The Mold in Winter (Resident Evil x Male Reader)

Chapter 41: The Duke's Advice, Reuniting with Ethan

Y/N POV

I remained in that small room, ear up close to the door. I could still hear the frantic buzzing of insects as Bela patrolled the area, looking for me. She called out "Come on out, if you do it soon, I promise I'll make it as painless as possible!" I growled angrily and muttered under my breath "Damn, won't she just quit already? How is she not finding me in here?"

(Safe room logic.)

Shortly after, a new voice could be heard, this one, much like Bela's, sounded young, presumably it belonged to another of Dimitrescu's daughters. "Bela, what are you doing? Who smashed this window?!"

The voice of Bela responded, clearly angry "Go away Cassandra! I'm busy!" The other voice that presumably belonged to Cassandra let out a "Tch" sound before asking "Doing what? You're wasting time, the man-." She cut herself "Oh, I see. You've found our lost little manthing haven't you? Planning to have him all to yourself?"

Bela snapped "It's none of your business!" Cassandra could be heard retorting "It is actually. Mother wanted you to go down to the dungeons." Bela replied "How do I know you aren't trying to trick me?" 

Cassandra let out a loud laugh "You wouldn't want me to get mother would you?" Bela sighed before saying "Fine." The sound of flies disbursing could be heard. I peeked the door open a bit however I saw this new figure who I believed to be Cassandra stood there.

Image of Cassandra Dimitrescu:

She remained silent for a moment before abruptly shrieking in a sadistic tone "Come on out manthing!" She placed a hand to her cheek and murmured "Oh I can't wait to spill and sample your blood, I hope it tastes good."

I growled again as I watched her ascend the stairs out of sight. That's when a familiar jovial laugh sounded in the room followed by them saying "I see you've already grown acquainted with the lovely Bela Dimitrescu." Startled, I spun around to see the Duke sat behind a table, a cigar in his hand.

I sighed a bit and said "You had me worried for a moment." I then raised an eyebrow and asked "Wait, how did you get here so fast?" The Duke just laughed again and said "Oh, I have my ways of getting around. I'm welcomed by the residents here so it wasn't that hard."

He looked around, over my shoulder and asked "Tell me, where is Ethan Winters?" I narrowed my eyes "I don't know, we split up shortly after getting here. Thought we'd cover more ground that way."

The  Duke nodded in understanding before commenting "I see, now, onto business." He made a gesture to the table in front of him and asked "Interested in checking my wares?" I looked at the table in front of him. 

An assortment of First Aid Meds, handgun bullets, shotgun shells and even a LEMI handgun like the one Ethan had. Unfortunately, much like before, I was lacking in the lei department. I muttered "Damnit." 

Looking up, I said "Sorry, not got any money on me. I would however, appreciate some information, would that cost anything." Now it was the Duke's turn to raise an eyebrow before saying "Information? That's free. What would you like to know?"

I went right into asking "What the hell is happening here? Who was that 'Bela' girl outside? Why is she literally made up of insects?" The Duke sat back and replied "Ah, now that would be the logical first question wouldn't it."

There was a pause before he said "It's quite a complex tale but I'll do my best." I knew I had better listen closely. The Duke opened his mouth, "The Dimitrescu family consists of the lady of the castle, Alcina Dimitrescu, I trust you know her." I nodded. The Duke smiled "Well, she has three daughters, you already met Bela and that was Cassandra outside the door earlier, there's Daniela as well, she's the youngest of the three."

I took it in before asking "But how did they come to exist? I've encountered strange creatures before but never people who resemble swarms of insects." The Duke looked down at me before saying "That is the interesting part. You see-." Just as he was about to explain, the door to the room was flung open and lightly banged against the wall.

I spun around, gun drawn, expecting it to be that Cassandra. However I sighed with relief when I saw Ethan leaning against the wall, clearly having seen better days. Looking at me he asked in an angry tone "Where the hell were you?!" I raised my hands in defence "Me?! Where were you?! I came looking for you and all I find is a girl made of insects who kept passive-aggressively flirting with me while also threatening to drink my blood. What about you?"

Ethan replied "Same here." Behind us the Duke abruptly laughed again saying "We meet again." Ethan's attention turned to him as he asked "Duke, why are you here?" The Duke replied with a smile "Where there's coin to be made..."

He asked "Have you found your daughter?" Ethan replied "No." The Duke made a suggestion "Well, if she is truly here, the lady of the castle would have kept little Rose in her private chambers would she not?" Ethan seemed confused "Dimitrescu?"

Duke nodded "The very same. Why don't you take a look. Maybe you'll get lucky. Speaking of looking, care to make a purchase." I commented "I do need to keep my eyes out more for money." Ethan purchased some additional handgun rounds along with an upgrade to his gun's magazine size. I knew I'd need to find upgrades soon and for that I'd need money.

Once business was concluded, the Duke said "Pleasure doing business with you. Have a wonderful adventure both of you." Ethan turned to me. I looked back and said "I'm coming with you. If there's one of those daughters around, you'll need someone watching your back."

Ethan agreed, saying "Okay, sounds good." I instantly asked "So, what's the first step? Our objective is clear but how do we get there." Ethan reached into his jacket pocket and said "I found this hidden in a ring."

He held up something, upon closely inspecting it, it appeared to be a maroon eye of sorts. I wouldn't be surprised it it fit into a door to open it or something.

Image of the maroon eye:

I grinned and said "Sounds like a plan." Little did we know, this castle held a dark secret in the dungeons. One we'd soon discover first-hand...

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter, I really hope you liked it and as always, thank you for reading.