Garden Of Poison

Anastasia was woken up by the cheerful chirping of small birds. As she opened her eyes, her gaze fell on the tall plants that provided both her and Dante shelter, despite the sun having already risen to greet another day.

"Good morning," Anastasia greeted when she saw Dante open his eyes, and it appeared that they both had enjoyed a restful sleep beside each other.

"Good morning." Dante returned the greeting with a contented expression.

Using her elbows, she inched closer to him and then kissed him before a smile graced her lips. She expressed, "I cannot wait for the forests to return to Versailles," so that they could spend their time like this without a single worry.

"It will be something to look forward to," Dante hummed, and he gently placed his hand on the side of her face. He then reminded her, "We should head back to the house before I lose the credibility that I earned yesterday."

Anastasia nodded, saying, "You are right; we should. I wouldn’t want to get you into trouble." She pulled away to allow Dante to sit up, and she followed suit. Her eyes looked around the beautiful and magical surroundings, and she said, "There is a place here, a door that leads to the past. Would you like to visit it?"

"How interesting. Perhaps we can explore it some other day and time," Dante responded before rising to his feet and offering his hand to assist her in standing up. With a warm smile, he added, "Right now, I want to spend my time with you and your family. As much as I miss the past, I don’t want to chase it when there’s a present that I can embrace and cherish."

Anastasia accepted his hand and stood up, their hands clasped together. She responded, "I understand."

Dante gently raised the hand he held to his lips and placed a kiss on the back of it. He then asked her, "How about you, little rabbit? Would you like to go for a stroll?"