The Tyrant's Pet

Dinner ended on a conflicting note, but they all understood one thing. Aries must know how to wield this gift, which they called a curse. Or else it might kill her, just as Marsella said.

There was also another agreement that night, and that was for Marsella to stay in the Vandran residence. Aries wanted to stay in the imperial palace with Abel, but because of the matters regarding the night council, she had to stay in the House Vandran for the time being.

For the sake of not meeting scandalous news about Aries being the emperor's mistress and for the empire's historical purposes, they had to follow their original plans. Aries was a little puzzled that Abel agreed to it so easily, but he told her he would invite her back to the imperial palace legally.

Which led Aries to this situation four days later.

"What a great greenhouse!" Marsella cheered as she walked around the greenhouse full of poisonous plants.

Aries and Dexter looked at each other and sighed. Marsella had arrived today as a guest of Aries. Everyone except Gustav knew Marsella was a noble lady outside the capital. She was, apparently, Aries's <strong>'good'</strong> friend back when Aries was living out of the capital to recover from her sickness.

That was the only reasonable story they could come up with for them to have an excuse to accommodate Marsella without too many questions raised by the public.

Marsella stopped by a flowerbed, gazing down at the plants with interest. "My, my. What do we have here?" she turned and cast the two a look.

"Just in case you don't know, I'm quite fond of this plant. After all, this is what my former husband —" her face contorted in dismay at her own remarks. "I feel like throwing up to even consider him as someone I married, but anyway, I'm fond of this since this is the reason I died and here with the two of you."

Dexter let out a deep exhale. "This greenhouse is a safe place for you to teach her witchcraft."
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"Alchemy," Marsella corrected, almost making him roll his eyes.

"Sure. Alchemy." Dexter cleared his throat. "Just don't destroy this place."

"Oh, ho!" Marsella laughed, hiding her lips behind a folded hand fan. "You shouldn't be telling those warnings to me, but to your sister. After all, I am only going to teach her while she will be the one who will execute it."

"No promises." Aries flashed Dexter an awkward smile.

Dexter gazed at Aries and then glanced at Marsella. Ever since he agreed to take Aries in, Abel had been coming in and out of the House Vandran. But now, even Abel's sister, who was practically a stranger to every single one of them, would have to live in this place for who knows how long. Yet, it was better for Aries to stay here instead of the Imperial Palace since the night council had been very aggressive in their petition for Aries to take a proper seat in the council.

"Anyway, take care." Dexter planted a hand on Aries's shoulder, locking his gaze with her. "Gustav will be alerted if any harm befell you."

Aries smiled subtly. "Do not worry. I will be fine. Trust me."

"It's not that I don't." He shifted his eyes to the lady standing just several steps away from them. "It's her that I don't trust."

Nove l B(in).C OM

"My, my… how sweet. Shall I visit you later tonight so we can build our trust?" Marsella proposed, which Dexter and Aries automatically ignored.

"I'll leave you two alone for now, but I'll stay in the residence. So if anything happened, I'll be here."

"That's reassuring to hear." Aries smiled, nodding in understanding. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Dexter cast Marsella another look. Without saying a word, the marquess left after looking at Aries one last time.
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Aries stood in the same spot, watching Dexter's retreating back until he was out of her sight. A shallow breath slipped past her lips, holding her hand, smiling faintly. Dexter had been extra attentive ever since the coven ended, and he had bantered with Abel less than usual.

"You two had a great relationship." Aries snapped her eyes when Marsella's voice sounded distant behind her. When she turned her neck, Marsella was already standing beside her, looking at the door. "It's a ton better than what a real sibling had."

"You knew?"

Marsella smirked as she looked back at her as if she just heard a joke. "What a stupid question to ask. Of course. You two smell different. Have you ever heard people saying, <strong>'it's in the blood?'</strong>"

"Right…" Aries breathed out, realizing her question was plain stupid. "So, what are you going to teach me?"

Aries face Marsella squarely, eagerness filling her eyes. The latter, however, just chuckled.

"I'm not teaching you anything today," Marsella remarked with a smirk. "That isn't in my plans."

"Pardon?"

"We need to build trust first." Marsella waved, turning on her heel, marching towards the intricate set of chairs and table nearby. Sensing that Aries wasn't following her tracks, she halted and looked back.

"We had to build mutual trust first, or else I might teach you something destructive without your knowledge for personal entertainment. If you haven't considered that, then you're ten times more naive than I originally thought."Marsella chortled as she resumed her steps.

Meanwhile, Aries could only look at the woman's back until Marsella dragged a chair where she plopped her butt down. To be honest, Aries didn't consider what Marsella just said, knowing she would eventually figure it out if Marsella was teaching her something silly.

However, since Marsella had mentioned it, her view towards the woman slightly turned positive. After all, Marsella wouldn't say that if she truly intend to teach Aries something 'terrible.' And with that being said, Aries had a bit of trust in Abel's sister who was also her sister-in-law.

'Selfish as she may sound, but I don't think he's that terrible. He's just like Abel,' Aries told herself before joining Marsella at the table to build the foundation of their relationship, which was trust.