Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 336: Forgive me

The next few days passed rather peacefully in Defire.

There was a serenity in the air that had not been there initially.

Jeremiah was held captive in the dungeons of the Crystal Castle.

On this particular day, Esme was taking a walk with Luciana when she spotted Duke Maverick and the King sitting together in the royal gardens, talking and laughing.

The King no longer had his disguise on and without the disguise, one could see the striking resemblances between him and Esme that made the servants peek at them from lowered heads every once in a while.

’’They have become friends,’’ Luciana remarked in a soft voice.

Esme nodded.

In the past few days, they were always spotted together.

The last time after talking to Ruby, she had gone to meet the King but he was busy with some work.

After that, she tried to talk to him a few times but they never had a proper conversation.

Not so surprisingly, Ruby left on the very same day without meeting anyone.

’’What do you think they are talking about?" Luciana nudged Esme.

’’How would I know?" Esme rolled her eyes.

’’I know,’’ Luciana whispered conspiratorially, ’’It must be about your wedding.’’

Esme’s heart skipped a beat unconsciously, ’’What are you talking about?"

’’You know what I am talking about. Don’t pretend now.’’

Esme glared at her, ’’What about you? Did you talk to Cardan yet?"

After Luciana discovered that she was tricked by Cardan, she ignored him.

Cardan lingered around her like a lost puppy only for him to be treated like air by Luciana.

’’No, I am not talking to him,’’ Luciana rolled her eyes.

’’He seems pathetic,’’ Although Esme did not hate Cardan, she did not like him the Aleister and Luciana did. Because after everything that had happened because of him and his mother and everything that they went through, she just needed some time to build trust in him.

Yet, a part of her found him pitiful when he hovered around Luciana only to be disregarded by her.

’’Serves him right for tricking me,’’ Luciana narrowed her eyes. Only she knew how anxious she had been thinking that Esme would end up marrying Jeremiah if they did not reach Defire in time with Duke Maverick.

But all that while, Cardan knew that both Aleister and Esme were aware of Duke Maverick’s wellbeing because of the bond shared by Leo and Aleister. Yet, he kept her in the dark and watched her getting flustered.

Esme chuckled.

’’What is so funny?" Luciana glared.

’’You,’’ Esme laughed some more as she hugged Luciana’s arm, ’’Lucy, you cannot even pretend to be angry.’’

’’Who is pretending?"

’’You. You even got people to ask him over for the painting and you claim to be angry,’’ In the past few days, there have been many ’human’ visitors coming over to the Defire.

After Adrian reached Nevesray, he was the first person to send messengers with countless presents along with a letter explaining the situation in Nevesray. Her Uncle and Aunt had gotten married sometime after they left Visteria and her Aunt was expecting.

After losing his magic, Arlan trained himself hard in the past year and now he had stepped up for the position of the commander.

Gradually, certain restrictions from Defire were lifted by the Rezeph. And now, Defire was not just an isolated kingdom with mysterious creatures.

Although it was a long process but after careful examination, humans were permitted to cross the border.

Hence, Luciana invited a prominent painter from the north.

Initially, it started with one painting of her and Luciana. But gradually, Luciana wanted more of their memories to be recorded so she made the man paint Aleister and Esme, her and Cardan, and eventually the four of them together.

Luciana cleared her throat, ’’I did it because... Aleister would feel bad if I did not ask his brother over.’’

Esme nodded, ’’Yes, I certainly believe you.’’

’’And I like pretty things, Es. The four of us look good together. So I had to do it,’’ Luciana deflected, making Esme laugh.

’’You have been idle these days for you to come up with such reasons,’’ Esme said, ’’Do you intend to go back to the sea?"

Luciana sighed at the mention of it.

’’A lot has happened lately and while I have taken it well, Lucian might need some time to recover from it. If he sees me, he will end up losing his temper and we will have another argument. I want to give him some time.’’

’’That’s right too,’’ By the time they reached Luciana’s room, Esme’s attention was caught by a mysterious object lying on Luciana’s bed, ’’What is that?"

Luciana approached her bed and picked it up.

A white feather dropped from the object, landing on the duvet.

’Forgive me, Lucy,’ golden letters appeared on the feather before they disappeared in the air like tiny crystals.

’’It is from Cardan, it seems,’’ Esme teased.

As they carefully looked at the object in Luciana’s hand, they noticed that it was a diary even though it resembled a box at first glance.

The cover was embedded in small and beautiful shells with precious crystals studded in between but as one flicked it open, delicate golden pages came to their view.

Anyone who knew Luciana would know that she was fond of shiny things. Anything that sparkled and was beautiful would catch her attention.

But not everyone knew that she had a fondness for writing and painting too ever since she was young.

Had Esme not read the diary that was noted by Luciana’s younger self, she would have been clueless that the woman was fond of other things as well.

’’He has put a lot of thought into this, it seems,’’ Esme teased the woman, watching in amusement as her face flushed to a deeper shade of red.

Esme was about to tease her some more when a maid walked in, ’’Your Highness, His Majesty has summoned you,’’ the woman said with her head lowered.

Esme stiffened.

Luciana placed the diary down when she heard that. She turned to glance at Esme in concern.

In the past few days, Esme had tried to approach the King for a conversation which had not been able to happen and Luciana was well aware of that.

The whole kingdom learned that their King was none other than their lost God. And not only that, he had a daughter, their true heiress.

For the subjects, it was initially a shock which turned into the cause of a celebration later on but for the people involved closely in this affair, the astonishment never faded.

Esme smiled at Luciana, reassuring the woman before she left.

When she entered the King’s room, she found the room empty.