Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 169: Esmeray Reis

Flames surrounded the room. The Daven Castle was set on fire.

Aleister pulled Esme into his arms. Her breathing was ragged.

"I can’t... I can’t bear the fire," Esme whispered weakly as she pressed her face against his chest.

The fire caught in the Reis Castle had traumatized her but it was not just her fear. She could not stand fire. That’s why she rejected the kitchen duties when she came to this castle. It made her body prick and it left her breathless.

"You will be fine," Aleister pressed a soft kiss on her hair and Esme closed her eyes as he teleported her out of the Castle.

Esme opened her eyes and she found herself inside the underground library in the church.

He helped her onto the chair and gently stroked her face. His fingertips felt cold and soothing.

She leaned back on the chair and calmed her breathing.

He stepped back from her, "You will be safe here."

Esme grabbed his hand, "Where are you going?"

"Back to the castle," he stroked her fingers.

"But..."

"The King has passed away. Uncle is alone," Aleister spoke to her in a softer voice.

Esme’s grip on his palm loosened all at once, "The King... has passed away?" Her voice was barely audible but he heard the disbelief apparent in her tone.

"I will come back to take you from here," he cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheeks, "Wait for me."

Esme leaned into his touch as she nodded quietly, "I will."

She watched as he turned around to leave.

Aleister had just taken a few steps when he felt a tight grip around his waist. He glanced at the pair of soft hands that were wrapped around him.

Esme buried her face in his back as she hugged him tightly, "Come back soon, Al. I will wait for you."

Aleister turned around and kissed her forehead, "So much for someone who kept shouting that she hates me."

She punched his chest, "I told you I love you. Who told me that he doesn’t want to marry me?"

He chuckled.

"See, I’m telling you... If you don’t change your mind, then I will find someone else to marry," she tilted her chin, "Then, don’t regret it."

He narrowed his eyes, "You won’t dare."

"Try me," she challenged him and both of them ended up laughing.

He kissed her forehead and Esme closed her eyes.

When his fleeting touch disappeared, she opened her eyes only to realize that he was no longer around.

Esme looked around the library but not seeing him anywhere, she concluded that he left the place already.

She lowered her head.

The King has passed away.

Even though Aleister seemed to appear calm, was there no turmoil in his heart? Was he not affected by it?

Esme closed her eyes and the face of that kind-hearted man flashed in her mind. He did not treat Aleister well in his childhood but what was the reason?

The late King Alexander did not know about her real identity initially but he still accepted her for his son just because Aleister said that he was in love with her. That showed how much he cared for his son.

He always treated her so well. But he was not around anymore.

Esme tilted her head back. Was it him again? Cardan?

Her brother.... she clenched her fists tightly. Ruby will save him. She has given her word to her.

She inhaled a deep breath and turned around to walk toward the chair. Something caught her attention and she tilted her head to look at the space where herbs were planted.

She walked towards the place and squatted on the floor before digging the soil with her hand. She stopped digging it when her fingers grazed passed a solid edge.

Esme grabbed it and pulled out the book which was buried beneath the soil.

The last time she was here, she was unable to read it properly because someone came to the church and she ended up hiding it.

Esme sat on the floor and leaned back on the bookshelf before flipping the pages of the book.

’A thousand years ago, the Great God Zephyr dove into the sea because of his curiosity regarding the sea creatures. He intended to take the form of a fish but he was reluctant to sacrifice his beauty. In the end, he resorted to retaining his upper body in form of a human while his lower body was replaced by a huge fishtail. But little did he know that his curiosity was going to be the cause of his downfall.’

’He fell from his position for going against heaven’s rules and coming to the mortal world under a disguise. As a punishment, he lost his throne as the God of Water and his fate was tied to the sea. Because his curiosity made him go against the rules which affected the members of his court, he was reduced to being a creature of the sea, forever.’

’He accepted his fate and dove into the sea with his upper body which was like that of a human while his lower body was replaced by a tail. He was called a merman. He was able to take his human form and merman form at his own wish. But he was unable to go back to the heavens. I heard that he fell in love with a human woman and he made love to her before she gave birth to his descendants, our ancestors.’

