Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 278: A powerful pawn

Aleister. The man whom everyone feared. The person she was supposed to dread but in the end, she felt relief knowing that he was around her. That he had his gaze on her and the moment something happened, he would appear.

Then came his family.

When Aleister and her said that they loved each other as a pretense, she had expected the royal family to try to poison her at the very least. Esme had felt grateful that she knew about herbs at that moment.

But much to her surprise, they treated her like a treasure.

Esme had initially been suspicious of Duchess Flora when that woman appeared at the ballroom, right at the moment she was about to extort the truth from that servant girl but as time passed by, she was blinded. Blinded by the greed of having everything she never had.

Having been betrayed by her trusted Uncle, and sharing a stranded bond with her Aunt, she never experienced such familial love.

King Alexander had looked stern but he doted on her in his own way. Duke Maverick’s gentle voice soothed a person’s deepest worries even without him doing anything. Those people had become a family she never had and in the snap of one’s finger, everything shattered like a fragile dream.

And Duchess Flora.... Cardan, who was in disguise... Maybe because he had integrated a part of the real Duchess Flora’s soul inside him to make his act look real, it did. His act did look real at times, his concern, his love. Most of the time, his shrewdness was covered by the purity of the late Duchess’s soul. Hence, it took them a long time to find the real culprit.

That was something that Esme held against Cardan. She had her doubts so she never fell for his ploys but the King and Duke Maverick who had trusted the fake Duchess Flora... they were heartbroken. The King was dead.

And undoubtedly, the woman he loved turned out to be an impostor... it must have left Duke Maverick heartbroken and berserk.

She would never forgive Cardan for that.

And she wanted to know how Aleister forgave him for that and for every evil deed that he did but she was hesitant to confront him about it. What if... what if he thought that she was driving a wedge between them?

Aleister could see the struggle on her face so he waited patiently for her to speak.

’’I am so worried about Uncle,’’ she said the thing that concerned her the most at the moment.

Aleister stiffened. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Esme sighed. She knew he was worried too.

’’I never went to see him or Rowan in Visteria to not cause them trouble and avoid making them anyone’s target in my absence,’’ but it still happened.

Esme raised her hand to his face and smoothened his frown with the tips of her fingers, ’’It has nothing to do with you, Al. It’s not you Jeremiah Norwell is after. You did not cause any of this,’’ she sighed, ’’I am responsible. I...’’

She recalled the past while telling him about it.

That evening when she came back from Luciana’s tea party, she asked Jeremiah for her truth and they sat on the seashore where he told her about the past and how he fell in love with her. He also told her that he did not know much about her past but he could beg his elder brother for it.

’’He said that even if I do not love him then his love would be enough for us,’’ When Aleister’s face darkened, Esme stroked the back of his neck gently as she whispered, ’’I was about to enter the castle when I heard him whispering—’And if that’s not enough for you, then let us put Maverick Daven on stake’. Jeremiah never thought that I could hear him mumbling those words despite standing at a distance. In his eyes, I am just a weak mermaid with no remarkable abilities. A wallflower. I did not have my memories at that time and many conjectures formed in my head.’’

She kept wondering about it. Who was Maverick Daven? Why put him on stake to get married to her?

Trust was a replaceable thing for her in the kingdom of mers. Trust these people without having a shred of memory? She was not that foolish.

She was accommodating and friendly with Jeremiah because as the heir apparent, he held power in his grasp and she had qualms about going against him on an impulse.

So what if he told her the truth that day? She was not moved.

She had looked moved but inwardly, she detested him for feeding her lies for so long. He even went as far as making fake scenarios.

She could never forget the times when she heard Aleister’s voice in her head and asked Jeremiah if he told her those things, if he was the one in her head and he pretended like he was. He pretended to be Aleister for so long. He pretended that years ago, the boy she had tried to protect with her body was him.

And then one day, when her suspicions were aroused and she confronted him, he sat there like a gentleman and told her about his forced heir apparent sob tale. Expecting her to cry? To feel touched?

The shreds of genuine concern she had for him were gone that day.

Esme’s lips curled down. She had tried so hard not to show the disgust on her face at that time.

But as much as she did not trust him, she trusted his words about loving her. And Esme was certain that she did not love him.

Yet, without her memories, all she knew was that she had to survive in this place. And for that, she wanted a pawn.

A powerful pawn.

If Jeremiah loved her so much, then she was willing to be his Queen. He could have his throne, he could keep mistresses and he could have done anything he wanted while she moved the pawn if any danger were to befall her.

Her life was her only priority.

That was the reason she had resisted her feelings for Aleister in heaven. He was a heavenly Prince. He would stay there and she would go back to where she came from.

Breaking things with her pawn for her momentary impulse was not worth it.

Even if she did not love Jeremiah, she agreed to the arrangement with him so there was no way she would let herself get involved with another man. It went against her morals.

