43 Seri's Father Must Never Know

William stood in the entrance no longer wearing his regular clothes, but instead wearing furs much similar to mine. I almost forgot he had also fallen in the water while trying to save me.

William froze and stared at the two of us in irritation. I suddenly remembered that Dante had me trapped in a bear hug. No matter how you looked at it, it was a very suggestive position.

Just as I tried to pull away, Dante held me tighter. I could see both Dante and William death staring each other.

What kind of territorial bullsh*t is this?! Why do I feel like it's two predators fighting over their prey?!

Unable to handle the tense environment any longer, I patted the space beside Dante. "William. Come sit next to Dante. He's actually really warm."

I wanted to scream in embarrassment but pulled a poker face. William noticed this and crossed him arms in irritation. He plopped down next to Dante with a, "Hmph."

His eyes lit up, "Wow. You actually are warm." He snuggled in closer and wrapped his arms around our waists, "She wasn't kidding."

I felt Dante tense up at this. I chuckled, "See? Dante is like a human heater."

William agreed, "I must admit I was a bit cold from earlier."

Dante's voice was cold and sharp, "What the hell are you doing."

William ignored this, "Don't be selfish, Dante. Share some body heat."

The doctor put down the tray and smiled at us, "I will leave you this. I will be in later to check in on you, but I recommend you stay here all night under my watch. I will now leave you three to huddle together for warmth." He put extra emphasis on the last word.

The three of us grew embarrassed by his statement. What made it worse was that he wasn't even unnerved by how close we were. Shouldn't you be reprimanding these boys doctor?!

However, even despite being embarrassed, both me and William were too cold to care about our pride so we didn't dare move from that spot. Dante tried to kick William off, but he wouldn't budge. Eventually he gave up.

I looked over at William, "How's your arm?"

He held it out in front of me. It certainly was a nasty cut. He had to get several stitches for it. He spoke, "Because of you, I've damaged my flawless skin. My parents are going to get so upset when they hear about it."

I rolled my eyes, "Okay, for one: your skin isn't flawless. Two: I'm sure that when you tell your mother that you did it saving me she will throw you a party."

Dante chuckled at this, "She probably will."

William glared, "No she won't."

I continued while ignoring him, "Anyways, scars are trophies. I'm sure it will terrify your enemies."

William raised an eyebrow, "What enemies?"

Dante also asked, "He would terrify who?"

I chuckled with Dante, "You're right. He couldn't even scare a fly."

William protested, "I could too! I scare plenty of people."

I looked at him in disbelief, "Oh yeah? Who?"

"Lot's of people!"

Dante spoke, "He can't even name anyone."

Me and Dante continued to tease the poor William the rest of the night. Eventually, we all grew tired and it got quiet. Dante still refused to let go of me, and William refused to release his personal heater.

I heard William breathing deeply and turned to look at him. This little sh*t fell asleep! I whimpered. I wish I could sleep. But how could I in this position?!

I heard Dante's voice in my ear causing me to jump, "About earlier..."

"Yes?"

"Could you... Not tell your father?"

I smiled teasingly, "Not tell him what? That we are sitting like this and you refuse to let me go from your embrace? Or perhaps that you've seen me naked twice? Or would it be three times?"

"Don't you dare."

"I wonder how he would feel knowing you just threw me over your shoulders instead of carrying me princess style." He glared at me sending shivers down my spine. I shook my head quickly, "Eek! Relax! There's no way I would tell him. I wouldn't feel right with a death on my hands."

Dante paled quickly, "Would he really kill me?"

"Who knows? It's not like we would be able to find your body."

Dante looked freaked out by this. I couldn't help but laugh. I'm surprised my father could strike this much fear into the great Dante.

The rest of the night, I kept chatting with Dante. He wasn't much of a conversationalist, but I didn't mind. I was perfectly okay with hearing the sound of my lovely voice.

When the morning came, the doctor gave us one last look and sent us on our way. Before we left he gave me a warning, "Young girl, your body may seem fine, but you still should keep it easy these next few days. Such an event is likely to shock your system and possibly make you fall ill."

I didn't pay much attention to him and waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. Got it."

He handed my now dry clothes and this time I was able to get changed with privacy. Usually I would groan about my outfit, but today I was happy to get out of those furs.

I returned back to the cabin in order to grab my belongings before I had to leave. Millie was sitting around waiting. As soon as she saw me walk in she threw her arms around me and started squeezing. I felt as if I was being attacked by a boa constrictor.

She sobbed into my ear, "S-Seri! I thought you diiiiiied!"

I struggled for air, "M.. Millie... Air..."

She let go and wiped her nose, "I'm sorry. I was just so worried."

I smiled at her, "Relax. I'm all right, see? I just took a short swim. It wasn't anything bad."

"A short swim? You fell into an ice cold lake..."

"Swim.. Fell... Those are just words. Just look towards the future Millie. Think about all the fun stuff we will be able to do together."

She sniffled, "You're just embarrassed that you fell in, aren't you?"

I frowned, "No. Why would you say that."

"Because you usually try to change the topic when you're-"

"ANYWAY! I think it's time to get going. We wouldn't want to miss our ride would we?"

