The Tyrant's Pet

"You don't agree with me?"

Aries stopped when Abel spoke behind her. Wrapped in a robe after bathing with him, Aries closed the robe to hide her chest.

"You pretended you didn't notice until now," she replied, looking back at him calmly. "Why point it out now?"

"I wasn't pretending. I was waiting for your argument." Abel advanced in her direction, having a towel wrapped around his waist. Unlike her, who had already dried up her body with his help, his hair was still dripping little drops of water on his body and back.

"I just changed clothes," Aries complained weakly as he pulled her waist against his body. "Let me help you dry your hair."

Aries pushed him mildly, but he didn't budge. Her brows rose, blinking almost innocently at him.

"I'm not angry, Abel. If I was, I wouldn't be here with you," she explained lest he misunderstood her, feeling his firm chest with her palms. "I'm only… I mean, how can I blame you? You're already doing your best to conform to what people — I, included, think is right and moral."

Her smile lines slightly faded as conflict flickered across her emerald eyes. "I should blame myself that I worry you and everyone, forcing you to go beyond and above to protect me."

"I will work hard, Abel," she promised, forcing a smile to reassure him. "I will become strong enough and prove I can protect myself against your types of enemies. That I don't need others to shield me."

"It's not that I don't trust you." His eyelids drooped, staring at her eyes that were akin to emeralds on top of the mountain thrust into the sky that never revealed its depth. "It was the opposite."

Aries pressed her lips with its corners curled up into a smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck while his arms were stilling her waist. Her eyes swirled with great complexity.

"Is it because... perhaps you trust me so much you're worried it'll become neglect?" she tilted her head to the side, staring into his dark, crimson eyes. "Using other people… I'm not saying I hadn't done that in the past. I'm not a saint and I don't know what types of people might be targeting me at this moment. But I'm certain they were people who can never touch you but can easily snap my neck like a twig."

"You won't be able to revive me if I died, right? Because I'm a witch?" she smiled subtly, observing his unchanging expression. "That's why you're worried… I'll die."

"Terrified," he corrected under his breath, caressing her jaw with the back of his fingers. "I'm not worried, I'm terrified. The sheer thought of it is enough for me to stay up for days, planning on how to prevent that from happening."

Abel brushed her shoulder, running the back of his fingers down to her arm and then hand. He clipped the tip of her hand, guiding it to the side as if they were in for a dance. Slowly, he took a step and swayed her, dancing in the silence of the night.

He released her waist, raising their hands to turn her around slowly. When she faced him again, he caught her waist and pulled her against his firm chest. Abel rested his chin on her shoulder, both of them swaying in the soundless music in their ears.

"How I wish you are simply wicked," he confessed, guiding her hand to his nape. "It'll be easier to act so shamelessly."

Aries smiled, resting the side of her head on his chest. "I am wicked, but I want to do things right, Abel. I won't stop you from protecting me if that will make you feel so reassured, but let's stop using people who have nothing to do with us as pawns."

"I will reward them... not with death, unfortunately."

"Mhm…"

"Still upset?"

"I told you, I wasn't." Aries carefully drew her head back and looked up at him in the eye. "I just… haven't figured out what I'd feel. Especially when I had taken a liking to the other ladies."

Her eyes gleamed as she recalled her discussion with Veronika this afternoon. "Kindness… isn't so bad, you see?" She snapped her eyes ever so tenderly as if she had some enlightenment.

"It might've been unintentional, but I would like to do things for people, not because of who they are or what they can give me in return," she added with a satisfied smile. "I want to do it because of who I am. It makes me feel good and satisfied."

The side of her lips stretched until her teeth were showing. "Abel, when will you let me hear you play the piano?" she asked, raising her brows. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation; a great way to change the subject.

"Let's not get sad anymore or argue, hmm? We're together now, so we should focus on the good things and the promises we made which we hadn't done yet," Aries added. "We should sneak out… using that secret passage."

Abel remained silent, observing her beautiful smile. After a moment, a shallow breath slipped past his lips. He smiled subtly, arching a brow as he glanced at the shelf.

"I'll change first," he said when he set his eyes back to her. "Want to give me a hand?"

"Of course." Aries grinned, nodding in enthusiasm.

With that being said, Aries held his hand and guided him to the stool in front of the vanity mirror. Getting a towel prepared by Gertrude to dry his hair, Aries noticed it had always been Abel who would help her change dress and dry her hair. He would occasionally comb her hair as well. But this was her first time doing it.

"This is…" Aries trailed off from sharing her realization, checking the small cloth she was using to dry his hair. Her brows furrowed, seeing a tint of green on the cloth. However, that wasn't what surprised her, since Abel had dyed his hair green.

"Abel? Is there something wrong?" she asked, looking back at him through the mirror. "Your dye is coming off, but your hair… it was white-ish silver?"

Abel arched his brow, blinking. "No, there's nothing wrong."

"Are you sure?" she frowned. "Shouldn't it be black?"

"Why would it be?"

"What do you mean?"

The two of them looked at each other in the mirror, blinking, both confused. Abel tilted his head to the side.

"Black isn't my original hair color," he declared, rendering her speechless.

"It wasn't?"

"Who said it was?"

"..."

And it suddenly hit Aries. Sunny had silver hair while Marsella had platinum gold strands. Sunny said her mother had hazel hair color, and thus, the hazel streak. So for Abel to have jet-black hair… was odd since two of his family had lighter hair colors, which Aries never realized, as she had always assumed that was his original hair color.

"Darling," she whispered in disbelief. "I think I will learn a lot about you throughout this selection."

Abel laughed. "I bet you will discover tons."