Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 254: Switching fates (2)

"I see all the talk about him turning you into a fine lady was true. Dressing you up pretty to play the role of his wife. Had I known you would have looked so beautiful, I would have dressed you up as well," Nigel said, taking a moment to enjoy Ophelia’s beauty.

Ophelia didn’t let Nigel get to her.

All Ophelia saw now was that the bastard who used his power to hurt her was now weak.

"You led those men right to their deaths. You should have remained in the Valthorn castle and let this war fade away, but you had to prove yourself. In the end, you proved that you were useless," said Ophelia.

"I didn’t have anything to prove. I had to come here for you. Did you miss me?" Nigel asked, confident that he had been in her mind. "Did you think of me while you were with that bastard? Did you ever mistakenly say my name?"

Ophelia looked at Giselle, curious if she had finally seen the lengths of what she had to endure with Nigel.

Giselle avoided Ophelia’s gaze. It wasn’t as though she had told Nigel to speak in this manner. They were to be siblings in her eyes, but Nigel had never accepted Ophelia.

"I know that deep down you have come to love me, but you do not want to admit it," said Nigel.

Nigel wished to be able to open the cell door and touch Ophelia. To smell her hair and feel the warmth of her skin.

"I have made up my mind. I will allow my husband to kill you," Ophelia decided.

Though Ophelia once wanted to be the one to take Nigel’s life, something about the man she now trusted most in the world, killing the man she once feared might bring her comfort.

Once Dante heard the way Nigel spoke of her, Ophelia knew that Nigel’s death would be brutal.

Ophelia paid no more attention to Nigel. She observed all the people occupying the dungeon.

They had all hurt her in different ways, and now, they were receiving their punishment.

Ophelia turned around to walk away. She had nothing more to say to the people present.

Seeing that they were all held prisoner in the dungeon and were going to get what they deserved allowed Ophelia to move on. She didn’t need to hold so much hate in her heart anymore or be afraid to love.

Seeing all the people who turned her into someone so guarded sitting together made Ophelia realise that there were too few people to allow to ruin her life. She shouldn’t have been so afraid to love anyone because a handful of people hurt her.

Ophelia smiled as she walked out of the dungeon. She had not gotten the ending each one of them wanted for her. She was always to be their prisoner in their eyes, but she had a far better ending, and she was going to enjoy it.

Giselle gritted her teeth, annoyed that Ophelia did not speak to her for long. It annoyed her that Nigel found the matter to be funny.

"Do you not understand that we shall die? You were my one hope to get out of here alive, and now we shall die because you don’t know how to stop speaking. Ophelia holds all the power here since Lord Hastings allows her to do as she pleases. I beg you to be silent," Giselle pleaded.

Nigel finally gave Giselle the attention she sought when he looked at her. "I will not be silent. We are already destined to die, so why not have a little fun? I enjoy seeing her in control. I truly regret not using her more when she was in my hands."

Nigel’s laughter bothered Giselle to the depths of her soul. She was not ready to die, and she would not die because Nigel kept reminding Ophelia of the very past Giselle was trying to get her to forget.

"You must be quiet," Giselle said in a hushed tone. She peered at the guards who were distracted. "Have you heard from the palace?"

Nigel didn’t respond to Giselle.

"You," Giselle said, grabbing the metal bars. "After all that I have done for you, this is how you treat me? You will send me to my death."

"You were to die from the moment you failed to return your daughter to me. I gave you one simple task-"

"It was never a simple task. That was why neither you nor your father got what you wanted. I never could have come here and taken her then to make it back safe," Giselle said, certain Nigel knew it as well.

"You have both given me impossible tasks and only scold me when it fails. If you wanted her so badly, why didn’t you come? You failed now that you finally came for her," Giselle pointed out.

Giselle gave up trying to talk sense into Nigel. Nigel was no use when he wasn’t inside the Valthorn castle. He was powerless now, and one visit from Lord Hastings would wipe the smile off his face.

"I have no other choice but to abandon you. Why has my life come to this?" Giselle wondered, trying to think of where she went wrong.

"Had Joel Valthorn been alive, there would have been some hope for us. Now, we are left with his foolish son," Alistair said, fearing all hope was lost. "I should have stayed with the Hastings. My strongest allies have all fallen in so little time."

Nigel glanced at the man he did not recognise. He assumed this was one of his father’s peers.

"When Sebastian doesn’t get a response from me, he shall march his army to the Hastings. When he arrives to take me, I will ensure that you two are freed," Nigel offered.

Giselle found Nigel’s generous offer to be suspicious, but Alistair sang a different tune.

"You are most merciful," Alistair said, thankful for Nigel’s presence.

"Don’t fall for it. He is never so kind as to make an offer without having a secret plan," Giselle said, certain there was more to come.

Alistair looked to Nigel for an explanation.

"My stepmother knows me so well. I shall free the two of you and have you hanged. It will be more honourable than being killed by your enemy. I will reward both with a proper send-off," said Nigel.

"You bastard!" Alistair spat, regretting complimenting Nigel.

"You fool," Giselle said, her shoulders shaking from laughter. "The dungeon guards here whisper amongst themselves, and if you are silent, you can hear what they say. Lord Hastings doesn’t appear to be in the castle, and since he didn’t go to fight you, I would guess he went to the palace."

Nigel looked at Giselle, surprised by her news. He had wondered why he never heard word of Dante showing himself.

"You shall die along with us," Giselle said, shattering Nigel’s plans.