Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 258: I will die

Esme stepped back, avoiding his touch as she lowered her head.

Aleister stiffened, ’’Are you angry? I...’’ he paused for a moment as he raked his fingers through his hair.

Did he tease her too much? Did she feel like he was trying to make a fool of her? Did she hate him again? Was she going to leave now?

Countless questions appeared in his head and he panicked, ’’Esme,’’ he called her softly, ’’I know I was wrong. Forgive me...’’

’Thump’

Esme fell to her knees, cutting his words off as he looked at her with a shocked expression on his face.

’’Es—’’

’’Why are you so good to me, Al?" she tilted her head to look at him, tears streamed down her cheeks as her lips curled down.

Yet, he was too stunned to say anything.

’Not my lord. You can call me Al.’

’No.’

’Yes, my dear moon.’

’No. No. No.’

Aleister felt his heart skipping a few beats as he stared at her in a daze.

Esme. His Esme.

He was too stunned to move.

’’I will die, Al,’’ Esme whispered.

And that had his attention. His jaw tightened as he opened his mouth to ask her what it was about again. Like he was going to let anything happen to her.

’’I will die if you ever leave me again like that,’’ Esme’s words made his eyes soften, ’’You did it once and I thought I only had a shell left. The few moments before I lost my memories were so suffocating. I would not survive it again if you leave me.’’

He extended his hand towards her, ’’Get up, Princess.’’

Esme shook her head, trying to hold back her tears that refused to stop, ’’Will you forgive me, Al?" she called his name again and again like she was afraid she would forget it.

’’Forgive you for what, Esme? I can barely thank you enough for remembering me.’’

A soft sob spilled from her throat, ’’Forgive me for all the days I pretended to hate you in the Daven Castle. I never hated you. Since the first day my younger self had seen you in ragged clothes in my Kingdom, she had wondered how someone can have such beautiful eyes, how someone can stand bravely in front of a group of strong men who had cornered him, how someone... can make my heart flutter without doing anything. You said I saved you with some motive and I got angry at myself for feeling that way for you.’’

A helpless smile appeared on his face, accompanied by warmth in his chest. He had been young, and very arrogant, so not worthy of the little princess who looked at him with intrigued eyes.

’’Al, I felt the same when I saw you again inside the dungeon in the dark castle. My feelings were picked up from right where my younger self had dropped them. I hated it that I did not know what to do with those feelings,’’ Esme wiped her tears, ’’It was filled with discomfort when I heard rumors about you bedding maids, filled with fear when I heard about you killing people, filled with self-loathing when I still craved to see more of you, to know more about you. You consumed me and you did not even know so it was only right for me to return that sentiment,’’ she chuckled when he narrowed his eyes.

She avoided his gaze, fiddling with her fingers, ’’When you had your eyes on me, I pretended to hate it but I liked it. Your attention. I liked how you left those icicles on that head gardener when he touched me. I liked how you would scare off every man who glanced my way. I liked how you wanted me for yourself. Only yourself,’’ Esme tilted her head, only to see something feral taking over his eyes, his chest rose and fell rapidly. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

He thought she did not notice what he did but what he did not know was that when his eyes were not watching her, her eyes were on him. Most of the time.

She tucked her hair behind her ear as a faint blush crept up her cheeks, ’’I liked it when you said that I was your future wife, your queen. I liked it when you did not leave my side no matter how I pushed you away. Returning the sentiment as I said,’’ she bit her bottom lips, ’’You consumed my mind since our first meet and I wanted to consume yours, just the way I did.’’

’’Naughty girl,’’ Aleister’s voice was hoarse, ’’Always the bad one.’’

Esme blushed furiously, ’’No, back then... it scared me. I had never felt it before. I thought it was a strange obsession or a reliance I was developing on you. I wanted to resist it with everything I had because it felt like a wound ready to fester,’’ her tone grew serious, ’’I... tried to push you away with every given opportunity, to hurt you with my words because I was not willing to give in to that strange temptation. It had felt so wrong because... because you were helping me in finding my brother, and the more time I spent with you, the more I convinced myself that I was just relying on you emotionally.’’

Aleister’s gaze deepened. She made it sound like she made it hard for him. But she did not know that he would chase her to the depths of hell regardless of how or why she pushed him away.

’’I resisted my feelings so much that even I was fooling myself with the delusions that what we have is nothing remarkable,’’ another sob escaped her lips, ’’But I regretted it all when you closed your eyes. I wanted to die. I wanted to kill myself for never opening my mouth and telling you how much I loved you. Will you forgive me, Al?’’ she looked at him with a soft smile even as tears rolled down her cheeks.

...

A/N: Esme opening her onion layers and going all out made me squeal lol~ Hope you enjoyed the recent updates