Sacrificial Bride to the Feared Lord Hastings-Chapter 172: In control (3)

Ophelia opened her eyes after the impact did not come. She gasped, startled by Dante being so close to her face.

Ophelia let out a nervous chuckle. She found relief in thinking Dante had control of himself.

She stared at him, trying to get used to his appearance. Ophelia tried to place what Dante reminded her of, but she had never seen a creature like the one before her.

Dante was large and covered in dark fur, as she could see from the little light still left in the cell. His eyes were what stood out to Ophelia the most. It was the same as what she saw on their wedding night.

Ophelia lowered her hands, and as she did so, she noticed how Dante’s eyes followed.

"Is it my hand? It doesn’t hurt," Ophelia said, placing her hands behind her back. "It’s just a little cut."

Ophelia found it awkward to speak to Dante, yet not receive a response. Still, she was happy to be right that Dante wouldn’t attack her and that he could control himself.

Ophelia smiled, happy to be alive and well. "Eliza betrayed you. She gave me medicine that sent me to sleep and placed me here. Others are working with her, but I don’t know who they are. You mustn’t hurt the people who have not betrayed you."

Ophelia worried about the people she heard screaming when Dante must have gotten loose. It was going to pain Dante once he snapped out of this form and realised what he had done.

"It’s not your fault. I am willing to bet my good knife that they freed you so you could kill me. I would also bet that your mother has some role in this. None of this is your fault," Ophelia assured Dante.

Ophelia wished Dante could give her some clue that he understood her.

"You should go back to- Wait, wait, wait," Ophelia stuttered, taken aback by Dante going towards the door. "Don’t!" She yelled to the dungeon guards who arrived to help her. "Don’t hurt him. Get away from the door."

Ophelia leaned back as Dante came toward her. "I wasn’t speaking to you. Are you, are you doing what I say?" She wondered, finding Dante’s behaviour to be odd. "That can’t be right?"

"Lady Hastings!"

Ophelia looked away from Dante to Thomas, who stood at the door, panting. "You look out of breath, Thomas," she joked, relieved to see a familiar face.

Thomas worries went away now that he found Ophelia, but he couldn’t be entirely relieved just yet when Ophelia sat face to face with the beast.

Thomas had not made it far from the dungeon when he received word that Dante had broken out of his cell. He expected to find the dungeon guards doing their best to put Dante back in his cell. Not to find Ophelia sitting before a calm Dante.

Thomas looked around the dungeon at the injured men and others who were dead. Why had Dante gone on a rampage with those men, but sat before Ophelia like a loyal servant?

"Sit down," Thomas heard Ophelia’s voice.

Thomas had to rub his eyes after seeing Dante obey Ophelia. The whispers from the men around showed that he was not the only one confused.

It was a shocking sight for the men beside Thomas since full moon after full moon, they had to face a creature which tried to kill everyone in its path.

"Thomas, I need you to start a search for Eliza. She is the one who placed me here to be killed, and she is working with Cecilia. You must stop Cecilia from entering the castle," said Ophelia.

"But Milady-"

"He’s not going to attack me, but Eliza and those helping her will attack others to get out of the castle. I need you to protect everyone else in the castle while I stay here with Dante. Find Eliza and imprison her. I will deal with her myself," said Ophelia.

Thomas was reluctant to leave Ophelia when he finally found her. He was afraid to let her out of his sight a second time.

"Start a search for the doctor and bring everyone you find her with to the dungeon. Go!" Thomas ordered the guards around him. "I am not leaving your side again, Lady Hastings."

"Very well. All that matters is Eliza being caught. You must give me a clue, Dante. You were unconscious and your behaviour changed, so why are you still like this? Are you fighting it inside?" Ophelia wondered, confused as to why Dante wasn’t back to normal.

Ophelia felt like Dante was on the right path, but she was still without an answer for how to finish what they started.

Now would be a good time to have Ester around.

"Just a little more," Ophelia urged Dante. "You’re almost there. I can just feel it. Fight it a little longer."

"Can I touch you?" Ophelia softly asked as she lifted her hand towards Dante’s face.

Dante didn’t give Ophelia any signs that he would attack her if she touched him, so it gave her a little confidence to go ahead with it.

Ophelia was tense when her hand first touched Dante. She looked at his eyes, trying to read his behaviour. Despite the new colour of his eyes, Ophelia felt like she was staring at the same eyes she saw every day.

While his body seemed beastly, his eyes reminded Ophelia of the man she knew. Only the colour had changed.

Ophelia moved her hand to rest on the right side of his face. The more she stared at him, all Ophelia could think of was how afraid he had to be to bear with this each time there was a full moon.

Her heart ached for him.

Dante tried his best to help others, yet when it came time for him to receive support, he was left alone in the dungeon with only the guards surrounding him to stop him from breaking free.

It was unfortunate that a good man like Dante had to inherit the curse meant for another man.

"It isn’t fair," Ophelia whispered. "Why must you be punished for the actions of another?"

Ophelia took a bold move and leaned forward to hug Dante as much as the chain around her leg would allow. "This side of you doesn’t change the man I know you to be, so please, don’t hate yourself. You must fight this and return to me. I won’t mind you bothering me."

Ophelia didn’t bat an eye at the pain in her hand from overusing it. She had gone days without hearing Dante’s voice and wanted him back.

Her mind was filled with how much he suffered internally because he could not revert to his normal side. She closed her eyes and did something she thought was silly when children did it.

Wishes never worked for Ophelia when she was younger, as they did for the other children who always got what they wanted, but she still tried now because she didn’t want the man she loved to suffer anymore.

When the wish didn’t work, Ophelia tried cursing Dante as the woman had done to his great-grandfather, but this time, she cursed him to be normal.

Ophelia kept her hold of Dante, determined not to let him go until the curse broke. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Ophelia."

"I am trying to help you. You!" Ophelia exclaimed as she backed away from Dante.