The Tyrant's Pet

Time was fleeting.

Aries could still remember how she escaped her hell.

She could still vividly remember how her heart pounded when she cut the rope that had bound her for years. How every breath felt like a second of her life was slipping from her grip at each step farther from her cage. And at how her body trembled, knowing that night could be her last or a turning point.

Everything was still fresh in her mind. How the sliver of hope was easily squashed down by a mere smirk of another man.

She thought... she believed nothing would change.

That her life would be just as hellish as her life in the Maganti Empire.

Who would have thought? That the cruel and sadistic tyrant would be her salvation? It was an irony. She could not help but wonder if the devil heard all her prayers because God hadn't?

'God... it has been a while,' Aries spoke in her mind, kneeling on the hassock of the pew, hands interlaced in front of her face, eyes closed. 'In the past... I had so many questions such as, had you ever heard my screaming? Has my voice reached you? Or... was it so faint that you didn't hear it? Oh, Lord, how come? Your child had suffered miserably. Why hadn't you saved me back then?'

'I tried to be good and lived as someone worthy to stand in front of the pearly gates once the time comes. Not just me, but my father, brothers, sisters, our people... they were good people. Why did they have to go through such a cruel fate?' Her heart pounded against her chest, but her breathing remained calm. 'I prayed multiple times in a day. Even during the time I was in hell, I tried to seek you. I called for your help, yelling helplessly for you to save me. I needed you. I knew you were up there, but I needed you down here.'

'But you never came.' Her tone grew bitter, feeling someone's presence at her side. 'I think you didn't hear my prayers, or perhaps you're too busy. Even if I sometimes think that might be the case, I want to believe you didn't mean to ignore them. Therefore, here I am, inside your house to send my prayers.'

Aries's train of thoughts took a brief pause. 'God, if you are listening, please heed my prayers, and may you protect the devil.' A subtle smile turned up on her lips.

'He might not be the kindest, righteous, moral, or godly... but I sincerely pray that if you ever read all the pending prayers I sent you, this one is what I desire the most.' Her eyes cracked open ever so tenderly. 'I won't ever seek for your salvation anymore. Instead, I thank you for his existence. I had embraced the fact there is no room for me in heaven, but please... make an exception for Abel. The devil also needed salvation.'

Aries stared at the huge cross over the altar, praying sincerely for Abel. It brought back those days she would be on her knees, or just lying flat on her back after a traumatic night. Her prayers those times and now were surely different.

Things had changed.

She now doesn't pray for her salvation, nor was she screaming silently for His help. Instead of demands, she wanted to thank Him for what he had created already. All she wanted now was the best for the devil who saved her. Now kneeling beside her while she prayed.

Aries turned to her right, eyes landing on Abel's side through the black veil over her head. He was staring at the cross with a blank expression.

"I used to frequent to this place," came out a deep, lazy voice as he carefully cast her a side-eye. "And mock God. That's the entire purpose of this chapel."

The side of his lips curled up as if it was something he should be proud of. At this point, Aries was no longer surprised. Instead, her eyes softened as she smiled.

"Why are you kneeling now? What were you praying for, then?" she asked, peeling her eyes away from him to the cross.

"Nothing," he answered almost playfully, letting out a faint exhale. "There's no point unless he comes down here and talks to me, face to face."

His smirk stretched deviously as his eyes glinted while staring at the cross. "I used to think maybe, just maybe, if I killed every beloved child of God, will he finally come and stop the madness? But alas, he seems busy. So here I am, still alive and kept sending everyone to heaven to send my word... but perhaps that is my purpose. The world would be too overpopulated if no one acted to keep it balanced. Maybe that is why I lived this long, don't you think?"

Abel chuckled with his lips closed, tilting his head over to the side. "What about you, darling? I thought you were a heretic. It's a little surprising to find you inside a chapel, praying so sincerely."

"I was praying for the devil." He quirked a brow and cast her another look while Aries smiled, facing the altar. "I was praying for the person who kept sending His children back in his arms. I think he is doing a good deed."

"Now that is what I called faith."

Aries chuckled as she unlinked her hands and turned her head to face him once again. The two of them smiled at each other before Abel helped her stand up. As soon as she was up on her two feet, Abel held her arms between them.

"Will you perhaps marry me?" he asked so casually.

"Try again tomorrow." The side of her lips stretched playfully while Abel sighed.

"You're getting married and that sucks." He shrugged nonchalantly, before holding her arm, and they marched through the aisle to leave the chapel. He knew he wouldn't get tired of asking her hand for marriage, even when she was about to get betrothed to another. Not that it actually mattered.

<strong>Aries was his, and only his.  </strong>

Meanwhile, Aries just wanted to hear him propose every once in a while. It was pleasant in the ear. He should understand since Abel never answered the question: <strong>what was Aries to him?</strong> The curiosity and the anticipation of the question were the fun part.

As they approached the shut door of the chapel, Abel smacked his lips. "Darling, do you know I rushed to see you the second I heard you were visiting? Will you stay here for the night?"

"Hmm... let's see." She hooked her arms around his arm, hugging it as she walked closer to his side. "Depends. I had no plans on meeting you initially."

"No plans on meeting me? Hah... the audacity." He frowned, raising a brow at this insult.

Aries bit her lower lip to suppress her smile but to no avail. "Did you miss me? But it was only a week since your last visit to the Marquess residence."

"Only a week?" he inquired, stopping in his tracks to face her. He pulled her hands that were hooked around his arm, snaking his other hand around her waist to pull her body against his.

"Did I miss you? Well, it won't be an exaggeration if I say every second of my life, darling." He pinched her chin while he bent over. "But it seems you didn't. You're breaking my heart. I'm almost in tears. So mean."

Aries chuckled as she rested her arms over his shoulders, linking her hands to his nape. "Should I be meaner so you don't forget about me while I'm away?" she teased.

"Oh, you'll drive me insane."

"And I'm fine with that."

"Hah... let's make out." She giggled as he closed in, tasting her as if there was no tomorrow.

"Make it quick. My brother will be worried," came out a whisper, making him grin against her lips.

"Screw him." He bit her lips, inhaling her breaths, wanting to take her breath away.

Time surely flies because Aries had been living in the marquess estate for almost a year as Daniella Circe Vandran. The noblest woman in the empire and to be betrothed with the crown prince from another empire.

Time was ticking, and they should watch out for the woman coming back, who crawled her way back to the surface of the world after getting dragged to the pits of hell.