The Tyrant's Pet

"What... what are you...?"

Ismael felt his tongue shrink back to his throat, gulping and hearing it in his ear. Under those glowing, deep rubies, cold sweats broke on his back. And yet, his fingers holding Aries's stayed still for her to breathe.

"What... am I?" Abel whispered, studying the horror reigning over the third prince's face. He took steps on the same spot, facing the man, eyes down on him.

"Why..." he cocked his head to the side, nonchalance dominating his face. "... would you want to know?"

Abel had been watching this entire circus in this empire unfold right before his eyes. From the emperor, the crown prince, the other princes, and princesses, and the nobles, down to the peasants, common — and not-so-common citizens. And he couldn't tell whether this third prince was hapless or the opposite.

His eyes fell on Ismael's fingers, which had grown white while gripping a few of Aries's fingers to stop the latter from choking herself. Her face was still pale and red, but she was gasping for air now, unlike the total suffocation previously.

Ismael did all that... in a dreadful situation where his life was on the line.

Now Abel finally got his answer.

Ismael was neither hapless nor did the heavens side with him. This man... was simply a good man — not pure, but he had a big heart.

"You remind me of someone, Prince." Abel fluttered his eyelashes, taking a step forward, which caused Ismael to tense up as he approach. "Someone... I deeply loathed."

The third prince's breath hitched and froze when Abel walked past him and squatted down to Aries. His neck twisted like a rusting screw, catching Abel staring down at Aries without much emotion on his countenance.

"You should've let her die," Abel muttered, causing Ismael's eyes to dilate. "Sometimes... I wish for her to die so she can be with me forever."

He raised a thumb to his lips, pressing his thumb against his canine until blood coated its tip. Just as Abel guided his bleeding thumb to her lips, he paused and snapped his eyes at Ismael.

"You can let her go now." He jerked his chin towards Ismael's hands. The latter nodded on instinct, pulling his hands from her grip that was so powerful it was unbelievable it was a woman's grip. As soon as his hands came off of her, Aries strangled herself once again and gasped.

"What are you doing?" Ismael blurted out when he saw Abel guide his thumb to her lips. The latter didn't stop and remained silent, letting his blood drip into her throat, ignoring her strong bite. While Abel was forcing his blood into her system, his other hand pulled down the neckline of her hunting suit.

"Hey!" Ismael yelled in panic, only for his breath to hitch when he received a side-eye from Abel. He heard his quiet sigh.

"I told her not to take it off," Abel whispered, causing the third prince's brows to crease in puzzlement.

"You — you two know each other...?" asked the third prince, but received nothing but silence. When his lips parted once again since it seemed his initial observation when he first met Abel was correct, his tongue rolled back when he heard a few thuds in their vicinity.

Ismael looked around on instinct, only to see three figures from different directions. Two of them were wearing cloaks and were equally had a great stature. The only difference was that the other person had this broad and distinct shoulders. Meanwhile, the other one who came with those two was wearing a hunting suit.

He had seen that face. Ismael wouldn't forget this man's youthful and charming face.

Conan.

"Dani!" Ismael was brought back from his trance when he heard one of the men under a cloak call in worry. He turned his head and saw the person rushing to their standpoint.

Seeing the man's face up close as his hood fell over his shoulder, his golden hair immediately caught Ismael's eyes. Ismael's gaze move down only to recognize this person's face was far too stunning to be considered someone normal. Despite Dexter's humble clothing, he still looked nobler than most of the noblemen Ismael had seen.

Dexter's pupils constricted seeing that Aries was strangling herself and her grip was just slowly coming loose. His hands balled into a fist until they trembled, grinding his teeth until his fangs let themselves known.

Ismael, who barely calmed himself down after meeting Abel's eyes, was once again mortified at those long fangs.

"Isaiah..." Dexter hissed as he lifted his sharp glares at Isaiah, who was standing at a safe distance.

"Ay ay! Marquess, why are you blaming him again when he did nothing?!" Conan chimed in as he approached them until he was standing beside Ismael, hands on his hips. "I mean, it's not fair..." He frowned at the sight of Aries and glared daggers at Isaiah as well.

"You! I shouldn't have stopped Morro from poking your eyes when he was drooling over your eyeballs!"

Isaiah blinked twice, darting his eyes between Dexter and Conan. But, like usual, he ignored them as his eyes veered to Aries and then to Abel, who was silently staring down at her.

"My apologies, Your Majesty." He tilted his head down. "I didn't know they will retaliate this way."

"You don't know?!" Dexter's roar shook as the veins on the side of his jaw protruded. "You... don't know?!"

Isaiah remained composed. "I don't know."

"You...!"

"Stop it, Marquess," Abel spoke before Dexter could jump and assault Isaiah as his emotions were heightened. "Isaiah definitely knew they would retaliate, but I believed he didn't know this was how."

He paused and glanced at Isaiah, and then at Dexter, before setting his eyes back to Aries. "It already happened and at the very least, we knew for a fact my darling has met one of them in the past... now that memory makes a little sense."

"You…" Their brows arched when they heard Ismael speak, moving their attention to him, only to realize the third prince was here. "… who are you people? Why are you addressing him as 'Your Majesty'?"