Esme paused. Was it a diary? The tone... It seemed to have been written by a child. She inhaled a deep breath before she continued reading.

’But I doubt it. We all know about our God. Even if he was reduced from his position, he was still our God for giving us our existence. We worship his statues but what about the woman he loved? No one has heard of anything about her. How could it happen if he loved her? I wanted to discover more about it hence today, I did something which my father or brother would never approve of.’

Esme held her breath. What did she do?

Just then, her ears caught the sound of the approaching footsteps. She stiffened.

Holding the book in her hand, she slowly stepped back before hiding behind the bookshelves.

The entrance to the library opened from the top and she saw one familiar and another partially-familiar face, ’’It’s you,’’ her lips parted. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

...

’’My Lord, you can’t go inside,’’ The ministers surrounded Aleister.

Aleister looked in the direction of the Castle which was almost reduced to ruins. The raging fire was burning everything down right in front of his eyes.

He pointed his index finger towards the ground and a golden ray shot inside which went unnoticed by the people surrounding him.

Without paying any attention to them, Aleister turned around and stepped towards the Castle only to have his path blocked by them yet again.

’’My Lord, have mercy.’’

’’You are the only descendant of the King.’’

’’You can’t risk your life for that woman no matter how much you adore her. Spare us for our impudence but she is not worth it.’’

According to the court officials, Aleister was willingly going inside the fire just to save Esme who was stuck inside the Castle. And no matter how much they gave in to their Prince’s willfulness before this, they could not give in to it right now.

To some of them, this was a golden opportunity. As long as that leech of a woman died in the fire, their Prince would direct his focus on the Kingdom’s affairs. They needed him right now and it was not the time for him to risk his life for a woman.

’’Yes, now that His Majesty has passed away, you need to be considerate of your subjects and your Kingdom. You can’t risk your life just for the sake of some random woman....’’

’’Random?" Aleister turned to look at them, the corner of his lips tugging up in a vicious smile that sent shivers down their spines, ’’She is Esmeray Reis, the sole Princess of Nevesray and the daughter of Queen Anastasia. Come again, is she random?" Even if Esme’s mother was not related to the Reis family by blood but she was the one who was responsible for turning Nevesray into what it is today. She has the most right in that Kingdom and so did Esme as her only daughter.

There was silence.

A long moment of silence.

The people around looked at the man in disbelief, unable to believe what they were hearing. P-Princess of Nevesray?

The troops of soldiers were spread around the castle. Even the soldiers who used to discuss about how Esme was seducing the young Prince of Nevesray were stunned. So, Arlan Reis was her brother...?

Is that why the Reis family treated her so kindly?

’’She is the woman I love. Does that makes her a random woman?" Aleister stepped towards them, a threatening scowl resting on his face, ’’She saved your friend, your fellow minister who was going to be sacrificed by the Norwells in the court. Does that makes her random?’’

All of them were stunned speechless.

’’Be good while I am still calm. You won’t survive to see what I will do if I’m violent,’’ he spoke in a low voice but one could hear the threat in his voice.

Aleister turned around to leave.

’Thump’

Aleister’s footsteps came to a halt.

’’My Lord, please save our future Queen,’’ It was Minister Louis who dropped to his knees as he spoke up. He was the man whom Esme defended when Luciana wanted to put him in prison for questioning their intentions.

The old man had tears in his eyes as he thought about the girl who told him to cherish his life. But now, she was in danger.

’’She is safe,’’ Aleister said, much to his relief, ’’Uncle is inside,’’ With that said, he stepped inside the castle without looking back at them.

The rest of the officials wanted to convince him that the soldiers will save the Duke and he did not need to risk it but they did not have it in them after the blunder they created earlier.

They not only offended their future King, but they also offended the Princess of Nevesray who was their future Queen. They did not know how long they would survive.

All they could do was watch as their only Prince walked inside the fire without caring about his own life and patiently wait for their Princess to appear in front of them so that they can apologize to her.

It was not that they had grudges against her but they used to believe that she was using their Prince and she had ulterior motives towards their kingdom. But now that they discovered her identity, they did not think there was any reason for her to do that.