The news that the emperor was looking for a wife spread across the entire continent faster than anyone could imagine. Houses that received the royal invitations celebrated having the chance to be the empress of this wealthy empire and power just second to the emperor.


    Regardless of the emperor''s reputation, it was crystal clear his title as a tyrant didn''t matter. Princesses from other countries took the long journey, carrying their own agenda. Nobledies in the empire spent day and night preparing for their trip to the imperial pce.


    It was a golden opportunity no one would want to miss. After all, the royal court had been pressuring the emperor to take in an empress. Now that Abel agreed after so long, they had invited candidates for a fairpetition.


    Choosing one on the get-go would be gued by ridiculous rumors, which would be an inauspicious start for the empress. No one would oppose the idea of thedy in the Vandran bing the empress if not for the fact it would be her second marriage. Still, to appease the marquess, the royal court still invited Aries to be one of the candidates.


    With that being said, while everydy was busy dolling up and preparing their best dresses, the only candidate who wasn''t bothered by it was none other than Aries. Although the servants in the House Vandran had been restless, Aries would spend most of her time in the greenhouse with Marse.


    "Disappear…" Aries narrowed her eyes, almost drilling a hole in the nt in front of her, but to no avail. "Come on. Disappear…!"


    Marse was wearing a poker face while staring at Aries across from her. Her under-eye twitched. Witnessing something stupid, she was speechless.


    "Abracadabra? Hocus pocus?"


    "That''s it." Marse mmed her hand against the round, marbled table. Aries flinched in surprise, snapping out of her focus, eyes shaking at Marse. "Abracadabra? Hocus Pocus? Did you think you''re a magician? If so, why are we even here and not in a circus?"


    Aries pursed her lips into a thin line. "It''s so hard to make it disappear."


    "I didn''t ask you to erase it. What I said is you have to make it disappear from here to its original ce." Marse rolled her eyes.


    "I''m doing my best, alright?"


    "Look." Marse let out another long-suffering sigh. She plucked out a leaf from the pot, cing it on top of the magic circle. Her lips moved, but Aries didn''t hear her voice.


    Aries''s pupil dted when the leaf floated up in the air ever so slowly. The higher the leaf goes, the more wide Aries''s mouth opened. When Aries was looking up, a me appeared on the leaf out of nowhere. She watched it burn into ashes, watching the ash fall elegantly.


    "Beautiful," she murmured in awe, raising her hand over the table. She opened her palm, catching the residue of the leaf. "It really burned…"


    "It didn''t." Marse watched Aries look back at her with wide eyes, puckering her lips towards the pot. "I just returned it to its original ce."


    Aries moved her gaze towards the nt pot. To her surprise, the stem where Marse pluck the leaf returned to how it originally was. Now, her mouth fell open once more, eyes twinkling in amusement.


    "Amazing." Her eyes sparkled as she looked back at Marse. "Master, teach me how you did that."


    Marse ground her teeth, stopping herself from smacking Aries in the head. "I was teaching you already, but you kept spewing abracadabra, remember?"


    "Right…" Ariesughed awkwardly, recalling she was here to learn and Marse was simply showing her an example.


    "What a hopeless student." Marse shook her head. "And here I thought we already had progressed on the first day."


    "Are you sure they withered because of me? I think those nts wither easily with the slightest change in atmosphere."


    "Don''t start with me, Ram."


    "Yes, ma''am. My apologies."


    "Do it again."


    "Yes."


    Marse clicked her tongue, watching Aries let out a sharp breath. Thetter closed her eyes and drew another deep breath. When Aries breathed out, she set her focus on the nt pot once again until her eyes narrowed.


    At this point, Marse could not help but wonder why Aries was narrowing her eyes. After all, she didn''t need to do that at all by doing a simple spell.


    Marse crossed her arms and leaned back, keeping quiet to give Aries the peace she needed. She had already proposed to be Aries''sdy-in-waiting since an empress candidate needed one once they enter the imperial pce. Aries and Dexter agreed since there was nothing they could do anyway. Moreover, Aries didn''t have anyone in mind to take as herdy-in-waiting.


    After some time, Marse''s patience was wearing thin until she could no longer take it.


    "That''s it for today." Her voice snapped Aries back from her focus. "You worked hard."


    Aries frowned. "But I''m not done yet, and it''s too early."


    "You had a banquet to attend, apparently, your own banquet, before you journey to the imperial pce." Marse reminded her in a knowing tone. "Everyone had been eager to please your husband, and here you are. You didn''t even put the slightest powder on your face and those bags under your eyes were growing apparent."


    Aries touched the bags under her eyes with her fingertips. She had been stayingte at night, trying to do a simple spell.


    "Are you this rxed, knowing you''re already married to him?" Marse inquired out of pure curiosity, watching Aries''s brows raise. She smirked. "I''m not sure if you''re naive or simply confident. However, men are fickle. One day, they love you, and then the next second, they''re shoving their sword into another woman''s cave. Don''t becent, sister."


    "So what?" Aries blinked, this time causing Marse''s brows to furrow. The corner of her lips curled up into a subtle smile. "I don''t trust men — actually, I don''t trust people so easily. However, I trust the people I trust for a reason."


    She paused, setting her eyes on the poisonous nt on top of the table. "If Abel gets tempted, there''s no amount of preparation that could stop him. If he wants to, he would, and that would be his decision." Aries snapped her eyes up and smiled.


    "It might sound banal, but I love him enough to trust him. It''s up to him to break that trust. Moreover, I''m pretty," she humored. "Love is not a feeling, sister. It''s a choice and I choose to trust him, regardless. If he betrays me, whether out of lust or he fell for another, then… I''ll walk away silently."


    "Is that so?"


    "Mhm. My priority is to be useful in some ways, so what happened in the coven won''t happen again."


    Marse stared at Aries''s subtle smile and the luster in thetter''s eyes silently. She smiled andughed with her lips closed, shaking her head mildly.


    "Well, I''m on your team." She winked. "I''ll keep an eye on him."


    "You don''t have to." Aries chuckled until her lips were from ear to ear, revealing her pearly white teeth. "Should we continue?"


    "Sure. Just don''t me me if you gette for your own party."


    "I won''t." Aries giggled. "I promise."


    With that being said, Aries and Marse stayed inside the greenhouse until the sun was about to set. And as expected, Aries waste in her own farewell banquet before her journey to the imperial pce the next day as one of the candidates for the empress.