RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE - The House of Dimitrescu

Chapter 25 - Tell Me The Truth

(CONTENT WARNING - This is perhaps the darkest chapter of the book. I'm sorry, but it's a necessary evil I needed to address if it was to be realistic. If you're under 18, this book is rated mature anyway, but even if you've already come this far, skip this chapter.)

When Y/N awoke, he was lying on the floor, with golden rays of sunlight were filtering gently in Duke's room through the veiled window in the corner. His chest still ached, but now it felt more stiff than sore, and the bruise on his face slightly waxy on his skin. Groaning slightly, Y/N sat up, feeling as though someone had strapped a barrel around his chest, preventing him from bending his spine as he sat up and rubbed his eyes gingerly. 

'At last, he awakes!' Y/N turned, and saw Duke smiling benignly at him over the top of his counter. A large array of different coloured bottles were arrayed out in front of him, along with the drab ends of a few bandages and dressings. 'You've already missed breakfast I'm afraid. And most of lunch.'

'Did... did you...?' Y/N stammered, looking down at his chest. His entire torso had been bandaged up thoroughly, each bandage perfectly straight across him with several coloured patches here and there over his broken ribs. 

'Your shouting match with the Countess was quite something to hear.' Duke told him in a congratulatory tone. 'There aren't many men who have stood up to her like that. Far fewer who have lived.' Y/N paused, then tried to get to his feet, only for Duke to call over again.

'You may wish to be gentle on yourself, Y/N. My medicines are more effective than most, but putting too much strain on yourself will see you back here before the end of the day.'

'Thank you.' Y/N replied gratefully, smiling slightly as his lip cracked painfully. 'I'll... I'll find my lei to pay you.' 

'Always a pleasure.' Duke replied benevolently, with a slight smile. 

'How long have you been back?' Y/N asked, clambering carefully to his feet. Now that he couldn't move his ribs very well, it seemed like all physical actions had become twice as unwieldy. 'If I had realized, I would have come to see you.'

'You're too kind, my friend.' Duke chuckled. 'I have been back only a day or so. My only regret is that I was gone for so long, though by the sounds of it, you have been holding your own remarkably well.' Y/N grinned, wincing again as his lip ached sorely, before his mind drifted back to the events of the previous evening. 

'Well, I don't think we're out of the woods yet...' He murmured. His time was running out. If Lady Dimitrescu worked out that he had broken his promise to her and grown closer to Bela, Cassandra and Daniela, any future he had, either here or otherwise, would end rather quickly. He needed to fix whatever was going on. 

'I am sure that you will prevail in the end.' Duke told him considerately. 'But should you need supplies of any kind, you know where I am.'

---

Y/N found Cassandra in an upstairs hallway. She was wandering the castle, deep in thought it seemed, but looked up in surprise when Y/N called out to her, turning around to face him. Her eyes widened when she saw the bruising on his face. 

'My, my... mother truly did a number on you.' She murmured as she looked over his face, before noting his grim expression. 'What's wrong?' Y/N sighed.

'I need to talk to you. And I need your honest answer.' He eyed her suspiciously, and Cassandra's shoulders slumped slightly. She'd been expecting as much. 

'Look,' he began, 'you and I both know that your mother is suspicious of me. She doesn't trust me around the three of you, and if she finds out what we've been doing then you know she'll kill me on the spot. You saw how she reacted last night.' Cassandra frowned as he spoke, her head lowering more with each word he spoke, and before long it seemed like even she wasn't able to meet his eyes.