Aries listened to the ancient chanting being spoken under the night council's breath. She reached for the tea and again downed it in one go, easing the pain prickling under her skin. Just as Aries gulped the lingering taste in her cavities, she coughed out blood.
"Your Majesty!" Suzanne panicked, taking out a white handkerchief. She handed it over to the empress, which Aries used to wipe her mouth. "Your Majesty, I think this is enough."
Suzanne clenched her teeth, glaring at the guests of tonight's banquet, and yelled. "Stop it at once! Her Majesty is already coughing out blood!"
The guests who were chanting the same spell over and over simply glanced up at Suzanne. All they saw was desperation and fury in the empress's lady-in-waiting, but no one stopped. Not unless Aries said so. They wouldn't stop.
"I said —!"
"Suzanne." Suzzanne's breath hitched, looking back at Aries as the latter held her hand. Aries shook her head, clearing her throat. "I am fine. We're almost there."
Suzanne's face crumpled, her lips quivering, but unable to say a word. She carefully released the empress's hand, keeping her hand on her abdomen, head hung low.
"Suzanne —"
"I'll stay here." Suzanne cut Aries off without looking into her eyes. "If you need anything, I'll be here, Your Majesty."
Aries let out a deep exhale, staring at her handmaiden from head to toe. This was the reason Aries didn't detail everything to Suzanne the first time she came up with her plan. Her lady-in-waiting wouldn't be pleased for sure. Suzanne cared about her like how Abel cared for her; that was the only common thing Suzanne had with Abel.
Setting her attention back to the banquet hall, Aries's lips started moving. She chanted voicelessly, following the movements of everyone's lips. Soon, her tiny and rasped voice came out quietly, and as soon as it did, everyone felt this growing pressure coming from her.
But they continued, eyes shut, the marks on their skins lighting even more brightly. From the bird's perspective, every guest and the markings on their bodies formed a gigantic magic circle. Maximus would know if Aries drew the magic circle on the floor or the walls.
It was a good thing Isaiah once mentioned magic circles weren't required to be drawn on somewhere visible. They could be put on items for as long as they were placed in a spot that could make the formation.
But with the expected turn of events and the situation, putting the circle on the things that could break or move was a guaranteed problem. Thus, Aries thought of using people in the night council and some guests who were loyal to Abel.
Her eyelids drooped, blinking ever so weakly. As soon as she did, she heard Abel and Fabian's clashing swords for a moment, only for the sound to disappear, replaced by the chanting.
<strong>'No good,</strong>' was what her brain whispered, knowing Aries was hovering between reality and the world she created. <strong>'But we're almost…'</strong>
Her thoughts trailed off, lifting her eyes up. Aries grabbed the armrest, pushing herself up from her seat. The chanting continued, but everyone looked at her.
"Your Majesty?" Deep lines appeared on Suzanne's forehead, only to see Aries wave dismissively.
"Continue," said Aries calmly. "I need to go somewhere."
Aries didn't explain or idled, turning on her heel as she carefully took the steps down. Suzanne walked beside her with her hands ready to catch Aries if the empress fall.
"I'm alright, Suzanne," said Aries the moment she reached the last step, casting her handmaiden a quick look. "You stay here."
"But Your Majesty —"
Aries cut her off by shaking her head. "I am alright. Nothing will happen to me."
"Are you telling me to let you leave this hall all on your own?"
"What can you do, Suzanne?" Aries tilted her head to the side, unfazed by the bitterness that dominated her lady-in-waiting's face. "I cannot protect anyone in this state. Keep things organized here. That will help me for sure."
Suzanne lowered her head, teary-eyed. She might be helpful in arranging the empress's schedule and affairs, but she was no match for the people walking around the imperial palace. Although Aries was harsh, what the empress said was nothing but the truth.
Aries would just end up protecting Suzanne if danger arrived. Suzanne would just become a burden.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Suzanne stood still, uttering the hardest obedience she had since becoming Aries's lady-in-waiting.
Aries pursed her lips but didn't react strongly to preserve her dwindling energy. Taking another step away, Aries dragged her feet all alone. As she walked away, she could still hear the chanting and Suzanne's gaze on her back, but she didn't look back or anything even until the chanting was gone, replaced by the silence of the night.
<strong>*</strong>
<strong>*</strong>
<strong>*</strong>
"Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…" Aries chanted a prayer under her breath, waltzing through the empty hallway leisurely. "... but deliver us from evil."
"Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…" she coughed and her steps faltered, but she proceeded, dragging her legs forward. The prayer she was chanting grew silent, but she kept chanting it in her heart.
The longer she kept the Spirit World, the more Aries felt this scorching heat burning within her. It was as though this heat was burning everything around it, making her lungs constrict and her breathing painful. Again, she coughed and blood spat out of her mouth.
When her eyes shut and reopened, the silent surrounding was gone. Instead, fighting, screams and cries, piercing sounds of metals, and blood and death permeated the air. She looked around and then caught a shadow coming to her side.
Aries stood still, only seeing the glint of the blade that was charging at her. She slowly raised a hand and blinked ever so slowly while chanting a word under her breath. Silence returned, standing all alone in the hallway with no one fighting outside. Aries let out a deep exhale, resuming her steps.
Markings slowly appeared on the path she had taken, glowing in bright red and black, while she continued to pray for help. Soon, she reached a spot in the inner palace where she could see the Forbidden Palace.
"Ga ran sen," she whispered in a voice she also barely heard. "Be gone."
The moment those words rolled out of her tongue, Aries disappeared from her vantage point, only to get teleported inside the Forbidden Mansion, in between Sunny and Maximus III.
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