Ensnaring His Dark Moon - Chapter 134

She continued looking at him, ignoring her racing heart, ”But we…”

He glanced at her meaningfully, ”Partners, friends? What a joke. Since the very first day I laid my eyes on you, I wanted to keep you beside me forever. You, Esmeray Reis, are the person I have adored for a very long time.”

”Hmm….” A faint blush crept up her cheeks, ”Shall I take your words for it?” She wrapped her arms around his waist.

”Huh?”

“You see no matter how frustrated I am, this face of yours is pleasant to my eyes. I don’t mind waking up to it every…hmm….”

”You….” Aleister speechlessly glanced at the woman who had drifted off to sleep at some point. How could she doze off in the middle of a conversation and especially when their positions were like this, with him pinning her to the bed?

He got off her body and sat beside her, staring at her intently, ”Since you find my face pleasing to your eyes, do I need to use it to keep you here?” he whispered.

Just as he was about to stand up from the bed, he felt a tug on his sleeves, ”Sleep with me….” Esme mumbled with an irritated look on her face as she turned her face towards him.

Aleister blinked. He removed her hand from his sleeves and carried her in his arms before adjusting her position on the bed such that her head was nicely placed on the pillow.

She grabbed his hand the moment he was about to turn around.

”I will sleep with you if that’s what you really want,” he quickly slid under the sheets with a look on his face that said ‘I am only sleeping with you because you are begging for it. I am not interested in it at all. Totally not interested’.

Contrary to his expressions, his actions were strangely unpredictable.

The whole noon was spent on glancing at her, admiring her face, thinking back to her words.

Aleister Daven was daydreaming.

The world would be shocked if they discovered this.

He slowly extended his hand towards her face, letting the tip of his finger stroke her lashes. His finger glided down her cheeks and his thumb caressed her lips.

Suddenly, there were sounds of approaching footsteps outside the door.

Aleister tucked Esme in the sheets properly before taking large strides towards the closed door.

He opened the door and pressed a finger on his lips.

Rowan froze with his hand extended towards the door to knock. He gulped down the words that were resting at the tip of his tongue.

He could see the woman sleeping on Aleister’s bed from behind his shoulder and his brows tugged together. He has known this man for so long, be it as a Prince or as a friend and he was certain that Aleister would never let a woman sleep on his bed.

But then, he even let this woman live inside his room. What big matter was the bed?

Aleister stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, ”What is it?” He asked, looking at the urgent expression on Rowan’s face.

Rowan snapped out of his trance. Right, it was not the time to think about Esme or these trivial matters. “Your father….”

“What about him?” Aleister glanced at him.

“There is something wrong with him.”

The next morning.

King Elias sat on the bed beside King Alexander, ”The Royal physician said that he will be able to treat you. I am sure you will recover soon, my friend. As much as I want to stay with you when you are in this condition, but you know what things are like on my side. Those court officials will hunt me down and boil me in the soup if I don’t go there soon enough.”

“Haish… Cough…” King Alexander coughed into his handkerchief, spitting blood on the white material, ”You fox, why don’t you say you are in a hurry because you want to get a Queen for the Kingdom as soon as possible?”

“That is a point too,” Elias glanced at Marlene who was standing near the edge of the bed.

Marlene averted her gaze, feeling naturally embarrassed. Since the day they confessed their feelings to each other, this man has been after her life, hanging the swords like marriage, children, love at her throat day in and day out.

All this time, she was used to being an elder to Esme and Arlan. In the process, she somehow forgot that she was a woman barely in her early thirties. But being around Elias made her feel like she was back to being a teenager again.

She could not believe that after all these years, the effect that he had on her had never changed at all. Her heart would still flutter when he smiled at her and she would still stop breathing when he was closer to her.

How ironic! With a heart which was as vulnerable as this towards him, how did she ever think that things were over between them?

“I want to marry Princess Marlene as soon as possible so that we can properly fulfill the rituals in our niece’s marriage.”

“Again. Don’t use our Esme as an excuse… Cough… Cough… when you just can’t wait to get a wife,” King Alexander burst in a series of coughing fits once again.

“Why are you so sick?” Elias patted the man’s back.

“Look at you brother. How can you cough like that?” Duchess Flora stepped inside the room with a glass in her hand. One could see the worry lines on her face, ”This is the reason we’re telling you to take care of your health but why would you listen to us? Here, have this medicinal drink freshly prepared by the Physician.”

“Yes, yes,” King Alexander sighed helplessly before gulping the drink in one breath.

“Are you leaving today, Your Highness?” Duchess Flora glanced at Duke Elias and Marlene.