75: More than healing

More than healing

Anastasia took a deep breath, willing herself to endure the pain, and she pressed her bleeding finger against her dress skirt. She then stood up to continue her duties as a maid, this time being extra cautious of where she walked. 

Dante, who was quietly finishing his meal, detected a distinct metallic scent in the air. Blood. Since a few days ago, his nose and ears had grown more sensitive, allowing him to perceive things he didn't notice before. His eyes moved around the room before they fell on the maid, whose face had turned red.

When a minister stepped inside the room and whispered something in King Maxwell's ear, everyone's attention shifted to the individual, making them wonder what the urgent matter was about. 

"Is everything alright?" Queen Maya asked her son. 

"We have a visitor from the Storm Kingdom, and he's already finished his breakfast," King Maxwell said, and then instructed Mr Gilbert, "Go attend to our guest. Tell him I will be there soon." 

"Who from the Storm Kingdom?" inquired the Mother Queen, her curiosity piqued. 

At the same time, Anastasia made her way towards the Mother Queen's side of the table to pick up the used dishes, handing them to two other maids, who took them away. As she walked near Prince Dante, she noticed his napkin fall to the ground. 

When Anastasia bent down to pick up the napkin, a spoon fell on the ground next. Moving beneath the table to fetch it, her hand reached out when she felt Dante catch her wrist. 

She noticed Prince Dante had bent below the table from where he was sitting. 

'What are you doing?!' Anastasia mouthed the words. 

But everyone at the table was too busy paying attention to the minister and King Maxwell to care about what Dante was doing. 

Anastasia's eyes held pain, and now she looked worried. She watched Dante raise her right hand before his eyes fell on her injured finger, which looked tender with traces of blood. How did he know? And as the question passed through her mind, she noticed him part his lips, and he delicately placed her finger inside his mouth. 

Because of the earlier compression, the pain in her finger made her jolt when Dante started to suck on the wounded finger. 

Anastasia's heart stuttered in response to his action. She could feel the wetness of his mouth gently soothing the pain while his eyes remained fixed on her brown ones. 

Scared someone would notice them, Anastasia went to pull her hand away when she noticed Dante's eyes narrow at her, ordering her to stay still. When he parted his lips, the tip of her finger emerged out of his mouth, and he gave it a lick before releasing her hand. 

Dante pulled away and sat upright in his chair. "King Maxwell, would you like me to stay behind or go ahead and ask the Elder minister to schedule a meeting?" 

Anastasia heard him ask the question as if he hadn't done what he just did under the table. Her breath was shaky, and her mind felt scattered, shock overtaking the pain she had felt earlier. 

She quickly moved, picking up the spoon and standing up. Upon seeing the next empty dish on the table, she walked around and took hold of it with the other dishes before escaping from the dining room. 

While the people at the table were still busy talking, Dante glanced at the door through which Anastasia had fled. He heard his brother order him, 

"I think it would be best for you to leave now. I heard Zion mention that the Elder minister was going to travel to the east," King Maxwell said as he finished his breakfast and dabbed the napkin on his lips. 

When her son stood up, Queen Maya followed suit and remarked, "I cannot wait to see what the Storm Kingdom has been up to. They didn't attend the celebration of Lady Sophia's birthday." 

King Maxwell turned to his mother and said, "I would like to meet our guest alone, Mother." 

When Marianne took her last breath in Maxwell's arms, it pushed him into a corner he had never encountered before. It had taken him days to cope with the loss and realise she wasn't there anymore. He had turned sensitive to the slightest disobedience, wanting to control something, as he couldn't control what had happened before. 

Queen Maya stared at her son, not liking that he was sidelining her from royal court duties. She said, "I will be helpful and be your advisor, King Maxwell." 

"The Vizier is there to assist me. You should let yourself rest, as you have been busy with a lot of responsibilities," King Maxwell stated, as he was still angry over their last conversation that had taken place in his chambers. While Queen Maya's lips pursed into a thin line, he exited the room with the minister. 

"Ah, the circle of life!" the Mother Queen remarked, as she popped a fruit into her mouth. 

Dante excused himself from the table and walked out of the dining room. As he left the inner side of the palace, he continued to walk through the corridors, heading towards the back exit of the palace, where the stable was located. 

On the other hand, Anastasia, after leaving the dining room, alternated between running and walking until she arrived at the corridor not far from the kitchen, which also led to the servants' quarters. 

Before heading to her room, she met the servant named Gabriel. He was about to wish her a good morning when he noticed her face. He asked her, 

"Are you alright? You look sick." 

Anastasia was at a loss for words as she remembered Dante's mouth wrapped around her finger and the expression in his eyes. Even though the bleeding had stopped, her finger was still tender. 

