The Tyrant's Pet

"My poor brother… who hurt you?"

Davien's expedition was successful and Aries didn't hear any problems. That was why she already crossed out the reason he had lost a few soldiers. He had a golden heart, and every life mattered to Davien. He was like their father; both of them didn't have the heart to use their soldiers as pawns unless it was necessary.

So Aries had no idea what could devastate the current crown prince of the land of Rikhill.

"Aime…" Davien choked, and his eyes instinctively fell on her bleeding foot. "Your feet."

"Don't mind them." She waved dismissively. "It's just a scratch — far from the stomach."

He raised his weary eyes at her and let out a shallow breath.

"Let me dress it up for you," he mumbled. "Don't be stubborn now."

Aries pressed her lips into a thin line. This was Davien. He was someone who often look after her, the people, and their family regardless if he was enduring his own pain. He was just as stubborn as her. Therefore, Aries didn't argue with him and allowed him to assist her to the divan.

Davien had always kept a kit if he wanted to keep a wound a secret. With Aries sitting on the divan, Davien was on his knees while he cleaned her wound efficiently, more sober now.

"It didn't hurt," she whispered after he finished bandaging her foot, but he still gazed at it. "Don't feel sorry about me."

"Why are you even here?" he raised his head at her. "Aime, you're not young anymore. You're a woman now."

"Is growing older also mean I shouldn't worry about my family anymore? If so, then I do not want age at all."

"Aime."

"Stop stalling, Davien." This time, Aries's tone was firmer. "You can scold me later, but I'm not leaving here until I know what is the cause of your sufferings or what happened in the expedition."

Aries slowly looked around the originally tidy chambers but now seemed to be the result of a catastrophe. Porcelains and some furniture loitered the room. Her eyes then fell on the hearth. Her brows furrowed, catching the small box where Davien kept all the letters from his pen pal.

"You…" her eyes dilated as she looked back at him in a hurry, only to see his bitter smile.

"I went to see her, Aime." His voice was laced with bitterness, standing up to sit beside her. "That woman…"

Aries pressed her lips into a thin line. "And?"

"And…" Davien let out a dry laugh, eyes down, shrugging. "... I found out she had been fooling me all this time."

"What?"

"I wanted to surprise her, Aime. I thought she'd be happy, but…" he trailed off once again as his voice cracked, shifting his teary eyes to her. "... I was the one who was in for a surprise. She was fooling around with another man."

Aries's heart thudded upon seeing a tear roll down his eyes across his narrow nose to its tip. What did he just say?

"I didn't want to believe my eyes, so I still approached her. She didn't recognize me, and spoke all things I was not ready to hear, Aime." His lips quivered as his tight fist trembled in anger and the pain of betrayal. "She's simply keeping me because of my title. It hurts, Aime."

Davien pounded his fist against his chest while grinding his teeth. "I loved her and did everything to make myself worthy to take her hand, so… her words sliced through me like a sharp knife. It hurts like hell."

"Davien." Aries stretched her arms and wrapped them around him, pulling him into her embrace. She could feel his heart racing against her chest, his trembling hand on her back, and the helplessness in his sobs.

Davien was a hopeless romantic, but he was also faithful. He practiced abstinence and worked on himself to be a worthy crown prince, and also for the love of his life, whom he only met once when he was still young. Even though there were prospective candidates that could fit to be the crown princess, Davien adamantly refused all of them and fought that his wife would be his own choice.

Their father, the king, loved his children. And since Davien had proved himself time and time again he was capable, their father didn't press on the marriage matter and approved of his son's wishes.

Therefore, Aries could understand his pain. Davien had always loved his pen pal; she was a witness to how he adored this woman just by looking at him whenever he would sit under that linden tree to read her letters.

Aries kept him in her embrace, patting his trembling back. When Davien calmed down a bit, she guided his head to rest on her lap; Davien was lying on his side.

"I'm so pathetic, aren't I?" he let out a dry laugh. "I feel ashamed to have you see me in such a state."

"Why?" she whispered, brushing his hair mildly. "Did you think I'd use this to tease you?"

Davien chuckled weakly. "Won't you?"

"I'm not a scum." Aries snapped her tongue, but the usual irritation in them was absent. "I don't hit that low."

"That's right…" another weak chuckle slipped past his lips, blinking ever so tenderly, letting her gentle hand comb his hair. "Is there something wrong with me, Aime? I… just couldn't understand why she… why can't I hate her?"

"You have a big heart, and you're foolish." Her response was quick. "She betrayed you and hurt you. Yet, you're telling me you don't hate her? But here I am, itching to flay her from head to toe."

"Aime." Davien slowly rolled until he was lying on his back, looking up at her with gentle eyes. "Don't hate her."

"Why?"

"Because… it was my fault." He smiled. "I shouldn't have let her wait that long. Or at least, I should've visited her at least once or twice a year. If only I did, she wouldn't forget about me or long for another man's warmth."

"If I were you, shut your mouth before I strike your face for saying all this nonsense." Aries's voice shook in anger, barely holding herself back from slapping some senses into him.

Davien shook his head. "People are all built differently, Aime."

"But that is not an excuse to keep you around whilst fooling with other men, Davien." She strongly argued, keeping her eyes on him. "You cannot order me what to feel, for that only fuels my wrath for her."

Davien studied her face and her beautiful eyes that were burning with rage. Knowing her temperament, it was a miracle Aries hadn't done anything other than comfort him.

"I'm tired, Aime…" he whispered as a thin layer of tears coated his pair of deep, virescent eyes. "I'm exhausted from everything. Being the crown prince, these strenuous duties, the unrealistic expectations, the weight I have to carry, and everything. It's crippling me."