Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 173: Severing ties (1)

Ophelia’s eyes widened when she came face-to-face with the Dante she was used to seeing. Before Dante could speak again, Ophelia lunged toward him. Her arms went around his neck to pull him closer to him for a kiss.

Ophelia was relieved yet frustrated.

Too much had happened in one day.

Dante held Ophelia by her waist to keep her steady after they almost fell backwards. He welcomed the kiss after the loneliness he experienced.

"Hmm," the sound of someone clearing their throat disrupted the moment.

Ophelia backed away from Dante and glared at the culprit. She was well aware of the audience, but thought they would have the decency to leave.

"This is quite awkward," said Thomas. For some reason, it felt like his parents were kissing.

"Then look away. Now, you," Ophelia gave Dante her attention again. "When did you change? How did you change" Ophelia threw question after question. "Did you break the curse?"

Ophelia finally felt relieved when she saw Dante turning back to his normal state. The fur fell from his body as he went back down to his normal frame.

"No, I can still feel it," Dante said, staring at his hand. "But I’ve never reverted until the full moon is over. Something changed, and I know it wasn’t my doing. I’ve never had anyone treat me as you have."

"Ester was right. The answer has been quite simple, but everyone was too afraid to realise it. That means your mother," Ophelia bit her lip before she could give away what Cecilia did. "You are without pants. You need to get dressed."

"What did my mother do?" Dante asked, holding Ophelia’s hand so she couldn’t leave.

"She couldn’t have loved your father as much as she believed. Neither could the others. I understand why they couldn’t. This is not an easy position to be placed in. Perhaps they accepted this was their life, but they weren’t in love to the point of breaking it," Ophelia concluded.

Ophelia thought of whether a mother’s love could break the curse. It wasn’t the kind of love involved in the making of the curse, but it was still love.

"Why are you smiling when I have told you that your mother might not have loved your father? Are you ill, or is this the effect of you changing back? There is fur everywhere," Ophelia muttered, curious as to how it would all be put away.

"You love me," Dante repeated all that he heard from Ophelia. "You must love me quite a lot to break the curse."

"I didn’t say it out loud," said Ophelia. "Don’t get ahead of yourself."

"You said it. The way to break the curse must be with love, and you must love me a lot for me to change back. Perhaps the curse would be done with completely if you said it out loud. Since you have realised it, you shouldn’t keep it to yourself," Dante suggested, and awaited hearing the three important words.

"Shall I go first?" Dante asked, assuming Ophelia needed a little push. "I love you. Now, say it back."

"Change back. I prefer when you were more obedient," Ophelia said, missing the beast. "Change back," she said as she poked at his chest.

Dante caught Ophelia’s hand. "You don’t want that. You wouldn’t be on the verge of tears if you weren’t relieved to see me like this. You can cry before me."

Ophelia looked behind Dante at the guards and Thomas, watching their interaction in awe.

"Leave us!" Dante ordered the guards.

"You didn’t need to send them away since I don’t need to cry. Neither one of us was injured, so why cry?" Ophelia said, but her eyes filled with water. "You have little idea of how worried I was. I trusted you wouldn’t hurt me, but this could have gone far worse if you had run elsewhere and attacked others."

"What if you had made it out of the castle, and we couldn’t find you? What if someone we can’t see you, and spoke to the king about seeking a beast?"

"Ophelia," Dante touched her shoulders to calm her. "It ended well, so let us take a moment to enjoy the good side. I’m sorry for worrying you."

"You were unconscious for one too many days. You were asleep so long that my brother and mother arrived. I have told Lady Valthorn that you are busy, so you could not greet them. She thinks you weren’t present because you didn’t care," said Ophelia.

Dante suspected he had been unconscious for a day, but to hear it was more than one was concerning. He took the time to stare at Ophelia, noticing the faint darkness around her eyes. It was likely she hadn’t eaten well.

"There is a lot of fur. We need a brush," Ophelia spoke her thoughts out loud.

Dante chuckled, amused by how Ophelia managed to lighten the moment. "You should go," he said.

"We must go," Ophelia corrected Dante. "Why would you stay in the dungeon when you are better? You might not have realised it, but you listened to me quite well when you were the beast. If you change again, I’ll just have you quietly follow me like a little pet," Ophelia said, partially as a joke.

"I can still feel it, so we should give it a little time to see if I might change back," said Dante.

"I have been right thus far, and I think you only feel it because there is still a full moon. You being unconscious, listening to me, and now being normal during the full moon isn’t for no reason. Come with me. Ow," Ophelia grimaced.

Ophelia looked down at her injured hand. "I must have this taken care of soon. Can you find me another doctor? This has been hurting me all this time, and I have been trying to ignore it."

"I did this to you," Dante said, knowing only he could leave the marks. "I’m sorry. I-"

"You were asleep and unaware of what you were doing. It’s partly my fault. I wasn’t paying attention to how close we were to a full moon and entered the chamber alone. These last days made me realise how much I must spread my attention across my duties," Ophelia said, deciding to see only the positive.

"I’m going to send for a doctor, so return to your chamber," Dante said as he stood up. He walked behind Ophelia to break the chain around her foot. "My strength is still present," he noticed.

Ophelia refused to move. "I am not leaving you here in the dungeon."

Dante lifted Ophelia to carry her out of the cell against her will. "I am staying here. I am going to track down Eliza and those with her, then I must visit my mother. She will be punished along with everyone who obeyed her."