Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 242: This is maddening

Cardan could have caught her but he didn’t and she was grateful for that because after she sneaked into the bed beside the sleeping Esme. She did not leave Esme’s side till they left the heavenly realm the next day, even when the cruel woman antagonized her for being clingy.

And good for her, both the Princes were summoned by the King. By the time they came out, Esme and her were leaving and Luciana did not even look into Cardan’s eyes.

Luciana believed it was her primal urges talking that night. She had never been kissed the way Cardan kissed her as if he craved her. And maybe that was what stripped her rationality. She convinced herself that.

But after they came back to their kingdom, Luciana found herself thinking back about Cardan every once in a while. She did not think much of it.

Any woman would do that after being kissed by the most unexpected man.

’’Come back to me,’’ Cardan snapped his fingers in front of her.

Luciana wandered out of her thoughts and glanced at him.

"It is so easy to hate you when you manipulate me. Why do you even bother being kind and make me conflicted? Is it a manipulation too?" Luciana blurted the words she had wanted to hold back, ’’You... You didn’t have to kiss me that night. You didn’t have to make it look like we had something going on between us when all that was going on was you were using me for the past year to get a hold of Esme.’’

Cardan was stunned for a moment.

Good, he was seeing things clearly now. Luciana dropped her hand from his wrist and started stepping back.

But he wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer, "Woman, I am dying to get a hold of you, can’t you see that?"

Luciana trembled in his hold and by his words.

His breath tickled her cheek and she inhaled a deep breath at their proximity.

Their bodies were almost pressed together, ’’Stop manipulating me, Your Highness,’’ You can’t fall for it. You can’t fall for it. Be your usual self. Stay calm. She chanted.

’’See yourself from my eyes and you will see if I am truly manipulating you, love,’’ He tilted her chin such that they were looking into each other’s eyes as he spoke, ’’You thought I was asking about her when I asked you about your day. But I was not. I wanted to know how your day was, what you did, where you went, how you felt... It has been one year since I approached you, Lucy, and I have not been able to go away ever since.’’

He grabbed her hand and placed her palm on his chest, right where his heart was, ’’Even if I did go away, this thing kept lingering back to the golden-haired woman who would not think twice before mocking me, who would always find a way to get under my nerves, who acts unfeeling but feels the most. You are magic, Lucy... You. truly. are,’’ he enunciated each word, ’’And it astounds me how any man can ever take their eyes off you once they see you or how anyone can not push your buttons after they see how alluring you look when you are provoked.’’

Luciana’s jaw dropped, ’’Cardan... Stop...’’

’’And everytime I think of any other man looking at you, I feel so crazed at the thought that they might end up seeing your magic and hovering around you as I did. This is so maddening. So sick. So humiliating to admit,’’ his face scrunched up like every word was sucking blood from his throat, like he did not want to say these things but not saying them would choke him, ’’But I can’t stop thinking about you. I even want to kick my brother because he got your attention—’’

’’Oh, you and your dear mother almost killed him. Don’t push the blame on my head now. If you think these little tricks of yours will move me...’’ his grip on her body loosened all at once while she started stepping back from him, feeling the loss of his touch, ’’...Then you are so wrong. I don’t know what you want from me or what you feel for me but I don’t feel a thing for you. Even if you were the last man in this world, I would not feel a thing for you.’’

Luciana stopped speaking when she saw the expression on his face.

The air felt heavy. She was gasping softly, her chest rising and falling.

The playful glint in his eyes was replaced by a pained expression. He looked like every word she said plunged straight into his heart.

Luciana gulped.

’’You don’t feel anything for me?" Cardan asked, holding her gaze with stubbornness.

’’I don’t,’’ she tilted her chin, keeping her tone defiant.

’’Is that why you were so angry when you thought that I was only using you?"

Luciana’s lips thinned, ’’No, I thought you were redeeming yourself. I thought you were not as bad as everyone thought. I thought you were not evil. I thought you were different from your mother! I was trying to see the light in you—’’

’’Pity is the last thing that I want from you, My Lady,’’ his tone was distant.

He turned around, opened the half-closed door and he walked away.

Just like that.

Luciana did not budge from her spot for a long time.

She blinked and shook her head, avoiding the nagging guilt and sadness in her chest.

...

Aleister glanced as the pale moonlight shone on Esme’s face.

She looked so serene while she slept. And so unlike herself. Her guards were down, she was not defensive, she was not calculating every moment of her life, she was not being her stubborn self, and she was not laughing nor arguing with him while she slept like the angel that she was.

But Aleister was far from being happy about it. As beautiful as she looked, he would rather have Esme strangle him than sleep there silently.

The room was empty as he had kicked the snoring Leo out, going against the King’s order of keeping him here.

’’Uh...’’

Aleister was alerted when Esme moved, tugging at his hand which was holding her palm.