Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 153: Mysterious markings

’’Why do you care? If he can’t come out for the food, let him die. If anything happens, everyone will know that Prince Aleister starved himself to death, ashamed of living as a failure.’’

’’You are right. Even the King has kept him in the most isolated room in the Castle which means that he doesn’t care if the Prince lives or not? We don’t need to put our lives at stake for someone so useless.’’

Esme closed her eyes. This is not real. She repeated it in her mind over and over again till the maids left.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard a small creaking sound. The door to the room opened but Esme did not see anyone at first.

Hearing the sounds of soft footsteps, she lowered her head and glanced at the small boy who walked out of the dark room.

Beautifully sparkling blue eyes looked in the direction in which the maids left. The boy’s hair was in a mess as it framed his small face. His skin looked pale. But despite his messy appearance, Esme could not deny that he was the prettiest child she has ever seen.

Or maybe she was being biased because it was him.

No matter what it was, no one can deny that the boy was beautiful.

Esme could see the spitting image of Aleister in him. She could see the resemblances in the features of the child and him.

If she had any doubt before, she now knew that she was indeed looking at Aleister’s past.

He looked somewhere around 7 years old.

The young Aleister glanced at the food on the floor for a few moments before he walked toward it.

Esme frowned. He wasn’t going to eat that, was he?

Contrary to her thoughts, he glanced at the food for a few seconds before he turned around.

Esme noticed how his nose scrunched slightly. He still preferred cleanliness. Despite the current situation, she could not help but chuckle.

As he walked back to his room, Esme quickly followed after him before he closed the door.

The room was pitch dark, too eerie for a child to live in.

The only source of light was the moonlight invading the room through the windows. Even the burning woods in the fireplace had fizzled out.

Esme sighed. A depressing atmosphere like this... why would the King leave his son here?

Her heart ached when she watched Aleister squatting near the table and drawing circles on the floor.

’’Cough... Cough...’’ He pressed his palm on his mouth as he coughed and it was only then Esme remembered that she heard the maids talking that he was sick and all his meals were kept in front of the door.

They did not bother to clean it and Aleister... was way too disgusted by the sight of it to eat it.

Suddenly, Aleister sat on the floor and pressed his palm on his stomach.

As his lips moved, Esme leaned closer to him.

’’Hungry...’’ she heard the only word that escaped his mouth, his voice was weak and hoarse.

Esme’s lips pressed together and she looked around the room. There was not even a fruit basket in her sight.

’’What is this?" An angry voice came from outside.

She tilted her head in that direction and the door was pushed open. At first, Esme could not recognize the man who stepped inside the room.

He seemed to be somewhere in his early 20s. His features were exquisite and there was something familiar about him, even his voice but Esme could not put a finger on it. This man’s face was not ordinary. Why would she forget it if she ever saw him before?

’’Is this how they treat my nephew?!" The man turned around and glanced at the guards, ’’Capture those maids and put them in prison. I want them to be tortured till they beg you for death.’’

’’Yes, Your Grace,’’ The guards bowed to him and one of them left to execute the task.

Nephew. Your Grace. Ah, it clicked in Esme’s mind. Is this... Uncle? She glanced at the man in awe. He seemed so different here unlike his gentle and quiet self that she was used to.

Even his appearance. She was used to seeing him sitting in a wheelchair and even he always looked sickly with his drooping and wrinkly skin which had webs like marks all over his face.

’’Lit the fireplace and set up the dinner table,’’ Duke Maverick commanded the other guard who was standing behind him, ’’I will have dinner with Aleister.’’

’’But His Highness....’’

’’Brother won’t object to me eating with my nephew, will he?’’ Duke Maverick glanced at the guard with narrowed eyes.

The man was intimidated, ’’You are right, Your Grace,’’ he said.

Esme glanced at the heroic Duke Maverick with sparkling eyes. And suddenly she felt sad. He was reduced from this to what he is today even when he didn’t have any fault.

She turned to look at Aleister who stood up the moment he saw his Uncle.

And it dawned on her why Aleister was so close to his Uncle.

The Uncle and nephew had their dinner together in peaceful silence and Duke Maverick then spoke to Aleister, ’’Go to bed early. I will send the royal physicians and you are not allowed to deny it this time.’’

Aleister kept quiet as he sipped on the water.

Esme had the urge to pinch his cheeks. He was so adorable.

’’They fear me. Don’t send them,’’ Aleister spoke after some time.

Why would they fear such an adorable child? Esme thought to herself.

’’People believe in hearsay, Al. They don’t fear you. They fear what they have heard of you.’’

’’It doesn’t matters, Uncle,’’ Aleister’s voice was like that of a child but it was authoritative and unwavering, ’’I don’t know what happened when I was born but I want to know. Is it true that people died because of me?"

Duke Maverick kept quiet as he lowered his head.

’’But how can I kill anyone when I don’t have any powers in my body that every royal is born with? I am weak and sick all the time. Then how is it possible?"

Esme’s brows tugged together. Don’t have powers?

’’It’s not you, Al,’’ Duke Maverick sighed, ’’You never harmed anyone.’’

’’Then why am I being treated like this by Father? I heard the maids talking about it...’’ Aleister lowered his head, his small face drooping slightly.

’’The day you were born, your father lost the people who were most important to him and he can’t get over it to this day. It has nothing to do with you.’’

’’Are you talking about my mother?" The boy asked and as Duke Maverick kept quiet, he continued, ’’You said people... Who else are you talking about..?"

’’It’s late. Go to bed. As long as I am here, I will take care of you,’’ With that said, Duke Maverick pushed himself to his feet before he turned around and left.

Esme was not sure if it was a trick of the light, but she saw a small teardrop rolling down his cheeks. She glanced at Aleister who was still sitting on his chair.

As soon as Duke Maverick was out of his sight, he pushed himself to his feet and walked towards the door before closing it tightly.

’’Ah...’’ The boy screamed as he clutched his chest.

’’Al...’’ Esme panicked as she rushed to him but she could not touch him at all. Up so close, she could see his chest rising and falling, there were sweat droplets on his forehead and his face was turning paler with every second.

Aleister unbuttoned his shirt and threw it aside. He turned around and pressed his forehead on the door while his hand tried to reach his back.

Esme was bewildered. Was he having back pain? Just as the thought crossed her mind, something caught her attention. There were some markings near his left shoulder. A few lines were inked in black.

She remembered that she had seen this before. Back in the time when she came to the castle, Liz had once asked her to prepare the bath for Aleister. At that time, she had accidentally seen the markings on his back. It was a black butterfly with golden linings and she could still remember the red splashes on the wings. It was as if the butterfly’s wings had splashes of blood.

At that time, she had wondered why would Aleister ink something like this on his back. But right now, there was no butterfly on his back. There were only a few black strokes.

’’Ahhhh!" The boy fell to the floor, his body curling up in pain.

Esme snapped out of her daze. She looked around but there was nothing she could do. He seemed to be in so much pain. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

As he grabbed his left shoulder, a golden glow appeared there.

Esme’s lips parted. She watched as new black strokes appeared on his back.

’’Ahhhhhh!" Aleister’s voice was rasp and his breathing was uneven.