The Tyrant's Pet

"Ugh…"Aries grunted even before opening her eyes, struck by a painful headache that caused all the wires in her head to pulsate. She held her head and clasped a portion of her hair, opening an eye. As soon as she did, a pair of deep crimson was hovering over her face with hair as green as the lush meadow.

"Good morning, darling," Abel greeted with a grin, bending over as he brushed his nose against hers. "You smell poison, but I'm immune, so no problem."

"Abel, wait…" she chuckled as she planted her fist over his shoulder. "My head —"

Aries suddenly froze as her eyes popped open. She held her breath on instinct, staring at the intricate high ceiling that had the same design as her room.

"Don't worry. Your husband isn't here." He laughed upon noticing her reaction, drawing his head back, only to see her blank expression. "We're in my dearest friendship's room."

"Huh?" she blinked as her brows creased.

Aries looked to the side and finally recognized the room. However, instead of relief, dread slowly crept up in her heart as she tried to recall what happened last night.

"Last night…" she gasped, revisiting the sequence of events.

Last night, after witnessing her husband's 'infidelity,' she planned to drink a bit of wine. She only drank two glassfuls of wine before she realized the wine had a strong alcohol level. At first, she thought of drinking more until she collapse since she could only think of the worse if she was left intoxicated.

However, for reasons she didn't know, she didn't. She felt safe.

Aries gazed at the face hovering over her and smiled subtly. His brows rose, but she chuckled in response.

"Thank you," she expressed under her breath, cupping his leaned cheek. "For having my back."

His lips curled up as his eyelids drooped until they were partially closed. "You're welcome."

Aries closed her eyes as he bent over, welcoming his tender lips. Smiling against his lips, she bit his lower lip teasingly as he drew his head back after three seconds.

"Your kisses are growing shorter and shorter," she complained with a frown, crawling her arms around his neck. "Don't you want me anymore?"

"Of course, I do. However, I'm simply worried you might not fancy being intimate with me with an audience." Abel cocked his head to the side slightly, causing her brows to raise. Aries slowly perked her head to look at where he tilted his head, only for her eyes to dilate.

"Shall we continue?" he teased, pressing his body against hers.

"Wait — Curti —"

"No, no, no." Abel chuckled as he tickled the side of her neck with the apex of his nose. "Let's give my new friend a show of a lifetime."

"Ab — haha — stop…!"

Aries wiggled underneath him, clutching his shoulders tightly. Her struggle grew desperate as her laughter grew louder before he finally stopped.

"There you go," Abel remarked with a satisfied grin before kissing one of her eyes. "Don't cry anymore."

"Huh?" her smile faded as her brows furrowed. "Was I crying last night?"

"Well…" Abel pushed himself off of her before offering his hand to help her get up. "You were, darling. You kept crying while saying you want to marry so so bad you're in tears."

She rolled her eyes, reached for his hand, and was pulled up by him. "I doubt."

"Hah! You don't want to marry me?" he gasped in dismay, a little offended at her confident answer. "Darling, just what can your damn husband do that I can't?"

"Come on, Abel. Why would I cry about that when marriage isn't as sacred as I thought it was?" Aries chuckled and shook her head lightly, sighing as she raised her chin and set her eyes on Curtis. "I wouldn't be a married woman now if it is that of a big deal."

"You wouldn't be here if it wasn't a big deal."

"Make sense, but not in that sense." She cast him a knowing look, ignoring Curtis as he was just sitting on the divan while eating in silence like usual. "We're already happy as we were. It's not like there's a difference if we got married or not."

"You're breaking my heart." Abel planted his palms on the mattress as he reclined. "But you're right. At least you don't gain the title of a cursed woman for becoming a widow twice."

"Abel," she called with a deep exhale. "Don't say that. You're not dying."

"What if I am?"

"No, you're not." She shook her head firmly. "You can't."

"Huh?? Darling, all I want in life is to die!" he gasped while her frown deepened, glaring daggers at him. "What? Darling? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you didn't, Abel. You said something genius. Good morning to me!" she replied sarcastically while dragging herself out of the bed to join Curtis. Meanwhile, Abel simply shrugged as he didn't think that would upset her since he thought she already knew about that.

"Well, good morning to you," he replied, jolting when she looked back at him with a sharp glare.

"One more word, Abel," she wanted fiercely before she stomped her feet and perched beside Curtis. Aries huffed and crossed her arms, glancing at Curtis, who was eating silently like usual.

"Curtis, did you now understand why I was in distress before?" she frowned, leaning her side to Curtis until her head dramatically fell on his lap. "My husband is having an affair and my lover wants to die."

Curtis slowly snapped his eyes as he gazed down at her. Aries was resting the side of her head on his lap, staring at the snacks on the coffee table Gertrude had served to Abel and Curtis earlier.

She sighed. "Men… they're cursed beings. They should all just get wiped out, Curtis."

"Do you wish for me to die as well?"

"Mhm. Since that is what you want…" Aries trailed off when she realized the voice wasn't Abel. Her eyes slowly went round as she glanced in Abel's direction, only to see him approaching her with a grin.

"You never changed Aime." She slowly turned her head and her breath instantly hitched when she saw Curtis' gentle smile hovering over her. He planted his index on top of her forehead.

"Good morning."