Chapter 94 - Half-brother

The next morning when Esme woke up, she ended up staring at the ceiling dazedly for a few moments before turning to look at the other side of her bed. The curtains were drawn close and she could not see the familiar silhouette on the other bed. 

Like everyday, Aleister was not in the room by the time she woke up. She placed the back of her palm on her eyes for a few seconds. Unlike the times when she used to be relieved not having him around, his absence left a dull emptiness in her chest today. 

Maybe she was used to having him around. Or it was the safe feeling that he brought to her. 

She opened her eyes and sat up on the bed before looking around again, "Leo, are you there?" She softly called out to the beast who was nowhere in sight since yesterday. 

Soon after she called out, there was a small noise in the distance and in the next moment, a huge figure leapt inside the room through the windows and stopped at a distance from the bed. 

Esme blinked. She was always amused at Leo's extraordinary speed, and strength. The castle walls were so high for him to jump inside Aleister's room like that but she had seen this before so she was not as shocked. 

Aleister's powers were mysterious as well. For his fiend to be like this, Esme was curious but it was not something that shocked her that much compared to before. 

Esme stroked Leo's head as he stood in front of her, ''Where were you?" 

Leo quietly leaned in closer to her letting her stroke his head. His Master was petty about letting him be stroked and patted by this human girl, but it would not be very good of him to let her know that so he just stayed quiet and decided to act naïve. He did not want to be a butterfly and flap wings again just because a certain scary man was stingy and jealous.

Esme laughed at his quiet demeanor. 

Even as the noon approached, Esme did not get to see Aleister. As she walked in the hallway, she overheard some guards talking about a few people who will come from a faraway land to look into the matter of the consecutive death occurrences in Visteria. 

Their voices were low and careful, easy to be missed by anyone but her ears were keen enough to pick out their words even at a distance. 

Was Aleister held back by those matters? She wondered. 

Aleister was the one who handled most of the court matters even though from afar, it looked like King Alexander was the one responsible for everything. 

Esme wondered who were these people who came and what was this faraway land that they were speaking of. Why had she never heard of it? 

Lost in her thoughts, she walked towards her old room, the one that was assigned to her when she came here to work as a maid. 

Her footsteps came to a halt when she noticed a familiar face in the distance. 

Esme quickly hid herself behind the pillar when she noticed something in Liz's hands while the woman walked forward. A silver glass? But more than that, what caught her attention was the red liquid around Liz's fingertips. 

All the past events resurfaced in her mind. When she was once working in the garden and went to wash her face, the barrel was filled with blood. And it was not the only time, she even once hallucinated it when she went to meet Duke Maverick and Duchess Flora. At least, that was what she thought it was, her hallucination but was it really just that?

As if she felt something amiss, Liz stopped and looked around. 

Esme held her breath. She squeezed herself in the space between the wall and pillar, her fingers clutching the gown closer to her body. 

After making sure that nobody was around, Liz looked at the glass in her hand and continued walking. 

When the sound of her footsteps got fainter, Esme stepped out from her hiding. She glanced at the woman's retreating back and after her. 

Esme was careful enough to not make any noise while walking. 

Her brows tugged together when she noticed the direction in which Liz was going. 

''She…'' Esme pursed her lips and stopped herself from speaking any further. She held her gown in her hand and continued walking, pausing in between to hide behind the pillars just to avoid being noticed. 

Just as expected, Liz was walking towards Aleister's room. Esme guessed it because in the direction she was going, it will only lead to his room. 

When she came here, she was told that there were no other chambers in that direction and she had seen it before. Behind Aleister's room was a huge hallway where she was stuck once while looking through the paintings of the Davens' ancestors. The lights went off that time and she had felt something dripping on her neck but later, everything seemed fine. After that, she had never stepped inside that place but Esme was certain that there were no other place where Liz could go. 

So, either she was going to Aleister's room or that abandoned hallway. 

''Esme…'' 

Hee footsteps came to a halt and her eyes widened as she turned around to look at Adrian who was walking towards her. 

She quickly glanced at Liz who was already at a distance.

Esme placed her finger on her lips, motioning for him to be quiet when Adrian approached her.

Adrian frowned, ''What happened?" he whispered. 

She pointed her finger towards Liz before looking at him, ''She is suspicious.'' 

''Who are you talking about?" His frown got deeper when he looked in the direction she was pointing her finger. There was noone. 

''It's..'' The rest of her words died in her throat when she looked around only to discover that there was no one around. How was it possible? 

She did not take her eyes off Liz then how was it possible for her to disappear into thin air? 

...

''Brother, why won't you believe me?" Esme buried her face in her palms before she sat on the bed. 

''I believe you,'' Adrian patted her head. As she looked at him, he shook his head, ''But I did not see anyone.'' 

''She was right in front of you.'' 

Adrian frowned, ''Has it happened before?" 

''What?" Esme pushed herself to her feet. 

''Have you hallucinated things before…?" Adrian hesitated a bit. 

Esme thought back to the times when she saw blood when there was none and she nodded, ''Maybe I am just tired,'' a small voice in her mind told her that it was not that simple. 

''Brother, since you are here, I want to talk to you about a few things,'' Esme walked towards the window in the room. 

''I have something to discuss with you as well,'' Adrian walked towards the fireplace before he took a seat on the armchair, ''Arlan…'' 

''Arlan is your half-brother,'' Esme interrupted him as she turned around to look at him, ''Royal Uncle had a mistress when he went to another kingdom and my mother took Arlan in as her son later after his death,'' she noticed that the man's expression did not falter.