Ensnaring His Dark Moon

Aleister glanced at the side of her face, ''Are you alright?"

''I am," Esme replied softly, her face growing warm. But she was not certain if it was because of the warmth provided by the fireplace or the kiss they shared or the mere fact that they were both alone in this huge room after that kiss.

And this time, it was not as fleeting as the last time. This time, she felt it, clear as the day, the way her heart was racing. How was she supposed to face him now?

"Earlier…''

Was he going to talk about the kiss? ''I.. It's alright, You don't have to mention it,'' she mumbled.

''Hmm? You don't want to know about the book?"

She turned around to face him when she heard that, ''The book? I thought…''

''You thought that I was going to talk about how your lips felt against mine, that how I can't wait to ravage them properly?" he watched in amusement as her face slowly turned red. Oh, the streak of shyness that she had! If only she knew how desirable it was.

''N-Not that,'' Esme inhaled a deep breath, intending to say her next words without stuttering, ''We don't know what those verses mean and we can't read anything in that book. So, let's talk about that later. I want to meet Arlan,'' I want to run away from you as quickly as possible. The longer I stay here, the more embarrassing it feels.

He grabbed her hand the moment she turned around, ''It's late. He should be asleep by now.''

''He sleeps late.. He must be training his powers,'' Esme said without looking back at him.

''I will let you go if you answer me first,'' with that said, he twirled her hand. Her long hair fell in front of her shoulder as she turned to face him, ''Why were you upset earlier? What did I do to offend you?"

''Nothing,'' Esme said with a straight face.

''That's not the Esme I know,'' he stroked her wrist, "Do you not dare to say it?"

''What's there to be afraid of?'' Earlier, she became muddle-headed after their kiss but now that he mentioned it, she felt that anger building up inside her, ''I am upset because you were aware of everything. You knew that your father brought my family here, you knew that your family knew everything and you must have known that your father went to visit my aunt, disguised as a commoner. I am certain that you knew about it because along with the royal physicians, you also left some guards to take care of Aunt. But despite knowing everything, you kept me in the dark. How do you expect me to not be angry? We joined hands to work together and I share everything with you, even all of my bizarre dreams then why won't you speak your mind? Why must you keep things from me?'' She stepped away from him. The more she spoke, the more terrible she felt. She did not know when she started keeping expectations from him.

Aleister glanced at her face, ''That's because I didn't know how you would take it. I wanted to find a proper time to tell you about this.''

''And your proper time was for me to know this in the dining room? To be surprised by the sudden turn of events? Is it entertaining for you all to keep me in the dark? Do you even realize how awful it makes me feel?"

''Awful?" Aleister's gaze darkened, ''As you said, we have just joined hands to help each other. You were supposed to help me avoid the marriage and I was supposed to help you find your brother. Now, you have reunited with your family, you will eventually return to your rightful position, to your Kingdom. Didn't you always want that? To stay far away from me? What makes you feel awful when it is happening?''

Her eyes welled up with tears. Esme wiped them with the back of her hand. She picked up her gown with her fingers before running out of the room.

As she ran, tears filled her eyes once again. She stopped running when she was far away from his room. She pressed a palm on the wall and panted softly. His words made sense. She had always wanted everything to go back to how it was, to have their family reunited, to put an end to this pretense of being lovers. She had always wanted that but what was happening to her now?

Why was her mind wavering when everything was going just how she wished for it?

The thought of going back to Nevesray… why did it bother her so much?

And why did Aleister matter to this point that he had the power to make her cry? Why did he affect her? Since when did she start lowering her walls for him?

The myriad of emotions went through her heart and a teardrop slid down her left cheek, turning into a small sparkly pearl as soon as it landed on the floor.

Esme wiped her tears with the back of her hand and inhaled a deep breath before walking in the direction of the room which was assigned to Arlan. She decided to not dwell on those thoughts which made her weak and helpless. It was best to keep them at bay.

When Esme was no longer in sight, a person walked out from behind the distant pillar and approached the place where she was standing.

It was none other than Liz. She squatted on the floor and picked up the pearl in her hand, examining it closely. A flicker of red flitted through her pupils and the corner of her lips tugged up.

''Liz?"

Liz wrapped her fingers around the pearl and blinked before she stood up. She turned around to look at the handsome face of the man who called her, ''Keith,'' she pounced into his arms.

Keith Reiner, the head gardener paused for a split second before he reacted and wrapped his arms around her waist, ''What if someone sees us here?''