"What are you waiting for? Kneel like a dog and y catch with us."


    The corners of Joaquin''s lips stretched from ear to ear while the knight''s eyes went round. Thetter nced at Joaquin and, much to his dismay, the crown prince wasn''t even stopping her.


    "Your Highness —"


    "What?" she cocked her head to the side. "You let my pet upset my husband and look at him now. He''d be useless. How are we going to enjoy ourselves if all we have is a useless pet who cannot even stand up?"


    The knights who were hearing her twisted words could not help but lower their heads. Cruel as it may sound, they were rather relieved it wasn''t them who was put on the spot. Surely, the crown princess and the crown prince were both destructive.


    "Your Highness…" the knight called helplessly, ncing at Joaquin, whose eyes never left Aries.


    "Kneel, or should I make you?" she threatened before looking back at the other knight. "Fetch me a rope."


    "Ye — yes!"


    <o>,m Hearing this, the poor knight who didn''t expect to be in this sort of situation when he woke up this morning looked at her nkly. He knew this was twisted and irrational. He was a knight. However, unlike other knights, everyone who came with him was a newly recruited knight.</o>


    In other words, they hadn''t proved themselves. Was this a test of how much they could stomach things? They said the crown prince valued his soldier''s life, but was there some type of ss where this ''value'' reach?


    The knight, who was filled with questions in his head, still slowly went down to his knees and swallowed down his pride. Like a dog, he stood on his knees only to get kicked on his back, which caused him to nt his palms on the floor.


    Having to stay in this position, the knight''s eyes were filled with dread and humiliation and was traumatized. He was already surprised when he saw Curtis get beaten by the crown prince for no reason, but he gritted his teeth and tried to ignore it. Who would have thought he would be next?


    "Tie it around his neck." Aries nced at the knight, who returned with a rope, and without question asked, the knight executed the order efficiently.


    "My… are you rebelling, my wife?" asked Joaquin as soon as she raised her eyes back at him once again.


    "Rebelling? My husband, in which part of this called rebelling? All I''m trying to do is appease you since my people forced you to sully your hands." She almostughed before taking the rope, tugging it until the knight winced. "This one is able and can y with us. Shall we teach him a few tricks together, husband?"


    Joaquin chuckled with his lips closed, leaning to his side. He propped his elbow over the armrest, resting his jaw against his knuckles, eyes on her.


    "How amusing," he mused. "For a maid and a dog, you will humiliate my knights like this? Surely, you never changed my love. For people like them… you lose sight of what truly mattered."


    "And what is that, my beloved husband?" Aries cocked her head to the side, blinking with genuine wonder in her eyes. "What do you mean, I lose sight of what truly mattered? Did you mean between this knight and that maid, this knight''s life is more than hers?"


    A loudugh escaped her mouth as she nced at the knight and then at Gertrude. Thetter kept her head hung low, hugging her shoulders to stop trembling.


    "Howe, my husband? Gertrude will die for me if only I asked her to. She had sworn to serve me until death and had proved her sincerity even back when I was a sickly young miss. How about this knight, your Highness?" she tugged the rope, keeping her eyes on Joaquin. "Aside from wearing this uniform and being called a knight, what did he do for me to think his life mattered to me?"


    Aries shook her head andughed faintly. "When I say my people, I don''t care about others. That maid and that pet are my people and their life is in my hands, not yours, Your Highness. If touching them just because they upset you, then so be it. I won''t rebel. Just don''t also question me when I touched yours."


    "Hah… so fierce." Joaquin rubbed his chin, keeping his sneer. He just kept his eyes on her, studying her expressions and actions and how she twisted her words. So far, her reaction has convinced him his wife truly had some resemnce to Aries. Not just the face, but when her people received injustice.


    ''What a fruitful visit.'' Heughed mentally. ''She''d been careful all this time, but I guess… she never changed. She had growncent, thinking I had trusted her.''


    The only reason Joaquin was here was to test Aries once again after he received a word that she secretly visited Carlos. Apparently, the eighth prince said nothing even when he was interrogated by the crown prince''s knights.


    Joaquin smiled happily before he uncrossed his legs and pushed himself up. He nced at Gertrude and at Curtis, who was lying unconscious after meeting his fist countless times. His lips stretched before he advanced in her direction.


    "My love, I understand your heart," he said, stopping in front of Aries. He raised his hand, brushing her cheek with his thumb, bending over to meet her at eye level.


    "Perhaps I went too far this time. I''m sorry."


    Her expression sharpened at his sudden shift of mood, but he ignored it. His eyes simply scanned her facial features, caressing her lips with his thumb.


    "It''s good to see you again, my love. I missed you so, so much." Joaquin smiled once again as a glint flickered across his eyes, stressing his words to make her feel the other meaning behind them. "Once everything is settled, I''ll make up for this incident, alright? Let''s have fun then... my favorite."