The Tyrant's Pet

"Aries Aime Heathcliffe."

Aries suddenly froze from her spot after three steps when Agnes spoke to get her attention. Her eyes dilated, holding on to her breathing, wondering how Agnes knew about her.

"Have you heard about her, Lady Daniella?" Aries slowly turned around, knitting her brows, only to secretly sigh in relief upon seeing the cluelessness in the princess' eyes. "She was a fallen princess from the fallen land of Rikhill. I heard His Majesty took her in after her captivity in the Maganti Empire over a year ago."

Agnes sauntered towards Aries and stopped in front of her.

"I will give you all the support you need and all I want in return is to help me locate her." Her eyes shone solemnly. "Or uncover the truth of what happened to her."

Aries furrowed her brows. At this point, she was convinced Agnes didn't know the appearance of the woman she was looking for. She also didn't have any recollection of knowing Princess Agnes or any connection with her in the past.

"A fallen princess from the land of Rikhill…?" Aries quirked a brow, choosing her words carefully. "I heard about her. She was a slave of the former crown prince of the Maganti Empire."

Agnes's eyes shone, taking a step forward. "Did you see her?"

"No." Aries narrowed her eyes, taking a step back to create distance between them. "I said I heard about her because the crown prince was obsessed with her. Hence, I'd hear stories here and there."

"Is that so?"

"Why, Your Highness?" she asked, completely intrigued by the princess's reason. "Why are you looking for that... slave?"

"I would appreciate it if you refrain from calling her a slave, my lady."
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"But I am speaking the truth." Aries blinked. "This fallen princess was disgraced to ruin. No one helped her from the hands of the cruel crown prince but herself. So, I'm curious why a distinguished person such as yourself is suddenly looking for the poor woman. She escaped the clutches of hell. If she was alive, shouldn't you let her be?"

"If she's alive and living a peaceful life, I'll let her be. But if she isn't and had lived worse, I would want to get the truth of her death and the person responsible for it." Agnes raised her chin. "My offer will always be valid. I hope you reconsider."

She then took a step back, bowing slightly at Aries. She held the latter's eyes for a moment before she turned around, sauntering off silently. Meanwhile, Aries remained on her spot while staring at the princess's back.

"That's strange…" she whispered, turning on her heel, walking away in the opposite direction.

Aries planned to meet Veronika, Sybil, and Suzanne to check on them. But when she saw the three in the garden with the other ladies, obviously fighting with them through words, Aries quietly returned to her chambers.

In her chambers, Gertrude served Aries a calming tea while Aries spent the rest of the day locked in her room. Sitting on the chair near the window, Aries was leaning back, eyes on the book on the table in front of her, but her mind was obviously drifting away.

"Princess Agnes…" came out a whisper, narrowing her eyes, reviewing her encounter with the princess. "I don't know you, but why are you looking for me?"

It didn't make sense to Aries and no matter how she racked her brain, she couldn't get a memory that she could connect to Princess Agnes. Veronika was a different story since she was affiliated with Ismael Imperial, but Agnes… Aries met her for the first time at the start of the selection.

Nove l B(in).C OM

"But I can't deny the sincerity in her eyes." Aries tilted her head to the side, frowning upon meeting a dead end. "Should I reveal I am the woman she was looking for? But what if it was a strategy?"

Aries shook her head to get that idea out of her mind. There were many underlying reasons Aries didn't reveal her identity to Agnes, and one of them was she couldn't trust anyone so easily. She might not fully know what Agnes's real motives were, but Aries already told herself to be careful around the candidates.

Being in this selection for almost a month now, Aries never truly paid attention because she had been busy getting used to her powers. However, now that she was slowly knowing how to control a certain amount of magic, she realized it was about time to observe the candidates.

They were full of surprises, and the last thing she wanted was to get caught up in a complicated predicament.

As Aries was mulling about her plans for the following days, she quirked a brow. Her eyes veered towards the shelf where the secret door was hiding.
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"Right…" A shallow breath slipped past her lips, recalling she had yet made up with Abel. "... I've always been so curious about where this passage leads."

Aries planted her hand on the armrest, pushing herself up. She strolled towards the shelf, pushing it to the side until the shut door behind it was right before her. Aries felt the door as if it didn't have a knob, recoiling when it creaked open after pushing it slightly.

"God, that surprised me." She patted her chest, approaching it carefully. She peeked her head in and then stepped inside. Her eyes fell on the stairs, which she didn't expect, but somehow made sense to her.

"So it's an underground tunnel…" came out a whisper, walking back to the room to get a candelabra before going back to the secret door. Standing at the entrance of the stairs while holding the candelabra, a flame suddenly appeared on it to give light to her path.

"Marsella and Abel usually use this path whenever they pleased…" she murmured, extending her arm to see further ahead while walking down the stairs carefully. "... there shouldn't be anything bad in here, right?"

Aries talked to herself even more actively when she reached the last step. The tunnel was dark, steep, and eerily silent. She stretched her arm even further, but the light could only reach a little further ahead.

"Should I go back?" she looked back, realizing the stairs were steep and long. "No, I'm already here, so I might as well continue."

Aries looked ahead, and her grip on the candelabra trembled, making the light dance on her face. She huffed, nodding encouragingly before she took a step forward. Her steps were careful and light, but the further she delved into the darkness, the louder her footsteps sounded in her ears.

She could feel her stomach turning in fear, humming a tune when the silence began to sound piercingly loud. How the hell could those two go in and out of her room through this underground tunnel with how eerie their steps sounded in here?

The tunnel felt endless, and Aries thought it was an infinite walk until she saw the stairs going up. Her eyes instantly lit up, hastening her steps, only to push the door open. As soon as Aries jumped out of the underground tunnel, she blinked and looked around.

"It leads here?" she furrowed her brows, recognizing the walls of this corridor. It was the forbidden mansion.

"Well…" Aries fixed her poise and cleared her throat. "... that is anti-climatic… huh?"

Aries gazed at the hallway on her left. "Did someone call me?" she wondered, dragging her feet as she headed to a particular room and only realized it when she was standing by the door of the chamber where Conan's father was sleeping.