98: Brush of Death

Brush of Death

The guard watched the unconscious woman sink into the water, and then he picked up the empty gunny sack, hoisting it over his shoulder before departing from the scene. 

Anastasia could feel her body being pulled towards the bottom, and the water stung her already wide-open eyes. She had taken a deep breath before falling into the water, granting her precious additional moments to free her legs. 

She attempted to use the dagger to cut the ropes binding her legs, but in her effort, the dagger slipped from her grasp and sank deeper into the water. Not knowing what else to do, she mustered all her strength to force her legs apart before she succeeded, as most of the work of tearing the ropes had already been done. 

Having never swum before, Anastasia had no clue what to do. She resorted to flailing her hands, which somehow propelled her upwards, allowing her head to emerge out of the water to take a deep breath. But she couldn't keep herself afloat and continued splashing while desperately calling for help.

"HEL—P!" Anastasia coughed the water that had entered through her nose and mouth. 

Adrenaline and panic coursed through her mind, and Anastasia fought to stay alive by continuously kicking her legs and paddling her hands, refusing to stop even for a moment, fully aware that she had to cling to hope for someone to notice her, or else she would be condemned to forever rest at the bottom of the sea. 

But with every passing second, dread filled Anastasia at the thought that she would die here. Despite her desperate struggle to stay alive, exhaustion soon crept into her limbs, and her efforts faltered, causing her to be pulled back beneath the water's surface while losing consciousness. 

As one of the local women strolled along the water's edge to reach the cleaner side of the sea, carrying a basket of clothes securely hoisted on her waist, she caught sight of a pair of hands sticking out of the water, only to swiftly disappear beneath the surface. 

Startled, the woman dropped the basket on the ground and shouted for help, 

"There's someone drowning in the sea! Someone is drowning! Help, help!" She continued to shout until a group of people gathered, but all they could see was the sea undulating as it usually did. 

"Where did you see the person drowning?? Are you sure you saw someone, and it wasn't just some cloth drifting in the water?" a local man questioned, looking left and right as he wasn't sure where to direct his attention. 

The woman appeared unsure as she pointed her finger in a specific direction. 

"Is there a good swimmer here who can jump in and check?" asked one woman, but no one stepped forward, and the crowd looked anxiously at each other's faces, as they were scared of the monsters residing at the bottom of the sea. 

While the crowd worriedly gazed at the sea, the sound of horses' hooves clip-clopping against the ground approaching them reached their ears. The people momentarily turned to see who it was before quickly offering their deepest bows. 

"Prince Dante!" The men and women looked even more worried now than when they were peering at the water, for the cursed prince himself had arrived. 

"Why is there a crowd gathered here?" Dante questioned the people because there were no ships to be seen on the water. 

Aziel, who had accompanied the first prince, demanded, "Speak up! Don't stay silent."

One of the men stepped forward and conveyed, "Someone drowned in the sea. This woman here, she claims to have seen a person's hand," and this statement put a frown on the faces of both men sitting on the horses. 

As Dante turned his attention towards the sea, Aziel looked taken aback and questioned, "Why haven't any of you gone to save the person?!" 

"W—we don't know how to swim. The water is too deep for us to wade in, and we'd drown," said someone from the crowd. 

When the old minister noticed Dante dismounting from his horse and removing his coat, draping it over his horse, he asked, "Prince Dante, are you planning to enter the water?" 

"It would be better to do it now before the person's body floats up to the surface of the water because, by then, it will be too late," Dante remarked before heading to the water's edge and diving in. 

The saltwater didn't sting Dante's eyes, and he continued swimming, searching for the drowned individual. His hands gracefully moved through the water, pushing against its resistance that impeded his progress. And because his midnight eyes weren't sharp enough to detect anyone in the water, his eyes quickly shifted to fiery red, enhancing his vision. His keen ears picked up the gurgling sound of the water and the subtle ascent of small bubbles rising towards the water's surface. 

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As Dante continued to press on through the water, his eyes finally caught sight of something white gently floating on the seabed before he recognised it was a person in a white nightgown. 

Anastasia! 

Filled with urgency, Dante quickly swam towards where she lay and lifted her into his arms, realising she was unconscious. He placed his hand on the side of her neck, only to find no discernible pulse. 

No, this couldn't be happening! Dante exclaimed inwardly in alarm as he gritted his teeth. His already red eyes turned darker, and ominous black fumes began to emanate from his body, dispersing into the water. He brought her body close to his chest, embracing her tightly before he closed his eyes. 

The people standing on the boardwalk stared at the water with their eyebrows drawn together, and one of them murmured to another, 

"It has been a good few moments. I hope they haven't drowned."

Aziel scolded the man who had spoken, warning him, "I will sever your tongue for uttering such words!" Then with conviction, he stated, "He will be back. He must still be looking for the person who drowned." With that, the minister redirected his attention to the water while anxiously counting the seconds until the prince would resurface out of the water as internally, he was also worried. 

"Who knew the prince would dive in at a mere word?" one of the women asked in astonishment, surprised at the unexpected sight of a member of the royal family willingly getting their clothes wet. 

"Isn't that obvious, though? I mean, Prince Dante is the only one who rides his horse around here while interacting with people," said another person. "Hopefully, the person's body wasn't carried away by the waves."

