Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 71

“Is your charmed going to be there tonight, Olivia?”

Olivia’s smile tightened. “I think so, master.”

Melisandre nodded. “Tonight will be a good opportunity to handle your needs.”

Olivia gave a slight nod of assent, but otherwise didn’t respond. It seemed her excitement from dressing up for the feast had been crushed.

Dante watched the exchange awkwardly. He didn’t think that the carriage ride would be so uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. “What does charming someone do?”

“It basically just makes someone fall severely in love with us, but it slowly wears off over the course of a few months.”

Melisandre’s offhanded answer left a lot to be desired. It definitely left him wondering what it meant to severely fall in love with someone.

Glancing out of the carriage, he saw that they were pulling into a massive manor. He couldn’t help but thank the Goddess that the carriage ride was almost over. “So, couldn’t you guys just, uh, ‘charm’ anyone that you want to control?”

Melisandre gave a nod. “That is the general idea. It becomes a bit problematic when two people who interact with each other are charmed by the same. They won’t stop trying to kill each other until the effect wears off, or one of them dies.”

That did seem rather… problematic.

The carriage came to a stop, and Olivia immediately hopped out without a word. Seeing her strange behavior, Dante looked at Melisandre questioningly.

Melisandre shrugged. “She may always seem eager, but that is more of a kneejerk reaction. It will be better when she gets it out. Just give her some space tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

Melisandre let out a sigh. “Our urges buildup if they aren’t fulfilled, which is why Olivia hasn’t had much control recently. Once she takes care of it, she will be more herself for a few days.” Without another word, Melisandre slid out of the carriage.

Dante watched her leave silently. It was definitely an uncomfortable carriage ride. Letting out a sigh, he followed Melisandre out.

Upon stepping out, he was surprised to see that attendants were waiting to lead them inside the manor, and that Olivia had already disappeared. “Where did Olivia go?”

“She will meet us inside.”

Melisandre’s tone brooked no argument, so he dismissed Olivia from his mind. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have his own problems. Dante looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time.

The manor itself was surprisingly extravagant for the wastelands, even in comparison to the wealthy merchant’s district. It wasn’t the manor itself that surprised him, it wouldn’t have stood out much if it was located in the academy, it was the art. He saw several different statues, and several of them were next to the enchantment powered fountains that were scattered throughout the massive courtyard. Strangely, all of them showed a combatant killing his enemies. Even more strangely, it was the same combatant in every statue.

One statue that caught his interest, in particular, was the one that seemed to be the centerpiece. It showed that combatant running his sword through his enemy, both of them were severely injured, and both of them were bleeding heavily. The blood itself was just red water that was pumped through the statues with enchantments. It didn’t look overly realistic, but he still found the entire thing to be unnerving.

Melisandre prodded him in the side to grab his attention. “Keep your distance from me when we get inside. It will be a hassle to restrain Auron if he considers you to be a threat.”

Dante froze. “You charmed Warlord Auron?”

Seeing his shock, Melisandre smirked. “Of course, I always target the most powerful man in the area I’m staying in.”

Dante took two steps away from Melisandre. He had no interest in drawing the attention of the warlord at all, much less making him an enemy.

The attendants led them through the strange courtyard and straight into the manor itself. After discovering that Warlord Auron was charmed by Melisandre, he wasn’t surprised by the treatment that the two of them received. They stepped into the entryway, then immediately bypassed the line of people who were waiting to be announced by the Herald. It didn’t stop the looks that the two of them got though. Melisandre was given adoring glances from the men, but the women seemed to glare daggers at her.

After the attendant led them to the front of the line, he whispered into the ear of the Herald before rushing off. Dante took the opportunity to look inside the great hall. It looked standard, there was one massive table that shot down the center of the room, and several smaller ones surrounding it. People crammed into every inch of the smaller tables, but the longer table was far more spacious. To one side of the room, two men who couldn’t be far into their twenties were fighting on a large square stage. They didn’t use and skills, world essence, or mana manipulation, so the fight seemed to drag on without an end.

The herald looked up at them. “Are you ready, Mistress Melisandre?”

Melisandre smiled charmingly and nodded.

The Herald turned around and took a deep breath. “Mistress Melisandre and her nephew have arrived!”

His eyebrow quirked up when he heard that he was Melisandre’s nephew, but he didn’t have time to question how that happened.

“Melisandre!” The deep voice echoed through the great hall, and the entire room went silent, even the two fighting on the stage stopped.

From the head of the large table, a single man in full armor stood and confidently walked over with a smile on his face. He looked oddly familiar. “You look absolutely divine!” The man stepped closer and pulled Melisandre into an intimate embrace, kissing her delicately on the lips before pulling back reluctantly. Everyone in the room was looking at Melisandre adoringly, but after a single glance from the man, they all looked away.

After breaking off from Melisandre, the man looked at Dante, as if noticing him for the first time. “Who is this?” The man’s face didn’t visibly change, but his demeanor and the threat in his cold tone did.

When the man’s demeanor changed, Dante instantly recognized him. It was hard to tell when he looked kind and caring while gazing at Melisandre, but the man standing in front of him was the same combatant that was depicted in the statues outside. Those strong features and cropped hair may have looked familiar before, but when the man looked at him, there was no mistaking it.

He no longer wondered who the man was, there was no doubt he was the warlord.

Melisandre swatted Warlord Auron playfully. “My, aren’t we jealous? If you kill my nephew, my sister will never forgive you.”

Warlord Auron turned back to Melisandre, and his expression immediately softened. “Your nephew?”

Melisandre gave Warlord Auron a flirtatious smile. “Of course, don’t you remember his sister, Olivia?”

Warlord Auron cracked a charismatic grin and stepped toward him. Dante had to stop himself from putting distance between the two of them. For some reason, he had an overwhelming sense of peril just from being in Warlord Auron’s presence.

Warlord Auron patted him heavily on the shoulder with one of his gloved hands. “A sturdy lad. I expect no less from Melisandre’s nephew.” Warlord Auron threw an arm around his shoulder and winked at Melisandre before pulling him toward the large table. “Are you a fighter, boy?”

“I’ve fought a bit, but-”

“Excellent! I’ve been looking for a green fighter to raise up as an officer, how does that sound?”

As Warlord Auron spoke, he furtively glanced at Melisandre to gauge her reaction, and it was quite apparent that he was just doing whatever he could to please her. It seemed that this was what it meant to be severely in love, and he had no intention of stopping the man from being benevolent. After all, he didn’t know how Warlord Auron would react if he made him look bad in front of Melisandre. Dante grinned. “It would be an honor.”

He was awarded with another rough pat on the shoulder. “Excellent, truly excellent! We will discuss this later. For now, enjoy the feast!”

Warlord Auron pressed him into a seat before sauntering back to Melisandre, and he wasn’t surprised to see that he had been placed between two incredibly beautiful girls. One with black hair, the other with red. Both had incredibly refined features and were smiling at him roguishly. And although neither of them could hold a candle up to Melisandre or Olivia, they were still a cut above everyone else at the feast.

He had been placed in the situation he was hoping to avoid, and he could practically feel the glares coming from all of the men in the room.