Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 164: Prisoner (3)

"You have all lost your minds. I am Lady Valthorn, and my husband has placed me in charge of this entourage. I order you to move forward so I have somewhere warm befitting of my title to rest my head when night is upon us. Surely, you don’t expect to have me sleep in the carriage, do you?" Giselle asked, annoyed by the men before her. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"You might be Lady Valthorn, but our orders are to take care of young master-"

"If I must hear you refer to him as a young master once more, I shall scream from now until this trip ends. That boy doesn’t have a title, nor does he have a say in when to stop the carriages. I- Don’t walk away from me!" Giselle yelled as the guards abandoned her.

Giselle was left alone to open the carriage doors by herself and step outside without help.

"Where are Joel’s guards?" Giselle muttered, looking around for the guards she left the castle with.

The further they got from the castle, the more it seemed that Joel’s guards decreased.

Giselle exited her carriage and looked at the carriage assigned to Theo by the Hastings family.

Giselle gritted her teeth.

The carriage appeared fit for a lord, yet it wasn’t given to the wife of a lord. It was passed to a boy who had nothing to his name.

Giselle walked over to Theo’s carriage and watched as the knights lifted him out.

"You are slowing us down, Theo. If this is your way of getting back at me, I suggest you not be so childish," said Giselle.

"Wanting to relieve myself has nothing to do with you. I would say you are the childish one for thinking that way. Would you prefer that I relieve myself in the carriage to ruin it?" Theo asked.

"I would prefer you hold it until we reach an inn. I could have been in a warm bed by now," Giselle said, stepping back as the knights turned to her for help. "I am not a maid."

"Though she gave birth to me, she has no interest in helping me, so I don’t need the help of strangers. Don’t think of her as my mother during this journey. Think of her as a fake noblewoman who doesn’t like to get her hands dirty. That must be why Ophelia sent a carriage for me," Theo claimed, knowing Giselle had to be jealous.

"Your sister sent a carriage for you to be petty," Giselle corrected Theo. "She is trying to compete with me by sending a carriage more luxurious than mine."

Theo laughed as it was absurd to think Ophelia thought of Giselle. "Do you truly believe she wants to compete with you? Ophelia doesn’t care about wealth, which leads me to believe I was wrong. Ophelia didn’t prepare this carriage for me. Lord Hastings did."

Theo got the confirmation from a guard.

Giselle couldn’t believe that Dante prepared the carriage. "Don’t be foolish. Why would Lord Hastings personally prepare a carriage for a man he doesn’t know?"

"He would if he were kind or if he cared for Ophelia. The latter would be your worst nightmare, wouldn’t it? To know what you spent years trying to get Lord Valthorn to love you, only to be made a nanny for his children while Ophelia has Lord Hastings wrapped around her finger," said Theo.

Theo chuckled, enjoying all that he was learning during his outing.

Theo liked not sharing a carriage with Giselle since it gave him the chance to speak to the knights about Ophelia.

So far, Theo knew that Ophelia faced challenges, but it was portrayed to him that she was close to Dante.

"Ophelia won’t be able to get any lord to be wrapped around her fingers-"

"Yet Nigel won’t leave her alone. Don’t act surprised. I have been bedridden, but that doesn’t mean I cannot hear. While this talk is fun, I cannot wait any longer. Please help me," Theo pleaded with the knights.

Giselle was left alone as Theo was carried off.

Giselle suspected, as did everyone else, that Lord Hastings had fallen in love with Ophelia, but she didn’t want to believe it.

Why was it all coming to Ophelia so easily?

Giselle had to work hard to get noticed by Joel, and even when she finally got his attention, Joel didn’t love her. He took care of her because she took care of his children.

Giselle knew she was kept around because she loved Joel’s children more than she loved her own, and Joel wasn’t going to find another woman who was going to pour her love into another woman’s child.

It angered Giselle to think of the men around Ophelia.

Not only did Ophelia have Dante, but she also had the king and Nigel acting like fools.

It was only these three men Giselle knew of so far, and her visit to the Hastings castle could reveal more men obsessed with Ophelia.

Giselle folded her arms. "It isn’t fair."

Giselle couldn’t have the roles change for Ophelia to be the one better off, whilst she suffered.

Giselle glanced in the direction Theo carried off to.

Joel didn’t want Theo to be returned to his castle, and rightfully so. Joel didn’t find Ophelia to be useful anymore since she was disobedient the last time he saw her, so Ophelia could die in Joel’s eyes.

Between killing her children or getting rid of Theo only to take Ophelia back to Nigel, Giselle leaned more towards killing the pair.

Neither one had any use to Giselle or Joel, so they had no reason to be alive.

Giselle thought of letting Ophelia leave with Theo, but it was too risky. Ophelia had seen too much in the castle, and now Theo proved that he had overheard too much.

If Edward was planning to abandon Joel, then the Valthorns couldn’t have too many people they couldn’t trust running free.

Giselle returned to her carriage so she wouldn’t be looked to for help when Theo returned. There were enough hands around to help Theo.

Giselle took one final look at Theo’s carriage before she entered her own. She couldn’t forget how spoiled Ophelia appeared the last time they were near.

"What terrible luck have I found?" Giselle muttered.

Giselle closed her door, not wanting to speak to anyone. She stuck to her belief that Ophelia was hellbent on rubbing her new life into her face, so Giselle expected a poorly decorated chamber once she reached the castle.

"I will not be looked down upon," Giselle whispered, preparing for a fight.

Giselle picked up a pouch she had placed on her seat and opened it to reveal a small bottle, which held her answer. "I can end this," she said, staring at the poison she received from Joel.

Giselle smiled as she thought of the group of men Joel selected who were secretly following the carriages to the Hastings castle. Soon, the tables would turn.