"Just now… I wished Sunny just wandered off. You shouldn't have shown up."
Aries's eyes were sharp as her anxiety and fear disappeared without a trace. She slowly looked back, only to see a person in a cloak standing several meters from her vantage point. Aries carefully put down Sunny and then stood up, facing the person squarely with her chin held up.
"Who are you?" Aries asked without beating around the bush, sizing up the person before her.
The person in a cloak was around 170 centimeters tall, a little taller than Aries. Aries couldn't tell for sure what sort of physique was the person hiding in that thick cloak, but what she was certain of was that she couldn't smell the person.
A person — human or vampire —- had different scents. As a vampire, Aries could discern the difference just by using her sense of smell. However, the person before her didn't have any particular scent or presence.
"She, indeed, wandered off." Aries narrowed her eyes while the lines between their brows resurfaced when the person spoke. She didn't expect that the person was a woman. "Although I can't particularly say willingly."
Aries subconsciously held her breath as the person reached for her hood, putting it down ever so carefully.
A woman with a pair of midnight blue eyes looked back at Aries. She had a slightly tan complexion and a well-defined facial structure. She was an overall beauty. But the person's face wasn't what truly surprised Aries, but the fact that the woman in a cloak revealed her face to Aries.
"While this little girl was plucking out flowers, she didn't know that one of the flowers she smelled was sprinkled with a special powder," explained the woman solemnly, keeping her gaze on Aries. "Upon smelling it, she was instantly put in a spell. And thus, she left. Where is her destination? I don't know. But what I do know is that if I didn't stop her, you might not have seen her. Ever."
"Are you telling me you saved her?" the woman shrugged indifferently as an answer to Aries's query. "Did you truly assume I would believe you?"
"Believe me or not doesn't matter to me, Your Majesty," said the woman. "I did what I did not because I want your gratitude or any rewards. I simply did the right thing to do because even if this child is a vessel of the devil, she is still a child. Watching her die was beyond my morals."
Aries laughed in ridicule. "Morals?"
"I am not like you or the La Crox-Grimsbanne clan. No matter how intense the anger I carry in my chest, I will never let go of my morals… with all due respect." The woman smiled; her tone was calm but confident. "I'm not judging you, nor do I think I have the right to do so. After all, you have to do what you have to do; become a monster, a beast, a devil if you must, and be equal to them in every way. I respect and understand that."
"Interesting choice of words," Aries mused, observing every slight change in the woman's expression and movements. "Fine. Let's say you, indeed, save this child. What do you want? I don't believe you did it out of the goodness of your heart. There must be a catch, and I don't have enough time to spare listening to your flattery."
The woman smiled subtly. "Let me in."
"Let you in? Where?"
"In the royal palace."
"You wanted access to the royal palace?"
"I believe that is what I said." The smile lines on the woman's face slowly faded. "I wanted access to the royal palace where I can go in and out of here whenever I want."
There was a moment of silence that descended on their shoulders. After another minute, Aries laughed out loud as the woman's request sank in.
"Haha…" Aries licked her lips, looking back at the woman with an interest in her eyes. "That is an interesting request, but I'm afraid I can't grant you that, for obvious reasons."
The remnants of her smile disappeared as she continued. "The palace is akin to the wild, allowing all sorts of animals to walk around. Still, it was my dwelling. I couldn't control who comes in and out of this place for they still have rights as contributors to this land. You don't open your doors to the thief just because they asked you to, right?"
"I figured."
"I appreciate that you still tried," Aries smirked. "Despite knowing that showing up before me is a risk."
"Yes, I know that," the woman admitted without a second hesitation. "Revealing my existence and face was a risk in itself."
"If you know that, why did you still show up?" Aries cocked her head to the side. "You don't think you'd persuade me to agree to your request, did you?"
"I don't. If I do, I would've revealed myself to you the instant I got a hold of a useful card that might change your mind." The woman maintained her mien. "As I have said, I understand and respect you and your decisions. I am aware Your Majesty is wise and thus, approaching you without a proper plan may result in a terrible outcome that would put me at a disadvantage."
"If you know me that much, that means you've been watching my movements for quite some time now." Interest shone in Aries's eyes, narrowing them slightly. "Let me ask you one thing first. Did you, or did you not concoct this plan to meet me in this secluded place?"
"Will you believe my truth?"
"Try me." Aries shrugged.
The woman didn't answer immediately, drawing her line into a thin line. "I did not," she confessed solemnly. "Though I had foreseen this would happen in the future."
"To Sunny?"
"No. To anyone close to the Queen," she clarified. "I won't deny that I had been watching you since you stepped foot in this land, not for the same reason as everyone who had their eyes on you and your position. But because of another reason."
"And what is that?"
"Gratitude." Aries's brows slightly knitted as the woman continued, "if there was one person I could trust in this land, that would be the person who had saved me before I could equip myself with the proper gear to fight Giselle. That person was you."
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