The Tyrant's Pet

"Aries?! Aries! Ariel? My buddy!?"

Abel's voice echoed across the entire emperor's palace, shouting Aries's name. Those who heard his voice pretended they heard nothing. Fortunately, Isaiah didn't only order everyone from the Rose palace to desert the place, but also in the main palace.

There were only a few who were left behind in this place. Those who could be trusted to pretend they heard nothing or see anything.

"Aries! Ugh… how can you sleep at a time like this?" he mumbled irritably, stopping in front of the window and glancing at it. "Ah… it's nighttime."

Abel rocked his head, continuing in his strides. He was still calling Aries's name as if he wanted to let the entire world know that name. As he did so, blood still trailed him like a shadow.

"Aries…" he whispered, waltzing through the hallway to go to her. Abel knew Aries had left, but he was still looking for her. That wasn't to gain sympathy, but he was… desperate. He needed something to numb the striking pain in his chest.

The voices in his head were growing louder and only her name could silence them, albeit not completely. Slowly, but surely, he was losing his mind. He needed help; he needed her.

"Aries!"

As Abel's voice rang across the hallway, Conan halted at the end of the hallway behind Abel. He rushed to see the emperor upon hearing his echoing voice, halting when laying his eyes on Abel's back.

"Your —" just as Conan took a step forward, a hand held his shoulder. He turned his head, only to see Isaiah shake his head.

"Let him be, for now, Conan," said Isaiah in his usual monotone voice. "Her departure is just slowly sinking in. He will need some time alone to recover. He might hurt you in this state."

Conan ground his teeth while Isaiah peeled his eyes away from him to Abel. The former also set his eyes on the emperor's back, balling his hand into a tight fist.

"This is why…" he muttered through his gritted teeth. "… this is why I told him just keep her with him. He underestimated his affection to her."

Conan's breathing grew heavier, feeling sorry at the emperor's first heartbreak. Although Abel was a disaster, Conan still cared about him. The emperor was the only one who believed in someone like Conan in the past, after all.

In this cruel world, Abel was the only person who reached his hands to Conan first. It didn't matter if Abel was a cruel man who could be too extreme most of the time. And his respect towards the emperor didn't have anything to do with Abel's harsh experience in the past.

The reason Conan wanted Abel to be happy was simple. Abel deserved that. People who held a grudge against the cruel tyrant might disagree — this world, even — but that was Conan's belief.

Because at the end of the day, Abel was his friend. Abel never truly harmed him and he was the person who would go against the world if others bullied Conan. He was the only person who could bully Conan.

That was why Conan immediately realized things faster than others. Abel liked Aries, and the emperor knew that. The only difference between Conan and Abel, the latter underestimated Aries's effect on him. Conan didn't; he expected this much every time he thought of Aries leaving.

Now that she left, things would only get worse from this moment on.

"Lady Aries…" he whispered, hanging his head low. "… if only you know…"

<strong>*****</strong>

<strong>BAM!</strong>

Abel kicked the entrance of the Rose palace with a bang. Darkness and silence welcomed him. He ignored it as he trudged inside.

"Aries!" he roared his lungs out, panting for air as his breathing constricted. "Aries!!!! Come out!"

He was akin to a madman, roaring while stomping through the empty and silent hallway. Due to the lack of life in the place, his voice echoed even louder before; it could even reach the next building. It was so loud that one was able to detect the desperation in his voice, calling that name as if that was the only name he knew.

"Aries…" his steps slowed down as his breathing grew heavy, clutching his chest until his claws dug into his clothes through his flesh.

It was sinking in. Aries… departing… it was sinking in and it was tearing away the remaining pieces of his rotten heart. Bit by bit, letting him feel everything.

His face crumpled, gazing at the lonely and dark hallway ahead. His mouth fell open, dropping his hand from his chest.

"Don't go…" came out a whisper, picking up his pace towards her room. "… choose me. Just me."

He felt like running, but each time he took a step, his stab wounds were squirting blood. Yet, he never stopped ever since he walked out of that dining hall, like an abandoned dog looking for his owner.

"Aries!!" he called once again, drawing closer to the room they both shared. "Ariel!"

The closer he was to her room, her face flashed before him. The face that was first filled with dread, sadness, anxiety, and then that same face gradually changed into her smirk, smile, and different expressions.

Was she not happy all those times? Was there a second she was ever happy? Of course, he knew Aries's survival method, but even so, Abel thought she was being genuine.

They were almost there, weren't they? Didn't she feel that too? That they were almost there? Almost, almost… there? The two of them?

"Aries!"

<strong>BAM!</strong>

Abel kicked the door open, gassing out with dark eyes. She better be here, he thought, because if she wasn't, he would take his words back for the first time and drag her back in here.

"A —"

"Abel, what the hell?" his breath hitched, stunned. His shaking eyes landed on the person on the bed. "Do you know what time is it? Is letting people sleep too much to ask?"

Aries clicked his tongue, scratching her head while assisting herself to sit up.