"Hey, what are you thinking about?" The woan's voice invaded Dante's thoughts as he walked through the palace, marking each person with demonic energy.
"I'm thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow. Maybe I won't be myself anymore," Dante remarked, and Aaralyn emerged from his shadow.
"You're overthinking it, master." Dante looked at the woman and questioned, "I'm pretty sure I gave you time off, didn't I? Why are you working?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"A shadow never rests. My master comes first." She said proudly, puffing out her chest. "You can't abandon me!" She exclaimed loudly. Dante, on the other hand, just smiled.
"Hmm, I think you've misunderstood something. I didn't give you time off because I wanted to push you away, Aaralyn," Dante said with a smile. "It's just that if I don't show that I need you, you'll go back to Valentina, won't you?" He asked with a smile, and Aaralyn withdrew... Dante's eyes... seemed like a vortex of a spiral abyss, sucking her in completely, but like a shadow, she quickly withdrew.
"Stop playing with me, master. I'm a loyal subordinate!" She quickly said and retreated back into the shadows.
"Tsk, damned shadow, be clearer with yourself, it'll be easier that way," he thought as he glanced around a few more places before heading to the final location, where he really needed to go.
The place in question?
The royal infirmary. He needed to deal with a problem that Ethan had caused.
He walked to the location and saw some nearby doctors examining a body still in a coma. Dante looked at those lifeless eyes and pronounced, "Let me see her, it's an order from your empress." And everyone quickly stepped back, leaving only Dante in the room.
"How pathetic," Dante said as he saw the woman's condition. He was truly angry at such an act, mainly because he thought if it were one of his wives... He would destroy the world if necessary.
"Aaralyn," Dante called, and the woman appeared. "Yes, master?" She questioned as she saw the deplorable state of the woman in front of her.
"Can you cover this room with a veil of your shadow to expel the intruders? I'll heal her," Dante said, and Aaralyn nodded.
"Let's think about that later," Dante said and began to pass all the purified negative energy throughout Axilen's body, in order to heal her wounds.
"Are you sure you're going to do this?" Alter-Dante asked. However, Dante didn't listen to him and just said, "Whether I want to or not, it's my fault she's like this." He said coldly. He didn't blame himself, but something inside him said it was a consequence of his actions.
"Stop carrying other people's burdens," said Alter-Dante, but he refused. "If I am the progenitor of Hell, then the demons are my responsibility. Not just Ethan, but Avarice is involved. He or She will be punished when I find them personally." He said with a serious and intimidating look.
Axilen's body began to heal and be purified. Okay, maybe purified isn't the exact definition; he's just healing her with energy and swallowing the energy back, so he could heal her without corrupting her as Ethan did with his demonic mace blows.
Axilen's once bruised and blackened body, destroyed, began to be completely healed and soon, she opened her eyes seeing Dante, who was in his red-haired form.
"W-Who are you?" She stuttered as she tried to sit up, but "Argh!" She groaned in pain, and Dante pushed her back.
"Rest, girl. Soon you'll regain your movements," he said seriously, staring at her. Axilen was frightened by Dante's appearance, but still asked. "Who are you?" Again, now more firmly, while her body was still undergoing the healing process.
"I am the past that Ethan hates the most. I am his worst memory, worst nightmare, and worst reality. I am just your deepest hell. Try to think who I am," Dante said and turned away.
"Dante, you are Dante Scarlet," she said, without surprise or any negative reaction, just a confident smile.
Dante turned and looked at the girl. "Seems like you're much smarter, and you know your husband's fears well," Dante said and opened the door again.
"He's not my husband, he's my jailer!" She said, and Dante didn't look back. "Kill him, set me free! I beg you!"
"Don't worry. He will die... In the worst possible way," said Dante, his golden gaze turned completely red, and as he looked at Axilen one last time, she didn't even flinch.
"I'll cling to any chance of that bastard dying, whether it's Dante Scarlet or not, I don't care," she thought.