In the hunting grounds...
Joaquin offered Aries company as they prepare to set off to the woods but she refused. He insisted for minutes, but her adamant refusal of his offer and abuse of the excuse 'she was a contender' eventually forced him to let her have her way.
Riding a horse through the forest lane, Aries looked around with the crossbow in her hand.
"I wonder if Abel will find a way to leave Joaquin's side..." she mumbled as she bounced along with the horse's gait.
"Your Highness, if finding a way is the question, then the answer is obvious." She looked to her one and only company; a charming man in a hunting suit with his tousled copper hair spiking in every direction.
Conan.
"The real question was whether he wants to leave the crown prince's side or stay with him," he continued in a knowing tone whilst rolling his eyes.
"Why would Abel want to stay with Joaquin?" she asked as she peeled her eyes away from him. Aries had more company with Climaco and the second squadron on her trail. But as they journeyed deeper into the woods, Aries ordered her entourage to split up so they could also hunt, which they obeyed, confident the forest was safe with all the safety parameters everyone put up.
Right when Aries was all alone, riding her horse aimlessly and leisurely, Conan suddenly turned up and now accompanying her. At this point, Aries was not surprised since Abel and Conan would just appear out of nowhere as if Maganti were Haimirich.
"Well, you tell me, Lady Aries. Why would His Majesty want to stay close with His Royal Highness?" Conan returned sarcastically, shrugging when her eyes glided over him once more.
A quiet sigh slipped past her lips. "He's my husband."
"Exactly!" Conan laughed. "It's still a surprise His Majesty had done nothing but count just yet."
"Count?" her brows creased as the lines on her forehead deepened, sizing Conan's naturally innocent features. "What do you mean by that?"
He forced a smile and avoided her gaze. "Debts."
"Debts...? He's counting debts?" Aries frowned as her eyes slid over him before she narrowed them. "Now that I think about it... Sir Conan, how come Abel became Baron Albe and an acquaintance of the crown prince?"
She never probed — or rather, she didn't have the chance to — and mostly relied on her own brain to have a reasonable explanation regarding this. But now that Conan was here, and they had all the time in the world to chat, Aries wanted to clear things up to leave room in her head.
"Uhm..." Conan looked up for a moment to ponder for an answer. "I think it was about... over a year ago?"
"A year ago?"
"Mhm!" he hummed and nodded. "If my memory serves right, His Majesty had always has set his eyes on the Maganti Empire after the world summit. So, he planted a few of his people in the Maganti and came across this mysterious merchant."
"You mean the real Baron Albe?"
"No." Conan shook his head. "Baron Albe is His Majesty. It's obvious because he simply jumbled his name to make up a proper name out of it."
Her face contorted as confusion filled her eyes. "I'm... lost."
"Lady Aries, this mysterious merchant never showed his face, nor did anyone know his real name. He was mostly known by his alias," he explained while she listened carefully, ignoring the careful clip-clops of their steeds. "To make the story short, this man was a known monger in the black market. He mostly smuggles weapons to those kingdoms to prolong their wars or simply incite one, but his current money tree comes from opium."
Her eyes narrowed while Conan nodded to confirm her suspicion.
"Our people in Haimirich are efficient, so uncovering this person's identity is not a problem," he announced proudly but was short-lived as she raised a question.
"What happened to him?"
"Dead."
"..."
"Since no one knew his face because he often wore a mask even around his trusted people, no one is suspicious if someone claimed to be him. They won't even know if he's dead. So, one of His Majesty's people stood as proxy and bought a title whilst exchanging letter to his important client."
"And that important client is Joaquin?"
"Exactly." Conan nodded as he raised his brows. "All for this time."
For a moment, Aries held her breath as she surveyed Conan's expression. "If..." she cleared her throat and pretended she didn't feel the chill that crept up her spine. "If I didn't want revenge, Sir Conan, what do you think Abel will do?"
"Huh?" Conan looked at her with surprise clouding his features. "Are you for real?"
"Just... tell me, alright? I want to hear it from the person who had the little power to change the emperor's opinion."
"Goodness... this empire?" he whistled as he pondered the easiest description of what this place would end. "Will poof. Especially now that there's a lot more reason for that."
Her brows creased as his voice lowered upon his last sentence. But she still heard him.
"What do you mean by that?" Aries pulled the reins to halt the horse, eyes fixed on Conan, whose brows rose in confusion. "Why is there more reason for the Maganti to cease to exist?"
"People here are bad." Conan smiled, but his quick and calm response only rose even more questions in her head. After spending a fair amount of time with this man, Aries realized Conan was a good liar. Or rather… he was good at simplifying things and making it sound like they were shallow things one mustn't concern themselves with.
But Aries also knew that was the sign she shouldn't ask more or Conan would mislead her. Not that she needed to concern herself with their reasons since she had her own reason to destroy the people here.
"Anyway…" Aries trailed off as both of them looked around at the faint noise that reached their keen ears. Her eyes narrowed sharply as the corner of her lips curled into a smirk.
"They had started."
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