Night had settled over the castle, quiet and deep. The corridors were mostly empty now, the last servants finishing their duties before retreating to their quarters. Outside the tall windows, the sky had turned dark and endless. The moon hung low above the distant forest, pale and watchful, casting long silver lines of light across the cold stone floors.
The entire castle had sunk into that calm stillness that ca only late at night.
Inside Dante’s private chamber, however, peace had completely vanished.
Alina stood in the middle of the room staring at him in disbelief, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. A few loose strands of hair had escaped from her braid and now frad her flushed face as she shook her head vigorously. Her cheeks were warm with frustration, and her eyes shone brightly with determination.
"Dee, you have to try to understand," she said, her voice already strained from the past ten minutes of arguing. "If I take leave tomorrow, who is going to take care of the babies? Who is going to teach them? Who is going to make sure Boo doesn’t float into the ceiling and get stuck again?"
Dante stood a few steps away from her, tall and unmoving like a dark statue carved from shadow itself. His broad shoulders were relaxed, his posture calm, but his arms were folded firmly across his chest in a way that made it very clear he was not moving from his position.
His expression carried that infuriating calm he had whenever he had already made up his mind.
The kind of calm that ant nothing in the universe would change it.
"Little dove," he said slowly, as if explaining sothing painfully obvious to a stubborn child, "you were kidnapped today."
Alina opened her mouth to protest imdiately, but he raised one hand.
"I know you are trying to be strong," he continued, his voice softening slightly though it remained firm as stone. "I know you are pretending that everything is fine. But trauma does not disappear simply because you say you are okay. It does not work that way."
Her eyes widened dramatically.
"Trauma?" she repeated, her voice pitching higher.
"Yes."
"Dee!" she exclaid, throwing both hands in the air. "I am not traumatised! I am perfectly fine! I slept, I woke up, I argued with so old n, you rescued , end of story!"
"You were taken by three ancient lunatics who live in a dusty tower full of spiders," Dante replied flatly.
"They gave gifts!"
"They kidnapped you first."
"They were confused old n!"
"They threatened you."
"They argued with about lying!"
"That does not improve the situation."
Alina groaned loudly and dragged both hands down her face, pressing her palms against her eyes like she was trying to physically contain the rising frustration inside her head.
"Dee, listen to ," she said, forcing herself to take a slow breath before trying again. "I am okay. Completely okay. One hundred percent okay. I am not taking leave tomorrow."
Dante’s brows drew together imdiately.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I am not."
"Yes."
"No."
She stepped closer to him now, her finger lifting as she jabbed it firmly against the center of his chest.
"If I take leave, who will teach the babies?"
"I will arrange soone."
"No."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I said I will arrange it. There are qualified substitutes."
"And I said no!" she shot back. "I do not want a substitute! I want my classroom!"
For a mont they simply stared at each other.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them blinked.
The tension in the room thickened with every passing second, like invisible smoke filling the air.
Dante tried again, his voice calm but unshakably stubborn.
"Try to understand," he said. "You need rest. Your body needs ti to recover. Your mind needs ti to process."
"No," she replied instantly.
"You were kidnapped."
"I was bored for two hours!"
"You cried."
"Because they were scary looking!"
"You admitted you were frightened."
"Because they are ugly, Dee! Very ugly! With their horns and their wrinkles and their dusty robes!"
Dante blinked slowly.
"That is not the point."
"It is absolutely the point! If they had been handso, I might have been less scared!"
He stared at her in silence for a mont.
"That is the strangest argunt you have ever made."
She crossed her arms again and turned slightly away from him, lifting her chin stubbornly toward the ceiling.
"I am going to class tomorrow," she declared firmly.
"You are not."
"Yes, I am."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes!"
"No!"
Their voices had now begun overlapping as both of them tried to speak over each other, creating a chaotic storm of stubbornness that echoed around the quiet chamber.
Dante exhaled slowly and lifted one hand to rub his temple, a rare sign of genuine exasperation.
"Fine," he said at last.
Alina’s shoulders dropped slightly in relief.
Then Dante looked up again.
And there was sothing dangerous in his eyes.
"Then I will teach them tomorrow."
Alina froze.
"You will what?"
"I will teach them."
She stared at him as if he had just announced he intended to breathe underwater while juggling fire.
"You cannot teach babies."
"Why not?"
"You are terrifying."
"I am not terrifying."
Alina sighed deeply. "Dee..."
Dante shrugged calmly, completely unbothered. In his mind the situation was perfectly logical. If he could handle Sable and Lucien, he could handle an entire classroom.
"I will manage."
She pointed at him again.
"You do not know how to handle babies!"
"I handle generals. I handle politicians. I handle ancient elders who believe they can take what is mine."
"Babies are worse!"
Dante actually paused for half a second at that.
Sothing flickered briefly in his eyes.
Then he straightened again.
"I will adapt."
"You cannot adapt to Luna when she decides to bite soone!"
"I will instruct her not to bite."
"She will bite you!"
"She will not."
"She absolutely will!"
"And Drake?" Dante asked calmly.
"What about Drake?"
"He breathes fire when excited."
"He does that constantly!"
"Then I will not excite him."
"That is impossible! Everything excites him! The word snack excites him! The word ga excites him! The sun existing excites him!"
Dante folded his arms again, unmoved by any of this information.
"I will teach them tomorrow," he repeated stubbornly.
Alina stared at him in complete disbelief, her mouth opening and closing like she was trying to find words strong enough to break through his skull.
"You are not stepping inside my classroom."
"The entire kindergarten belongs to my authority."
"But It is my classroom!"
"You need rest."
"I do not!"
"Yes, you do."
"No!"
"Yes."
"No!"
"Yes!"
The argunt had now reached entirely new heights of absurdity.
And neither of them showed the slightest intention of surrendering.
Reviews
All reviews (0)