The Tyrant's Pet

Aries made difficult decisions in the past two years; one of them was agreeing to what Maximus wanted, and the other was keeping Dexter away from her. Her only condition to London Leviticus is to make sure Dexter will be safe. Dexter was still unconscious when she admitted it to the House Leviticus, and she didn't hear anything about him since.

There were times London would mention her brother, but Aries would stop him. Obviously, she was overjoyed when she heard Dexter had regained consciousness, but then again, she didn't have the leisure to rush to him.

In other words, aside from Abel, Isaiah, and many other people who were close to her heart, Dexter also didn't see or talk to her for the past two years. One could imagine his frustration knowing she was just around, but there was no way to approach her.

Thus, explained the surprise on Aries's face, standing face to face with one of the people she missed the most.

Dexter.

Aries gazed at him from head to toe, holding her breath. Her heart thudded nervously and in relief against her chest, opening and closing her mouth, but her voice was stuck in her throat. A layer of tears coated her eyes, biting her inner bottom lip to stop unnecessary tears from coming out.

"Dani," Dexter called under his breath, gazing at her from head to toe. "There were many things I want to say — even I want to scold you. However…"

Dexter trailed off, forcing a smile on his face while spreading his arms wide open.

"Will you just stand there?" he breathed out, raising his brows.

A deep exhale escaped her lips as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Brother," she whispered, watching him nod reassuringly. Aries mustered all the courage she could, skipping her steps toward him.

"I'm sorry," were the words that escaped her mouth, throwing herself into Dexter's embrace.

At the same time, Dexter whispered the same words, "sorry," as he embraced her tightly.

The things Aries wanted to apologize for were countless: making decisions and choosing to fight all alone. Meanwhile, Dexter blamed himself that his sister had to be in a situation where she had to make such a difficult decision.

If only Dexter was careful, he wouldn't fall unconscious in the ambush that nearly killed him. If he kept his promise and returned to her, they wouldn't have the current dilemma.

Yet, despite that, they had stored many things to tell each other, but nothing of those was heard. All they did was embrace, and feel each other's warmth with their hearts beating against each other's chest, telling each other they were still alive.

Meanwhile, Abel crossed his arms, watching the two embrace each other. He crossed his arm under his chest, shaking his head.

"Same,' he thought, thinking that Dexter's reason for holding back his words and everything was because they were still alive. And while they live, as long as their hearts were breathing, and they were breathing, they could mend whatever was broken.

It wasn't the end of the world yet. And thus, his reason he didn't need Aries to go through the pain of explaining.

"I heard a funny rumor on my way here," Abel spoke quietly and calmly when he sensed a presence behind him. "I am unsure what to feel about it, Fabian."

Abel looked back, only to see a butler standing five steps from behind him. Fabian, as usual, had this smile on his face that made his eyes squint like lines.

"I… prepared an early dinner. My queen hadn't eaten anything the entire day because of the summit," said Fabian, purposely ignoring Abel's remarks. "It's best to serve it while hot."

Abel opened his mouth, only to close them again.

"Hmmm." He hummed a tune, looking around the lobby of the mansion. "This place changed."

"I believe aside that this place is now brighter and has less dust, it's the same interior."

"No, not that." Abel shook his head, looking around once again. "This isn't Aries's or Maximus… this strange aura around this mansion… it wasn't Mathilda's as well."

"Ahh… that's an ability of the master's stable boy," Fabian explained with the same smile. "If you heard of the divine weapons which I am certain you had, then this mansion is blessed with a divine weapon called Labyrinth."

"Labyrinth?"

"You can say that ability is a tricky one. It protects the tenants of the mansion from an intruder. In simple words, even if King Maximus barged in here, it will take a while for him to find my queen or anyone. It changes the paths and rooms of each door," Fabian summarized, giving Abel a quick explanation of this mansion, since Abel hadn't been in this place since he went out of the mainland.

"It's good that this mansion recognized you. I can only think that is because Lady Tilly and my master have almost the same scent as you," he continued, opening his squinting eyes ever so slowly. "However, one will get lost in it if not careful."

"Just like a labyrinth, huh?"

"Just like a labyrinth."

"Interesting." Abel rocked his head in understanding, running his eyes across the mansion that he replicated in the Haimirich Empire. The only difference was that the replica of this mansion in Haimirich was more gloomy — it was just as it appeared before he left the mainland.

But now, those people he met after he woke up in his slumber lived in this place. Therefore, it was not surprising that this place appeared to be livelier despite its tenants being away.

"That also means it can protect you." Abel snapped his eyes back to Fabian, arching a brow at the hint the latter's tone gave away. "I fulfilled our non-verbal promise, Your Majesty. You came back, and she is still alive."

Abel lifted his chin while the side of his lips curled up into a smirk. "It's rare for a human to fulfill his promise. I'd say this is the first after a long time. Fret not, you don't have to worry now."

Abel cocked his head back and glanced at Aries and Dexter.

"We'll talk later. For now, all I want is to have a meal with my wife and my brother-in-law."