"Please... have mercy on me... Aime."
Gertrude held her breath as she stared at the crown princess's lady-in-waiting. Even though she couldn't see Cherry's face, she could feel the woman's fear.
"Gertrude." Gertrude raised her eyes to Aries and saw the latter wave. "Don't let anyone in."
"Ye — yes, Your Royal Highness."
Gertrude didn't idle as she bowed and rushed outside while Aries watched her silently. When the latter heard the door opening and closing, her eyes fell down on Cherry's pale complexion.
"Countess Lloyd, why are you kneeling?" Aries asked while tilting her head to the side. "You don't look well. Did the hunting competition, perhaps, traumatize you?"
"I know..." Cherry's lips quivered, clutching her skirt. "I already know, Aime. I already know about you, about Curtis — I know."
Aries quirked a brow as she studied Cherry's face before the corner of her lips curled up. Seeing the wicked smirk that resurfaced on her face, Cherry's shoulder tensed up and her back stiffened.
That sinister look on the crown princess's face was enough to make all the hair behind Cherry's neck rise.
"So Curtis had a chat with you?" Aries mused as she didn't conceal the enjoyment of watching her kneel. "I was just looking forward to what sort of scheme you will come up with, but you gave up easily this time."
"Aime..." Cherry's voice shook as she perked up. "Please... don't do this to me."
"Do what to you, Cherry?" The smile on Aries's face faded as she advanced in her direction. "I hadn't done anything just yet, Cherry."
Aries squatted down in front of her to see her up close. She bobbed her face to examine Cherry, and the latter's lack of powder was enough to tell Aries Cherry had troubled days. Even when Aries wasn't sure what Curtis told Cherry or how they even met, she was certain Curtis didn't give her mercy.
Both Aries and Curtis were angry. Furious was even an understatement to describe their anger.
"I didn't betray you," Cherry confessed with a shaking voice, more terrified now that Aries's face was only a palm length away from her. "I didn't have a choice. Joaquin forced me to do it and I... I'm just trying to survive, Aime. Please... understand."
She desperately clutched Aries's hand, desperate for Aries to hear her explanation. "I wanted to help you, but I was scared and he was watching me. I had no power to help you, and he even forced me to mock you to prove my loyalty. But I loved and treasured you — you know that. You and --"
Cherry abruptly halted when Aries placed a finger in front of her lips to shush her. She bit her tongue, holding her breath while Aries pulled her other hand from her grip.
"Keep my brother's name out of your mouth, sweetheart," Aries crooned, retrieving her fingers from her lips. "You... whom he had loved sincerely and promised to give you everything... you do not deserve him, nor do you have the right to speak the name of the person you murdered, Cherry."
Her eyes sharpened as they glinted, extending her arm until her hand was buried in Cherry's plum locks. Her hand clasped a portion of Cherry's hair and stilled her while she leaned forward.
Cherry teared up because, in her eyes, Aries looked like a demon who would suck her soul away.
"Please..." she shook her head mildly as tears continued to roll down her cheek. "This isn't you, Aime. This isn't --"
"Princess Aime..." Aries's voice dropped while her eyes bore nothing but nonchalance. "... was dead, Cherry. She died the same day the land of Rikhill had fallen. She died again when she watched her brother's head roll to her feet and she died once more when her sisters were dragged to the gallows."
"That woman, Cherry, died multiple times while she breathes," she continued, stressing her words to drill this fact into Cherry's thick skull. "This isn't me? Of course, Cherry. Aime will never sell her integrity, her beliefs, and her morals."
The side of her lips curled up. "But you beguiled her kindness, handed her to the hands of a monster, and killed her."
"I had lost everything, Cherry, and you watched everything unfold from the sidelines," she added with a ridiculing scoff. "What gave you the impression these overused, pitiful acts will even move me? Aren't you foolish?"
"Aime... I — I'm sorry --"
"Sorry? You're sorry?" Aries laughed as she let her hair go, clapping while laughing loudly as if she just heard the greatest joke in her life. When she recovered, she hid her curled lips with the back of her hand while gazing at Cherry from head to toe.
"For what, Cherry? For betraying Princess Aime, your friend? Or her brother who was beguiled by this damsel in distress persona? What are you sorry for, Cherry? For selling your own land and soil? For conniving with greedy enemies? Or perhaps, were you apologetic for becoming a failure despite sacrificing a nation?" Her eyes widened while her pupils constricted, tilting her head to the side. "You didn't even become a crown princess, Cherry. Was the title countess worth it?"
"Do you know what is the most insulting of all, Cherry? Everyone shed blood and suffered and yet, you didn't even become the empress — not even close." Aries laughed while Cherry lowered her eyes, only for the former to grab her jaw up and forced her to look back at her. "Don't lower your gaze, Cherry. Look at me. Just like how you never took your eyes off of me while you were watching me get beaten until I am half dead."
Aries smirked and her lips stretched as tears overflowed in Cherry's eyes. "That's right, Cherry. Just look at me." Her eyes drooped until they were partially closed.
"And watch how it should be done. I'll show you how I will get everything you dreamed of in this life and crush it right in front of you." Aries laughed as she let her go and giggled evilly. "I hope... Inez won't get her hands on you before the curtains close. I would love to see you until the end — although I'm not hopeful."
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