She shook her head, "I guess not."

I smiled, "Good."

We finished packing our bags and made our way to where everyone was waiting. I smiled at William and Dante who were once again standing by themselves.

I looked at the both of them, "Did you find anyone to ride with us?"

William shook his head, "No. Thanks to a certain someone, no one wants to ride with us."

Ah. Dante must have scared them off.

Dante forced a smile as if he read my thoughts, "It's because of you."

"What?! What did I do?!"

He continued to smile at me with his creepy grin. I couldn't help but feel as though I should be asking for forgiveness on my hands and knees.

The teacher eventually gave up trying to find us someone to ride with, so he decided to squeeze the extra people in somewhere else.

Before we boarded the carriages, I looked over and noticed Dante staring at my scarf. He seemed pretty interested in it. Of course I'm not surprised. It was perfectly made by my most wonderful maid.

I took it off and wrapped it around his neck. He looked startled by this, "What are you doing?"

I smiled brightly, "It's a gift as thanks."

He looked away, "Thanks for what?"

"Because of you and William, I have lived another day."

He looked at me with sharp eyes, "You saved me and William before. It's only natural I return the favor."

I chuckled, "Okay, even so. You seem like you want it. Plus, I never did give you a gift for your birthday."

He clutched onto the scarf tightly as if it was a treasured belonging, "But you said Lona made it for you. You should keep it."

I couldn't help but stare at him blankly. Even if you say that, you certainly don't look like you are going to return it. He's already snuggling up to it and looking overjoyed.

I sighed and shook my head, "She'll be fine."

Without another word, I climbed into the carriage to "enjoy" the ride back home. The ride back seemed almost as bad as the ride there. Perhaps it was because of the fun from the day before.

I finally succumbed to laying down on Dante's lap since there was more than enough room. I was able to stop vomiting as a result, much to everyone's appreciation. However, it wouldn't stop my complaining. By the time we returned back I was sure I looked like an apparition.

Lona was already at the school waiting for me. She smiled, "Did you have fun on your trip?"

I smiled back, "So much fun. The food was great."

Her smile fell instantly after seeing my grin. She frowned, "What did you do."

Oh sh*t. I forgot I lost my two front teeth.

I pretended to be innocent, "What do you mean?"

She sighed, "Wait here."

I watched as she walked over to the teacher and talked with him. Although I couldn't hear what they were saying, I saw her look at me with a stern expression.

Oh, f*ck. I'm in for it now.

She smiled and thanked the teacher and walked back to me. I smiled at her in an attempt to placate her, "I can explain."

She spoke in a low tone, "No dessert for three weeks."

I shouted, "Three weeks?!"

"Four."

"But Lona! How will I ever survive?!"

"Five."

I whimpered and forced myself to stop talking. The last time I was grounded from cake, I wasn't even able to steal some from William. It was almost as if they were in cahoots with each other. Oh well, I will just go to Mama O's and eat some.

She looked at me, "Where's your scarf? Did you also manage to lose that?"

Yeaaaah, let's not admit that I did lose it in the most embarrassing way.

"I gave it to Dante."

She raised an eyebrow and gave me a stern look, "Why did you do that? I thought you were overjoyed at my gift."

"I was! And I still am! But I think that Dante doesn't get much things like that. He just kept staring at it. He must have really wanted something homemade. I felt bad..."

"That's really the reason? You think that's really why he wanted it?"

"Yes."

She sighed and mumbled under her breath, "This girl is such an idiot."

"Oi! Lona! I haven't seen you in forever and this is how you talk to me?!"

She corrected me, "It hasn't been forever. Just five days."

"Still! Where's my hug?"

"Let's go."

"Lonaaaa!"

Lona shoved me into the carriage and we started on our way home. I immediately stopped complaining as soon as the carriage started moving. I still hadn't recuperated from the ride before.

When I got home, as soon as I stepped into the door, my father picked me up and swung me around.

"My darling daughter! Daddy's missed you!" Did you miss Daddy?!"

I smiled back, "Of course I missed Daddy!"

He stopped instantly. He put me down quietly and looked over at Lona, "Lona! What happened?!"

Ugh. Here we go again.

She began to fill him in. He grabbed me and forced me into a hug, "My poor baby girl! You must have been so scared! I bet you were wishing Daddy was there to save you!"

I nodded quickly, "I did. I did."

He suddenly stopped moving, "Wait." I froze. He stared at me with a serious expression, "Who DID save you?"

"Uhhh. Don't know."

He looked at Lona who shook her head quickly. She was smart enough to know not to bring up the two so called wolves he had a personal vendetta against. He would have a fit if he found out who saved me.

He looked at me seriously, "Really?"

"Really."

"Hmm."

I almost lost my resolve under his intense stare. However, I held strong. "Well Daddy, it's late and I'm super tired from the trip. I will bid you goodnight." I quickly planted a kiss on his cheek and ran away.

That outta calm him down and distract him.

He waved after me, "Sweet dreams baby girl!" After I had gone he rubbed his chin, "Why do I feel so pissed off and like I need to beat some sense into someone?"