The Tyrant's Pet

"Do you know her?" Aries asked, even though she kept the details vague. There were tens of thousands of servants working in the imperial palace. It would be hard to remember all of them, so it was quite a ridiculous question.

"O…" But Roman slowly averted his eyes from her and set them at the ceiling. "She was sentenced to death. I kept reminding her to simply keep an eye on you and grit her teeth. But… she's young and naive. She didn't listen to me and planned to help you escape."

A tear suddenly rolled down the seventh prince's temple, recalling that young maid's bright smile, and her mangled face when he came to clean up her body. "She was found out even before she could go to you and help you escape."

"I see…" Aries breathed out, secretly clenching her teeth, and swallowing down the tension building up in her throat. She already guessed the young maid had died for some reason. After all, people die in this place and no one would bat an eye since anyone could replace them with a snap of a finger.

The only reason Aries remembered her was because that young maid treated her properly and with sympathy. When she thought of Bean, she would also recall that young maid. It was saddening that a young maid like her died when she couldn't keep her eyes closed at the injustice occurring right before her eyes.

"When she died… I told myself I will help you one way or another," Roman continued after a long pause. "I wanted to honor her will. She fought not because of you, but for this land plagued by a monster playing as the crown prince. However, you escaped on the same day I planned to abduct you in that neutral land."

"That's fate, I guess," she replied solemnly. "If you helped me before I helped myself, I will become a Valiente and… we will all surely die."

"Dying while fighting… there's no greater honor to die while fighting for what we believed."

"There's no honor in death." Aries balled her hands into a fist. "I can't believe I will be saying this, but that's a fact."

"Believe whatever you want to believe, but you can't change my mind."

She rocked her head. "I'm not trying to change your mind. In fact, I had shared the same sentiments in the past." Aries glanced at Dexter and then at Conan, smiling subtly at them.

Aries used to be like Roman. She didn't mind dying for her people. She bore honor with it. However, Abel shredded this pride to smithereens. Not that he degraded her beliefs, but just the fact that people had over romanticized this sentiment about death.

Once a person was dead, they were dead. However, if they all backed down for a bit and kept their short lives, they could change things. Not immediately, but they could do something to change the situation, eventually. Albeit, baby steps.

"Enough with the past." Aries huffed and loosened her fist. "I appreciate your plans, even though it didn't come to fruition. But… we had to focus on the current matters at hand."

Roman remained silent before casting her a look. "Inez," he stressed. "She knew you're the one who took me out of that hell. How are you certain she will not talk?"

"There's a witness?" Conan chimed in disbelief, gazing at Aries up and down. "You didn't silence her?"

"You should've told me last night," Dexter added in a solemn tone.

The three men in the dim room that barely had light seeping through the cracks on the concrete wall and the debris blocking the windows outside looked at Aries. The side of her lips curled up into a smirk.

"She won't," Aries affirmed calmly.

"Inez is cunning. She will say everything you want to hear and do unspeakable things just to get what she wants," Roman reminded her. "Don't get fooled by her."

"Being fooled is not knowing they are deceiving you." Aries smacked her lips, keeping her smirk. "You're right. Inez is one cunning fox, but trust me, she won't."

Conan, Dexter, and Roman creased their brows, sensing the confidence emanating from her. Aside from Roman, who was familiar with the ninth princess' antics, Dexter and Conan had been in this land for a good amount of time to understand the people surrounding Aries were all crazy one way or another — well, they were also crazies, but they wouldn't admit that themselves.

"How are you sure she won't rat you out?"

"Because…" her eyes glinted, glancing at everyone before her eyes landed on the seventh prince. "… she won't make it easy for Joaquin. And Joaquin doesn't have long patience to spare."

Hearing that argument, Roman remained silent and then nodded in agreement. Inez was too prideful to make things easy for Joaquin. The crown prince already punished her, so Inez had nothing to lose anymore.

"Oh, what's this? You're all here?"

Suddenly, the third prince's voice reached everyone's ears, making them turn their heads. There, by the open door, stood Ismael. The latter blinked twice, scanning the faces around.

"Am I… late for the party?" he raised his brows awkwardly. "The mood here is a little… dark, isn't it? I hope it's not bad news. I haven't celebrated the fact that the crown prince is in a crisis."

"What do you think you're doing?" Curtis' voice suddenly came from behind Ismael, bumping his shoulder as he entered the room. "You're in the way, move."

Ismael frowned and glared at Curtis back, watching the latter marched towards Aries. As soon as Curtis stood several steps from the bed, his eyes instantly locked with Aries.

"Modesto had made his move. The Capital is in turmoil about the news regarding the illegal casino owned by the crown prince."

"Hey! How dare you break the news before me?" Ismael stomped his feet inside, stopping near Curtis. "Want me to beat you up?"

Curtis glanced at him indifferently, but didn't respond to him. Meanwhile, Roman furrowed his brows at Ismael's presence. But what truly shocked him was that Curtis, that man, was walking and talking.

"How…"