The Tyrant's Pet

"Good morning."

For a moment, Aries stared at Curtis\' face hovering over her with blank eyes. When she finally recovered, she sprung up and gasped, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.

"Haha… close your mouth." Curtis chuckled as he placed his palm on her chin to close her mouth. "An insect might enter it."

"You!" Aries gasped and pointed at him, blinking countless times, and then rubbed her eyes just in case she was seeing things. But Curtis was still smiling at her! And he was also talking like before!

What was going on?

"Hehe… darling, dearest, you look funny. I should surprise you more since it seems your reactions are better than Conan\'s." Abel laughed as he perched on the armchair. He raised a foot and rested his leg over the other, arms draped over the armrest, an amused grin plastered across his face.

"Please don\'t do that!!" she answered in horror even before she could think about it, casting Abel a quick look before she set her eyes back on Curtis. "Curtis, you — what — I mean, how?"

Curtis smiled amicably and shrugged. "Black magic."

"What?" her nose scrunched up before she jumped mildly to sit closer to him. "Curtis, how? Why? I mean — I —"

Aries held his shoulder, bobbing her face to examine him. It was a miracle. Although Curtis had shown significant progress recently, it wasn\'t this drastic! What happened overnight?

"Am I still drunk?" she gasped, looking down as she tilted her head to the side. "Gosh… this feels too real."

"Ahh… how cute." Abel mused as he admired her while her brain was on the brink of overheating.

Curtis chuckled as he poked her head with his index lightly. "It\'s not a dream, Aime." Aries slowly raised her head, only to still see Curtis smiling, speaking, and just having life in his eyes instead of just staring blankly.

"You were crying so much last night that even the dead will wake up. I can\'t say I am fully healed and I\'m still vulnerable, but at least, I regained my voice. It\'s a miracle." He smiled to hide away the lame reason behind his drastic recovery. Curtis knew Aries and how her brain worked.

Aries would believe in miracles and corny things such as the power of love or will, but she wouldn\'t believe in things that she called myths. Unless Curtis and Abel spend a day listing down how this all happened.

"Curtis…"

Tears swam in her eyes as she bit her quivering lower lip as hard as she could. She couldn\'t believe this and even though his explanation didn\'t make sense, it actually didn\'t matter. This was the Curtis she knew and not the person who would bark at someone\'s behest.

"I\'m sorry…" came out of her lips as tears rolled down her cheeks, squeezing his shoulder lightly. "I\'m sorry…"

That was all she could say as she hung her head low, resting the top of her head against his chest. His lips curled up as his eyes softened, patting the back of her shoulder lightly to console her from crying.

"I\'m sorry… what they did to you… to Rikhill… to everyone… I\'m sorry…" she expressed in between her hiccups, unable to stop her tears as the memories of when she first saw Curtis in this empire flashed in her head. She could never forget that and it sometimes haunt her in her sleep.

The barking Curtis, the time he would put his hand on Joaquin\'s hand like a dog, and everything. Until today, that haunted Aries in her sleep and fueled her anger toward the crown prince. Still, deep in her heart, there was a small part of her that thought even if she killed Joaquin, the damage to Curtis was irreparable.

So her tears mostly came from guilt and relief.

"It\'s not your fault." His soft smile remained as he continued to pat the back of her shoulder. "I\'m not everyone\'s spokesperson, but I didn\'t just fight for you. I fought for my queen, my homeland, my family, and I regret nothing even if my fate in losing was unspeakable."

Curtis watched her slowly raise her head only to reveal the ugly cry plastered on it. "The hell they put us through… it\'s not your fault. You\'re not the one who did all those atrocities to me or to our great country. Don\'t apologize to me. I\'m simply glad you\'re fine and found great people."

"I\'ve always known you will emerge from this stronger. Thank you for not forgetting us, Your Highness." Curtis slowly reached for her hand and held it with both his hand, guiding it to his forehead as he closed his eyes. "Thank you for fighting for us until now. I\'m sure everyone is just as glad that you survived and thrived."

"Curtis…" Aries chewed her bottom lip as she watched Curtis retract his head from her knuckles and return her gaze with a smile.

"Please do not cry anymore." He wiped her tears with his thumb gently. "I\'m certain everyone is in a better place now. The past… bad times create strong people and strong people create good times. What matters now is that we\'re both fine and alive and we can still do something."

Curtis raised his brows as he looked her straight in the eye. "Please do not blame yourself anymore. Fighting for your people and us fighting alongside you isn\'t your fault. It\'s a decision we made and we took pride in it."

"God…" Aries held his hand to her cheek, closing her eyes, and another tear rolled down her cheek. "It\'s really you… I\'m so glad…"

His lips stretch mildly as he stared at her. The Aries he knew was fierce, savage, but inspiring. That was why many looked up to a woman like her. Although Curtis knew she changed and she was not like the Aries he had known, — giving him this restlessness in his heart — Aries was stronger than ever, that was for sure.

"Thank you," Curtis shifted his eyes to Abel on the armchair near them, whose eyes never left Aries. Abel only took his eyes off of Aries when Curtis expressed his gratitude. "Thank you for helping us, Your Majesty."

Aries slowly reopened her puffy eyes as she turned her neck in Abel\'s direction only to see him wink.

"Don\'t mention it." His lips stretched from ear to ear. "Anything for my darling."