Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 236: The King’s disciple

Their damp hair clung to their faces and their bodies sparkled under the sunlight.

While Luciana was admiring a new gold ornament she got, Esme was reading the book in her hand, occasionally letting her whole body plummet inside the water.

Because it was a book from the sea library, it was not ruined when water touched the pages.

"Lucy...’’

"Hmm?" Luciana shifted her attention from the sparkling gold in her hand as she swam towards Esme.

’’You said you had a diary when you were young. Do you know where it is?"

’’I told you that I lost it when father built the Norwell Manor because he felt like our old house did not suit our new status,’’ Luciana cleared her throat before she continued speaking, ’’It might have ended in the hand of some merchant.’’

’’You don’t know where it is?" Esme asked again.

Luciana shrugged, feeling guilty about it. She did not want to lie to Esme but everything that the woman asked her was directly or indirectly related to her so she was always put in a spot.

Luciana did not want to tell her anything that might force her to think about the past. She had seen many half-mers dying in front of her eyes and she never wanted Esme to suffer in any way.

That was one of the reasons she felt equally relieved after Aleister and Esme parted in the heaven. As heart-touching as it was to see them together after everything that they went through, Luciana wanted both of them to stay alive in the first place.

Truth to be told, that diary of hers ended up in the hand of some merchants who sold it to humans and somehow, the diary was later taken into Visteria’s royal library.

Humans did not know much about their existence so the diary which she had named ’The Sea Creatures’ was an anomaly to them. In the sea, people would have known that it was a young girl’s ordinary diary but the humans who found their uneven pearl-shaped tears precious treated the diary as a treasure.

Luciana had forgotten about that diary’s existence until one day, the trident moved in the sea, creating ripples in their kingdom.

The King was not in the Castle back then and the court officials had told her father that it might be because of some half-mer who was still roaming amongst the humans.

In the past, the sea had shown such signs whenever a half-mer was nearby but not inside their Kingdom. Yet, it was the first time the trident had moved.

Just like the rest of the people of the sea court, her father also concluded that this mer must be special and powerful.

But Luciana knew the real reason behind the trident’s response because she could feel her powers tingling in her body.

The mistake she made as a child had taken its form and someone had managed to read her diary.

And at that time, she had decided that she will kill the person who read the diary before her father found them. By the end of the pages, she had mentioned her name and if her father found out about her actions, she could not imagine what the consequences would be.

Now that Luciana thought about that time, she could not help but be amused at how different things turned out to be.

Her father and the members of the sea court believed that Esme was a special mermaid to be able to shake the trident. And her father was more convinced of it when he saw how Esme injured a woman like Marilyn.

But when Esme woke up, she lied that she could not feel her powers nor did she know how to use them hence everyone dismissed her, believing their instincts to be a fluke. Nobody brought up this matter to the King later, deeming it unimportant and an embarrassment for themselves.

"Lucy, what are you thinking about?"

Esme’s voice snapped her out of her daze.

Luciana shook her head, ’’I was wondering if I would have survived till this day... if my father had discovered it,’’ she whispered conspiratorially.

In her mind, Luciana was wondering about the whereabouts of the book. She had closed the diary with her blood and the divine powers in the trident. It meant for the letters to appear, the book must have needed Esme’s and Aleister’s blood.

So, both of them must be aware of where it was. Esme had lost her memories which meant only Aleister knew where that diary was kept.

Not that it was important anymore. Both Aleister and Esme knew the sea much better than what her younger self had scribbled in that diary.

Mischief sparkled in Luciana’s eyes as she leaned closer to Esme, lowering her voice so that no one would hear them, ’’Es, what do you think about Aleister?"

The book in Esme’s hand dropped into the sea at the abrupt shift of her tone and topic and Luciana laughed as Esme dove inside the sea to fetch it.

’’The same that you think about Cardan,’’ the woman shouted from inside the deep waters.

The smile on Luciana’s face was wiped off in an instant, ’’I don’t think about him at all.’’

