The Tyrant's Pet

"You do not want to make an enemy out of a Vandran. Especially, not Daniella Circe Vandran."

Joaquin could only look at Aries's back with blank eyes, standing still in the same spot. Even when a loud commotion exploded in the courtroom, he kept his eyes on where his wife vanished to.

<strong>What happened?</strong> He wondered. How did she change the outcome?

"That bitch…" he ground his teeth as murderous intent filled his eyes. His hands curled into a fist until they trembled in anger.

"Modesto." Joaquin twisted his neck back, marching towards the railings of the second floor, only to see the commotion as everyone was questioning the verdict. Much to his dismay, Modesto simply knocked his hammer and spoke sternly.

"The supreme court of justice agreed by majority votes and…" he explained while keeping his chin up high. "… those who questioned the verdict may send their formal complaints or they will be seized."

Modesto knocked his hammer once again before he rose from his seat. As they left, Carlos was still bound as he was being dragged away from this chaos. He hung his head low, suppressing his laughter as he truly got a lighter sentence, just like what Aries said.

Before he could leave, Carlos looked back up, only to catch Joaquin smoldering in anger. The second their eyes met, the side of the eighth prince's lips hooked up into a taunting smirk before the knight dragged him out.

"That bastard…" Joaquin's grip on the railings tightened. His eyes then veered towards a particular direction and caught Ismael looking back at him, expressionless.

Ismael didn't smirk like Carlos or anything of the sort. He just looked Joaquin straight in the eye before he turned around and left.

"Aries…" Joaquin called through his gritted teeth, panting as his heart was pounding against his chest. "No, Circe… that woman…"

With the turn of events, Joaquin didn't know anymore. One moment, he was certain his wife was his Aries. But the next second, he was questioning this conclusion.

<strong>Did he make a mistake?  </strong>

"Haimirich," he mumbled, thinking of the empire that sent Aries back to the Maganti Empire. "I'm certain they're backing her up."

Joaquin nodded, convincing himself Aries had become this capable because the Haimirich Empire had her back. Who knows? They might've sent people to assist her to ruin the Maganti Empire. This was not enough for him to believe he made the wrong call.

"Before that…" he raised his sharp eyes to the empty seats of the judges of the court. "Modesto… you have surely grown balls. I'll put you back in your place."

Right now, there was only one person who could possibly mess with Joaquin's plans. It was Aries. Even how Ismael came out of this unscathed, it was all Aries. How did she do it was unknown, but he wasn't stupid as to not connect the dots.

But then again, why would Aries leave all these dots out in the open? Myriads of questions hovered over the crown prince's head, but none of them mattered at the moment.

Joaquin stormed out of the second floor of the courtroom and left whatever commotion that was going on. He immediately rushed to the first chancery to meet Modesto.

"Get out of the way," he yelled at the knights guarding the door, eyes bloodshot.

"But Your Highness —" the knight could not finish his sentence as he suddenly hung his head low. Joaquin would kill him if he stopped him, so instead the knight stepped aside and gave way.

Joaquin scoffed in irritation and barged inside the chief justice's chancery with a bang. As soon as he entered, his eyes searched for Modesto and caught him standing in front of the stand, holding two glasses of rum.

"Modesto Vida," the crown prince's voice shook as he wielded his sword. "You better have a good explanation for going against me. There were tons of people who wants to replace you."

Modesto simply studied the rattled crown prince, unfazed by the unsheathed sword in his hand. A shallow breath slipped past his lips as he marched towards the desk, placing the glasses on top of it.

"Your Highness, I didn't have a choice," he explained.

"Hah! I thought you had prepared a better excuse other than that!" Joaquin laughed maniacally, studying the calm middle-aged man as the latter held a glass, his other hand behind him.

"Please, calm down, Your Highness —"

Modesto's breath hitched as he raised his chin, frozen on the spot when the cold blade of the sword touched against the side of his neck. Joaquin didn't even blink, tilting his head to the side.

"Calm down?" Joaquin repeated in a ridiculing tone. "You think I will calm down when the people I've given mercy betrayed me? Do you see me as a joke?"

A scoff slipped past his lips, pressing the blade against Modesto's neck until blood oozed from the shallow slash. "Tell me, Modesto. Just what did you gain from agreeing with my wife's words, hmm? Did she perhaps seduce you and used that body of hers to make you agree?"

"Your Highness, it's nothing like —"

"Then what?!" Joaquin roared, seething in anger.

Modesto swallowed a mouthful of saliva, sensing the increasing murderous intent in those pairs of ash orbs. Joaquin was truly angry, and with one wrong word, Modesto's head would rollover. The crown prince could do that. If he was even the slightest humane and a person who had remorse, Modesto wouldn't be this scared of this man.

In other words, Modesto's fear of Joaquin was bigger than a mountain, so betraying him would take a lifetime of guts.

"The crown princess…" Modesto's lips quivered, swallowing down another mouthful of saliva as he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and when he reopened them, a glint of resolve flickered across his eyes.

"… is someone you need, Your Highness."

"Hah!" Joaquin tilted his head to the side.

"Before the trial, the crown princess visited me and asked me to give the eighth prince a lighter sentence if he confessed —"

"Stop going around in circles. My patience is rather short, Vida."

"It's all for your sake, Your Highness!" Modesto yelled while Joaquin arched a brow. "Ple — please, hear me out, Your Highness. The crown princess is not someone we should make an enemy of because… she had her twisted ways of playing the situation."