Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 237: Everything is coming together

*Flashback*

"You will stay here. You will stick to your words,’’ Atlas gripped Aleister’s arms, their expressions mirroring each other’s as the man’s tone deepened, ’’If you turn your back on me, remember that I can turn you back into what you were when you appeared here.’’

Aleister’s lips tugged up in a mocking arc, ’’You want me to stay here?... I will,’’ his voice lowered as he continued speaking ’’Not to sit on your throne, I will stay here to destroy it.’’

’’Aleister!" Atlas stepped closer to the man in a threatening stance.

Aleister did not budge from his spot, the playful glint in his eyes deepened, ’’You must be used to having things your way. But I told you, I am not Adeline Daven. I am not my mother whom you forcefully separated from her world and kept here till she fell in love with you, and in the end, you failed to protect her.’’

’’Stop speaking,’’ Atlas stepped back from him and raised his hand, aiming it towards Aleister’s chest, ’’If you want to stay alive, stop speaking.’’

’’You have been isolating yourself for the past few years. Was it because your lover died?" Aleister walked towards the King’s bed and took a seat, crossing one leg above the other.

The man tilted his head to the side as he continued mocking the man he was supposed to address as ’father’, ’’Or... was it because of the guilt weighing on your shoulders, huh?"

Atlas took a shaky breath, bringing his trembling hand down, ’’Stop talking,’’ he whispered, averting his gaze from the unfamiliarly familiar face.

’’You knew. All along, you knew how dangerous it was for Adeline Daven to live in your world. If you loved her enough, you would have extricated yourself from Marilyn, you would not have cared about your throne or about the people in the night court, and you would not have kept the failing marriage. You would have destroyed every obstacle in her way before you brought her here,’’ Aleister’s voice was nonchalant as if he was talking about the weather but every word pierced through the man’s old wounds, the ones which might have started to scab after he discovered that he had a son with the only woman he ever loved, ’’You loved her enough to be selfish for her, to possess her, to keep her close to you and away from her closed ones but you did not love her enough to protect her from the shadows of your dark world.’’

Atlas’s chest rose and fell with every staggering step he took back from the man who was supposed to be his son, ’’It was too late...’’

’’Wasn’t it, now?" Aleister’s smirk dropped, ’’You wanted me to be your son? I played along with you to have all my powers back. I acted along with the ploy to be the son of a coward who was so trapped in the bounds of his world, his people that he could not protect the woman he loved. But what use it is for me to have these powers if I can’t protect her? If I can’t be with her, what use it is for me to have these never-ending years of life?"

Atlas raised his eyes, blue eyes covered in a layer of sheen. To him, Aleister was a part of him and Adeline.

The man did what he was asked to like a puppet and never talked back to him and Atlas wanted to keep him here to see the glimpses of Adeline in him. He thought the lure of powers would suffice to keep him here.

But for the first time, Atlas realized that this man was ’their’ son. He did not just possess their glimpses in his appearance. He was much more than that. Much more than he saw him as.

He was a part of them.

Aleister scoffed humorlessly, "All these powers are worthless if I can’t admire the land she walks on, if I can’t stare at the flowers she talks to. If I can’t keep her in front of my eyes, I would rather not see anything again.’’

’’Son—’’

’’You couldn’t protect your woman from your world. But she. is. my. world,’’ Aleister chuckled, sheer disdain and arrogance reflected on his devilishly striking face, "Kill me if you must, but I’d crawl to her on my dying breath after destroying your throne.’’

The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable. Like he would do every twisted thing he promised in a whisper if Atlas pushed him further.

Atlas looked at the man like he was looking at him for the first time, like Aleister was not the son he got to see in the past year and very much like he was re-evaluating this son of his.

’’And if I tell you this was a test?" Atlas stepped towards Aleister as he spoke. Unmistakable pride coated his voice, ’’That I would not have handed you my throne if you said anything else other than this?"

Aleister’s unchangeable expressions changed for the first time in the King’s presence.

Atlas’s smile grew wider, ’’My son, indeed,’’ he sighed.

Aleister’s playful smile dropped, ’’Are you no longer an immortal? Old age is getting into your head?" his eyes narrowed.

Atlas laughed, throwing his head back. He did not even feel offended. If his Adeline was here, she would have done the same at their son’s audacity.

He laughed till a drop of tear rolled down his cheeks.

’’I protected your mother from all the enemies, son,’’ he whispered, wiping the teardrop with his thumb, ’’Marilyn was never an enemy. She was a close confidante to me, a little girl I once saved. It is easy to guard against the most dangerous enemies than it is to guard against a harmless close person. You don’t realize it until you realize that you have been backstabbed. By the time I saw her for what she was, it was too late.’’

Aleister looked at the man with a frown.