Days had passed in a blur. The imperial palace was just as busy as ever, calming the public as much as they could. Meanwhile, Aries wasn't as busy as everybody else. It was out of her jurisdiction. So she was "focusing" on the matters she must focus on.
"Come in," Aries permitted, without stopping from writing a letter in response to a noble house regarding the charity works she proposed. She only raised her head when she felt Cherry, her lady-in-waiting, standing near her desk.
"Yes?" she asked with a peaceful smile.
"Your Highness, the crown prince is inviting you to have lunch with him today," said Cherry. "I received a word from the Sapphire Palace that His Highness was waiting for you there."
"Oh?" Aries's brow arched, putting the quill back in its holder. "He's there, huh?"
She leaned back and looked up, pondering in silence. Meanwhile, Cherry simply studied Aries's demeanor and noticed how Aries seemed bothered by something.
"I hadn't even seen his shadow for the past several days…" came out a mumble, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "I wonder what suddenly made him come to the Sapphire…"
Her eyes slowly dilated as realization dawned on her. Curtis, she thought, springing up to her seat almost instantly. When she met Cherry's eyes, the latter's brows rose to see the mild panic plastered on the crown princess's face.
"Your Highness, the —"
"I'm going back to the Sapphire Palace. Make sure everything is in order." Aries didn't even cast her a look, storming out of the chancery in a hurry.
All Cherry could do was stare at the crown princess's back, eyes glinting in contempt. Until now, she hadn't seen Aries break her elegant front as if nothing could ever bother the crown princess. The reason this was quite interesting to her since Cherry already guessed the reason Aries suddenly panicked.
It was Curtis.
Cherry wasn't stupid and knew almost everything between the crown princess and the crown prince. Joaquin placed him in this position to monitor his wife. So far, this was the most interesting part of all.
'Are you really that Aries…?' she wondered, straightening her back as she looked at the shut doors. 'Huh… it seems a person will never change. They can try, but it is all for naught.'
A ridiculing laugh escaped her mouth before she glanced at the desk. Glancing at the shut doors once again, Cherry sauntered towards Aries's seat and sat down on it. She caressed the clean edges of the desk, smirking, finding her comfortable spot, and leaned back.
"She's always so lucky," she muttered with a vicious smirk. It didn't matter to her how Aries became a Vandran, knowing how 'lucky' the woman could be. However, Cherry was set to drag her down… somewhere below her feet.
"Crown princess…" her eyes glinted as she glanced at the documents Aries left on the desk. She reached for it, caressing the parchment with her fingertip. "… I can't be the crown princess, but I vowed to make whoever holds the title live a living hell."
"I did it once… I'd do it again," she added as her eyes sharpened.
Ambition, greed, and envy. Those were the distinct emotions that resurfaced in her eyes, like a snake slithering around, waiting for the moment she would bite and poison her prey… IF that moment would come.
******
[ Sapphire Palace ]
Aries rushed back to the Sapphire Palace, almost sprinting to reach there on time. Her heart instantly sank when she barged into Curtis' room. Her eyes fell on the specks of blood on the floor and Curtis lying helplessly. But that wasn't all. On the side, the disheveled Gertrude was kneeling.
"My crown princess, what a surprise!" she snapped her eyes and raised them at the person sitting cross-legged on the divan. "I didn't know you will rush to me before lunch! If only I know you will be this excited, I would have met you earlier!"
Joaquin was wiping the blood off of his knuckles, smirking at her, who was standing by the door. His lips stretched, seeing her expression as if she would kill him.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked under her breath, suppressing herself from throwing a huge fit.
"My wife, why are you suddenly angry?" he feigned ignorant before he looked around. "Ah! I was disciplining your pet. However, this maid here doesn't know her place. So I had no choice but to remind her."
She scoffed. Aries glanced at Gertrude again and then at Curtis before setting them back to Joaquin. But instead of taking offense, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed a few knights guarding the door. She hadn't seen these knights.
"Your Highness." When Aries spoke, she was unable to conceal the contempt in her eyes. "Was this something to do with the incident before the fire?"
"Huh?" he cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean, my wife? I trust your judgment and let you discipline my people. You're my wife. However, shouldn't that also apply to me?"
"I came here early to wait for you and I wanted to kill time. So, I wanted to play with your pet. However, it seemed he had already forgotten how to play fetch, so I was simply trying to train him again. What's wrong with that?" he continued, showing zero remorse as if he wasn't talking about a human but an animal. "Your maid here even tried to argue with me. I had no choice, Circe. They made me do it."
"They made you do it?" Aries laughed in ridicule, loosening her fist before she glanced over her shoulder. "You, over there."
Aries pointed at the knights standing outside, crooking a finger. The knight glanced at the other knight before he reluctantly advanced in her direction.
"It seems my husband is quite playful today and my pet disappoints him." She slowly set her sharp eyes back at Joaquin, who was anticipating what she would do. "It's been a while since we spent time together. Hence, I would like to also kill time."
The side of her lips curled as she raised her chin up, casting the knight a side-eye. "What are you waiting for? Kneel like a dog and play catch with us."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l