to one to see how he had been killed, only to be left puzzled.

’The marks,’ Ophelia thought, confused by the scratches on the man’s face.

It reminded Ophelia of the time she was scratched by a cat.

What weapon could Dante have to leave such marks on anyone?

Ophelia looked back at Dante and found him lighting a cigar. Was now the best time to smoke when they had three dead men in their chamber?

"Gather what you need for the night. I’ll send our servants to get the rest of your belongings in the morning," Dante said, wanting to be far away from the palace.

The sooner they got away from being in the king’s clutches, the better.

"What if more intruders are waiting for us outside? Is it not too risky to leave now?" Ophelia asked, afraid there were others waiting for them.

If the king wanted Dante dead, surely he would have more men ready to attack. The king had complete control of the palace to have an army waiting for them at the door.

"There will be more, but they will not come now," Dante answered.

"I see. You are certain it is the king who sent these men?" Ophelia asked, taking one last look at the intruders. "They’ll be upset to hear that we left in the midst of the night, but what if we toy with them and give them a bit of hope?"

Dante blew smoke from his lips, using the contents of the cigar to calm himself. "What do you have in mind?"

"There are many nobles and other well-known men in the palace right now. Many of them might want to see you dead."

"If neither of us comes out of our chamber from now till late in the morning, they would celebrate, thinking we are dead. Pay attention to those who get excited with the king," Ophelia suggested.

No one would expect them to remain in a room where intruders lay dead. Moving now would alert the king that they were still well, and they might face another attack. If other attackers came to see what became of the plan, Dante would simply have to kill them, and then they could think of leaving.

Ophelia continued to say, "Find a way to relay a message to one of your men. Have them pay attention to the guests in the palace. If anyone meets with Joel or the king after not seeing us in the morning, I would say they are a bit suspicious."

"Wouldn’t it be fun when they think they have won to show up in the morning like a ghost? It would be fun for me," Ophelia said, eager to see Joel’s smile fall. "The king might suspect we are alive when none of these men report back to them, but I have a feeling he would think nothing of it and believe he has won."

"It would be fun to ruin their day. I’m a little surprised you are willing to be involved in this," said Dante.

"The very people who want to kill you won’t mind killing me. I know neither Joel nor my mother would protect me because they want to see you dead, so we must work together. Your enemy is my enemy at the moment, so I will help you where I can," Ophelia promised.

Ophelia needed Dante’s help with Theo, so it was only fair she helped him now.

Ophelia’s gaze lingered on Dante’s body for a moment before she looked away to not be improper. "You should get out of those clothes. There is a bit of water left in the bathing chamber. It might be cold, but it’s better than staying in their blood. I will bring you a change of clothes."

Dante agreed with Ophelia’s plans and entered the bathing chamber.

When the door closed, Ophelia knelt beside the intruder.

Ophelia placed her right hand to the side of the man’s face and noted how her fingers aligned with the marks.

Dante had clawed the dead man in the face, but what puzzled Ophelia was how deep the mark was. Dante’s nails were short compared to Ophelia’s. If she couldn’t leave such marks, how could Dante do it?

Again, Ophelia had the bad feeling that there was something more to Dante. It couldn’t be that she was seeing wrong when it came to his eyes.

The unknown terrified Ophelia. Just when there was a moment she felt comfortable around Dante, she was back to being scared.

Ophelia stood up before Dante could unexpectedly open the door and find that she had not moved. For now, she needed to act normally and get his clothes.

On the other side of the door, Dante didn’t begin to clean up his appearance. He thought of Ophelia’s gaze on the men he killed.

With no weapons in sight, it was expected that Ophelia would be confused and become suspicious, but for her sake, so she could leave in the future with her brother, Ophelia needed to remain clueless.

Dante needed to get rid of her suspicions.

A knock on the door interrupted Dante’s thoughts. Dante ended his cigar and walked to the door to open it.

Ophelia had a pair of pants in her hands. "I thought this would be all you needed."

"No shirt? How can I survive the coldness of the bathing chamber?"

"Why would you sleep here? I have already made my bed inside, and there are dead men out here. You can’t possibly think that I would want the bed now when it reeks of death out there. You must clean yourself and get out. I want to rest," Ophelia said, then closed the door.

It was apparent now that at some point in the fight, Dante struck his head.

Ophelia believed another attack could happen, and if it did, she didn’t want to be the one found on the bed. Dante needed to stay on this side of the chamber so he could keep them both protected.

This fight was Dante’s, not Ophelia’s. Since Dante was the one to make fun of her knife, it was only fair that he guard the chamber. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Ophelia closed the door before Dante could respond, and for a brief moment, she was certain she heard laughter coming from the other side.

’What could be so funny?’ Ophelia wondered.

Ophelia thought nothing of it until it crossed her mind that he could lock the door and take the bathing chamber whilst leaving her with the bloody mess.

"You must come out when you are done!" Ophelia yelled, banging her hand on the door, but she didn’t get a response.