Chapter 77 - Don't Take His Name

When Esme recalled the past, her attention immediately shifted to the brown horse in the barn. He was brown and even though from a distance, she could not see him, a wild thought formed in her mind. 

Is it that same horse? 

Even Esme found it unbelievable but she found this man familiar. He did not look like her brother but still he felt like him at times and she wanted to know more about him. 

No matter what, she wanted her bizarre thoughts to be true. 

With burning determination in her heart, she stepped out of her hiding and walked towards the barn. 

The sound of approaching footsteps made Adrian raise his head. The hand that was caressing the horse's face paused as he narrowed his eyes looking at the person who was approaching him. 

What was she doing here at this hour? 

''My Lady,'' He greeted her. 

Esme did not pause when she heard him. Instead, she stepped inside the barn and walked towards the horse before looking into his eyes. As she looked, she noticed that the pair of his eyes were blank like glass. 

Despite already expecting it, she was stunned. Her fingers curled into a fist as she glanced at the man, ''Who are you?" She asked him. 

''I don't understand what you are trying to say here, My Lady,'' Adrian calmly said. As much as he wanted to, it was not the right time to tell her the truth. 

Esme paused, ''This horse belongs to someone I used to know. How is it here with you?" She asked him. 

Adrian pursed his lips, ''There are countless similar horses...''

''The one I knew was blind and just like him,'' She interrupted him.

''I found this horse somewhere else, My Lady. You might not know but your actions are putting me in trouble,'' Adrian raised his hand as he stroked the small injury on his neck that was caused by Rowan's sword, ''I believe you think of me as someone else in your mind that I am not.''

Esme frowned, ''Apologies,'' She turned around and left despite the suspicions in her heart. 

Her intuition was telling her there was something more to this. Since she had no evidence, there was nothing she could do. If it was her elder brother, he would not do this to her right? 

Her heart was conflicted and she did not dwell on it. 

When she reached the room, Esme hesitated to step inside. 

She stood near the door, thinking of the day when she had agreed to stay in Aleister's room, regretting her decision. 

The door was pulled open from the inside and Aleister leaned on the wall. 

Esme glanced at him for a few seconds before she averted her gaze. 

''You went to meet him. Am I right?" 

She paused, ''Are you keeping an eye on me?" She whispered. 

He chuckled, ''I was only stating my guess. But you just admitted it.''

Esme felt somewhat guilty even though she had no reason to feel that, ''I.. just.. '' She paused. What did she even do to stutter? She shook her head inwardly, ''I did meet him when I went out.''

His face was straight without revealing his thoughts and one would not be able to know what he was thinking about. 

Esme looked at the floor for a few good seconds before looking at him, ''When will we go back to the Castle?" 

''When we are done here,'' He nonchalantly said as he stepped inside the room. 

Esme followed after him, letting out a relieved sigh in her heart that he was not pursuing that matter anymore, ''I have something that I want to say.'' 

''I am listening to you,'' He walked towards the table in the middle of the room and picked up the glass before pouring himself some wine. Holding the glass of wine, he walked towards the window as he took a sip of it. 

Esme sat on the bed, at a safe distance from him. ''I think I saw something strange on that body today,'' She mumbled, ''Do you think we can got there once again?" 

Aleister took another sip of his wine before he walked towards her, ''You should know by now that this matter does not seems to be related to Arlan. Rowan has been looking for him while we are here.''

She nodded, ''I know,'' She initially believed she would be able to find Arlan here but now it looked much difficult than she had thought it would be, ''But, aren't you here to investigate this matter as well?'' 

''There is no such thing. If I don't want to do it, I will not do it. You know how I am,'' He took another sip of his wine as he sat beside her. 

Esme discreetly moved to the side, a little away from him, ''I..'' She cleared her throat, ''But this time, the King has asked you to look into it. And if I am not thinking wrong, you will look into this matter carefully.'' 

Aleister raised an eyebrow but he did not say anything. 

Esme realized that she had hit the mark so she went on, ''At that time, you just agreed to leave the place when Mr. Aid...''

Aleister placed a finger on his lips, ''Don't take his name. It's sounding more unpleasant with every passing second.'' 

The corner of her lips twitched and her a soft blush crept up her neck when his stagnant finger gently rubbed against her lips before he retracted it from there. 

''Why... are you like this?" She wanted to tell him why she had been talking with Aiden so much. She wanted him to know about how Aiden resembled her elder brother.

But after what he told her today, she was very hesitant to do so. What if he thought that she was explaining herself because she was afraid of being misunderstood by him? 

Looking at her conflicted face, Aleister leaned back on the headboard of the bed, ''You want to say something?" 

Esme fiddled with her fingers as she turned to look at him, ''Tell me, did you mean what you said...'' She hesitated for a moment before speaking, ''What you told me today...'' 

Aleister shook his head, ''I did not mean it.''