Garden Of Poison

The loud bang startled Anastasia, who turned around to find Dante’s intense eyes staring at her. Her eyes looked at the door, which was no longer in its previous position but had fallen to the ground. Did he break it? When she locked the door, her intention was to unlock it later.

Dante, on the other hand, scowled even more when he caught Anastasia and the servant sticking their heads out of the window. A few seconds ago, when he had reached the front of the room and tried to push the door open, it appeared to be locked.

Hearing Anastasia’s racing heart, as though fueled by adrenaline, his immediate thought was that she was attempting to escape. And he only jumped to the conclusion because of how strongly the woman clung to the idea of gaining her freedom, and in her eyes, freedom came with being away from him. With everything that had happened to her, he didn’t blame her for wanting to flee.

Anastasia noticed Dante’s eyes falling on the bedsheet on the floor, which she hadn’t picked up earlier, and she could only imagine the thoughts running through the prince’s mind. To prevent either Theresa or herself from being scolded, she hastily provided an explanation.

"We were looking at the view outside the window... After our meal—I mean, my meal. For some fresh air. We weren’t doing anything bad," her voice trailed off uncertainly.

"I know," Dante responded, and the grim expression on his face softened. His gaze shifted towards the window, through which he could hear the soothing sound of the waves outside. He said, "The door didn’t open, and there was no response. I thought something might have happened."

Anastasia wondered if she and Theresa had been so absorbed in watching the sea and listening to the waves that they hadn’t heard the doorknob turning. She gave him a nod as if she believed his explanation, and she observed Dante look away from her as if a little embarrassed about something.

"Did you finish eating?" Dante asked her, and Anastasia responded with another nod before verbally replying,

"I did. Have you eaten yet?" After all, earlier, it seemed like he had spent hours waiting for her to wake up.

Theresa’s eyebrows subtly rose at Anastasia’s direct question to the prince as if their relationship had taken on a more familiar tone akin to that of acquaintances. It seemed that the young woman was correct when she said the first prince treated her with kindness.

"I ate a little, but I am still hungry," Dante’s gaze locked with Anastasia’s brown eyes, and it took a second for her to understand the underlying meaning, causing her eyes to widen. He then turned to look at Theresa and questioned,