Ensnaring His Dark Moon - Chapter 137

”What place is this?” Esme leaned back on one wall of the royal carriage as she asked the coachman through the layers of curtains.

”We are about to reach the borders of Seran Village, Princess,” the man answered her.

Esme sighed. Seran village was situated at the border of Visteria. That meant they were about to cross the borders of Visteria soon. She tilted her head to the side and drew open the curtains of the windows, ”Are you my new handmaiden, the one whom Aunt selected for me?” She glanced at the woman who had a veil on her face.

These few handmaidens and guards were walking so they could cross the borders of the kingdom safely. As soon as they crossed the borders, the horses of the royal carriage would pick their pace and these servants would disguise themselves before getting inside the ordinary carriages which would be present in the gap of every two royal carriages.

For now, there were three royal carriages, one was for King Elias and her Aunt, her elder brother and Arlan were there in the second carriage and even though they asked her to ride the same carriage as them, she chose a separate carriage because she needed some space to breathe which she won’t be able to have in Adrian’s presence. The man had pulled a long face on her.

”Huh?” Esme’s brows tugged together when the woman pointed her finger at her mouth before shaking her head.

”You can’t speak?” Esme asked, noticing the woman’s gloved hands. As the woman nodded again, she gasped, ”Oh my… Your face looks so pale. I can see it through your veil. Please come inside the carriage and take some rest.”

The woman hurriedly shook her head as she coughed.

”No, no, I am fine, I won’t be sick,” Esme turned her face to the side, ”Please stop the carriage.”

”Yes, Princess,” the coachman pulled the reins of the horse and the carriage came to a halt.

”Please come inside. I insist,” Esme peeked at the woman through the curtains.

The woman stood rooted to her spot, seemingly contemplating over it. But soon, she bowed and hesitantly stepped inside the carriage and took a seat opposite to her.

Esme grabbed the apple that was rolling down the floor. She wiped it clean and placed it on the fruit basket, ”Here, have this instead,” she offered the woman an orange from the fruit basket.

In the Daven’s Castle.

The atmosphere around the Prince’s room was so tense that one could sense the ice in the air.

Duke Maverick and Duchess Flora stood at the door. Duchess Flora had an anxious expression on her face, ”He did not even go to see her off. Do you think their feelings changed completely? Will we not have Esme as our niece-in-law anymore?”

Duke Maverick’s heart ached when he saw the sad look on her face, ”Young people change their mind about a lot of things but I know my nephew is not the kind of impulsive person. I don’t think he will be able to get over Esme that fast.”

”Let’s go inside and talk to him,” Duchess Flora sighed.

”Al, we are coming inside,” Duke Maverick announced.

Duchess Flora pushed open the door and stepped inside the room while pushing her husband’s wheelchair.

The sight they witnessed made them halt in their tracks.

Aleister was sitting on the floor with a half-finished bottle in his hand. His right-hand elbow was propped on his knee and he had placed his forehead on the same hand, covering his face.

The room was dark. Despite being noontime, not even a single ray of light was entering the room through the dark velvet curtains. They could only see him because of the last burning wood on the fireplace.

Aleister raised his head at their arrival.

Duke Maverick gripped the arms of his wheelchair and his eyes slowly welled up when he noticed Aleister’s current condition.

His hair was messed up and all over the place, his usually cold icy blue eyes had lost their sparkle, one could see the redness in the corner of his eyes and his face was unusually pale.

He had never seen his nephew like this…. except for that one time in the past. The time when his brother forced the young Aleister to…..

”Did they leave? Did she look for me?’ Aleister’s questions broke the trail of his thoughts.

”They left. Now that Brother is in this condition, I thought Esme would choose to stay with you but…” Duchess Flora sighed, ”We need to respect her decision. With everything going on in the Royal Family of Nevesray, she barely got to live through her childhood. She had to grow up too soon and she did not get to spend enough time with her family so…”

”I know. But… Did she look for me?’ Aleister interrupted her and asked in a soft voice.

Duke Maverick’s heart ached when he looked into Aleister’s eyes which almost looked like he was pleading for him to say yes.

”No,” he replied softly.

Duchess Flora knew that now was not the right time because Aleister looked too unwell. But being born in a royal family came with its own share of responsibilities and hardships. Irrespective of his personal feelings, the King was unwell right now so she knew she had to bring up this matter, ”The wedding arrangements…?”

”Didn’t you both hear what she said in the morning? No marriage, it was only a pretense, a deal between us. What you saw was all fake.”

”How can it be?” Duke Maverick and Duchess Flora were equally shocked. They thought that Esme said that out of anger just to spite Aleister.

Everyone could see the way Aleister looked at Esme with so much love and adoration. How can it be fake?

”Yes. So, skip the unnecessary work and arrangements. Wait….” Aleister seemed to be thinking of something as he took a huge gulp from the wine bottle, the wine dripped down from the corner of his lips, gliding past his chin to his neck, staining his white shirt.