Chapter 11

"How about this one, sir?" Baxter, one of the men that had welcomed him to the manor, asked as he opened the doors of yet another room and Dante couldn't stop himself from marveling at the way sunlight came into the room unfiltered, making it seem like he was standing right under the sun rather than inside a building after he walked into it.

If Dante had counted right, this would be the tenth room Baxter has shown him. He had had no problems with the other rooms but after he said 'yes' whenever Baxter asked if he liked the room, the man would just stare at him for several moments, hmm and lead him to another room.

He absolutely didn't understand why the man had been doing that seeing as all the rooms looked the same - huge, bright and opulent - and he felt bad for the other man who carried his box, following them from one room to the next. He had wanted to collect the box a couple of times but the man had insisted that it was fine and didn't let him even though he was obviously struggling.

"Do you like it?" Baxter asked as Dante turned around with his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side after glimpsing a garden, grander than the one in front of the manor, through the balcony in the room. Dante's gaze darted to the other man who had just dropped his box next to the room's doorway with a weary look on his face, waiting to hear what he would say in response to that question.

Dante opened his mouth to say 'yes' but instantly shut it because the man might hmm and take him to another room again. He wasn't sure if him saying 'yes' was the reason they have been on their feet since or if it was his facial expression while he said it so he wanted to choose his response and expression carefully.

The man had told him about some of the places on the manor while they moved from one room to another and he wanted to know more about this place but right now, he just wanted some alone time.

"You don't like it?" Baxter asked when Dante still didn't reply and the other man's eyes went round while Dante held his hands out.

"No, no, I do," he said in a rush. "I do like it," he repeated with emphasis on 'I do' and Baxter stared at him for a couple of seconds without saying anything.

"Very well then. We'll leave you to get settled in," Baxter said when Dante thought he was about to hmm and the other man sighed in relief, glad he won't be carrying the heavy box anymore. The two uniformed men then made their way out of the room and the moment they shut the door, Dante let out a harsh breath.

The first thing he wanted to do was sit but he was afraid to sit on the bed in the room in case he wrinkled the fabric or stained it with something he didn't even know was on his clothes. The bed was huge and it's covers were white and green.

The couches in the room were cream but inlaid with a fine green silk; leaves embroidered so delicately that they might have landed there in spring and just sunk in. The white curtains covering the huge windows were linen, the kind of white that was untouched by hands and devoid of dust. There were two chairs placed on each side of the fireplace and a wooden table, which had two candelabras on it, surrounded by a couple of wooden chairs on one side of the room.

everywhere was free of either dust or clutter.

As he moved closer to the balcony that overlooked the garden, he saw a couple of chairs there and decided to sit there but before he could move further, it suddenly felt like someone slammed a metal object on his head.

He instantly fell to the ground with a yelp and his eyes watered while pain radiated through his head. He tried to push himself up but the pain increased drastically and he stumbled back to the ground.

Dante could feel the sweat drench his skin, the throbbing of his eyes, the ringing in his ears, and the thumping of his heart against his chest. His fingers were curled into a fist, nails digging into his palms. He couldn't hear his rapid breathing but he could feel the oxygen flooding in and out of his lungs.

"Dante…" suddenly came his father's voice in his mind and Dante's eyes snapped open. "Where are you?"

Dante moved one of his hands to the hilt of his sword and gripped it tightly like having something to hold would help him with what was happening. "Father…"

Dante's father had never needed to communicate like this since Dante was always close-by but now that he wasn't anymore, he now understood what his cousins meant whenever they told him that communicating through the mind link when both parties were really far away from each other hurts like crazy.

"Don't tell me you actually left! Come back this instant!"

A hand came down on his shoulder the next moment and he reflexively drew his sword on the person while getting to his feet, only to see a middle aged woman in a light blue dress staring at him with wide eyes.

"S-S-Sir!"

Dante's eyes also became wide and he quickly moved the sword away from the woman's neck before she took several steps backward, placing her hands on her chest to calm her racing heart.

"Mr… Mr Baxter e-wanted me to check if you… if you wanted something to eat," she said, frantic with alarm, while Dante sheathed the sword. "I- I'm sorry sir. I didn't-"

"I should be the one that's sorry," Dante cut her off. His hands were still trembling and his head still hurt a lot but he managed to keep his voice steady. "And no, I don't want anything… Thank you."

The woman gave him a stiff nod before quickly heading towards the door and when she was finally gone, Dante dropped back to the floor.

He drew in a sharp breath and though his head no longer hurt like before, he could still faintly hear his father's voice in his mind, telling him to come back home.