Chapter 12: Dark Moon

Esme entered the room provided to her in the servant quarters. The room was much bigger and cleaner than their house in the small village where they have been staying for over 7 years but it was much smaller than her chamber in the Royal Castle of Nevesray, her birthplace.

She has been getting mixed feelings since the day she stepped inside this room and the butler told her that she would be staying here from now on. She felt like she did not belong here.

But today, her mind was racing with countless thoughts, and such chaotic thoughts made her forget all the uncomfortable feelings, the sense of homesickness that she was experiencing for staying away from her Aunt for the first time in her life.

She closed the door behind her and held the lantern hanging on the back before running towards the bed in the middle of the room. Squatting down, she stretched her hand below it and took out an old thick diary hidden near a dark corner under the bed. It was the same diary where she painted the woman with whom Arlan had left.

She sat on the floor and leaned back on the bed before turning the pages quickly until something finally caught her attention. Her fingers trembled as she paused.

The corner of the old page had turned yellowish but the painting on it remained visible. The delicate strokes of a pair of ice-blue eyes.

It reminded her of the youth she saved back then. That poor and dirty-looking boy. Or that was what she thought until he said that she was pretending to be kind just because she wanted something from him.

"Ill-mannered..." She mumbled under her breath. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that she would meet him after all these years.

She disliked him from their first encounter and now that she met him for the second time, her dislike for him grew even more given the way he cornered her in the dungeons.

And in the end, when the guards came, he somehow fled from that place leaving her alone in trouble.

And she was not a fool to not understand what it meant. He lied to her about being a guard in the dungeons. He too had intruded in that place just like her.

"I see you are obsessed with me."

A cold shiver ran down her spine as she stiffened as someone's hot breath stroked her neck. That voice was unfamiliar to her...before today.

Her fingers that were holding the page of the diary trembled slightly as she gulped. She thought she had gotten rid of him then how could he be here?

She closed the diary tightly in her hands and moved to the side before standing up. "What are you doing here?" Her accusing gaze landed on the man who was sleeping on her bed so comfortably as if it belonged to him.

She remembered locking the door properly then how did he manage to get inside?

"I am here to discuss your name," The man repeated her question as he sat up on the bed before pushing himself to his feet and walked towards her.

Discuss her name? She glanced at him weirdly.

That pair of ice-blue eyes seemed to be shining under the moonlight reminding him of the painting in her diary, the boy from the past and the sick man from the dungeon.

"I know you are not a guard. You lied about it," She stepped back, "Now, if I take this news to the Prince, you will be executed. You don't have any evidence that I was there," She wanted to have nothing to do with this man and for that, she tried her best to scare him away.

"Am I supposed to call you smart then?" He asked, catching up to her within a few steps.

"You..." Esme was astounded. Everyone dreaded the mention of the Prince as much as she has observed but why wasn't this man the least bit intimidated? "What are you doing here? What do you want? How-"

"Let's discuss your name.''

"Huh?" Esme wondered whether she misheard him. As he stepped closer to her, she retreated a few steps back in advance only to have her back hit the wall next to the window. The man pressed a hand right next to her body as he stood beside her with a hand on the windowsill.

"Moon," He whispered looking out of the window, at the vast sky before averting his gaze to look at her, "Dark Moon."

"Huh?" Esme could barely understand anything. Her mind was still stuck on why she had to meet this man here. Why? After all these years, she never wanted to see him again because of the way he repaid her kindness with ingratitude.

"One should judge the book by its cover," Aleister said tilting his head to the side, his eyes holding a mocking gaze.

"What?!" Esme tried to escape from the space between his hand but the man lowered his hand as if challenging her to try it. She was speechless.

''You look dumb. You are dumb.''

She closed her eyes to take a deep breath. This man was angering her on purpose, probably. Or worse he is mentally unstable.

"But I am kind enough to explain it to you," The man removed his hand from the wall, setting her free, "Esmeray means Dark Moon."

She glanced at him blankly before turning around and patting her chest. So, he was talking about her name. Probably, she misunderstood him-

"I never thought you will follow me all the way here. But I knew you wanted something from me in exchange for saving my life. Your persistence has my attention now. Say, what do you want?"

His words interrupted her trail of thoughts.