Esme appeared with the book in her hand as she approached the shore with a grumpy look on her face.

Luciana glared at Esme but Esme nonchalantly looked at the woman, ’’You started it.’’

There was nothing new about both of them poking each other around about this. But Esme did not know what happened between Cardan and Luciana that irked the latter so much.

And Luciana was clueless about what transpired between Aleister and Esme that night.

’’You... don’t think about him?" Luciana pestered Esme curiously. It was unlike Aleister to let go of Esme that easily.

Esme glanced at the sky for a moment before she looked at the book in her hand, ’’Why did God Zephyr disappear all of a sudden?" she asked Luciana.

"It was not sudden. He crowned one of our ancestors as the King before he left,’’ Luciana scoffed at Esme’s poor attempt of twisting their attention towards another thing but she still answered her, ’’There are many hearsays. Some say he was killed by God Atlas.’’

’’But they were friends... Why would he kill him?" Esme frowned as they walked inside the castle.

’’People say that God Atlas aimed to be the greatest god in the heaven, to own all the powers over the other gods and goddesses. And he could have done that because he possessed divine powers but so did God Zephyr. Hence, he backstabbed him, scared that one day, his old friend would come back to claim his throne.’’

Esme thought about God Atlas. The man who kept observing her throughout the blessing ceremony. His thoughts could not be deciphered by his face but his eyes followed her everywhere...

’’And some people say that God Zephyr severed his divine powers and ended his life because he could not stand being the outcast of the heaven and he could not endure the loneliness in this world where he did not belong.’’

As they stepped inside Esme’s room, the woman threw her book onto the bed.

Luciana slumped on the bed beside the book.

Leo jumped down from the window, and Esme patted his head before she walked towards the mirror

She picked up the comb sitting on a wooden table to comb her hair but something flickered in her head.

’Divine powers’

She still remembered what that merchant had told her about this comb. The pearls on this comb were fused with divine powers.

"My Lady.’’

Esme turned around to glance at the maid who was bowing to her from the doorway.

Luciana sat up on the bed.

’’What is it?" Luciana asked the woman who turned to bow to her.

’’The King has summoned you to the sea court.’’

Esme blinked, ’’Stay there...’’ she said the moment the woman turned around to leave.

’’Yes, My Lady?" The woman looked surprised because usually, Esme did not stop to do small talk with the maids or anyone else.

"Is it about Jeremiah? Is his punishment over?" Esme stepped towards her.

The maid shook her head, ’’The heir apparent has yet to come out of the Norwell manor.’’

Esme frowned. She was never invited to the sea court for the kingdom affairs.

The last time the King invited her, he ended up sending her to the heavens. God forbid this time...

’’Do you know what this is about?" Luciana’s words brought Esme out of her trance.

The maid hesitated, ’’I heard from the older maids about it...’’

Both Esme and Luciana exchanged glances.

’’I don’t know if it is true but it is about the King’s disciple. He is here to meet him and His Majesty wants you both to take care of his needs while he is here,’’ the woman whispered.

Luciana frowned, ’’His Majesty has a disciple?’’

’’Years ago, the King had ventured into a human kingdom in a disguise. He found a gravely injured boy in the Enchantment Forest. The boy stayed in the castle for some time before he left but I heard whispers that he is His Majesty’s only disciple in all these years.’’

Enchantment Forest.

Esme felt her head throbbing slightly. It sounded familiar.

’’Es,’’ Luciana’s concerned voice snapped her out of her reverie, ’’Let us go there.’’

Luciana bit her bottom lips. The King’s disciple. Back then, they couldn’t look at the Crystal Castle for longer unlike how it is now. Her father must be aware of it. Enchantment Forest... it should be the forest bordering the Visterian sea and the Kingdom itself. Then...

Clueless of her friend’s thoughts, Esme glanced around the room only to discover that Leo who was still hovering around her earlier was not there anymore.