Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 170: We finally meet

Aleister could not find Duke Maverick in his room.

From the outside, it looked like the castle was on fire but the inner chambers had icicles as he used his powers earlier when the ministers were badgering him. The hallways were frozen too.

He raked his fingers in his hair and walked towards the court but his footsteps came to a halt when he was about to pass through the hallway that led to his room.

A few days ago, Esme mentioned an underground chamber.

As the thought crossed his mind, he turned around and strode towards the hallway behind his room.

He glanced at the walls. There were paintings of his ancestors there. As Aleister looked at all those males, the question that he had suppressed in his head as a child rose again.

All the men of Visteria... all their ancestors had these ink-black eyes, including the late King but he shared barely any few resemblances with them. Why?

Looking at the paintings for one last time, he closed his eyes and forced himself to not think about it. This was not the time to solve riddles.

Aleister closed his eyes and teleported to the underground chamber. It would have been impossible for him to teleport there if Esme had not mentioned this place some time ago.

The thought of her made his fingers curl into a fist. He did not want to leave her there and he knew she wanted him to stay with her as well. But for the first time, he could not give her what he wanted.

He needed to save Duke Maverick, the only person who has always been there for him. In the past, he could not go against the King’s orders but he always made sure to send his shadow guards secretly to watch over him. He thought that no one knew about it but he had always known.

’’Come out!" Aleister snarled as he glanced at the huge room. There was a grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the glow of the candles on it illuminated the place.

Aleister spotted a huge mirrored wall behind him and he frowned.

’’Brother, long time no see.’’

Aleister turned around and gripped Cardan’s neck, his fingers curled around the man’s neck even tighter when the latter smirked at him provocatively.

Cardan glanced at the golden glow appearing on Aleister’s fingers. He was using his powers, intending to kill him but that did not bother him. What bothered him was the pure golden glow, his divine powers. A hint of bitterness appeared in his eyes.

’’Didn’t your little lover tell you that I am your brother? Cough... Is this how you treat me? Aren’t you curious about anything at all?" Cardan spoke through gritted teeth.

’’To hell with curiosity,’’ Aleister’s grip tightened on his neck, ’’She is waiting for me so we should get done with this fast.’’

’’You... If you kill me, you will die too,’’ he said but the man did not budge.

’’Where is he?"

’’Forget that old man, aren’t you worried about your own life?" Cardan replied, well aware that the ’he’ Aleister mentioned was none other than Duke Maverick.

Veins popped on Cardan’s forehead and he raised his hand. A golden glow appeared on his fingertips but it had something similar to black smoke seeping into it. As he aimed his fingers at Aleister’s hand, the rays of his magic shot at the man but Aleister’s hand did not budge from its place.

Cardan’s eyes darkened, and a hint of viciousness appeared in the pair of blue eyes. Aleister’s powers were much purer than his and it made him want to torture the man but he could not do anything at all. Not now. Not until he got his hands on that woman.

He snapped his fingers, ’’See there. Are you still going to kill me?"

’’No!! No, this can’t be....’’

Aleister’s fingers loosened around his neck all at once when he heard the familiar voice. He tilted his head to the side and glanced at the mirrored wall which was now showing him the scene of a fire and destruction. His uncle was there in that castle, sitting in his wheelchair, struggling to move but he couldn’t. Every time he tried to move, some obstruction occurred in his way.

This Castle was however not the Daven Castle.

’’Do you know what place is that?’’ Cardan asked, ’’It is Florania. I mean, it was. The Kingdom doesn’t exist anymore,’’ he chuckled.

Aleister’s hands dropped from the man’s neck.

’’Oh, this is the place where your Uncle met his first love and hence getting himself a life of miseries. To tell you the truth, that night when witches wreaked havoc on that Kingdom, I was there. People could have survived but do you know what I did?’’ He glanced at the man whose gazes were sharp. If a small scratch appeared on his Uncle, then he will tear him to pieces. That’s what that look on his face said.

’’I turned the King into my puppet and he willingly destroyed his own Kingdom. As for your Uncle and that Princess Flora, those lovebirds had met each other a few times and he was falling for her. So, I got myself the perfect opportunity,’’ Cardan laughed, ’’I killed that woman and ripped out a part of her soul before infusing it in me and then I disguised myself as her,’’ his expression turned into a disgusted one just at the thought of it, ’’I didn’t want to do that but your Uncle was really something back in those times. So, it was not that easy to fool him. I could have killed him but then getting into the Daven Castle would not have been easy. Not to mention that I could not have used him to render you motionless.’’

Aleister raised his hand towards the mirror, a sword appeared in his fist.

’’Ah, if you break the mirror, forget about seeing your uncle ever again. This is not the real world. This is the land of his nightmares. He will be stuck there forever or worse, he will go to the underworld,’’ Cardan shook his head in pity but he stiffened when the cool tip of the sword touched his neck.

’’How about I send you to the underworld too? My Uncle will get some company,’’ Aleister pressed the sword harder and blood oozed out of his neck.

Cardan frowned, ’’You both are peas of the same pod. Both of you keep coming after my neck,’’ he said and Aleister’s gaze shifted to the left side of the man’s neck where there was a garish wound and dried blood.

The corner of his lips twitched. It looked like something Esme would do. She has quite a temper at times. In the past, he had seen her urge to stab him in the neck too.

Cardan grabbed the tip of the sword between his index finger and middle finger before he tried to push it away but Aleister did not budge and he pressed it harder on the man’s neck.

Cardan sucked in a shuddering breath.

