Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 178: Don’t leave

Music recommendation: In the stars by Benson Boone

To Cardan, his mother was like an open book. Even if she did not say anything, he could read all her thoughts.

And right now, her face told him that she would give it her all to end his half-brother.

She spent years inside the prison which kept her locked because of his father’s power but over the years, his father is not as strong as before. He might have the strength and also his divine powers but his heart and will has weakened. And that helped his mother.

She performed black magic and broke out of prison after a long time of persistence.

And now she was adamant about doing this...

Before he could find a way to stop her, she closed her eyes and snapped a finger.

Cardan gritted his teeth as he watched Aleister’s body convulsing suddenly.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed how Esme staggered a few steps back and inhaled a sharp breath, her gasp filled with disbelief.

"Time for us to go," were the last words that his mothered whispered to him before a black wisp enveloped them.

Why? Cardan wanted to ask his mother. What is it that his mother wanted? What scared her to this extent that she was running away as soon as she finished what she was here for?

She was obsessed with getting his powers purified and only Esme could do that then why didn’t she mention anything about taking her?

And... And... Was Aleister Daven going to die?

With a head full of questions, he could only close his eyes as his mother used her black magic to take them away from the place.

And the moment they disappeared, Aleister slumped on the ground, coughing a mouthful of blood. He felt like a huge amount of pressure was lifted off him but his eyes were heavy-lidded.

He turned his head to the side and watched Esme running towards him.

She knelt on the ground, holding his head in both her hands and putting all her strength to shift him.

He moved, letting her easily place his head on her lap.

"Where... Where are you injured? From where should I start healing?"

The corner of his lips tugged up in a teasing smile, "You..cough... you are worried about me, Princess."

Esme blinked away the tears forming in her eyes, her hands desperately roamed on his body, looking for his injuries. He was obviously smiling but it was not his usual narcissistic devious smile that she was used to. It looked sad. And it made her sad.

"I would heal you, Al. I can do it. I have done it before when you were injured by Ruby... I can do it again..." Esme did not know whether she was convincing him or herself.

He grabbed her hand and brought it closer to his mouth. His bloodied lips grazed past her knuckles kissing each of them gently, one by one, "Calm down," Aleister whispered, "And don’t cry, my dear moon. I... can’t store those pearls at the moment."

Esme sobbed. Whenever she cried in the past which was at very rare times, he would use his powers to get a box and save those pearls inside like a treasure, "Al.." Her hand trembled when his lips lingered on her knuckles, the touch of his blood on her hand was hammering her chest, "I... beg you."

Aleister froze.

So did Leo and Rowan who were standing at a distance.

Rowan was stunned when he saw how Esme’s tears turned into pearls...burning pearls... She was different and he had known that but to what extent? He hadn’t known it until today.

And as shocked as he was, Aleister’s condition scared him more.

Leo was struggling in his arms to go close to his Master but Rowan did not let him.

Not when he saw Esme and Aleister together, talking to each other like there was no tomorrow.

He could not bear to interrupt them.

But the moment he heard Esme’s words, he stood in his place, thunderstruck.

The Princess has always had an air of arrogance around her. She might have worked in the castle as a maid for some time but she never bowed to anyone, not even to the late king.

"Al, I beg you..." Esme’s lips trembled as his grasp on her fingers loosened, "Earlier, when I...I confessed my feelings to you, you said that you won’t marry me. And you didn’t tell me the reason behind it. I said that I don’t like being kept in the dark and that... that I will always hate you for this. But I..." She held his hand and stroked his fingers.

Esme shook her head, "But I can never hate you, Al. Not even when I claimed that I hated you, I didn’t. You’ve always been a quest to me, a dangerous one that always pulled me towards it. I wanted to know all about you and my interest bothered me so I pretended to hate you. I don’t know when it started but...."

Aleister pressed a finger on her lips, "Don’t..." His brows tugged together and his breathing was shallow.

She grabbed his finger, "I pretended to hate it when you called me ’my dear moon’ but no one has ever called me that and it made me feel special..." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You are.."

A lone teardrop rolled down her cheeks, "Then stay. I love you, Al. I will never ask you about the things you don’t want to talk about. I will never demand you to marry me. Let’s...Let’s just sit together and eat in the dark, let’s fight with each other all the time, let’s argue...let’s be mad at each other but don’t leave. Whatever you want, however you want, I will agree to it. Just stay. Don’t leave me..." Her tone was desperate as her throat tightened.

"You are the only thread of sanity in this insane life of mine. You... are the only man I have ever adored," she gulped the lump forming in her throat, "You are special to me too. More than I show..."

He grabbed her hand and his grip has never felt so weak before. Esme felt the cold graze of his fingers on her hand and a series of events flashed in her mind.

It started with how they met first back in their kingdom and the scene changed. She watched Aleister talking to the moon and her hunch told her she was on his mind. Then the next thing she saw was how he came here to the castle to save his Uncle, leaving her in the library only to be trapped by Cardan and Marilyn.

Then the visions in her mind slowed down as she focused on Marilyn’s words. The revelations made by the woman shocked Esme to the core. At this time, she heard a distant voice.