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Sometime in the past...

The distinct creak from the door whispered in Aries\'s ears, but her eyes remained fixated on the decaying ceiling. The light from the outside barely reached her chest, lying flat on the dirty floor.

How long has gone by? Aries didn\'t know since it didn\'t matter to her.

Who was her visitor this time? She honestly doesn\'t care anymore.

They could come and go once they get whatever they came here for; she had long accepted this body wasn\'t hers anymore. In her mind, this body was just another casualty she lost after the war.

"My... had she lost it?" Inez hid half of her lower face with her hand fan, shielding her nose at the pungent stench from the old chambers where Aries was locked in. The knight guarding this small, abandoned castle glanced inside.

"You shouldn\'t go in, Your Highness. I don\'t think she is still sane after what happened to her."

Inez glanced at the knight and arched a brow. "Did you touch her?" she asked without beating around the bush, causing the knight to flinch.

"Did you?" she repeated, this time, her tone was commanding.

The knight hung his head low to hide his flustered face. "No, Your Highness."

"I do not like liars."

"I swear in the name of my family and my life."

Inez studied the knight\'s demeanor before she scoffed. It seemed he was telling the truth, but well, who would want a lady that almost every man had a taste of already? She smirked and glanced inside with an arched brow.

"Stay outside," she commanded, and even before the knight could stop her, Inez had already stepped in. Her steps slowed down the closer she was to Aries\'s spot, stopping on the latter\'s side, and squatting down.

She studied Aries\'s unmoving eyes, staring at the ceiling. To her amusement, Aries\'s eyes weren\'t blank even though they were motionless; it was more like the reason she wasn\'t sparing her a look was that she didn\'t care anymore.

"Oh, Joaquin. You\'re such an animal." Inez chuckled while shaking her head, sighing deeply as she pointed the tip of her hand fan at Aries\'s forehead. "How can he disgrace you like this and drag you through the mud? He\'s so tasteless, as always."

Her eyes glinted icily, studying Aries\'s poker face. She understood why Joaquin was so crazy about this woman. Despite that Aries\' smelled like a rotting corpse, and her face had smudges of dirt, she was beautiful. Like a diamond who would shine in the middle of a wasteland.

"Do you want to leave this wretched room?" she asked, but Aries didn\'t respond, which Inez already expected. "Indulging with Joaquin isn\'t that terrible, I guess. I get to play with his favorite doll."

A delighted snicker slipped past her lips as she tapped the tip of her hand fan against Aries\'s forehead lightly. She licked her lips, placing her hand on her thigh as she pushed herself up.

"Take her to Lazuli Palace," came out a laugh as she sauntered towards the door, motioning the knight to execute her orders at once.

*********

It had been a long time since Aries bathe, let alone servants helping her. But even so, she didn\'t speak a word, as if she had gone completely mute. Her eyes stayed in one direction, ahead.

Inez watched her as her servants clean the dirt off of Aries, sitting on a wooden stool in the corner so the water wouldn\'t reach her. Aries didn\'t ask anything, nor did she retaliate. One would think Joaquin trained Aries to obey every order she received like a puppet, but it felt otherwise. If Inez wasn\'t keen and observant, she would\'ve lowered her guard. Well, even if she would, Aries would\'ve gotten dragged back if she tried to escape.

"Leave us alone." She raised a hand, catching all the three maid servants\' attention as they raised their puzzled faces.

"Your Highness?"

She arched a brow as her eyes glossed over the servants. "Don\'t let me repeat myself again. Leave." She waved and assisted herself up.

The servants looked at each other with the same confusion plastered across their faces, but they said nothing as they bowed. No one made a sound, walking backward while bowing until there was just Inez and Aries.

When the former sat down on the footstool beside the tub, Inez tilted her head to the side.

"Aren\'t you lucky? I, the ninth princess, will bathe you personally?" the side of her lips curled up, studying Aries\'s mien. Just when she thought Aries would ignore her again, the latter blinked ever so slowly and looked at Inez for the first time.

Her lips parted, but her voice didn\'t come out until a minute later. "You like me?"

"Huh?"

"You like women?" asked Aries, watching her quirk a brow at her ridiculous and not-so-curious inquiry, making Inez burst out of laughter.

When Inez recovered from her waves of laughter, she gazed back at Aries, only to see the latter\'s unsmiling face. "I like women? Me? The beautiful and great Inez?" She raised a finger, pinching Aries\'s chin lightly, eyelashes fluttering.

"Well, that\'s quite a wild assumption... I simply enjoy taking care of my dolls." Her smile grew malicious, eyes glinting as she stared back at Aries. "Come, I\'ll help you."

Inez flashed a kind smile as she moved closer, running her fingertips across Aries\'s bare shoulder. Her mouth fell open as her eyelids drooped until they were partially closed, amused by how soft the latter\'s skin was even with all the hardship she went through.

"What a delicate skin," she whispered, tracing Aries\'s neck with the back of her finger, going up to the back of her hair. "It makes me wonder... how nice would it be if it was mine?"

As soon as those words flew out of Inez\'s mouth, she grabbed a chunk of Aries\'s hair and pushed her down, drawing her with cold eyes.

"I like you? Hah... don\'t make me laugh," came out an icy voice, watching her struggle while her face was devoid of human emotions, ignoring the splash of water hitting her. "I asked everyone to leave because... I want to have fun."

Yet, even when Inez said that and knew that was her intention, she couldn\'t help but feel the deception in her words... and she loathed Aries for that. For seeing right through her... or rather, for instilling something that Inez wasn\'t aware of until those words slipped past Aries\'s lips like a curse, binding her for life.