The Tyrant's Pet

The carriage Aries, Abel, and Sunny were riding in stopped in the capital when a group stopped it. Climaco furrowed his brows, watching a middle-aged man in a fancy butler suit approach him. He studied the butler's blanched hair that was neatly parted in the middle, his smart thin eyes behind those pince-nez, and the butler's white mustache and beard.

'How elegant for a butler,' Climaco thought, gaining this sense of awareness of how ragged and dirty he was compared to the butler.

"Good day, Sir Knight. It is I, Gustav, the head butler in the Marquess's Vandran's manor." Gustav raised his arm across his abdomen, tilting his head down slightly. "I was told to wait for you and my lady to assist you on your way to the residence."

"Uh..." Climaco cleared his throat, glancing back at the carriage.

"I will see His Majesty." Gustav sported a polite smile.

"Uh, yes, that's better." Climaco swallowed down a mouthful of air as he watched the butler approach the carriage door. Dexter warned him, and Abel reassured him to stay until they met Gustav to make sure Aries would safely reach her home. Therefore, Climaco believed it was better if Abel meets the butler himself.

"My lady, it is I, Gustav..." Gustav announced politely, after knocking on the door a few times. "... I came after the Marquess' orders to welcome you to the capital."

The butler stood silently in front of the shut door, keeping his modest demure at the silent response from the inside. When he blinked, the window abruptly slid open.

"Greetings to Your Majesty." Gustav beckoned a neck bow as soon as he recognized the face, looking at him indifferently. However, Abel shut it closed right after he let out a dry laugh. And yet, the butler maintained his composure, holding his hand behind him.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Aries tilted her head to the side when Abel shut the window closed. Her brows rose, scrutinizing Abel's unmoved countenance.

"Isn't that...?" she trailed off cautiously. "It's an impostor?"

"No." Abel closed his eyes, keeping his arms folded under his chest while his leg was resting leisurely over the other.

"Then, why...?"

"Let them wait. I need to rest for a bit." He kept his eyes shut, not showing any sign he wanted to get off the carriage.

Aries pursed her lips and smiled subtly, studying her husband's calm side profile. It wouldn't be nice to let the people outside wait, but this was Abel. She could tell him to go now and meet her later, but then again, Abel had been compromising. So she didn't dwell on other people's inconvenience, since Abel's feelings were more important to her.

With that thought in mind, Aries moved closed, reducing the tiny distance between them. She wrapped her arms around his body, resting her temple on his shoulder blade. As she did so, she didn't notice Abel's one eye peeking at her. His lips curled up in satisfaction.

"You remind me of my Mama and Papa," Sunny commented, watching the two across from her. "My father always needs my mother's affection, and he's always the happiest when she does."

Aries smiled. "They sound like a lovely couple."

"Mhm." The little girl hummed a short tune, turning her head to the shut window. "Is that the butler in grandma's house?"

"His name is Gustav. He's very efficient and reliable."

"Ohh... does he teach you how to handle the garden properly as well?" Sunny blinked. Her eyes gleamed with genuine wonder, watching Aries smile subtly.

"Gustav takes care of the matters of the manor, but my brother teaches me gardening. He had a greenhouse full of plants. You can go there if you like gardens."

"Sunny doesn't like gardens, but it reminds me of Mister Fabian."

"Who is Mister Fabian?" asked Aries in a soothing voice, squeezing her body against Abel's like a clingy wife. But her husband needed more reassurance, and she was doing it in her 'subtle' way.

"The head butler in Tilly's house."

"Ohh..."

"He enjoys gardening, but he always gets scolded by Mother."

Aries chuckled. "Why?"

"Because he teaches me how."

"That's strange." Aries furrowed her brows, a little baffled at Sunny's story. She looked at the little girl with intrigue. So far, based on her observation, Sunny was not only mature and clever, but she would constantly share short stories that would leave gigantic question marks in her head. They all still sounded like she came from a good, happy family with a peacefully strange environment.

While Aries was staring at Sunny silently, the latter cocked her head to the side. Her every blink appeared more adorable, paired with her pinkish chubby cheek.

"Sunny misses Mama and Papa," she mumbled, snapping Aries back from her trance.

The latter's eyes softened, smiling subtly at the little child. Until now, Aries couldn't fully understand why her parents would leave her. Abel's guess was that they allowed Tilly to babysit Sunny, but why would Tilly leave her alone and take her brother? Moreover, how did Sunny get into Haimirich?

There were tons of questions in Aries's head, but she was in no position to worry about these things. Abel reassured her, and Aries had other things to focus on. For example, those words Abel uttered earlier regarding some sort of forgotten memories or something.

"Grandpa, will you take me there?" Sunny broke the brief silence, only to frown when she received an immediate and cold refusal from Abel.

Abel slowly opened his eyes, his gaze landing immediately on the little girl across from him. "If they want you back, then they will pick you up here. That is... if they want you back, but from what I've seen so far, feeding you is akin to feeding ten grown men. That is so much cost, sweetheart."

"My father has so much money."

"Good for him." Abel rocked his head and remained silent for a moment, staring at Sunny. "About Ameria..."

"My father's dead mother?"

"So, she's dead?" he asked, watching Sunny nod as an answer. "Good for her."

"That's what Tilly also said. Good for her."

Aries's brows twitched as she smiled awkwardly at their conversation. Who in the world would say such words to the dead? But Aries couldn't judge since her in-laws seemed to be a bunch of eccentric people.

'But they wouldn't be that bad, right? I mean, Sunny isn't that strange…' she told herself, only to trail off when Sunny spoke again.

"Grandpa, you should learn more about gardening instead of letting the corpse rot in the bin. Mister Fabian told Sunny the dead are excellent fertilizers; they make good compost."