Ensnaring his Dark Moon-Chapter 290: Wrong kind of man

Music recommendation: Wu Ji-Instrumental Version by Lin Hai

(The combination of this music and the Chapter made me so emotional *sobs*)

...

Hate? Did she hate him?

Luciana sighed, ’’I do not deserve the things you do for me nor do I desire them,’’ Before he could protest, she added, ’’You can keep him. But keep him alive. I know he must have known something about my mother’s death because he never mentioned her name after she was gone. He treated her like a curse.’’

Father? She had no attachments for that man. Whatever respect and obedience she showed him was just for the sake of appearances.

Her eyes turned cold at the thought of it.

Cardan pulled her into his arms, ’’You deserve every beautiful thing in the world, love. And I will get them all for you. Anything you desire, it is yours.’’

The coldness in her eyes disappeared slowly. Luciana hesitated for a brief moment before she pressed her head on his chest, relishing in his warmth as she watched Esme’s letter dispersing in the thin air.

When they reached the castle, Cardan was still holding Luciana’s hand.

’’Where do you think we should look for Duke Maverick? We have looked around the whole castle, all the secret passages and dungeons too. There are no signs of him...’’

’’She asked you to not trust me,’’ Cardan remarked.

’’Hmm?" Luciana tilted her head to look at him.

’’The words that Esme wrote in the letter... She warned you to not trust the people around you. I am the only person around you at the moment.’’

Luciana slipped her hand out of his grasp as she tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling a bit, ’’She did not mean it.’’

’’How would you know that?" Cardan glanced at her questioningly.

’’Esme is trying to appear like a stern elder, warning the child to stay away from the bad wolf but she would not have done it herself if she was in my place. She would have chosen to see the good in people too just like she did with me. We were enemies in the past but I have been entrusted with such a big matter by her. So, those were just some empty words coming from her.’’

’’And what if those words were right?" Cardan sighed, ’’What if I am not worthy of your trust?"

’’I chose to trust you, it is my decision. If you chose to betray me, it will be your loss,’’ she smiled wider, ’’Someone who has the audacity to claim that he will get every beautiful thing in the world for me is certainly worth my trust...’’

One moment, she was still looking for words to express what she was feeling and in the next moment, she was pinned to one of the pillars in the hallway as Cardan captured her lips in a rough kiss that sent a trail of heat cascading down her body.

When she struggled to breathe, he dragged her bottom lips between his teeth and set them free before kissing her chin.

His lips settled on the crook of her neck and her legs wrapped around his torso.

’’C-Cardan...’’

He kissed her again and led her to the room assigned to them.

She hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

Most of the servants who were hypnotized walked around the castle like puppets, their gazes remaining on them for a few moments before they walked past them.

Luciana gasped as he broke the kiss but soon his lips fell on her neck.

She shivered when the tip of his tongue darted out, licking her neck like a delicacy.

Cardan buried his face in her hair, taking in her scent, ’’Lucy,’’ he breathed her name, ’’I feel like I am dying.’’

’’W-What?" Luciana’s eyes widened.

’’You are killing me. Annihilating me. Destroying my existence. I am dying, Lucy,’’ he breathed, running his lips on her shoulder blades, ’’And I have never been more obsessed with death,’’ he bit her skin.

Luciana winced for a moment before pleasure overtook that pain, ’’Stop scaring me,’’ she whispered just as he stepped inside his room.

’’The thought of my death scares you,’’ Cardan looked at her with wide eyes.

’’It does,’’ Luciana cupped his face. Maybe it was in the spur of the moment or maybe it was his wide insecure eyes that stared at her in disbelief, as if he expected her to want him dead or maybe it was just him that made her reveal a vulnerable thought, ’’I would never want you dead.’’

His breathing fastened, and his eyes burned with something passionate and fiery.

’Rip’

The sleeves of her gown were torn to shreds as his finger trailed down her back, and her gown slowly fell open like the petals of a lotus.

’’No...’’ Luciana whispered, ’’Stop..’’

’’No?" When she nodded, a flash of hurt appeared in his eyes but he masked it. He gently placed her down on her feet.

Luciana clutched the dress to her chest, preventing it from falling as she looked at him.

’’You should take some rest. It has been a long day,’’ Cardan averted his gaze calmly.

Luciana turned to leave but her footsteps halted, ’’Cardan.’’

Cardan did not turn around to look at her but soon, he heard the sounds of rushed footsteps, and in the next moment, a soft body collided against his back.

Luciana hugged him from the back, wrapping her arms around his waist, ’’I have never been more ashamed of my past...’’ she whispered, ’’I am not pure. I...’’

’’Lucy,’’ Cardan interrupted her.

She stiffened.

’’Don’t say another word. If you mention every man you have been involved with, every man who gazed at you, every man who got to worship you before I even knew you, then you would find corpses lying at your feet the next morning,’’ his voice was menacing, ’’Don’t say that you aren’t pure when you are the only blessing I believe in. You bless my life, Luciana Norwell. You are the purest.’’

Luciana bit her bottom lips, eyes pooling with tears, ’’You do not get it... You... I slept around, Cardan. I did not love. I did not feel for them. I lost myself in lust every time I could not handle the pain that my father inflicted on me. When I missed my mother, when my brother despised me, and every moment that brought me down, I got myself a willing body to lose myself in. I am not the right kind of woman.’’

’’Then, I will be your wrong kind of man,’’ he turned around to look at her.

Cardan was beyond horrified to see this side of her. The insecurity in her eyes was telling him that she was terrified about how he would perceive her.

Pure? She was the purest woman in his heart. Things she could do for people she loved and cared for were not something that just anyone was capable of. Luciana Norwell was a fighter, a survivor, and the most beautiful woman inside and out.

She said her body was not pure and he did not know how to tell her that her body was the holy grail that he would die to worship, getting on his knees if she let him.

But she was in no mood for his words. She would shrug them off as another bunch of sweet talk coming out of his mouth.

So he asked, ’’Am I pure, Lucy?" Cardan kept his gaze on her face, not looking anywhere below her neck as she clutched her torn gown closer to her body.

Luciana was stunned when she heard his words.

In this world, who cared about a man’s purity? Who thought about how many women a man has been with?

The more distinguished their identities were, the more woman they would have and it was something men prided themselves for.

It was a girl’s chastity that was always taken into consideration. Luciana detested those unspoken rules. All her life, she had looked down on people who labeled a woman as sullied just because she was not a virgin.

But at that moment when she told Cardan about herself, she had feared his judgment.

Looking at the woman who was in a daze, Cardan spoke up, ’’I don’t dwell on the past but you make me wonder how it would have turned out to be had I found you earlier. The more I think, the more I regret that I never knew earlier that a certain girl called Luciana Norwell existed.’’

Luciana’s heart skipped a beat. To have him whisper such sweet nothings as she meant so much to him was beginning to affect her.

Looking at her dazed expression, Cardan sighed softly, "In heaven, there is a sky full of stars that keep shining. There is no day or night. Here in your world, everything sparkles. The moon, the sun, the sea, your kingdom.... but trust me when I say it, Lucy, none of them are as bright and beautiful as you,’’ he did not touch her, he did not hold her but his eyes looked at her with pure devotion.