Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 59: Bonding (1)
In the evening, Ophelia finished her tour of the mansion and sat down to be alone. She sent Alice away while Thomas guarded her from a distance.
Ophelia appreciated how quiet the mansion was compared to the castle, which was filled with many eyes spying on her.
Ophelia looked around the mansion, trying her best to enjoy the moment, but her mind wandered to her brother. She couldn’t be at peace until she saw Theo, and every passing second when she was comfortable, Ophelia felt guilty.
It felt wrong to be relaxed when Theo was surrounded by people who didn’t care for him.
"Plotting someone’s death?"
Ophelia gasped, startled by Dante’s voice to the right of her.
Ophelia took a deep breath and placed her hand against her chest. "Next time, could you make a sound so I know you are near? How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," Dante answered.
"I am not plotting some grand scheme. I am thinking of my brother. I feel guilty for enjoying what I eat, wear, and the chamber you assigned to me when he is still there. I cannot shake this feeling that I am doing something wrong," Ophelia said, touching her chest.
The aching feeling wouldn’t go away. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"You are not wrong for taking a moment to enjoy yourself. You have a moment of peace where you are far from your family. You are deserving to enjoy life without any disturbances. It is not as though you have forgotten your brother. I would have judged you if you did," Dante said.
"Still, I cannot shake it. I always thought that if I ever left the castle, Theo would be right beside me. We would go far and never look back. I did work in the castle," Ophelia confessed.
Ophelia was tired of keeping what was obvious to herself.
Ophelia picked at her hand as she spoke. "I’m certain you have already pieced this together. I have slipped up, and it is quite a bother to keep hiding obvious things. I worked so that Theo and I could eat. Also, so they would keep sending the doctor to us."
"No money was ever placed in my hands since it all went to our food and Theo’s doctors. Joel hates paying to keep Theo well. He thinks it is a waste since Theo has remained in bed all his life. I had no money for clothing, so I got Freya’s old dresses, but I would rip many to make something for Theo," Ophelia shared.
"I shouldn’t have done it. I am not the best at making clothes, but Theo always appreciated it. Instead of a nobleman’s daughter, you got a maid. How unfortunate for you," Ophelia said, looking in the distance.
"I consider myself fortunate that it is you who arrived instead of Freya. We got off to a rocky start, but I am enjoying where we are now. I apologise for my behaviour at the wedding. I heard you were in love with me, and I didn’t want you to be."
"I thought you were angry because you wanted to be with your lover. Truthfully, it didn’t matter to me. I was happy in the beginning to think there was someone else who had your attention. Don’t think you must apologise for the wedding night. Our hands were tied," Ophelia said, having long moved on from it.
"There are some things I would change if I could go back in time, but since I cannot, I must make it up to you. I promise to uphold my end of the deal, and I will make sure you have plenty of money to care for your brother for good. I’ll send Eliza to you," Dante offered.
"You don’t have to."
"I want to. You deserve payment for all that you will endure for being my wife. Consider it to be a parting gift," Dante said, offering his hand to Ophelia for her to shake on it.
"Then I will gladly accept it," Ophelia replied and shook Dante’s hand. "Between now and then, I will find something to give you for our farewell."
Ophelia couldn’t think of what to give a man who had everything at his fingertips, but she would find a good gift.
"Then, I look forward to it. Are you prepared for the crowd you will see tomorrow?" Dante asked, trying to extend their conversation.
"I am never ready to be watched, but I will try to enjoy myself. It would be a good tale to share with my brother. Are you still confident you can win?" Ophelia questioned, holding onto her hope that Dante wouldn’t fail her. "Have you trained?"
"I told you. I will be fine," Dante answered.
"I hope that you are right. We cannot miss this chance," Ophelia said, her fingers crossed.
Dante took notice of how Ophelia said they could not miss this chance, instead of speaking of herself. He was involved in her plans, and she made it known.
"We are not going to miss it. There might be some men with a few broken bones since I will need them out of the way."
"Perhaps you should go easy on them, but do enough so we can win. You shouldn’t gravely wound anyone because of what I want. Win by playing fair," Ophelia requested.
Ophelia didn’t have issues with all the men participating, so she saw no need to badly injure them even though she wanted to win.
"Nigel will be taking part, won’t he? This isn’t the time for you to let him win," Ophelia said after Dante nodded his head. "If he wins, I know he will request something that I won’t like. I’ve never been close to Nigel. He is second to Joel in making my life miserable."
"Should I break a bone or two?" Dante asked, wanting it for himself more than for Ophelia.
"I think you should make him cry before the crowd," Ophelia said, her hand going to her mouth to hide her laughter. "I’m sorry. He whines more than you think, yet I have always been a fool to be afraid of him. How silly of me."
"He towers over you, so it is normal for you to be afraid of him. I should embarrass him tomorrow to rid you of the scary side of him in your mind. Do you fear me?" Dante asked, curious what she thought of him now.
"I fear the unknown about you, but I don’t fear you. It must not make any sense, but know that I don’t view you as I do Nigel or Joel. I can say you are a far better man than the two of them. Do you fear me?" Ophelia asked for the fun of it.
"Yes. You have a knife after all," Dante said jokingly.
Ophelia shook her head and stood up. "I must get away from you."
