ADULTERATED CONDITION

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The Count reached under Rose's pillow for the dagger she had hidden earlier, and it was missing. Without hesitation, the Count split his palm open with his fingernail and poured blood over the wound. He had to stave off Rose's hemorrhaging. The blood flow from Rose's wound slowed and finally ended.

Dante's blood was healing Rose's stab wound. He gave her his hand and made her drink. Rose calmed down, her breathing returned to normal, and the Count could see her pain receding. He took his other hand and smoothed Rose's sweat-soaked hair out of her face. She slowly opened her eyes to gaze up at her father. The Count could tell by the look in her eyes she was relieved to see him standing there.

"Hi there, I see we made it back in the nick of time. You seem to attract trouble, young lady" Dante smiled at Rose, but it was not genuine. He was scared out of his mind about his daughter's health.

Rose was suppressing an overwhelming urge to cry. She swallowed a lump rising in her throat. Dante was right. Since she had emerged from the tomb, nothing but peril had followed her. "Sorry I have caused so much trouble for you." her voice was hoarse from screaming. "I will leave as soon as I'm healed. I do not belong here." she internally agonized about the decision to leave.

"Don't be ridiculous; everyone goes through runs of bad luck—some more than others. You are not going anywhere. I want you to stay right here next to me. This home is where you belong, Scarlette Rose." Dante patted her head to soothe her.

"Right now, I think a hot bath is in order. I will have the staff come to assist you and clean your room. Are you still wearing your pendant?" Dante was curious why he did not sense the distress Rose was in earlier. He thought maybe she removed the jewel, or it had fallen off in bed while she was sleeping.

"Yes, I'm still weari..." Rose stopped mid-sentence. She could not feel the gem or chain when she reached to touch the place where it rested on her chest. Rose searched through the covers and looked around the bed.

"It's gone," she placed her hand under the pillow, and Rose's dagger was missing too. "They are both gone. I had them when I fell asleep." Her face held a worried expression, and anxiety washed over her. She had to find her belongings. Those precious items were all that was left of her mother. "Dante, I must get them back, it's all...." Rose paused and bowed her head. She twisted her bloody nightgown in her hands. Rose couldn't speak anymore, or she would start to cry. Everything had become overwhelming.

"Go clean up, and I will take care of it." The Count decided to question the servants. He would find out what happened to Rose while he was gone.

Dante picked up the teapot on the bedside table from earlier and was getting ready to set it on the serving tray. He heard a rattle inside the pot. The Count removed the lid to see a rosary inside.

"Fuck!!!"

He threw the vessel in fury across the room, smashing it into the wall next to the fireplace. Rose's wound had re-opened because she drank tea with a holy object. Dante ran his hand through his hair and angrily spat out more curses. He knew her body could not make contact with religious items, or it would continue to harm her health.

"Dahlia!!!" yelled the Count.

The young maid entered Rose's room. "Yes, your Grace."

"Did you prepare the tea for Rose last night?

Dante glowered at the girl as he interrogated her. The Count was enraged that someone had adulterated his daughter's tea. Rose observed the Count spring up from his chair, move toward the servant, grasp her by her neck, and begin to squeeze.

"No, Count," Dahlia said, holding up her hands and shaking her head.

"Milley made the tea for the Contessa. I was assisting Carrick last night." Dahlia was trembling when Dante seized her throat. She tried clawing at him as he backed her into a corner and gripped her neck tighter.

"Where is Milley?" Dante's eyes darkened and shone with wrath.

"Speak quickly. I have no more tolerance left for insolence!"

Dahlia shook her head again and began to turn pale. She was suffocating and struggled to answer, "I-I do not know, your Grace. I swear I have not seen her since late last night." The Count released his grip on Dahlia, and she slumped to the floor gasping for breath.

If someone was lying, Dante was good at detecting it, but Dahlia had stood firm with her answers and responded without hesitation. Dante could see his servant was being honest. He had no reason to doubt her as she tried to help Rose when he entered the room.

"Get up, Dahlia, and help Rose with her bath. I will have Carrick take care of the rest."

Dante found his answer to whom harmed Rose. It was Milley. The Count was going to track her down. He would take the ill-natured maid named Milley apart with his bare hands. He would crush her and return Rose's belongings to her.

The butler met Dante in the hall. "Find Giselle! We have some business to clear up, and I need her assistance." Carrick carried Oscar in his arms, stroking the cat to keep him subdued.

"She was in the parlor the last I saw your Grace. What would you like me to do with the cat?" The butler asked the Count.

"Give him to Rose once she is done bathing. Have her moved into my room until hers is cleaned and ready. We need to get a new mattress from one of the guest rooms and burn the other one." commanded Dante.

"Yes, your Grace, as you wish." Carrick bowed to Dante and left to clean and prepare the room for the Count's Daughter.

Dante strode back downstairs and into the parlor. Giselle was sitting on the couch admiring the nosegay in her hands. She stared up at her Master as he walked into the room. "This is a message. It's a peace offering." Giselle threw the nosegay on the table in front of her, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned back into the furniture, waiting for Dante to respond to her discovery.

"You can explain this to me later. Right now, we are going hunting." Giselle got up and followed Dante out of the mansion and down a dirt path in the woods.

"What are we hunting for?" Inquired Giselle. Walking down the pathway with Dante, she noticed a fog moving in across the forest floor.

"We are pursuing a rotten runaway servant girl I disciplined last night for breaking the house protocols. She has not only been rude and inconsiderate of my home but now has stolen from me and my kin. Even worse, she injured Rose.

Milley took it upon herself to fix Rose a pot of tea with a rosary inside. Not very conducive to helping my darling daughter heal. The screaming you heard was her almost bleeding to death. Rose has sustained a sword wound. Before I found her, she had a little duel with our favorite busybody Christopher Thorn." Dante started explaining to Giselle the event that led to today's pursuit of the maid.

"I have some other news for you too. I learned why Lord Thorn is always chasing us when we're here. He is Samael the Archangel." Giselle stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide and mouth agape at what she had just heard the Count disclose to her.

"How did you figure it out?"

"A little birdy named Scarlette Rose. She has been asleep for almost 400 years. Rose told me an angel woke her, tried to slay her with a claymore that is a holy relic, and he had silver feathered wings." Giselle listened as Dante described what he had learned. "When Christopher introduced himself, he said his middle name was Samael. I thought at first Rose was crazy when she told me what happened, but she was sincere with me about Lord Thorn."

Dante strode through the forest like a knight off to fight the enemy. His boots' soles were ready to crush and destroy everything they contacted. Giselle knew that this was going to get bloody. She could feel the rage rolling off of the Count's body. It had been ages since she had seen blood on his hands, and Giselle knew he craved the excitement of fear and slaughter.

"How do you know the maid came this way?" asked Giselle.

"No one saw Milley leave. Plus, nothing says I'm guilty, like running out the front door with packed bags after someone has been almost killed. So I can only deduce she snuck out this way. I also have seen shoe prints on the ground since we left. The rain has done us a favor by keeping the land soft. It's made it simple for me to track her down." Dante kept an eye on the footpath. He could hear a faint human heartbeat nearby. The Count gave a hand signal to Giselle to remain still and quiet. He had spotted Milley. She was crouching behind a tree to keep from being discovered.

The Count was an expert when it came to ambushing his enemy. He silently walked up behind the maid and whispered quietly in her ear. "Going somewhere, are we?"

Milley Yelped in fright and tried to run, only to get dragged back to the ground by her hair. She saw Giselle hover gracefully out of the mist towards her like a bad dream.