Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 199: Plotting to kill (5)

After returning to the castle, Ophelia and Dante retired to their bedchamber.

Dante laid on the bed whilst Alice helped Ophelia to get changed.

"Must we go down for dinner? Theo appears to be awfully tired, and your mother will need time to plot to kill you," said Dante.

Ophelia looked back at the bed, not liking how Dante spoke of Giselle’s plans.

"I’m sorry. There’s no gentle way of saying that your mother wants to kill you," Dante said, shrugging his shoulders.

"It’s not just me. Joel would have sent her to kill you. Alice, you can go to your chamber and have your dinner. On your way there, please tell the headmaid that my husband and I will have our dinner in my chamber," Ophelia said, giving in to Dante’s wishes. "My brother will have his dinner in his chamber."

"Yes, Lady Hastings."

"You must also tell Thomas he can stop guarding the door and have his dinner," said Ophelia.

Alice scratched her head. "Thomas wasn’t by the door when I came in."

Ophelia turned to Dante for an explanation.

"I sent him off long ago since I am here with you. He said he was going to see your brother. Those two seem to be getting along well, so you shouldn’t disturb them. Alice, have enough food sent for the two of them. You may leave us," Dante said, wanting to be alone.

Alice curtseyed and walked out of the chamber. She welcomed leaving early so she could keep an eye on Nora.

’Why are they still here?’ Alice wondered. She couldn’t relax knowing Victoria and Nora were still in the castle.

"It seems that I might be losing Thomas to my brother. Earlier, Thomas said that if I were to leave the castle, he would follow me. Now I am starting to see that he is using me to get close to Theo. I might need to find a new guard to be loyal to me as Thomas was," said Ophelia.

"Why were you and Thomas having a conversation about you leaving? Do you intend to?" Dante asked, disliking that she spoke of it once more.

"No. It was a mere what if you take your mother away from her punishment early. I said that I would have no choice but to leave the castle," Ophelia said honestly. "I can understand if you love your mother, and I won’t get in the way of it, but she wanted me dead. I would rather choose my safety."

"She will not avoid her punishment," Dante promised.

"Then you do not need to worry about me leaving. I want to stay. The home you placed in my name convinced me," Ophelia said as she walked to the bed.

"Was it not the man who offered you a home that convinced you to stay?"

"You are lovely, but offering a home for me to escape the castle, when I need to, sealed the deal. I thought you would be more excited to hear that I want to stay. Is it because you are not the sole reason why?" Ophelia asked, a little surprised that Dante was not excited.

"No. All that matters is that you are staying. I am happy that you have decided to stay. Believe me," Dante said, holding Ophelia’s hand when she sat down.

"Then why do I get the sense that something troubles you? Since your troubles with the beast are gone, I thought you would be more excited. Is it the duke?" Ophelia wondered, curious how the talk went.

"Kaden gives me a headache, but that is not the reason for my worrying. I wouldn’t say the beast is completely gone," Dante shared. "I can still feel it. I expected that after what happened, it would go away completely."

"But you were normal during the full moon, and I have heard that even now, you would still be caged in the dungeon. Are you worried about what will happen on the next full moon? Well, I am not," Ophelia said after Dante nodded. "We broke it once, and we can break it again."

"I think you mustn’t see it as a curse anymore. You shouldn’t reveal it to the kingdom, but in battle, surely it would help you. Maybe it is still there, but it is not the same as before. Now, you might be able to change to your liking, or your abilities are just present," Ophelia threw out guesses.

"I will visit Ester," Dante decided.

"Well, you can go alone. Ester confuses and stresses me. I still need to know why she said I was going to die. When you visit her, can you ask in my stead? I fear if she talks in circles again, I might end up cursed for hitting her," said Ophelia.

Dante chuckled. "I will ask."

"Now, about the duke. Did you both agree on what to do if Sebastian becomes king?" Ophelia asked, curious if the two men worked it out.

"We have. We will attack before then. If Sebastian takes the throne, then he will give all his support to the Valthorns and unlike Edward, Sebastian won’t sit around to give me time to plot. He’ll go after his enemies and his father’s loyal subjects to get rid of them," Dante explained.

"We’re most concerned about him killing his siblings. We need a prince alive to replace Sebastian with," said Dante.

"Do you mean the queen’s son?"

"No, there are other princes. They have simply been labelled as bastards because they were not born to queens. Sebastian will kill anyone who rivals his seat on the throne or can gain supporters. The queen will need to take her children out of the palace," said Dante.

"Althea doesn’t seem like she would sit by and allow you to place another prince on the throne if Sebastian dies. I am curious why you have not selected the third prince to be king. Is it because Althea would ruin him?" Ophelia wondered.

"The third prince is a good candidate only if his mother is not at his side. The queen’s family are not good people. They would try to rule through the third prince. We would need to get rid of Althea and her family, but then the third prince might become our enemy," Dante said, seeing no good in using the third prince.

"Althea is already not fond of me. Even if you place her son on the throne, I don’t think she would let go of her dislike for me. What about the second prince? Is he like the crown prince?" Ophelia asked, curious about the prince no one spoke of.

"The second prince never speaks of ruling. It might be his way of avoiding Sebastian plotting to kill him."