The Tyrant's Pet

"Marsella is sleeping, but eavesdropping. You should be quiet. It's not good if she knows your plans."

"..."

There was a moment of silence after Tilly's remarks. All of them stared at her pointing a finger in a direction, wide-eyed.

"Did you just say Marsella?" Conan was the first to break the silence, gasping in disbelief.

Tilly let out a short hum, nodding.

"She's… here?" he repeated in a questioning tone and Tilly nodded again, causing Conan to slam his hands on the table. "That wench… I'm going to skin her alive!"

The rest around the table looked at each other quietly. They all had deep lines drawn in between their brows before they stood to check the direction where Tilly told them where Marsella was staying.

Aries had already had a good grasp of what happened in the past week while she was in and out of consciousness. Although she couldn't remember any memory of waking up during the past seven days, Abel told her she would wake up to drink his blood.

She got all the information they needed in between their rounds of passion. According to Abel, Marsella escaped from her shackles. Abel didn't waste his time searching for Marsella with an excuse that she would surely and shamelessly show up when she wanted to. In other words, Abel was unsure if Marsella got out with another person's help or if she simply took advantage of the fact that Aries died along with Maximus.

Aries and everyone marched to a room on the second floor with Conan on the lead. For the obvious reasons, Conan was the most furious of them all at the thought of Marsella. It was understandable. Marsella betrayed them… well, not exactly, considering the person on their side was Vera, the other occupant of Marsella's body. The real Marsella was never their ally.

When they arrived at the chamber, Conan immediately kicked the door open and barged inside. Following him were Aries and Abel and then the rest of the Grimsbanne who came to check with him.

"No one's here," mumbled Aries, only to bite her tongue right after as a particular faint scent wafted through her nose.

"That damn bitch!" Conan cracked his knuckles, exasperated. "Did she run away, knowing I'll beat her to a pulp?"

"She probably runs away, knowing Tilly will kill her." Samael marched to the bed, pressing the edge of the mattress with his finger.

"Why would Tilly kill her? If she plans to kill her, she would've done it. But she was so lazy she just let the woman sleep." Claude threw himself on the nearby armchair comfortably. "It's been a while since I was last in this place. It almost feels like home. Almost."

"But how…" Aries trailed off as Abel suddenly stood behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder while wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Please get a room." Claude deadpanned. "I have enough of seeing such an act at this point."

Conan, who would usually lose his mind whenever there was a public display of affection, just snorted at Abel and Aries. Meanwhile, Samael grinned as he gazed at his wife, wiggling his brows playfully. Lilou's lips parted but ended up pressing her lips into a thin line and allowed her husband to hold her hand.

"Anyway, I think this is a good sign," said Samael, plopping his butt down on the edge of the mattress whilst holding his wife's hand. If Lilou wasn't reserved, he wouldn't mind yanking her onto his lap and caressing her while thinking of the situation. "If Marsella is here, doesn't that mean she's working alone?"

"You're missing the point, Sam. If she's here with no one knowing except Tilly, that means she could come in and out under our noses with no one noticing," argued Lilou.

"I agree with my aunt." Claude shrugged, casting Abel a look. "What do you think?"

"I think…" Abel hummed, still hugging Aries from behind with his chin on her shoulder. "... I need more quality time with my darling."

Abel's lips stretched from ear to ear, turning his head toward his wife. "What do you think, darling?"

"We don't have much time." Aries snapped her eyes away from Abel, ignoring his personal desire at the moment. She pressed her lips into a thin line, letting out a sharp breath. "I know you were exhausted, but please lend us a hand in this matter."

Her expression turned firm and sincere, giving everyone a solemn look. Samael's lazy countenance didn't change, but Lilou and Claude smiled back at her. Tilly didn't move from her spot nor did she show any other reaction.

"Before that, can we talk about this in some other place?" Conan proposed, raising a finger to get their attention. "I don't like the lingering scent Marsella left."

All of them stared at Conan silently before they looked at each other, raising their brows.

*******

"Alright!" Samael slammed a map on the surface of the wide oak table, throwing chess pieces on top of it. He snapped his eyes at Aries across the table, jerking his chin up to her. "The table is yours, Your Majesty."

Aries nodded, looking around at the people who had gathered in Samael's workshop. This was the safest place in the Grimsbanne mansion, according to Samael. And thus, they all gathered here to have a serious talk. Aside from Fabian and the children, everyone — Abel, Tilly, Samael, Lilou, Claude, and Rufus — was here.

"Let's first list down what had happened to us for the past two years," was the first thing Aries said, picking up the chest pieces to keep track of the situation. "For the past two years, Samael, Lilou, Sir Rufus, Law, and Claude were stuck in the Land of Spade…"

Aries placed a few pieces in a particular place on the map and continued, "... if I remember correctly, you were only gone for two full nights. However, when you got out of the place, two years had already gone by?"

Aries gazed up at Samael, and the latter crossed his arms under his chest while nodding.

"That is correct," he said.

"I see…" Aries rocked her head. "Care to share the important details you had there? I don't think this is an isolated case. The Mainland — if not Maximus, someone in this land had something to do with it."

Her eyelids drooped dangerously, having this list in her head. "For instance… the Bathorys and the Rothschild."