Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 281: Mother

Elder Hall knew what it meant to ’handle’ Jeremiah.

If he let Esme marry Jeremiah for her happiness, then Rezeph would manipulate the man’s head and turn him into a puppet whose sole purpose of surviving will be to make Esme happy.

As long as it makes her happy... he said.

And right there and then, Elder Hall knew that this man had found his weakness again.

In Visteria, it was past midnight when Luciana sat up on her bed and walked out of the room which was assigned to her.

As she walked in the hallways, she grabbed a lantern and glanced in the direction of Cardan’s room.

The door was closed.

She made her way towards Duke Maverick’s bedroom to find any clues related to his disappearance.

But she found none.

It was hard to understand where to start. Visteria was a vast place and Esme told her about everything. Luciana was stunned when she discovered that her Uncle had a hand in all this. But at the end of the day, she did not know where he had imprisoned Duke Maverick or Rowan.

’’My Lady...?"

The voice made her stiffen.

Luciana turned around to look at one of the servants who stood there, looking at her with a doubtful gaze.

’’What are you doing in the Duke’s room?"

Luciana braced herself and calmly answered, ’’Prince Cardan sent me here,’’ Since most of them were under Cardan’s spells, she hoped his name would work.

And it did.

Luciana sighed in relief when the maid retreated. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

She looked around the room to find any signs of some secret passage but she found nothing.

In the end, she decided to go back to her room.

She could not arouse anyone’s suspicions...

Luciana walked back to the hallway where the servants had assigned rooms to them, right adjacent to Aleister’s room but her footsteps halted.

’’Lucy...’’

That distant voice...

Luciana’s heart trembled.

How could it be?

She turned to her left and walked into the empty hallway, her palm lingering on the glass windows with every step she took.

’’Lucy....’’

As she stepped forward, Luciana’s heart started racing wildly and her eyes pricked with tears.

The walls were adorned with paintings of the previous Kings of Visteria and Luciana found herself standing in the hallway right behind Aleister’s room.

The floor parted, revealing the staircase that led to a secret chamber.

It was the same secret chamber where that incident had happened a year ago.

Luciana could not stop her feet.

She ran inside the place without hesitation and her feet stopped in front of a huge mirror.

’’Mother...’’ She glanced at the woman who was looking at her gently, her face was pale like it had been during her last days, and her eyes were sunken but that did not diminish her beauty.

’’Lucy...’’ she cried, her tears into pearls as they fell, ’’My sweet daughter... My sweet daughter.’’

Luciana’s heart squeezed, ’’Mother, how... Why are you here? You died... You died...’’ she snapped to reality.

But the woman shook her head vehemently, ’’I did not die... Your father is a beast. He imprisoned me here inside this strange place for years. He tortured me...’’

Luciana’s heart dropped to her stomach. Her father... No wonder. No wonder, he knew how to bring Duke Maverick out of the mirror.

He... he... imprisoned her mother here.

’’Lucy, this place is filled with ghosts. Mother is so scared...’’

Luciana’s heart clenched. Ghosts. Her mother was always so scared of ghosts and this mirror showed people their weaknesses, ’’Mother, don’t believe it. Those ghosts are not real... Nothing is real here.’’

Her mother’s long black hair framed her delicate face as she sobbed, ’’Lucy, take me out of here... I am so so scared...’’ the woman reached out towards her.

Luciana nodded and extended her hand without hesitation, ’’Mother, hold my hand... I don’t know how to break the spell inside this place but I will try....’’

The woman was just going to clutch her hand when an arm wrapped around Luciana’s waist and she was pulled backwards.

She fell back into Cardan’s arms.

’’What are you doing...’’ she struggled when she saw his reflection in the mirror, ’’Let go...’’

’’What do you think you are doing here?" Cardan snarled, his voice filled with unrestrained rage.

He had never once talked to her in such a tone before. But Luciana did not stop to care about it. She kept struggling in his arms, ’’My mother is there. She is asking for help. Cardan, let me go...’’

Cardan hugged her tightly from behind.

Luciana watched as her mother’s figure started disappearing, ’’I will hate you forever if you don’t let me go. She is going. She is disappearing...’’ the woman’s face was helpless, begging her to save her, ’’This mirror shows people their weakness and my mother is scared of ghosts. She is terrified.’’

’’So are you! You’re terrified, Lucy,’’ Cardan snapped at her but when she froze, his voice softened, ’’The mirror is showing you your weakness. Don’t you get it?"

Luciana slumped into his arms, shaking her head in denial, ’’How could it be... an illusion? No...’’ she struggled to get up again.

Cardan’s lips thinned as he turned her around.

’’Don’t let your emotions cloud your vision, Lucy. What you see does not have to be always true,’’ he whispered as he pushed himself up from the floor, pulling her into his arms.

Lucy shook her head, ’’She said it... She said that my father did that to her. My father can not compare to the gods but he is powerful. He knows how to break the spell in this mirror and bring someone out. That man...’’

’’Lucy, all these years, have you believed that your father had something to do with your mother’s death?"

Luciana froze, ’’How do you... know?" She had never told anyone about her suspicions.

’’You just told me,’’ Cardan stroked her back as he held her tighter, ’’This mirror feeds on your deepest insecurities, your fears, your vulnerabilities like it just did.’’