’’I sent your lover into this place. Do you know what she dreads? Sea. Of course, I used that maid Liz to do it for me but I saw that. She dreaded what happened to her brother, Adrian when they were young so I killed Adrian today. Almost killed but some unexpected rescue came in the way. And then, she dreaded the sea too. I was intending to take her with me and throw her in the huge pond in my other chamber but you had to interfere...ahh,’’ he narrowed his eyes when Aleister moved the sword, cutting his skin ruthlessly. This crazy man.

He continued, ’’But you know what every time I thought she would give in to the illusion and cry her heart out, she proved me wrong. She imagined you in all those places, saving her. You were her savior. And in the end, she made it out of the illusionary trap as you did before in the Enchantment Forest,’’ Cardan looked at the man with starry eyes, ’’Aw, how heart-touching!’’

’’It was you,’’ Back when they were looking for Arlan, he had ended up in an illusionary trap in the forest where he saw someone ripping Esme’s heart at the top of the cliff while he was helpless.

Watching Aleister’s darkening expressions, he cleared his throat and added, ’’Who knows if your Uncle will be able to make it out of there? Or maybe I will bring him out. But till then, you need to entertain your brother properly instead of treating him this harshly.’’

The sword in Aleister’s hand disappeared and he stepped back from the man. He turned around to look at his Uncle who was trapped in the fire, ’’Why did you steal Princess Flora’s soul?" he asked, his expression nonchalant.

’’Just a part of her soul and I melded it into myself for years. Your Uncle kept falling for that part over time and the King, even you were never suspicious of me. I know you were a bit suspicious but you never voiced it out because it was just your instinct and you didn’t have evidence.’’

Noticing the frown between his brows, Cardan elaborated, ’’The whole duchess face of me was fake. Including my thoughts which came from her soul. I was just into that ’nice aunt’, ’nice wife’, ’nice sister-in-law’ role. Initially, I was being cautious so I fed on your uncle’s powers and his soul even though it was not up to my taste but later I had those delicate maids for myself. Hmm... To think of it, everything I did was just for the sake of getting into the role. As Duchess Flora, I pretended to want you and princess together but I discreetly kept urging her to go back to her kingdom so that I can abduct her on the way.’’

’’Why must you do that?" Aleister glanced at the man.

’’It was like hitting two birds with one stone. Don’t you understand that as well?’’ Cardan smirked, ’’It would have separated you and her, and then I’d have captured her for myself before striking at you when you would have been at your lowest after being abandoned by your lover. That day, I finally destroyed the last fragment of Flora inside me because I thought it was coming to an end but what I did not expect was that while plotting against you, I was being plottest against by both of you.’’

Aleister did not say anything, his gaze focused on his Uncle. At this point, he wanted to do nothing but save his Uncle but this crazy man will kill him. Earlier he noticed the powers that Cardan possessed. Golden. Just like him but there was something black in it. Although he barely knew anything about the golden magic except for it being divine but he was certain that black represented witches and the dark magic.

With that thought in his mind, he could only try to join the dots about his identity. Because it did not look like Cardan will reveal anything about it. If he had any such intentions, he would not have killed the King.

But then... Aleister was having second thoughts. Given how maniacal this man was, he could have killed the King just to divert his attention so that he can capture Esme... He gritted his teeth at that thought...but despite his plans, things did not work out as he planned because Cardan did not expect him to possess the teleportation powers.

He called himself his brother then was his mother... a witch? But Aleister’s powers were golden, they did not consist of black so it made him doubt his thoughts yet again.

’’You approached Esme because of her aura, didn’t you? Your unstable divine powers calmed down every time you were around her?" Cardan smirked in victory when he watched the man stiffen. He realized that he hit the right spot, ’’I already told her about it,’’ he expected him to panic but Aleister’s expressions gradually calmed down.

Aleister chuckled, ’’Good that you did. It was burdensome. I was not certain about how to do it and keeping it with me felt wrong. You did a good job,’’ he patted his shoulder.

Cardan: "_" It suddenly occurred to him that he might have handled it in the wrong way.

Aleister never approached Esme. She was the one who came to save him and no matter how special her presence was, if she had not adorably shielded him with her small-statured body then she might not have caught his attention. What made her special was not her powers or her identity as... a part of merfolk. She was special because of how she was.

Aleister tilted his head to look at him, ’’And I believe she did not trust you on that.’’

Cardan turned his face to the side, his lips puckering up slightly.

Aleister felt the corner of his brows twitching slightly as he glanced at the man who somewhat resembled a puppy, ’’Let go of uncle. I will... ugh...’’ his brows tugged together, forming a deep frown as he stumbled a few steps back, clutching the back of his head with his palm.

’’What happened...’’ Cardan’s brows furrowed as he spotted a circle illuminating around Aleister’s feet. His gaze flew to the back, ’’Mother,’’ he whispered.

’’My dear son,’’ Long brown hair that reached till her waist, the woman was wearing an intricate crimson gown that was a few shades darker than the color of her hair, a small smile stretched on her face when she saw Cardan, ’’It has been so long... since I last saw you in the outside world. Maybe more than two decades already,’’ she walked towards him before pressing a kiss on his forehead.

Cardan lowered his head, letting her do that. She has not changed a bit in all these years except her lively eyes looked sunken and slightly hollow, ’’Indeed,’’ his lips stretched in a smile, ’’I knew you will be out today,’’ his eyes reddened slightly as the memories of the past flashed in his mind all at once, ’’So, I prepared a small show for you,’’ the corner of his lips tugged up.

’’Just like what my son would do,’’ the woman looked proud. She was beautiful but there was an eerie vibe around her that made people feel wary of her. She turned around to look at Aleister, the smile on her face gradually fading, ’’We finally meet.’’