The Tyrant's Pet

The procession came to a complete halt as several knights went to hold the house pipe where the child fell. Since the metal was old and rusting, it did not surprise the knights that it was on a brink of falling apart. What surprised them was that the house pipe… should've snapped and fallen at the extra weight of the child. However, it didn't.

Little did they know, Aries breathed out heavily when the knights supported the pipe. Her hand turned cold due to her tight grip and the pressure of keeping that pipe from falling.

"You did not have to do that." Her brows rose when Abel's calm yet dark voice caressed her ear. "The knights could have done something before it can hurt anyone."

Aries looked back at him. "I know that, but I want this procession — or this day to run as smoothly as possible. People are fickle and this might not seem important, but it will register in people's minds. I don't want this incident to be used as some sort of missed detail if they want to blame me once something bad happens in the future."

Abel opened his lips but ended up closing them again. He knew her unyielding resolve in keeping the House Vandran as blemish free as possible. The house the empress came from would always be a part of anything that she would or wouldn't do, and therefore, he understood and respected her resolve.

"You did a good job," he praised calmly, holding her cold hand to keep them warm.

"Thank you." Her lips curled up subtly, pleased this didn't turn out to be another argument.

"Your Majesty." Aries and Abel slowly turned their heads to Aries's side when Climaco approached their carriage. "The child was safe."

"Good work, Climaco." Aries nodded in satisfaction, raising her brows upon seeing a woman and the child behind Climaco.

"Your Majesty," called the woman with a shaking voice, bowing to the monarchs with the child. "Thank you for saving this child. I may sound insolent, but he's but a child. If he is going to be punished, please punish me instead."

"I wasn't the one who saved this child, but this knight right here," Aries replied calmly, gesturing for Climaco to open the door for her.

Despite being confused, Climaco opened the door for her. She raised a hand, and he clasped it, assisting Aries as she hitched outside the carriage. Murmurs and surprise echoed from the crowd behind the woman and her child, anticipating what the empress would do.

Would she punish them? If so, the people didn't know what to feel about that. However, one was already aware the opinion would be split. One might disapprove of such cruel punishment, but another might disagree. The child's action nearly endangered not just other people, but also the nobility. If the knights weren't quick to react, that pipe could've snapped and fallen in the royalty's carriage. It would be a disaster if that happened.

Aries gazed down at the woman and the little boy. As soon as those two felt her gaze on their back, they trembled in fear. Aries lifted her eyes to her side as Abel stood beside her, casting her a cursory look before shifting his eyes to the pipe the knights were carrying.

"Are you his mother?" she asked, shifting her attention to the woman and the boy.

"No, Your Majesty. He is my little brother. Our parents already left this world years ago, so I am the only one who is left to take care of him."

"If you are the only one who takes care of him…" Aries carefully offered her hand. "Why are you bowing and asking me to take your life?"

"Your Majesty?" the woman raised her head, surprise apparent in her dilated eyes. But just as she met two pairs of eyes gazing down at her: one was a pair of soft green while the other pair was a bright crimson, the woman nearly choked in her own breath. She immediately lowered her head, knowing she shouldn't have raised her head or met the royalty's eyes without permission.

"You may raise your head," Aries chuckled softly. "Take my hand and rise from the ground. Don't beg for death, but for mercy. No one will take care of your little brother if you followed your parents."

The woman slowly raised her head again. Her complexion was pale, lips quivering. The second her eyes met Aries's soft eyes again, her heart was moved to tears.

"How can these filthy hands dare touch Your Majesty's hand?" she blurted out, only to flinch when Aries chuckled.

"Then are you refusing my help?" Aries cocked her head to the side, only for her eyes to slide to the corner, when Abel chimed in.

"That will be rude," he said, offering a slightly humble smile, which surprised not the lady but also everyone who had seen it. "When an opportunity comes knocking right at your door, or if someone reached their hand out to help you, don't refuse it. You don't know when will someone help you again or when the opportunity opens up for you again — it might not."

The woman darted her eyes between the emperor and the empress — even the crowd, who went silent and on their knees in the presence of the monarchs, were listening attentively. They couldn't help but raise their head, only to see the emperor and the empress reach their hands out to the poor, dirty woman to help her stand up.

Everyone knew what sort of emperor this empire had: ruthless, assertive, and unsympathetic. They had a clear image of Abel, and he wasn't someone who should be asked for mercy, but a quick and painless death. But right now, that tyrant image slowly cracked with an empress by his side.

"I will forever serve this empire and will be forever grateful for Her and His Majesty." the woman stood in front of them, her hands resting on her little brother's shoulders. "Long Live, Your Majesty, the Empress! Long Live, Your Majesty the Emperor!"

As the woman bowed, guiding her little brother to do the same, she raised her voice to praise the monarchs. Hearing the woman's sentiments, the people who were still on their knees cheered in unison until their voices echoed.

Aries and Abel looked at each other, smiling candidly. But just as they peeled their eyes away from each other, an angry voice distorted the united cheering.

"A tyrant like you must die!"