The Tyrant's Pet

"Greetings Your Highnesses, my Lady." Roman greeted along with the two other knights.

Suzanne, Sybil, Veronika, and Aries smiled at the knights, nodding as a gesture in receiving their greetings. Seeing the candidate's reaction, Roman and the knights stood on the side to make way for them.

"We should go…" Aries proposed and took a step to lead them, but alas, stopped when Roman suddenly spoke.

"Are you alright now, my lady?" he asked, ignoring the eyes of the other three candidates, and fixing his eyes on Aries. The latter looked back at him a little later, her neck twisting like rusting metal.

'That is out of character…' Aries thought, forcing a smile on her face. 'I truly planned on helping him make up with Violet, but now that is out of my list of priorities.'

"I'm fine now, Sir Knight. Thank you for your help yesterday." Aries stayed meek, keeping her smile. "My family will surely reward you for it."

"I'm simply following the orders." Roman tilted his head down.

"Very well…" Aries let out a deep exhale and faced the ladies. "Shall we?"

"Yes," answered Sybil, following Aries's lead while Suzanne didn't answer and simply followed. Meanwhile, Veronika stayed quiet and idled in front of Roman.

'Auburn hair and eyes that had the color of ash…' Veronika studied Roman, furrowing her brows as this knight's features resembled those royalties in the Maganti Empire.

Yesterday, Veronika didn't have the leisure to study the people as she was too surprised at the situation. But now that she was meeting Roman for the second time, she couldn't help but remember the royals in the Maganti Empire.

'That's strange…' Veronika thought, watching Roman look back at her with intrigue in his eyes. '... there weren't many royalties who were left alive after the uprising. And one of the key figures in the revolt's success was the leader of the Valiente group, Roman Imperial.'

Veronika never met this infamous prince who connived with the rebels because he couldn't stomach his family's cruel methods. However, only the seventh prince, Roman Imperial, retired after the downfall of the crown prince.

'But I heard that the seventh prince had a huge scar across his face. That's why he always wears full-body armor.'

"Is there something you need, Your Highness?" asked Roman after the prolonged silence, snapping Veronika back from her trance.

"Uh…" Veronika smiled. "No, there's none. It was just that your features remind me of this particular clan that I heard about. They also had auburn hair and eyes that had the same color as the moonlight. It's a beautiful combination."

Roman lowered his eyes and tilted his head down. "Then, if you do not have anything you need, I'll be on my way."

"Mhm. The imperial knights are always busy, so I do not want to waste your time." Veronika nodded, turning on her heel to follow the three, only to see them stop and look back at her. The side of her lips stretched even broader, sauntering away from the knights.

Meanwhile, Roman glanced at Veronika's back and a glint flickered across his eyes. He didn't look at her for long, signaling the other knights to leave.

"Let's go," ordered Roman, leading the knights as they walked in the direction the candidates came from. "Our task was completed. We had shown our faces in front of them."

<strong>*****</strong>

Aries was in distress for almost the first hour after meeting Conan and Roman. After all, questions from Sybil and Suzanne and even from Veronika were inevitable. They recognized Roman because the man in question took a lot of attention during the incident yesterday.

Fortunately, Aries was able to come up with a convincing lie.

Since the three were already aware of Aries being familiar with Conan, Aries used Conan's name to patch this hole in her lies. By saying Roman was acting under Conan's orders and not Abel, the princesses were able to make a conclusion in their heads.

After all, Conan was the emperor's trusted aide. Mobilizing the royal knights who should only receive direct orders from the emperor wasn't impossible.

With that, the ladies didn't probe anymore and got on with their day, enjoying a cup of tea in the west garden. They still strolled afterward, but this time, they weren't any other people who approached them aside from the servants and there were no flying arrows.

"The Imperial Palace is not only a place for luxury, but a day isn't enough to explore it," said Sybil sluggishly as they entered the Hyacinth Palace's premises. "My feet hurt… a little."

Aries gazed at Sybil and smiled. "Then shall I help you get into your room?"

"Lady Daniella, our chambers are in the same area."

"Then that's better, isn't it?" Aries's smile stretched, showing Sybil didn't have to worry about Aries's well-being.

"Well…" Sybil glanced at Suzanne. "Your Highness, are you also going to stay in my chambers?"

"What?" Aries furrowed her brows, only to hear Veronika explain.

"Lady Daniella, you've been very busy since the selection. So we hadn't gotten a chance to invite you to our gatherings every night."

"Gathering?"

"It's basically consoling ourselves since we cannot sleep in a foreign place," Suzanne explained in a knowing tone.

"It's not that I can't, but you two always drag me or crash into my room." Veronika chimed.

"What are you talking about?" asked Aries, despite having this particular conclusion in her head.

"We take turns in where to sleep." This time, Sybil was the one who answered. "One night, we sleep in my room. And then, there were other nights we slept in Princess Suzanne's chamber or in Princess Veronika's room."

"Now that I think about it, we haven't seen yours, Lady Daniella," she added innocently, treading carefully as they waltzed through the hallway. "Should we stay in your chambers for tea, Lady Daniella?"

"Pardon?"

"Sybil, be mindful of your actions and words," Suzanne reminded, but then looked at Aries with anticipation. Not just her, but also Veronika's and Sybil's eyes twinkled, waiting for Aries's answer.

"Ahh…" Aries smiled awkwardly, checking what time it was, and realized it was too early. For the past two weeks, Abel would come into her room around the same time. Hence, after gravitating about it thoroughly, Aries smiled at them.

"If you do not mind, I would like to invite you for tea and offer my chambers to rest before we resign to bed."

"Well, yes, of course! We'd be delighted and honored," Suzanne replied, acting as the spokesperson of the other two. "I'm curious what your chambers look like."