Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 354: You summoned me

It was past midnight when Luciana started turning and twisting on the bed, reaching towards the source of warmth that seemed to have been gone. The feeling cold bed made her open her eyes.

A hint of displeasure flashed on her face which changed into confusion when she realized that the bed was completely empty, with Cardan being nowhere in sight. She had not realized when she had ended up dozing off in his arms and nor did she know when he left the bed.

’’If he had to go somewhere, he could have woken me up,’’ she mumbled in frustration as she walked out of the room.

For one, he was terrified of huge water bodies, and still, he insisted on spending the night in the sea with her. And now, he was roaming around somewhere all by himself.

Shaking her head, Luciana approached a maid who was walking past her in the hallway.

"My Lady,’’ the maid greeted her politely.

"Have you seen Cardan?"

The maid smiled, ’’I saw His Highness walking out of your room just a moment ago. I asked him if he needed something but he turned me down and asked me to not disturb you.’’

’’Where did he go?’’ Luciana questioned.

’’That way...’’

As Luciana looked in the direction that the maid was pointing at, her brows tugged together. That direction led to the gates of the manor. Where was he going at this hour? What if he panicked in the sea and drowned himself to death?

Luciana’s lips twitched at the thought as she quickly rushed in the direction that Cardan had gone in.

And she spotted him near the gates of the Norwell Manor. Before she could call out to him, he opened the gates and swam in the water, going up to the surface of the sea that was illuminated by the glowing starfishes engraved on the path.

The sight of his slightly shaky hands told Luciana that he was still panicking just the way he did when she brought him together with her so without a second thought, she rushed after him, transforming into her mermaid form as her tail cut through the water in a swift pace.

However, the moment Luciana reached the place where Cardan was, a black air surrounded him as the man disappeared from his spot.

Luciana froze. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

From the corner of her eyes, she spotted a blinding glow in the forest near the seashore.

She arched her neck out of the surface of the sea and looked into the distance before swimming in that direction.

...

"You are here.’’

"You summoned me. Why?" Cardan questioned.

Cardan glanced at the woman who dug one of her nails into the tree, sinking it deeper as she dragged it down. And as her nail glided down the tree, the huge tree started turning black before it gradually melted.

Marilyn retracted her hand, looking at the spot in disappointment, ’’How delicate.’’

’’Mother, why are you here?" Cardan questioned the woman again when she did not respond to his previous question.

Marilyn tilted her face towards him, ’’Hmm? Are you not happy to see me here?"

’’That is not what I meant,’’ Cardan said without a hitch in his breath, ’’I was not expecting you to be here so early.’’

The woman arched a brow, the corner of her lips curling up in a devilish smile as she stepped towards him, ’’Did you forget what I told you when you visited me?"

*Flashback*

Once Luciana left the dungeons with the shadow guards after visiting Marcus Norwell, Cardan stepped inside, reaching the most forbidden place in the whole dungeon. The room was dark but the pungent smell of blood, corpses, and death lingered in the air.

Cardan lit a fire torch, the place lightened up and he was met with the sight of his mother’s weary face.

Four chains tied her limbs to four corners of the dreary chamber as she knelt there in the middle, eyes closed, her hair hanging in front of her face.

’’Mother.’’

’Clank’

’’You are here,’’ Marilyn did not open her eyes, ’’Are you here to see me because you wanted to see me or did you find me because you did not want to die?"

"You are my mother,’’ Neither did Cardan elaborate on his words, nor did he answer her questions. The four words slipped from his mouth without a shift in his expression as he looked at the woman with a straight face.

As Cardan stood there, the weakness seemed to be gradually fading from his body, replenishing it with vitality that he had not felt in the past few days since the spell started taking effect on him.

’’Did you meet him?" Marilyn raised her head, looking at Cardan through the gaps of her unruly hair that framed her face.

Cardan did not respond. He did not have to respond because he knew a response was not what she was seeking from him. She wanted to vent to him. It had always been that way for as long as he could remember.

Even when he was a child and did not understand the things between her and his father, things were the same.

As he had thought, Marilyn did not wait for him to speak as she said, ’’Atlas chained me here thinking that I will harm his precious son. These chains... he wants to bind me for eternity,’’ her voice shook.

’’Mother.’’

’’How foolish of him to think that he can keep me in a cage?" the sad expression on her face was replaced with a scowl as she bit her tongue harshly before opening her mouth. Blood dripped on the ground.

Cardan looked at the seemingly ordinary ground that suddenly became embedded with different symbols with a star in between, ’’Once my spell is complete, then he can never keep me here.’’

’’What if he finds out about this?" Cardan questioned calmly.

Marilyn met his gaze, ’’So what if he does? He cannot kill me anyway. If he wants to torture my heart, I will let him do that,’’ she smiled, ’’But in return, I will haunt his soul,’’ her voice turned soft like a slithery whisper.

’’I will leave now.’’

As Cardan turned to leave, the woman opened her mouth and called out to him, ’’Stop," her voice dropped.

Cardan’s footsteps slowed down.

’’My dear son, is there something you have been hiding from me?"

Cardan turned to look at her, ’’What are you talking about?"

The woman closed her eyes, ’’I might be trapped here but all I have to do is go through some small hassles to know that you have brought a little prey home. Have you been disobedient lately?"

’’Luciana Norwell. She is close to Esme,’’ Cardan said.

’’Oh?" Marilyn glanced at him, ’’Are you saying that you used that woman to get close to Esme?"

"Esme has not lowered her guards against me so I took an indirect approach.’’

Marilyn nodded in approval, ’’Good boy. Initially, I wanted to end their lives at once but all these people, they will die, suffer bit by bit before their death. I want to torment them. Only sleeping with Esme will purify your divine powers. Then we will be invincible, Cardan. Don’t forget that.’’

’’Yes.’’

’’You can go,’’ she closed her eyes, ’’Meanwhile, I can send some of my dogs to play with your little prey.’’

Cardan looked at the black threads that seeped out of her fingers, taking the forms of the shapeless beasts as they floated out of the dungeon, in the direction of where he believed Luciana was but there was not a single shift in his reaction.

Marilyn was pleased with his response, ’’Don’t worry. Your pawn won’t die. She will be a little tortured at most,’’ After a small pause, she added, ’’Leave now. I will come to see you when I can.’’

Cardan turned around and left the place with steady footsteps but the moment he made it out of the dungeon, his steps turned into huge strides as he ran in the direction of his room where Luciana was.

*Flashback ends*