The Tyrant's Pet

Thanks to Conan, who used Aries's name to his heart's content to beat sense into Abel, the latter had no choice but to take her to the Sapphire Palace. He would've taken Aries to her room and asked Joaquin nicely to give them some space, but Conan made him promise to not do that.

Aries called the shots in this entire operation and, honestly, Abel was just squeezing himself in the entire plan. The only role for him was to be an audience. In other words, he had no right to spoil everything. Those were Conan's exact words.

"Now that I think about it, he's so mean." Abel frowned, lying on his side with his temple propped against his knuckles. He had been caressing Aries's jaw casually while thinking about how he ended up in this place instead of taking her to his room, the emperor's room.

"But well, my roommate might shock you." He rolled his eyes as he thought that it would be chaos if he kicked the emperor out of the room. A deep exhale slipped past his lips, caressing her cheek affectionately.

"I didn't know you were that sad, darling."

Although Abel was aware Aries would never forget about Rikhill and all the people who died in that land, he didn't know just how much she missed them. He never missed someone — just recently, it was Aries. If what he felt back then when he was in Haimirich while Aries was in this land was how she felt about Rikhill, then no wonder she was crying so much.

"Give me the pain," he whispered, tracing her brows, then down to her nose ever so slowly. "Just pass it to me. I can take any pain with a smile."

If Abel could take away her pain, he would've snatched it away so she wouldn't be in despair anymore. He had methods to do that such as wiping her memories, but he didn't want to wipe out her memory because that was what made Aries.

The hell they had put her through made her indestructible. Forgetting everyone else but him sounded like a good idea, but he couldn't cheat her like that.

"My Aries," another whisper slipped past his lips, moving closer until his forehead was resting over hers. His hand was cupping her cheek, inhaling her deep breaths, which had a faint scent of wine.

"You're driving me crazy. Your plans are so slow for my patience," he muttered, closing his eyes to calm his glowing red eyes. "You should marry me after all this. I've never been this patient."

There was a long silence that reigned in the chambers as Abel stayed over her for quite some time. He had been saying, 'if not for Aries,' often even before she stepped foot in this land. Because that was the truth and nothing but the truth.

This Maganti Empire… he would've erased it from the world map if he was the person calling the shots. But the person they wronged was Aries, so wiping them all out overnight was mercy. They deserved hell — the unspeakable doom.

"Darling, love, I…"

Abel trailed off when he heard a faint sound from the slightly opened balcony. He withdrew his head, twisting his neck in the balcony's direction.

There, entering the balcony, was a man in a cloak, carrying the unconscious Curtis on his shoulder. The second Abel's eyes landed on Curtis, the side of his lips stretched from ear to ear.

"I didn't know it will be you who will deliver him to me, Marquess." Abel pushed himself away from Aries, but changed his mind and hid her by lowering his body. "You can't look at her. She's mine."

Dexter let out a deep exhale as he pulled down the hood from his head and clicked his tongue in irritation. Abel was looking at him like a child who didn't want to share a snack, as if Dexter planned on asking for a piece.

"Where do I put this guy?" he asked, ignoring Abel's childish acts. "I don't plan to stay long."

"Huh? Why not?"

"The crown prince is just right outside, do you know that?"

"I do. He should be thankful I'm not waking up my darling to let him hear her moaning my name."

"I am not interested in that part of your relationship, Your Majesty." Dexter let out a helpless exhale as he looked around the room. When he caught the divan, he marched towards it to throw Curtis there to rest since there was only one bed and that emperor would never share it with anyone else but Aries.

"Wake him up." Dexter stopped at Abel's command and looked back at him. "That new friend of mine. Wake him up."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I said so?" Abel grinned before he carefully let go of Aries and tucked her in. He flung his legs out of the bed but stayed seated on the edge of the mattress with his palms on either side of him.

"I need to brief him about our plan," he added, while Dexter snickered.

"You mean my sister's plan?"

Abel frowned. "You and Conan are so mean. I'm telling you to Aries and tell her she shouldn't talk with you."

"What are you? A child?" Dexter shook his head mildly before he glanced at the unconscious Curtis on his shoulder. "Lord Isaiah said he should rest since he'll be throwing up —"

He abruptly stopped when Curtis suddenly coughed out the black liquid like sulfur burning the floor. Dexter clicked his tongue in irritation. If Curtis wasn't Aries's dearest friend, he would have thrown him out of the window.

"Oh… I knew it." Abel crooned, dragging himself up from his seat, and sauntered towards Dexter. He walked around him with his upper body bent over, eyes on Curtis before it fell on the black liquid sizzling on the floor.

"It was a special type of spell." He grinned as he straightened his back, shifting his attention to Dexter. "Isn't Maganti interesting, Marquess?"

Dexter's eyes glinted as he kept a straight face compared to the amused expression plastered on the emperor's face.

"A bit surprising…" he glanced at Curtis once again while Abel was poking the latter's cheek to wake him up. "… and dangerous to be walking in the land of witches."