The Tyrant's Pet

There were many chairs Joaquin and Aries could sit in the emperor's spacious room. But he chose to sit her down on the edge of the bed where they were facing the cage that was beyond the opened curtains. Unlike this side of the room that was decorated grandly plated with gold, that part of the joint room was the total opposite.

Aside from that cage enough to keep the emperor to move while crouching down, there was nothing around. No stands or furniture, shelves, or at least a table or a chair. It was as if it was designed to be a stage, while the person who would sit in this grandiose room could watch him for entertainment.

It was cruel the more Aries looked at that cage whilst sitting on the wide bed.

"How…" came out a shaking voice after minutes of pure silence, eyes still on that cage in the middle of the next room. "How did he become like that? Had he lost his mind?"

"No." Aries slowly set her eyes back to Joaquin. He had his hands on the surface of the bed, reclining comfortably.

"He is what you think he is, Circe. It might be hard to believe it, but the emperor, my father, didn't simply lose his mind and went out of touch with reality." He set his indifferent eyes on the cage ahead. "He turned into a monster who survives by drinking blood —"

The crown prince cocked his head back, eyes on her. "Human blood and flesh."

"What?" she breathed out in disbelief.

"To make the long story short, the emperor sought immortality." Joaquin shrugged and gazed back at the emperor kept in a cage. "Or rather, he was finding ways to revive the dead. To give him time, I generously gave what he wanted since I am his son and I want to make him happy."

The side of his lips curled up in a twisted grin as he chuckled briefly. "Now… he doesn't have to worry about the death of his favorite son. Nor does he have to worry about the state of affairs and he can just live forever." He then looked back at her once again.

"Isn't my retirement plan for him better? He was old and incapable of ruling an empire anymore. I simply helped him," he added while Aries forced herself to just look back at him without showing too much of her emotions. The only thing she could show him was her surprise and her slight desire for enlightenment.

Joaquin studied her face and sighed. He raised his hand and put all his weight on the other. He tucked her hair behind her ear affectionately.

"My point here is, you… will not have to become an empress dowager. You don't need to wait for that long to achieve the crown." He smiled gently, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "Soon, you will be the empress of this great empire. The mother of the nation and someone who will birth the crown prince and our little princesses."

Aries pursed her lips, showing mixed emotions regarding this.

"Will you kill the emperor?" she asked.

"When the time comes, yes." He nodded without a second hesitation. "Once I crippled that rebel group and Ismael, we will be crowned together. We'll get married too once more."

"What?"

"Our first wedding is arranged for political benefits, Circe. I want to marry you once again and make this union a mutual agreement between us, not between two empires." His smile stretched, looking at her in the eye sincerely. "Don't you want that too, my love?"

Her eyes softened, holding his hand and pressed her cheek against his palm. "Is this how you make me calm down? Because it was effective."

"Is it?" he chuckled playfully. "But I am serious, Circe."

Joaquin straightened his back and twist his upper body to face her. He reached for her other hand, squeezing it lightly, eyes searching for her.

"I had never trusted nor did I ever love anyone as much as you. You mesmerized me and understood me. Although you often voiced out your disagreement with how I do things and don't condone them, you still chose to understand me." He studied her eyes and didn't see the slightest disgust from her, despite revealing what he was capable of. He caressed the corner of her eyes that were looking back at him with apparent intention.

She might appear scared and rattled, but she looked at him the same way. That was all he wanted from people; understand him. He didn't need anyone to condone his beliefs and ambition, but just to understand he had his reasons. From the emperor, from his brothers, from everyone. But they couldn't give that simple understanding to him and only the crown princess was the only person who made him feel he was being seen without doing anything grand.

Despite their disagreements in the past, the crown princess didn't turn her back on him. It might be because she knew his downfall was also hers, but with her wits, she could have found other ways to survive.

Joaquin cupped her face and simply looked at her in silence. His eyes softened with affection, but then a slight bitterness flickered across his eyes.

'If only… you are her,' he whispered in his head, looking at her face, which resembled 'that woman.' 'I will give her everything. If only she believed in me for once and tried to understand my heart… she will not have to go through that.'

'My Aries…' His lips curled up as the person he was staring at suddenly changed into someone else. Or rather, that sophisticated makeup on her face was replaced with a woman whose face wouldn't touch even a residue of powder. Her golden locks slowly turned green.

Circe, his wife, now appeared to look like the Aries when he first laid his eyes on her. Beautiful, radiant, and a little bit boyish. In his eyes, she was grinning coyly. A smile she would usually give to others, but never to him.

"Shall we dye your hair green?" he suggested while her brows knitted, watching how he looked at her as if he was staring at another person. A gaze she was so familiar with.

"Pardon?"

Joaquin blinked ever so slowly and smiled. "Your hair," he said. "Let's dye it green, Circe. Dye your hair green on our second wedding. It's also better to put less powder on your face because I'm afraid it won't be good for Bean's health."