The Mold in Winter (Resident Evil x Male Reader)

Chapter 39: The Duke

Y/N POV

Heisenberg's game may have failed to kill us, but the meeting beforehand had definitely given us a glimpse into some of the characters we'd be contending with during our time here. It was unknown whether or not these people had any ties to Rose, but it was a possibility worth investigating nonetheless.

Good news though, given how much of a close call that last trap was, it was quite possible that Heisenberg and the others now believed us to be dead. This would give us the element of surprise and hopefully allow us to conduct our search with less interruptions.

Me and Ethan both wasted no time exiting the long room with the spinning blades. We went through another room that had spikes from the ceiling though luckily for us, this wasn't a trap so we managed to pass on through with no trouble whatsoever.

Finally we came to a wooden door with a latch holding it shut, undoing that we were able to push it open revealing the same room we'd been in earlier, the one where we first encountered Heisenberg. It seems this door was the same one I'd tried to open before but it was locked from the other side.

I muttered "Okay, no more interruptions this time." Ethan nodded in agreement saying "Yeah." Before reaching up and this time, with a grunt managed to pull the lever. The sound of gears moving could be heard. the metal barred gate lifted up and the wooden door behind it pulled apart to reveal a narrow path lit by torches.

Heading down the path, we soon ascended a set of stone steps at the top of which the exit came into view. The white snow outside plainly visible. Stepping out into the cold, I looked around. Ahead of us seemed to be a path that curved around on itself leading up to what appeared to be the castle's main entrance.

Naturally that's the way we went. I kept my handgun at the ready and eyed my surroundings warily, especially the scarecrows lining the path. Seeing all those Lycans put me on edge and I knew more could spring out at any moment, I wanted to be ready. In the end, we didn't encounter any Lycans. What we did find though was arguably even stranger.

Towards the castle's entrance we saw what at first I thought was a strange booth of sorts. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was actually a carriage. What it was doing out here I didn't know but as we got closer, the doors swung open.

A groan could be heard from inside and my eyes widened when an extremely large man basically rolled into view, pushing the doors open wider revealing an odd assortment of objects. The man turned to face us and gave a jovial grin.

"I've been waiting for you. Mister Winters." Ethan asked accusingly "How do you know my name?" The mysterious fat man laughed "Anyone who is anyone has heard of the likes of you. A hero searching for his daughter."

His attention turned to me "And you must be the child's uncle. I don't believe I'm familiar with your name." I introduced "Y/N L/N." The man smiled at me and said "Ah, well it's nice to meet you. I must say, your arrival was very unexpected. When the girl was brought here, I assumed her father wouldn't be too far behind. Her uncle though, that was  a surprise."

I was left confused by what he was saying, was he expecting Ethan? The man moved on "I digress. I must say, that castle arouses suspicion." Ethan pointed out "Yeah, and so do you." The man let out a high-pitched laugh. 

He went on to explain "I am but a humble merchant." I raised an eyebrow asking "Here?" The man apologised and introduced himself "Forgive my manners, call me the Duke. Now to business. Weapons, ammunition, healing salves. Anything you desire, I can provide."

Image of the Duke:

Me and Ethan looked at one another, nodded and turned back to the 'Duke' as he called himself. Ethan said "Sure, show us what you've got." The Duke responded "What're ya buyin'. Just something an old friend of mine used to say."

I began browsing the assortment of goods. One thing that definitely stood out to me was a bottle of that first-aid medicine. The bottle came in a different type of bottle to that which I'd seen before. But reading it, it seemed to share the same properties and effects.

Image of the First-Aid Med:

The Duke must have seen my interest as he said "Ah yes, that. Can heal almost any wound just by coming into contact with the skin. An excellent purchase if I may suggest. And for a fair price of only 800 Lei."

And that was the point I realized I didn't have any money. I scowled and muttered "Damn it." I was about to place the bottle back on the shelf when Ethan said "Here, I found these at Louiza's house. This should cover the price of it."

I looked at the coins in Ethan's hand and asked "Wait, did you steal these?" Ethan shrugged and said "I got it when the building was on fire, when you were trying to break the wall down with that truck." I just nodded and said "I see."

Paying for it, Ethan brought some handgun rounds which we split 50/50. With that done, our business was concluded. The Duke said "Pleasure doing business with you. Do come again." I nodded as me and Ethan both approached the front door to the castle.

We both took a deep breathe before pushing the door open. Inside was a rather lavish hall. As we entered, the door closed behind us. Naturally we started out by looking around, I noticed a few white and gold containers that resembled urns however the thing that really caught my attention was an antique looking painting.

The painting was of three young girls, early twenties at the oldest. They all wore very old-fashioned attire so it was unknown how long ago this was painted. At the bottom, on a golden plaque was an inscription which read 'Three Daughters: Bela, Cassandra and Daniella.'

Image of the painting:

I just stared at the painting for about a minute before turning my attention back to Ethan. He approached and asked me "Do you think Rose is here?" I shook my head "I don't know. But I feel we'd cover more ground if we were to split up, investigate the castle separately, see if we find anything."

Ethan asked in a concerned tone "Are you sure that's smart? I mean we barely survived the village, what do you think could be hidden here?" I interjected "Whether it's smart is out of the question. It's down to what is more practical. This castle is huge, we'd cover more ground if we were separate. Besides, if there are any creatures here, they'd have a harder time keeping track of us if we split up."

All Ethan did was sigh before saying "Okay, I'll look to the left, you go to the right. Is that fine?" I nodded and said "Yeah, should do fine." With that Ethan headed off and I went to investigate the room to the right.

Turns out it was just a tiny room with an inactive lift. I tried pushing the button but nothing happened. It seemed I would have to follow Ethan after all. It seems though even in the brief moment I was gone, he'd gotten himself into trouble.

And I'll tell you this, the residents here weren't exactly the easiest people to deal with...

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. We on to the second part of the segment, Castle Dimitrescu. I really hope you enjoy what's to come, I also hope you liked this chapter and as always, thank you for reading.