Ensnaring His Dark Moon

Aleister was quiet for a moment before he said, ''If you want, you can meet that woman to interrogate her. But it is the truth that she is innocent,'' After the tortures she went through, she was still truthful about it. And the investigations also proved her innocence. She had only once come to Visteria before this and this was her second time. 

That night, Esme struggled a lot with her thoughts before she eventually fell asleep. As more time passed by, she was more worried about her brother.

At the first crack of dawn, Esme moved to the side of the bed as she slowly opened her eyes. 

Suddenly, her gaze came in contact with a pair of dark menacing eyes. 

Esme sat up on the bed as she looked at Leo who was standing beside her bed. 

''What are you doing here?" A soft smile played on her lips as she stroked his white hair, running her fingers through it.

The white tiger growled at her. 

And she slowly took her hand back, assuming that he did not want someone to play with his hair. 

But Leo roared this time so loudly that her eardrums started ringing. 

''What do you want?" 

Leo paced in front of her for a few times before sitting in front of her with his head extended towards her as he blinked his large eyes. 

Esme blinked back at him. 

He blinked again, stretching his neck a bit more towards her. 

Was he asking for a pat? She placed her hand on his head, running her fingers in his smooth fur before she patted his head. And she could clearly feel him retracting his feral aura. Not that he ever scared her before. 

A chuckle escaped her mouth, ''If you want a pat, why not ask for it instead of pretending that you don't like it? You should stop being as unpredictable as your Master.''

''It is the first crack of dawn and you are already talking bad behind my back.''

Esme's smile stiffened as she tilted her head to look at the man who was standing near the curtain. Despite her keen hearing, she did not realize when he came here. Unlike the last night where he looked disheveled, his dark hair was now coiffed to perfection as his eyes stared at her waiting for a response. 

This man... He always came and left like a ghost. Even with her exceptional hearing, she did not hear his footsteps.

''We were just talking about the unpredictable weather of Visteria. It was quiet last night and it is raining now,'' Her fingers which were stroking Leo poked his head sneakily, ''Isn't it like that, Leo?'

Leo growled immediately, backing her up. The girl's hands were too soft. He nudged his head closer to her. 

Aleister's lips twitched. This clingy thing. Did he forget that he is a tiger, not a cat?

''Why are you here?" Esme regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. 

''Whose room is this?" Aleister glanced at her, folding his arms in front of his chest.

''Yours. I just spoke it in a moment of haste,'' She told him seriously as she stood up from the bed, lifting her hand from Leo's head who made a small protesting sound. Esme patted his head once again. 

''Take a bath and come outside later,'' His gaze grazed past her white nightdress, her visible neckline as a few strands of her hair fell in front of her shoulder.

Aleister averted his gaze before she noticed it. 

''I will go back to my room first then,'' Esme nodded at him. 

Aleister stepped towards her, ''Here.''

She pointed her finger in the direction where the bath was, ''Here?"

''Yes,'' Noticing the hesitation in her eyes, he continued, ''It was a different thing when we were staying in different rooms despite being lovers....'' He took a deliberate pause towards the last word before he continued, ''...under pretense. But now that a pair of lovers are staying in the same room, it would look very strange if one person goes back to their room to take a bath. That's not what lovers do.''

Why was his wording sounding very unusual? She wondered.

Esme staggered back when he stopped in front of her, the back of her knees touched the bed but before she could fall, he grabbed her fingers and intertwined them with his fingers as he pulled her up. 

There was a small distance between them and she almost lost her balance. 

Her breath was caught in her throat as he leaned closer to her. Her heart skipped a few beats in a trail as Esme opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

Aleister glanced at her wet parted lips before looking at her lashes that were fluttering like butterfly wings. 

His eyes deepened as he stepped back from her while holding her hand. 

Esme stabilized herself on her feet, ''You are right about that.''

''Then I will go deal with some work while you can get ready. There will be maids outside. Call them if you need any help.''

Esme nodded wordlessly. 

''Your clothes...''

''I know. They are there,'' She pointed her hand in the direction of the ivory poles near the wooden chest on the opposite wall without raising her eyes to look at him. 

He nodded, ''We will leave then.''

As the Master and the beast left the room, Esme patted her chest, inwardly thinking whether there would come a day when she would stop falling and crashing like this. 

Esme picked up a silk robe before stepping past the pillars surrounding the large pool-like tub. 

Her thoughts drifted off to the time when she had seen him bathing here while hiding behind the pillar. Whether it was because of the warm water or closed space, her cheeks flushed slightly and she quickly patted her face. 

The water had a layer of fog over it and her nose picked up the faint scent of medicinal herbs and flowers diffused inside it. If she did not remember wrong, these should be the herbs used to soothe the nerves and calm one's mind. 

Placing her robe on the edge of the wooden edge of the tub, she stepped inside the water. Her white nightdress landed near her feet followed by the chemise and her corset as she submerged her body inside the water. A soft sigh escaped her mouth when the warm water grazed past her body.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, her sharp ears some movement.