The Tyrant's Pet

<strong>An hour and a half before the present time…</strong>

"Leave." Aries looked at the woman, who was holding a shawl around her, looking back at her with dilated eyes.

Just now, she intruded into the eighth prince's quarters where his first wife lived. How she got in was easy since Aries had been observing every place and knew the routes that were the least people use.

As soon as she snuck into the very chamber they were standing in, she found the princess still awake and was reading a book on the desk. The princess, with a natural beauty that made everything — her nightdress or an elegant dress — pale in comparison, looked at the intruder vigilantly.

Due to the lack of light in the chambers, the princess was scared out of her wits at the presence of the intruder. She wanted to scream, but for reasons she couldn't explain, her voice wouldn't come out. Only when Aries spoke did her eyes truly dilate as she recognized that voice.

"Your Highness?" she called in disbelief, narrowing her eyes when the figure standing near the shut doors advanced in her direction. The princess stepped back on instinct, her rear hitting the edge of the desk, causing the lamp on it to shake.

"Leave," Aries repeated as she stopped several feet away from her. "This place… knights will soon march in this place. They will drag you, your children, and your people out to receive punishment for the crimes you had nothing to do. You know what is there to expect if they get their hands on you."

"Your Highness." The princess, the first wife of the eighth prince Carlos, smiled awkwardly, baffled at Aries's straight-to-the-point words. Although Aries wasn't beating around the bush, it made things more confusing for her.

"I don't understand. Why are you here? I mean, you could've just invited me or told someone that you would visit our humble quarters. Why…" she trailed off as she studied the crown princess's attire, which was unlike the usual lavish dresses she would usually wear. Instead, the crown princess was wearing baggy trousers, a blouse that wasn't too loose or fit, hair tied in a ponytail, and just an entirely different demeanor away from the elegant crown princess who never allowed a speck of dust to land on her.

"Violet." Princess Violet's eyes went round when Aries called her name, holding her breath as she locked eyes with those piercing sharp emeralds. "Right now, the third prince had fallen into the crown prince's trap. Ismael is the man your insufferable husband served. In simple words, they've made a miscalculation and the consequences will be dire."

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Aries's eyes glinted without taking her eyes off of the princess. "Flee now, or go down with your husband."

Violet knitted her brows, holding the shawl near her chest as she processed the crown princess's words. She understood what Aries's spewed yet; it was still baffling. The feud between Joaquin and Ismael was no secret to everyone. However, until now, those two had remained civil.

"You heard about the incident today in the inner palace." Violet raised her head once again when Aries spoke. "It's the crown prince's display of power, but also an opportunity for him to have an excuse to proceed to what he had been planning. You're smart, Violet, and you lived in this place for a long time to understand how things quickly escalate."

Violet looked at Aries and scoffed in disbelief. "Your Highness, with all due respect, please forgive me if I am overstepping my bounds. However, why? Why are you saying all this to me? I know you are the crown princess and soon the empress of the empire. I am but a mere first wife of the eighth prince. Whatever that is going to happen, I will remain by his side, since that is the vow I had taken when I married him."

Listening to the stubborn remarks of the princess, Aries's eyes darkened. Instead of replying immediately, she marched towards Violet. The latter panicked as she tried to back away, only to fuse with the desk behind her. Violet shut her eyes when Aries was within her proximity, but to her surprise, Aries didn't hit her just as she expected.

Violet carefully opened her eyes, glancing over her shoulders, and caught the crown princess holding her bicep. When she raised her head, her breath hitched as soon as she locked eyes with Aries's pair of sharp eyes.

"I know you're a faithful lady who loved her husband despite the abuse and pain he had caused you. However, is your marriage vow more important than your life?" asked Aries, containing herself as her grips around the princess' shoulders tightened. "The eighth prince had betrayed you multiple times, broke your heart into smithereens, and doesn't care about you."

"He loves me," Violet argued with a shaking voice, but the emotions in her eyes were enough proof she was barely deluding herself into believing the impossible.

"No, Violet. Wake up. The eighth prince married you to gain the power he currently holds. He doesn't love you. He needed you." Aries's voice was firm as she breathed out. "If he loves you, hurting you would also hurt him. The actions he called 'accidents' and 'mistakes' aren't accidents and mistakes. He knew exactly those things will hurt you, but he did it anyway. He doesn't love you, he loves himself, and he's not worth dying for."

She paused as she squeezed Violet's shoulders slightly. "For once, Violet, choose yourself. Choose your children; they don't deserve to die because of their father's mistakes... Don't let this 'love' blind you and take away the future of your children."

There was a moment of silence between the two ladies as they stared at each other. When Violet's lips parted, a soft voice came out.

"Why are you doing this, Your Highness?" she asked. "Why… are you saying all this?"

"Don't you really know the reason?" Aries released her shoulders as she straightened her back. "Did you really forget this face?"

Violet's reaction brought a subtle smile to Aries's face. "'Sorry,'" she said as she pivoted on her heel, turning her back on the princess.

"That word you uttered years ago is the one that saved you today." She waved without looking back, marching towards the door. "You don't have an entire night to mull about my words. Decide as soon as possible before it's too late. And when you do, bring only what's necessary and the people you trusted deeply. My people will wait for you just right outside the east wing."

Aries stopped by the door as she looked back at the princess frozen in her spot. "Break those chains, Princess. Even if it means severing your ankle and starting over again. If thinking it's for your sake is not enough to give you courage, then I hope you think about your innocent children who had done nothing wrong."

With that being said, Aries resumed in her tracks, leaving Princess Violet alone in the chambers. The latter could only stand on the same spot for minutes, staring at the shut door blankly.

"Lady Aries…" she whispered as tears shimmered in her eyes, smiling subtly. "… I knew it was you."

Between her husband and her children, Violet loved her children more. She would die for them. She simply didn't have the courage to walk away from this marriage, therefore, deluding herself Carlos would eventually appreciate her efforts, since she believed that was her only method to give her children a good life. But with what Aries had said, the same woman who went through hell only to emerge from the very bottom of it was somehow… empowering.

If Aries did it, perhaps starting over wasn't as terrible as what she believed, Violet thought.

"Lady Aries... can I really... do it?"