Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 248: Harmonious brothers

While Aleister was calculating the consequences in his mind, the woman named Rory spoke up, ’’My Lord, both me and my sister tend to the guests here. I was assigned to look after Lady Esme when she moved from the Norwell Manor to the castle...’’

Since the woman saw through what he wanted to know about, Aleister gazed at Cardan who prompted him to follow along on it.

Aleister raised his hand and an invisible shield covered them. After all, Esme was not easy to be fooled.

To squeeze a reaction out of her, he was doing something he had never done before. As humiliating as it was, the thought of her being true to her feelings overpowered the remaining thoughts that he had.

...

’’So that’s how it happened. We searched the whole Castle but Lord Leo was not around,’’ The soldier said exasperatedly. Most of the people in the castle addressed Leo as ’Lord Leo’ or ’Young Master Leo’ which Luciana used to laugh at but now she felt solemn.

Leo was after all someone of high status. ’’So, did you find him?’’ she giggled when he shook his head.

’’Then Lord Aleister told us that he went into the forest to play and asked us to not worry about him.’’

Luciana nodded, ’’He will be fine,’’ Aleister was Leo’s master so given his carefree stance, it was concluded that Leo was capable of protecting himself.

After the soldier left, Luciana walked past the pillars and her footsteps slowed down when she watched Jeremiah leaving Esme’s side.

Her Uncle was released from his punishment earlier this morning and on his way to the castle, he must have heard about Esme losing her consciousness the last night.

She approached the woman, ’’Es, why are you looking like that?" A moment ago, she was still laughing and smiling with Jeremiah. But now, she looked annoyed.

’’Men,’’ Esme clicked her tongue.

Luciana followed Esme’s gaze and glanced at the scene in the garden. As the colorful butterflies fluttered their wings over the flowers, two bees were similarly hovering over honey.

’’Men...’’ Luciana mumbled in a similar tone as she watched the Rose in the maid Rose’s hand while Cardan whispered something near her causing the girl to avert her gaze coyly, ’’They only think from their bodies, don’t they?"

Esme narrowed her eyes but she did not say anything. She closed her eyes and focused on their whispers with full attention, ’’Prince Cardan just told her that he will give her any jewelry she wants.’’

Unlike before, Luciana was not as clueless about Esme’s powers. The woman usually talked about the powers she possessed hence she knew about her hearing ability.

Luciana frowned, ’’To think that I was momentarily moved by his heart-touching love confession.’’

’’What?" Esme was stunned.

Luciana lowered her head, ’’I will tell you later. What is Aleister saying?"

Esme shifted her attention towards the quieter man. His mouth was not moving but the woman beside him seemed to be speaking. As she tried to focus on their words again, her brows furrowed.

’’What happened?"

Esme shook her head, ’’That sly man put a shield around them. I cannot hear anything.’’

Luciana’s seven worldviews flipped upside down. It seems like she thought so highly of Aleister in the past because she was interested in him. How can they be different when they have the same blood coursing through their veins?

’’Didn’t you say they don’t get along?" Esme mumbled.

’’You said Prince Cardan wanted to kill his brother,’’ Luciana rolled her eyes.

Esme sighed, ’’What is it then? They look like a pair of harmonious brothers.’’

"Maybe we saw it wrong,’’ Luciana masked her inner thoughts.

How could she see it wrong? The long-standing past between Cardan and Aleister could not be explained to Esme so she could only keep her doubts to herself.

The woman sitting on the swing beside Cardan leaned closer to him with a shy smile as she whispered something in his ear intimately.

Luciana narrowed her eyes.

At this moment, Cardan tilted his head to look at her as if he just noticed her presence.

Aleister snapped his fingers and the shield around them disappeared.

’’Do you want tea?" Cardan asked in a loud voice.

Before Luciana could think about it, her feet moved on their own and she found herself walking towards the man sitting on the swing.

Her eyes burned in a familiar sting as she picked up the cup of tea placed in front of Aleister, ’’Have it yourself,’’ With that said, she poured the tea on his head.

Cardan was still enjoying the chase of cat and mouse. He was waiting for Luciana to snap or to be angry but the moment he met her reddening eyes, his whole body went rigid. It was as if someone clenched his heart.

Luciana threw the cup aside before she turned around and walked away with hurried footsteps. Everyone was like this.

People just pretended to favor someone, to love someone but eventually, all of them showed their true colors. Didn’t her father do that too? When his motives were threatened, he did not even see the pain he was putting her through.

She was his daughter but he did not even seem to realize when he started treating her like a tool.

For some reason, Luciana was reminded of her mother’s kind smiles, and soft words the most today. Maybe because she felt so desolate and so unloved on this particular day, it brought her memories of the person who loved her, it made her think of all the light her life once had.

Esme glanced at her friend’s retreating back. She stepped forward to follow her. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Cardan licked the tea from his lips before he snapped his fingers. Any stain of the tea on his body disappeared as he pushed himself to his feet and stalked after Luciana.

Esme paused.

She did not know what happened between both of them. But Esme felt like her friend would prefer a lover’s warmth over a friend’s comfort at this particular moment. She blinked twice before looking back at the man who was left alone in the gardens.

Aleister sighed, ’’You can leave,’’ he said to the maids who bowed and left obediently.

He did not have to turn around to feel a stare fixated on his back.

Esme walked towards him, ’’You are living good days here,’’ she mumbled.

Aleister quirked a brow as she came to stand behind him, ’’Don’t stand there. I feel like you will strangle me when I am not looking.’’

’’I might...’’