The Tyrant's Pet

"You don't know what you are talking about…" Aries whispered the words Abel would sometimes tell her, lowering her eyes. "He was right… I didn't know a thing because he never told me." — or rather, he would always tell them in a joking manner.

What Abel was was still the biggest mystery. He could be human. Aries's brain was designed to give her logical answers and arguments to comprehend the things that were beyond comprehension.

After sitting on the floor for hours, she had already answered most questions she was looking for.

Why Abel could heal fast? Haimirich was a place where medicines were advanced.

How could he travel that quick? Perhaps he didn't really go back and forth and he just couldn't bear to return to Haimirich, knowing she was in the devil's den.

How come he looked like the previous emperors? The royal family of the Haimirich Empire… was possible that their genes were that strong, so they all resembled.

In other words, Aries simply went back to all the explanations she came up with her head the first time.

She hugged her knees. Her legs were almost numbed sitting for hours on the cold floor until her brain could no longer work. But she managed, lowering her head until her chin was resting on her knees.

Immortality. Youth. Abilities that surpassed human comprehension.

This was quite a revelation to handle in a single day. Aries wouldn't be in this situation if it was just Joaquin. But the sheer thought of the emperor of Haimirich wasn't really human.

"What should I do?" her shoulders trembled while tightening her embrace. "I don't know anymore."

Aries buried her face in her knees and remained silent. She shunned all unnecessary thoughts, leaving her head blank, hoping she would forget about them for a moment. But she couldn't. These monsters, which she knew were myths, already made themselves known to her as real. It wasn't just knowledge for short-term memory.

It already touched a part of her brain she never knew existed and now she couldn't unheard of this anymore.

Aries raised her eyes over her knees. Her surrounding had already grown dark and not a single candelabra was lit. The servants were afraid to bother her, as she already made it clear she wanted to have some time alone.

So as the night fell, her room grew darker while she sat in the dark without moving an inch from her position. She stared at the floor, watching the light filtering through the window disappear until there was just the faint light from the moon.

"Does it really matter?" her muffled voice broke the prolonged silence. "Aries? Does it really matter now?"

Her eyes were filled with bitterness, clutching her skirt. "It doesn't matter now, Aries. There's no point wallowing in here when things aren't confirmed yet. You should focus on the things at hand."

She once again hid her face in her bent knees, mumbling the same things over and over.

"This is not how you prolong this situation," she told herself. "You can't keep them all alive that long until you are ready to move forward from this part of your life."

One thing Aries was good at was convincing herself with a mix of facts and denial. In her head, since she didn't have clear answers to what Abel was, she couldn't dwell on it that long. Knowing herself, it was only her way to prolong her stay in the Maganti Empire until she had decided on her next move once Joaquin had fallen.

"But his fall proved to be harder now…" she whispered and pursed her lips, keeping all the Maganti matters on top of her priority while tucking Abel's matter to a place where she wouldn't be able to touch for now. "His project is already in the last phase before it will come to fruition."

Aries straightened her back slowly and breathed out sharply. "He can't…" she shook her head, planted her fist on the floor, and pushed herself up.

Her knees still felt wobbly, reaching for the stand and carrying the heaviness of her body and heart. She was gasping already when she was standing on her feet, closing her eyes to rest them for a bit. When Aries reopened them, they glinted as her brain focused on the matters at hand.

Roman.

"He's still there…" she whispered. "Joaquin will make him talk."

Her heart thudded as if her body and mind felt like an engine starting up once again as she recalled what Joaquin told her before parting ways with her. Apparently, Joaquin… had sent people to follow Roman when he disappeared during the hunting season.

But because Roman was fast, the people Joaquin sent to follow Roman lost the seventh prince. However, one thing was certain. Joaquin knew which land the seventh prince went to, and with just that information, it was easy for the crown prince to get what he wanted.

After all, Joaquin had already convinced himself the fire in the eighth quarter was Roman's doing so Violet could run away. And to make Roman talk, Joaquin would get his hands on Violet no matter what.

Yes. No matter what.

"That twisted lunatic," she whispered, gritting her teeth. "I'll kill him before he can ever succeed."

<strong>******</strong>

<strong>[ Inner Palace: Maximum Penitentiary ]</strong>

Roman was lying on hay straws while coughing out blood in his cell. His clothes ripped, oozing with blood, coloring the thin fabric on him to fight the cold with red. Each time the light from the torch outside the bars hit his mangled face, he would shut his swollen eye.

Joaquin had a fun time last night with him, beating him with a brass knuckle to quench his anger. Knowing the crown prince, this was simply the mildest torture apart from the hot iron pressed on his skin. But despite the wounds and the hell he went through last night, Roman had only one thing in mind.

Violet.

'I'm sorry… Your Highness…' he whispered in his head. Only Violet was the one who was keeping him conscious. 'It seems I can't keep my promise.'

His swollen eye teared up, thinking of Violet's smile before he parted ways with her. He wasn't scared of what would happen to him, but he was worried about her since Joaquin mentioned her name and death. The crown prince was suspicious about her death and Violet would be in danger if Joaquin figured out she was still alive.

'Ismael… you better keep your promise.'

"He will kill her." Suddenly, Roman heard a familiar voice of a woman. He moved his eye down to his feet, trying to see through past the metal bars.

There, in the cell in front of him where there was not a single torch was lit, kept a woman. He couldn't see her properly with his swollen and blurry vision, but he could see her figure sitting down in her cell, facing him.

"Inez?" came out a grunt as he dragged himself to the corner with great difficulty.

"Violet." Unlike Roman, Inez could see her brother clearly. "If she's alive, Joaquin will kill her. Even if you kill yourself now or confess, he will still kill her… and those poor, innocent, and pathetic children."