She shook her head as if it was nothing, but Gabriel noticed that she was actually responding to his inquiry and signalling that something was wrong. When he raised his hand towards her face, she quickly stepped backward, her body on high alert. Her face held a look of wariness, and her eyes were questioning him. 

Gabriel quickly apologised. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was only going to see if you have a fever. You—ah, you can have a woman check if you are feeling sick so that you can rest for a few hours," he said, not wanting to cross any boundaries and merely trying to be helpful. 

The man noticed the maid staring into space and wondered if something had happened. His eyes caught sight of the fabric around her neck, which was different from the other maids' uniforms. And soon, his eyes fell on the bruise that could be seen through the fabric.

"Do you want me to call one of the maids?" Gabriel asked her, and she shook her head. 

She moved her hands to let him know, 'I am fine,' but her eyebrows furrowed, feeling the sting in her finger. 

Gabriel's gaze briefly shifted from the young woman's face to look down at her hands before settling on one of her fingers, specifically the one that didn't move much. He said, "You must have hurt your hand somewhere? You should apply something on it. Sugar doe—"

"Anastasia." 

Anastasia's eyes widened. She turned, knowing that only one person had and would have called her by her full name here. Dante glanced at her momentarily and moved his gaze to look at the same servant who had carried the rotten head out of the Paradise Tower. 

Not standing there for a second longer than she already had, Anastasia made her way to come and stand before Dante. She heard him calmly say, 

"Follow me." 

And as calm as his voice appeared, it only made her imagine the turbulent sandstorm they had experienced. She bit the inside of her cheek, noticing him turn and leave. Without missing a beat, she followed him. 

A frown settled on Gabriel's face as he watched the maid leave with the first prince. From what he had heard, the first prince had a reputation for not touching any women in the palace, but was it him… who had left a mark on the maid's neck?

[Music Recommendation: Cage of Bones- Son Lux]

Anastasia followed Prince Dante, her heartbeat increasing with every step they took. He stopped in front of a door, opened it, and stepped inside the room. She took a deep breath before placing her foot through the doorway and walking in. The door closed behind her and she heard a click. 

"Are you going to punish me?" Anastasia asked him.

Dante turned away from the door that he had locked and came to stand before her. He questioned her, "Did you do something that you need to be punished for?" 

"No," Anastasia whispered, and before things could go astray, she said, "Prince Dante, this… I can't do this." She had no idea what the prince was up to but didn't want anything to do with it. He had put her finger in his mouth without a second thought. Things were already complicated, and the things he did—

"No one can handle pain when something as sharp as a chair crushes your finger," Dante stated.

"You were going out…" Anastasia said what he had told her before, and her foot moved backwards. 

Dante's hand shot forward to catch Anastasia's hand and keep her from moving away. He raised her hand and stated, "I was, but I had a few minutes to spare." She watched him inspect her injured finger. She said, 

"My finger is better now. Thank you," Anastasia thanked him, and her mind duly registered that he had licked her blood off her finger. 

As Dante's thumb grazed the base of her finger and moved towards her nail, he saw her flinch. He murmured with a straight face, "I thought I felt something earlier." He then pinched her skin as he stared at her finger before pulling a faint splinter of wood out. He dusted it off his fingers. He let go of her hand and said, "It shouldn't hurt that much now. Stay at a distance when it comes to Niyasa."

"She despises me," Anastasia was aware of it. Princess Niyasa didn't have a good reputation with the servants compared to Princess Emily, and most tried to not fall under her radar. 

"She despises anyone who is close to Emily. Call it a sister complex, where she wants to covet Emily's attention but can't, thereby discarding her maids. Lucky for you, she's going out now, so you should be safe," Dante responded to her words. He began to walk towards the door and said, "Though it is a different story if you go looking for shelter in the corridor."

Shelter? Anastasia asked herself before connecting it with the corridor, and she said, "Gabriel was worried if I was sick."

She heard Dante sigh, running his hand through his thick black hair in slightly controlled frustration. He muttered, "Appears to be a bee."

"What about you, Prince?" 

The words had left Anastasia's lips, and it was too late to take them back. She saw Dante turn to meet her eyes while holding the doorknob with his hand. His eyes seemed to come alive at her question, and he stated with mirth, 

"You heal my wounds, I heal yours. Isn't that right?" Dante noticed Anastasia's hair had been tied back into a bun. 

Anastasia had joked about it in the old palace but didn't know to expect this. She had meant it as friends, but Prince Dante wasn't one bit friendly, and it didn't seem like he wanted to be friends. He had mentioned earlier this morning that his intentions were not pure.2

Without sparing another word, Dante opened the door and stepped out of the room, leaving Anastasia alone. 

This wasn't healing… This was something else, Anastasia thought to herself. 

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