So, despite her resistance, she painstakingly pulled herself away from Aleister.

’’He took me as his pawn but all along, I was playing him,’’ Esme whispered.

Life has been unfair most of the time. The only time she was fed love on a silver spoon was when her paths crossed with Aleister. If he did not exist in her life, then with or without memories, she would have followed her plans and licked the survival off the knives by using Jeremiah.

Aleister glanced at her quietly for a moment before he kissed her forehead, ’’You have me. Always.’’

’’You found me again. I recovered my memories and that night when I remembered everything, I realized how silly I was to even think of a life without you,’’ she smiled.

Aleister kissed the tip of her nose. He had no affinity towards that mer but he was proud of how she handled everything, ’’If I did die back then, then I had nothing to worry about given how sly my dear moon is...’’

Esme narrowed her eyes.

’’I am proud of you,’’ he chuckled helplessly, kissing the tip of her nose. To have the audacity to turn the heir apparent into her pawn? Only his woman could think of something like that.

In his absence and with her powers which were not honed, using Jeremiah was a shrewd move on Esme’s part to keep herself protected.

’’Did you try to find Uncle’s whereabouts?"

’’I did try... That day in the garden when you were talking to that maid...’’ she glared at him as she said that and she pinched his face begrudgingly a few times before she continued, ’’I was talking to him about that. I was trying to use my mind-controlling abilities vaguely,’’ Esme had decided that even if she was discovered by him, she could tell him that it must be her powers which she did not know how to use.

After all, she did lie about not knowing what powers she possessed and how to use them so it was viable.

Aleister’s brows furrowed, ’’Have you mastered it yet?" That one ability... she had never mastered it properly and everytime she used it, she was unconscious or hurt but he did not see her being hurt after she was done talking to Jeremiah, ’’Are you hurt somewhere?"

Esme shook her head, ’’I tried but something was holding me back,’’ She could not use her abilities to the full extent because if she was discovered by him then it would have put Duke Maverick’s life in danger and the other thing...’’There is something about him. When I tried to use my powers on him, I felt a sinister aura around us... It was so bone-chilling... I pulled back and laughed about something he said but my fingers kept trembling for a long time.’’

Aleister pulled her closer to himself, protectively holding her in his embrace. To think that something like that had happened and he did not even know.

Esme patted his back. Her movements were discreet at that time so even Leo did not notice anything, let alone Aleister who was at a distance, ’’For some reason, that aura made me think of Marilyn the moment it enveloped me...’’ Esme gulped, ’’It felt like black magic.’’

Aleister froze for a moment before he sat up on the bed, ’’And you did not bother to tell me.’’

He gently pulled his hand from under her head and placed her head on the pillow.

How could Esme keep lying there when she felt the rage emanating from him?

She slowly sat up as the satin sheets slid down her body.

She climbed on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to comfort him without words.

’’You...’’ Aleister closed his eyes. He did not want to raise his voice at her but it was hard to hold back, ’’Not only that. Had I not lured you inside my room, you were going to keep pretending that you don’t remember me.’’

Her eyes burned when she heard his accusations and he did not even hold her close.

He was so cold to her, ’’What did I do wrong?’’ she scrambled off his lap as she snapped at him, her legs were wobbly but her eyes shone with anger and fear, ’’I saw you dying in front of my eyes once. Why would I put you in danger and risk something like that happening to you again? So what if I want to protect you? What is it that you are so furious about?!" she panted by the time she was finished speaking.

Why was it always like this? If he did it, he was protecting her. If she did it, she made a grave mistake.

She trusted Aleister. She trusted him with herself. But how was she supposed to tell him that she did not trust him with himself after what happened before?

When was he ever honest about his crises? What right did he have to shout at her when she did what he had always done?

When the wind grazed on her skin, goosebumps peppered her body and she realized that she did not have a single piece of clothing on her.

Her legs pressed together instinctively and she covered her chest with one hand even though nothing was covered properly.

Esme inhaled a deep breath and grabbed the sheets with her other hand as she wrapped them around herself.

"You should go back to your room,’’ she said to the man who was sitting there in his full glory, not bothering to hide anything.

She did not meet his gaze and turned her face to the side.

’’Esme,’’ his tone was stern.

Esme’s lips thinned, ’’I said go back to your room, Your Highness. Or do I need to beg for you to give me some time alone?"

...

Side scene~

Al: Jer the mer is up to no good *clicks tongue*

Cardan: I knew that ages ago~

Al: Don’t be a smartass now. Shoo.

Cardan: Bro, what’s the next Chapter about? I’m dead curious *sways legs back and forth*

Al: *looks around before leaning closer* don’t tell our girls. They will gossip but the author gave me a hint. She said the next Chapter is for the spy babies in our book.

Cardan: Woah, bro! That was vague. Where is the author? I will torture and extort deets? *sharpens knife*

Author: *quietly hides behind readers*