The Tyrant's Pet

Abel arched a brow when he heard Aries' sniffles. The side of his lips curled up, chuckling as she wiped her tears, trying so hard not to cry.

"Darling, that was a millennium ago. I had moved on," he humored. "Although I appreciate the tears you're shedding for me."

Aries looked up at him, her eyes puffy from all the crying from an hour ago. "I hate them," she announced with a shaking voice. "But above all, why are you so stupid?!"

Aries bit his shoulder like a dog out of frustration. Abel shouldn't have stayed after being set on fire alive! He should've just taught them all a lesson! Those people deserved it.

"Haha! I was young and foolish." He chuckled, watching her let his shoulder go, and looked at her with a smile. "But, I don't regret it."

"Why?"

"Because… I don't?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't regret giving them my full trust and trying to work it out with them. Because at the end of the day, I can tell myself I did my best, and I tried beyond my limit, practicing maximum tolerance… until I've run out of patience and snapped."

Aries pursed her lips, studying his eyes. She could tell he was telling the truth. In fact, even if he wouldn't show, she already knew he was that kind of person. Look at them, for example. Abel put his faith in her, taking the gamble of getting his heart crushed or be handled with care no matter how heavy it was.

He would probably say he did his best to love her with all his heart if they ever parted. Fortunately, Aries was… Aries. She was just as crazy as him and equally evil if she must.

"Don't feel bad for me." He poked the tip of her nose lightly. "I didn't regret giving my faith in them, nor do I regret slaughtering them."

She clutched his shoulder mildly. "Where is this place now?" she asked under her breath.

"Will you avenge me?"

"No. I'm just curious."

"Well, it's gone now." Abel shrugged and quirked a brow before a devious grin resurfaced on his face. "Rikhill had fallen, did it not?"

The expression on her face instantly died. "I'm not joking, Abel."

"Haha…!" he laughed, hunching in when she pinch his chest lightly. "Fine, I'll tell you."

"Was it Haimirich?" she inquired, raising her brows in anticipation of his answer. Abel simply glanced at her and sighed secretly.

"It is."

"You…" Aries bit her inner lip, rubbing her index on his other shoulder. "… don't hate them?"

"I don't."

There was a moment of silence between them while holding each other's gazes. Abel could say he ruled over them to haunt their future generations. But Aries had a different take on it.

By the way she sees it, deep in his heart, Abel still sought their recognition. He still wanted to prove to them he was worthy of their love and acceptance. It had been his obsession, his only fuel to keep himself going with his immortal life. Therefore, after getting their recognition, he would become a tyrant to get hated, only to bring peace and order himself.

It was an endless cycle he was stuck in.

Crazy? Yes. None sense? Not really.

For someone who wouldn't die, Abel needed to do something not just to kill time, but to have some sense of purpose. He needed something that could push him forward, even if it was the craziest and the most ridiculous thing to do. No wonder he liked the extreme. Only the extreme could make him feel something during those times.

"Over four millenniums…" she whispered without taking her eyes off of him. "… I would go crazy."

"No, you won't. Trust me." Abel nodded encouragingly. "I would've gone crazy if it's that bad."

"…" She hoped she misheard him, but she couldn't keep a straight face with him shamelessly nodding in agreement to his own claim.

A shallow breath slipped past her lips as she leaned her head against his.

"You've been through a lot," she whispered, planting her palm on her chest. "Four thousand years… that's how long before I met you."

His lips curled up subtly as he gazed down on her, casually rubbing her back with the back of his fingers. "Four thousand years of wait is not bad."

"How is it not bad when you met countless deaths?" Aries looked up at him with mixed emotions in her eyes. "My brief existence is already painfully bearable and there were times I wanted to die — many times I wished I was dead, instead of just being dead inside."

He pressed his lips and hummed, studying the fear, worry, and sadness in her eyes. Things he couldn't express or feel for himself since he knew deep in his heart he already come to terms with this endless cycle of life a thousand years ago. He appreciated her feelings, though.

"Four thousand years is not short, darling." He rocked his head, batting his eyelashes ever so tenderly. "But it's definitely worth it."

His eyes scanned her face, raising his other hand to caress her jaw. "No doubt."

Aries pressed her lips into a thin slash, eyes holding his pair of crimson flickering with affection. She wasn't worth it, she thought. Or rather, that had always been what she believed. Aries was worthless after everything she went through before him.

But… in those eyes that had always seemed to draw her soul in, she had value. How could she hate him for having just a pair of wings and fangs when she met real monsters like Joaquin?

"They called you a monster, a devil, an abomination… but humans are far crueler than the devil they condemned." Aries cupped his face and let out a deep sigh, still holding his gaze. "Although I cannot say you were innocent throughout the four thousand years of your existence, what you did to others does not matter to me. Because at the end of the day, you, Eustass Silvestri Abel Bloodworth, is the only one I have. And what you have done to me is the only thing I count."

The side of his lips curled up, but more than the heartwarming remarks she uttered, his name left a deep impression on him.

"Grimsbanne," he breathed out, making her brow raise.

"Pardon?"

"Abel Grimsbanne." He lowered his head until his forehead was against hers, brushing the tip of his nose with hers. "That's my name. The real one."