The Tyrant's Pet

"Come. Let\'s sit down while I teach you how to poison someone."

Aries puffed her cheek as she followed him, keeping her hands interlaced behind her back, afraid she would touch something. A small space not on the corner had a set of intricate marbled tables and chairs. Dexter pulled out a chair for her on which she sat down after expressing her gratitude.

"So, it\'s really true that you have a vast knowledge of poison?" she inquired, watching him sitting opposite her while he reached for the trolley tray that had a set of tea on it.

"Yes." He answered, serving the tea and different ‌small bottles.

Aries remained silent, letting him finish setting up what seemed to be a dreadful poison testing.  She hoped, deep down in her heart, that she was wrong. But a huge part of her was already convinced that was his plan.

"As I\'ve mentioned, the contents of each bottle contain substances that can kill," he said once he was done arranging the bottles between them, reaching for the teapot to pour a cup.

As he did, he continued:

"Some can kill instantly, some will take days. There have been many practices on how to detect poison and food testing is the most straightforward way," he continued, filling the cup less than half full. "But now, there are new poisons that keep appearing that are deadly as well as undetectable. There are types of which only a small amount needs to be digested every day for a slow and painful death."

Aries blinked innocently as she tilted her head to the side. "Brother, I don\'t understand why you\'re telling me all this. I mean, I don\'t plan on assassinating \'that\' person by poisoning him."

"I know." He laughed, sliding the cup to her and then poured the empty one for himself. "Assassinating him by poison is mercy, he doesn\'t deserve that."

The faint clang of the bottom of the pot against the marble rang in her ears, eyes locked with Dexter\'s. The space between her brows furrowed when Dexter checked the bottles.

"The reason I am telling you this is first, by drinking non-lethal amounts of poison, you are developing a tolerance. However, that doesn\'t ‌mean you\'re safe. If you ingest a strong poison or large amount of poison, it might trigger all toxins in your body and kill you faster than in a blink of an eye." Dexter added a drop from the small bottle into one teacup and then slid it to her. "Second, poisons are not only for killing. Have a taste."

Aries narrowed her eyes as she darted her eyes between the two cups. Dexter didn\'t pour anything in the first cup, but her gut feeling told her it was already poisoned.

"Do I really have to taste them?" she asked warily.

"Do you think I will kill you?"

"Of course not! It\'s just the amount of poison I\'ve been ingesting as of late has increased significantly. It makes me dizzy. So I…" Aries trailed off when Dexter arched a brow, not buying her lame excuse. She sighed. "Fine."

As expected, Aries picked up the first cup since she wanted to think it was safe. But just as it was near her lips, she stopped and furrowed her brows. Instead of sipping, Aries pulled it back and stared at the cup.

Dexter smirked in satisfaction. "That\'s right. The tea isn\'t poisoned. The cup is. Great instinct."

"Wait, how…"

"Dani, drinking poison every day and getting exposed to it gives you some sort of… familiarity." He leaned an arm against the edge of the table, cocking his head at the other teacup. "Try that one."

Just as he instructed, Aries put down the cup to take the other. She twirled it lightly, sniffing its aroma before taking a sip. Her eyebrow raised.

"It tastes… good." She licked her lips as she put down the cup. "Is it poisoned?"

He nodded. "It is, but the toxins in your body can neutralize it. Dani, think of it like this: you are slowly becoming poisonous yourself."

Aries held her breath as she listened to him, eyes holding his pair of solemn eyes. He tapped his knuckles against the table lightly, letting her process his words.

"Have you wondered why Gustav didn\'t enter this greenhouse? The servants are prohibited to come here, except for Gustav. And yet, he doesn\'t enter this place. You\'re smart, so you must\'ve guessed it already."

"Because the air in here is toxic."

"That\'s right." He nodded and knocked on the table. "If you haven\'t been exposed to poison or you don\'t have an antidote, the air in here alone can kill you. Not instantly, though. However, you haven\'t noticed it since you\'ve been ingesting poison even back in the imperial palace."

"Thing is, the poisons served to His Majesty are all powerful and strong. That is why you nearly died when you first ingested a small amount of it," he added, making Aries knit her brows.

"Does that mean His Majesty is like a walking poison?"

"He is, Dani." Her already knitted brows creased even more before a certain memory resurfaced in her head. Now that she thought about it, during her first meeting with Abel, the soldier who was strangled by Abel flushed in a violet color faster than usual.

"Then, if that is the case, how come I didn\'t die when…" she trailed off, biting her tongue to stop herself from asking him something so embarrassing. But even with that, Dexter already got the gist of her question.

"Antidote. He is feeding you an antidote, else you would\'ve died." He shrugged indifferently. "My entire point here is, learning the art of poison will help you survive in that place. Also, the most important part of all is, I won\'t let him touch you."

"Pardon?"

"Once you get betrothed to that piece of garbage, there will be marital duties that must adhere," he stressed, eyes glinting dangerously, filling with unspeakable contempt. "Although I hate the fact that your taste in men is lower than the depths of hell, I won\'t let that man sully my sister."

Aries bit her inner lips before she murmured. "I don\'t have low standards."

"When you embraced that detestable lover of yours willingly, that only proved you have very questionable standards." He scrunched his nose up, trying to hide the criticism in his eyes but failed miserably. "What did you even see in him? His face?"

"You\'re being too much, brother. I cannot deny that Abel has a very handsome face and he\'s crazy."

"If you know, why?" he probed just to get enlightened on why she was so crazy about Abel.

"Because…" Aries pressed her lips, lowering her eyes before they softened. "Because Abel doesn\'t see his future with me."

"Huh?" — now that was even more confusing for him.

Aries chuckled seeing the inexplicable expression plastered on his face. She took a deep breath and stared at her reflection in the teacup.

"Many people like those who see their future with them. Abel is different. He doesn\'t see his future with me. Thus, he holds me and looks at me‌ every day like it was the last time." When she raised her head, a bright smile was dominating her face. "And I think that is beautiful."

Dexter frowned and laughed shortly. "That\'s not beautiful, it\'s dumb."

"Don\'t judge." She chuckled and huffed.