WARNING! This chapter contains minor spoilers to the game and a little disturbing scene! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
It was now September and over a year had passed since Ethan had returned to the castle. Rose was growing so fast and Alcina had given birth to a healthy baby boy who they gave the name Constantine. He had black hair and golden eyes, just like his mother. To everyones surprise, the boy was normal sized. Sure he was quite big but nothing out of the ordinary or anything that Ethan had expected. First tests provided by the BSAA turned out nothing but perhaps his powers would start to develop in the coming years.
The daughters were currently playing with Constantine and Rose while Ethan and Alcina inspected the wine garden. It was harvest time after all. "How is it going?" he asked. Alcina was teaching him about agriculture as part of his training in becoming a Count, but he still knew little.
Alcina looked away from the grapes and towards him. "Pretty good, I reckon. This season will be a good harvest. Take a closer look or have a taste for yourself, if you like."
He tasted one of the grapes and it simply tasted delicous. "Much different from grapes back in the States." The garden was quite lovely aside from the fact that the skeleton of men who fell victim to the Dimitrescus were used as scarecrows. On the outer walls, Ethan could see the guards keeping an eye on both him and Dimitrescu as well as anyone that might approach the castle without permission. They would scare them off and tell them that this was private property.
"Oh." Ethan heard Alcina say. She was standing in front of a dead vine and examined it. "A pity, this one didn't receive enough water." In the past, she would have killed the gardener for such a mistake. But not anymore. "No point in dwelling on it." she said, extracting her claws and slicing the vine into pieces. The guards on the wall got nervous for a second but relaxed when they saw what was going on.
Ethan however got hit with a splinter and it got stuck in his finger. "Damn." he cursed.
Alcina noticed it and after Ethan pulled the splinter out, she offered her help. His finger was bleeding "Let me do that for you darling." she said and put his finger into her mouth before starting to suck his blood.
"God!" Ethan thought. "She looks so hot right now."
After a while he had to stop her, his finger was starting to feel numb from the the lack of blood. "Alcina I didn't know you could be so naughty." he told her.
His wife grinned. "That seems to be your influence."
He laughed. "I guess we influence each other."
"Indeed." she patted him. "I'll make a proper nobleman out of you yet."
"Be careful what you wish for. I might start speaking in a british accent." he teased her.
"Even better." she laughed.
When Ethan and Alcina played with Rose and their newborn son, he noticed the worried look on his wifes face. "What's on your mind, darling?" he asked her. She tried to play it off at first, but he insisted.
"I was born with a hereditary blood disease that is quite common in noble families: Hemophilia. And while woman are not affected by it, men are." she explained, looking at their son.
"Oh... I see."
She nodded. "I really hope he's going to be okay." She pressed the one-year old against her bosom.
"Hopefully he has inherited your though skin." he smiled, trying to cheer her up.
That seemed to work as she began to smile again. "Funny that you mention that. It is due to my blood disease that I grew so much and gained these incredible regenerative abilities when I was turned. No bullets can harm me now."
"Really? So you weren't always so tall?"
She laughed. He loved seeing her laugh. "Well I was already over 6 feet tall actually..."
"Excuse me?" Daniela asked, knocking on the open doorframe. "I need your help with something, father."
Ethan smiled and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek before following the witch. "What do you need?"
"Oh it's in my room, you'll see." she said mysteriously.
When they entered the room, Daniela closed the door behind them, pushed Ethan to the ground and was soon on top of him.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Ethan yelled.
Daniela licked her lips. "I've never seen mother so happy since you've been here. I want some of that happiness too." Her hands began travelling up his body, touching him in a very inappropriate way. "Perhaps you can you make me a baby as well?"
"Are you fucking INSANE?! You're clearly off your meds."
"Oh come on! Don't you love me?" she asked with a pouty face.
"I do, but not like that !"
"Aww I'm sure mother won't mind if you make me happy as well. Now gimme a kiss." she said, her voice becoming more and more deranged with every word.
"Not that kind of kiss!" Ethan yelled and got off of her before she could press her lips on his.
Daniela prepared to lunge at him but Bela appeared in the room, grabbing her from behind. "Do I have to do everything myself?" she asked annoyed and with a tight grip started to forcefully fed Daniela her medicine.
Daniela coughed a couple of times before leaning against the wall while the medicine began to work. Bela grabbed Ethan by the hand and lead him out of there. "Thank you. You really know when to arrive at the right time."
"Well somone needs to make sure Daniela keeps her mind together. And mother can't be everywhere at once."
"Your mother... oh god, what is she going to do?" Ethan asked. Bela didn't answer.
"So? Don't you have anything to say to us?" Alcina asked Daniela after she had called her into her chamber. She was furious.
The redhead tried to avoided eye contact, looking either to the wall or towards the ground. She felt guilty and embarrassed. She'd also never seen her mother this angry before and was actually very scared.
Alcina rose from her chair and grabbed her daughter by the chin, forcing her to make eye contact. "A lady doesn't stoop and always holds her head high. I've told you that many times already."
Daniela gulped. "Yes mother."
"I'm disappointed in you, Daniela. How could you do this to me?" she asked, her voice filled with anger and sadness.
At first the little girl said nothing but she took a deep breath and faced it. "I guess I was just lonely and Ethan is the only man around here. A real man, not some stupid stable boy from the village. He is kind and he makes you happy and I... I guess I wanted to feel the same, I wanted to feel this kind of love. I wasn't thinking clearly because of my... condition, but that does not excuse my actions. Whatever punishment you see fit, I will accept it without any complains." he said, trying to keep her head high. She would make things right, she would make her mother proud.
"Don't forget your father. Apologize to him as well."
Daniela looked over to Ethan. She truly was sorry, he could tell. "I'm very sorry. Can you forgive me, father?"
"Not gonny lie, that was really disturbing even for you." he said. Ethan remembered the time she brought back a live deer and said she wanted to keep it as a pet. And that wasn't even the weirdest thing she had done. "But I am glad to see that you haven't forgotten your manners. From now on, you will take your medicine on a regular basis so stuff like that never happens again, you hear me? With a calendar and everything."
Daniela nodded eagerly.
"And no blood for you for a whole month." Alcina declared. "As punishment. And no more hunting trips for another five months."
The girls eyes widen in shock. This was the worst punishment for her, the lack of blood made her weak, not to mention the extreme hunger she was going to feel. And for creatures like her, hunger was much more extreme and painful than for humans. But she accepted her fate with dignity and bowed. "Yes mother, yes father."
When she left, Alcina sank back into her chair. "I love her with all my heart but sometimes... god." she sighed.
Ethan took his wifes gloved hand and kissed it. "I understand. We'll get her the help she needs. I'm not giving up on her and neither should you."
Alcina smiled fondly at him. "You're so kind to my daughters even though they are not your own."
He shook his head and smiled back at her. "They are now."