And while they were waiting, someone suddenly pointed and exclaimed, "W—what is that? That thing in the water!" Everyone's eyes shifted in the direction indicated by the person's outstretched hand, just in time to catch sight of the water's surface turning dark, completely obscuring the view beneath it. "What is going on?!" Murmurs of confusion and concern rippled through the crowd. 

All of a sudden, a wave of water splashed onto the people standing along the boardwalk, catching them off-guard as they leaned forward to get a better view of what was happening in the water. The unexpected deluge left everyone nearby blinking in shock, as it felt as if someone had splashed a massive bucket of water on each of them, drenching them before they gasped at the sight presented before them. 

Aziel had just finished wiping the water off his face with his hand when his eyes fell on a round, crystal-like formation of water that encapsulated Prince Dante and the person who had drowned, though he couldn't discern the face of the person as it was turned towards the prince's chest. The spherical water crystal floated above the surface of the water, while fumes emitted from the prince's body much more intensely than he had ever witnessed before. 

The people around were too dumbstruck to react or utter a word as they stared at the view in front of them with their mouths hanging wide open. The water fell back to the sea, and the black fumes dispersed into the air before the prince jumped back onto the ground while still carrying the unconscious woman. 

Dante gently lowered Anastasia onto the wooden surface of the boardwalk, and he placed his hands on her chest before pumping her chest continuously, the black fumes moving towards her. 

"It is the curse!" one of them muttered, and in less than three seconds, the men, women and children ran back to their houses. 

Aziel's eyes widened upon realising the woman was none other than the courtesan. How did she even end up here?! 

Dante leaned forward, and soon his lips touched Anastasia's cold and pale lips as if trying to breathe life back into her. When he began to pump her chest again, she started to cough out the water she had swallowed when she was in the sea. 

He held her, relieved that she was alive, watching her cough out the water, and for a fleeting moment, her eyes opened before she fell back into an unconscious state. 

Dante, who was cradling Anastasia's head, felt the bump on the back of it. 

"Aziel. Get the physician to the palace," Dante's voice was eerily low, and there was a whisper of darkness to it that had the minister look away from the woman to him. 

"Not here, Prince Dante? She can—" 

When Dante raised his eyes to meet Aziel's old eyes, the minister froze upon noticing the golden slits in the dark red eyes. He stated, "Have the physician prepared by the time she's ready to be seen."

Aziel mounted his horse and went to inform the physician to come to the palace immediately before he made his way through the corridors to find the Mother Queen. He burst through the doors of the room where the old woman was sitting. At the moment, her legs were being massaged by a maid and another was waving a fan for the wind to blow at her. 

"Mother Queen! Mother… Queen," Aziel gasped as he had run to get there, and he placed his hands on his knees to take a breather before remembering it wasn't the time. He blinked a couple of times, as he could see spots in his vision before he said, "It is Prince Dante."

The Mother Queen's eyes narrowed at the mention of her precious grandson, and she raised her hand before dismissing the maids, "Leave us alone." 

Once the maids stepped out of the room, Aziel said, "I think Prince Dante's demon is breaking out. Maybe not all, but maybe… maybe sixty percent?" and he took a deep breath. Still out of breath, he brought his hands forward to count something on his fingers. He said, "There's thirteen days left before the golden moon makes its presence."

"Where is he now?" the Mother Queen questioned him, and they walked out of there. 

Once they reached one of the guest rooms, the Mother Queen stepped inside, and her eyes fell on Dante's back, who stood next to the bed, where the physician was tending to an unconscious Anastasia. 

Soon the other royal family members appeared in the corridor and in front of the room to see what the commotion was that they had heard the servants gossiping about. And with them was the Vizier, who entered the room before his eyes narrowed at the sight of the courtesan, whom he had ordered to be disposed of so as not to be found. 

How did she get back here?! the Vizier asked himself. 

Not a moment later, King Maxwell arrived at the room, and everyone, except for the physician and Prince Dante, bowed at him, making way for him to step inside. His blue eyes grew worried before he demanded, 

"What happened to her?" 

Aziel was the one to reply, "Someone threw her into the sea, Your Highness! We don't know what happened, but Prince Dante and I were out riding our horses when we found her."

"How is that even possible? A courtesan thrown into the sea?" The Mother Queen found it appalling that things like this were taking place. 

Lady Noor frowned before asking, "Maybe Madame Minerva might know what happened? Where is she?" 

Queen Maya's face had turned pale, a slight feeling of dread coming over her. Niyasa, who was also in the room, stared at the useless courtesan before her eyes moved to look at the other people in the room, coming to settle on her brother. 

"Bring her here!" King Maxwell ordered, and one of the servants quickly left to fetch the woman. He was making his way towards the bed when Dante finally turned for everyone to notice the slits in his eyes, except for Maxwell, whose eyes were on Anastasia.  1

The Mother Queen took a sharp breath before she whispered, "That's more than eighty…"

Before Maxwell could reach Anastasia's side, Dante stepped in front of him, his cold red slitted eyes meeting Maxwell's surprised blue ones. 

"What are you doing?" Maxwell questioned Dante for blocking his way, while also confused about his brother's eyes. 

Dante stared back at Maxwell before he openly laid claim on Anastasia, "I will be taking her as my woman. It would be best for you not to hover over her, or people will wrongfully get the impression that you are looking at her when you have already found your soulmate."

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