The Tyrant's Pet

Abel reassured Aries he would behave for his "safety." Aries should've known that the meaning of "behave" to him was blending in and making friends! It rendered her speechless.

Who wouldn't?

"Your Highness, are you alright?" Ismael's voice that suddenly came upon her side brought her back to her trance, managing to keep her stoic expression.

"With a decapitated head hanged right in the entrance of the inner palace…" Aries raised her chin and shot Ismael a look. "Shouldn't I be alarmed if this meant a breach of security?"

Ismael shrugged, causing her to arch a brow. "You don't seem alarmed. Was this some sort of normal occurrence in the Maganti?" she asked.

"Of course not. However, this doesn't affect me. The ones in charge will be affected, not me." He shrugged once again, offering her a smile before his eyes fell on the red marks on her neck. "Nice tattoos."

Aries clipped her fingers to her collar and pulled it up to cover Joaquin's handprints around her neck.

"I appreciate you for checking up on me, but I'll have to excuse myself." She curtsied, cutting their conversation short since there wasn't much of anything to do here. Aries already had a suspect who did it, but she couldn't be certain it was Abel since there were more people who could pull off this stunt to bring terror to everyone.

However, just as she was about to turn around, she stopped when Ismael spoke.

"Come to my side." Her brows furrowed at his sudden invitation, locking eyes with him, only to see the solemnity in his eyes. "If you think being fierce is enough, it's not. There were more things you hadn't known about your husband. You'll die even before you know it."

There was a moment of silence between them before her lips curled up.

"Such ominous remark to the crown princess isn't just rude, but I'll pretend I heard nothing, Your Highness." Aries kept the smile that didn't reach her eyes, tilting her head down slightly before turning her back on him. As soon as she did, Aries snuck a look at where she had seen Abel and cringed, seeing he was happily chatting with others.

'Don't mind him, Aries. He made more friends than you did in less than a day, so he'll be fine,' She told herself as she dragged her feet away.

Meanwhile, Ismael glanced and gazed at her back with an arched brow. He didn't show any other emotion regarding her indirect refusal, peeling his eyes away from her to the window, and the knight already pulled up the decapitated head that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Goddamn him… I heard rumors, but to think it is true…" he ground his teeth, making his jaw tighten with eyes full of contempt. Suddenly, while Ismael had his focus on the bloodstained wall under the window, he froze.

"He'll kill you."

Ismael looked back, only to see people passing by. His eyes searched for someone who whispered on his back, but it was as though it was just his imagination. Still, those three words uttered with such maliciousness were etched in his mind.

Maybe because, deep down, he knew what that meant. Joaquin would blame Ismael for this to gain reason to have him executed.

'I'll kill him before he does.' His expression grew colder as he glanced at the window again before he left.

Little did Ismael know, Abel was watching him from just across him. Despite being surrounded by his new friends, Abel kept his eyes on the third prince's retreating figure.

'What an amusing place,' he mentally nodded and then spoke louder to the people around him. "Alright, dearest friends. This humble man had to excuse himself since I still have official business matters to attend to despite this incident."

Abel smiled and chuckled, receiving a 'hilarious' response from these old men whom he charmed with just a few words. How did he do it? Well, Aries was about to find out.

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

Aries took the longer route back to her office as she wanted to be alone and mull about the incident. But as she walked through the empty hallway, her eyes glinted as her steps slowed down. She had been hearing another footstep behind her, causing all the alarms in her head to ring rapidly.

'Someone's following me.' Her eyes glinted, holding her breath as she continued to walk vigilantly.

The footsteps were coming closer to her, making her look ahead and search for anything she could use as a weapon. What she witnessed just now left this anxiety in her head. She could be next, and she wouldn't allow that.

So when Aries passed by a stand, she sprawled her arms towards the vase and, with a loud yell, she was about to smash it at the person walking behind her. However, just before the vase could hit the armored knight, she halted.

"Wait! Wait! It's me!" the armored knight raised his hands in panic, causing her brow to knit at the very familiar voice. "Please don't hit me, Your Highness! It's me, your ally for life!"

"Sir Conan?" her eyes dilated, slacked jaw. There was no way she would mistake this childish and carefree voice.

"Yes!" Conan, who was wearing armor from head to toe, raised his helm's visor, grinning from behind it. "The one and only!"

"…"

Aries slowly put down the vase, still holding it. She couldn't fathom that she would ever see Conan in the Maganti Empire. Even in her wildest imagination, this thought never crossed her.

"Goodness… even with this metal helm, I'm certain if you smashed that vase against it, I'll lose my hearing!" Conan grumbled while taking off his metal helmet, holding it to his side, and flashed her a grin. "Lady A — I mean, Lady Daniella, I missed you!"

"…"

Aries just looked at him in a daze, still hadn't wrapped her head around this situation. She knew the man behind this armor was Conan, but now that he took it off, she was even more appalled.

"Huh? Hello?" he waved in front of her. "Are you alright? Are you not happy to see me?"

"First, it was Abel… and now you?" came out a mumble, blinking in disbelief. "Who should I expect next? Lord Darkmore? My brother? The entire Haimirich migrating?"

Conan coughed before he corrected. "Well, not the entire Haimirich, that's for sure."

"…" For a second, Aries opened and closed her mouth like a fish. But when she recovered her voice, she asked. "Not the entire Haimirich… so, you're telling me Lord Isaiah and my brother are also here?"

His whistle and how he averted his eyes were enough to get the answer. Aries pinched the space between her brows before she took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Oh, my goodness… are you kidding me?!"