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GASP!

Aries gasped for air as she snapped her eyes open. Her eyes shook until she recognized the face and glowing crimson eyes hovering over her.

"Abel," she called out in relief, and without thinking twice, stretched her arms to hug his neck.

Aries clutched his back, burying her face in his shoulder. Her entire body was trembling, and for obvious reasons, she felt relieved she could feel her body. For a moment, she felt like she had lost it. When his large palm gently stroked her back, calmness slowly surged into her heart.

She was back, was what came into her head. And as if he could read her mind, Abel whispered, "you\'re back."

"Mhm." Her voice sounded muffled, holding him even tighter. "I am."

Abel glanced at her, pushing his body away from the bed until they were sitting up. Aries still clung to him like a scared child after a bad dream. He knew it was bad, although he didn\'t see her nightmare. It had been a while since she was caught in a bad dream.

Aries used to have nightmares every single night when she stepped foot in the Haimirich Empire, but those had slowly disappeared. Only recently did she start getting these nightmares, which she called visions. Aries had been very vocal about those recurring visions of the linden tree and women hanged on it.

But Aries had taken these visions very well and didn\'t affect her the slightest. Although it made her space out from time to time. Only tonight did she act so scared, but Abel could understand. After all, Abel felt like if he didn\'t wake her up, she would disappear forever.

That scared the hell out of him. To have her dreams become his nightmare and reality.

"Calm now?" he asked after minutes of stroking her back, peeking down at her.

"No. Don\'t go," came out her muffled voice, tightening her embrace on him. Her body had already stopped shaking, but she wouldn\'t let him go.

"I won\'t, darling." Abel let out a shallow breath, resting the side of his head against hers. "There\'s no way I would let go."

Silence once again descended onto their shoulders, spreading across the imperial palace. Abel patted her back with his fingers, watching her breathing carefully. Both of them didn\'t know how much time had passed since she woke up in the middle of the night, but Aries eventually calmed down and released him.

Lifting her face to meet his, all she saw was the slight smile Abel offered her.

"Water?" he asked, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

"Mhm." Aries nodded, but just as he moved, she clutched his hand.

He looked back at her with raised brows. "I\'m not going anywhere," he remarked, pointing at the bedside table. "The glass is just over there."

Aries slowly followed where he was pointing and gulped, realizing it was her hobby to keep a glass of water with her. Her grip on his hand loosened while he bent over, sprawling his arms to get the glass of water.

Abel took out the lid of the glass, handing it to her. When Aries woke up, she was breaking out in sweats. Hence, watching her drink it in one go was understandable.

"Thanks," she whispered, giving the glass back to him.

"Anything for you." Abel placed the lid back on and put the glass on the nightstand. "Are you fine now, darling?"

Aries pursed her lips and nodded. "A bit, yes."

She kept her eyes on him before she lowered her gaze. Both didn\'t know what to say at the moment. The bad dream — that nightmare she had left this lingering terror in her heart. It felt like she had fallen into a world she could not control, gripping her bones, unwilling to let her go.

Just the thought of it made her heart race and break out in cold sweats.

"His voice…" she whispered, lifting her eyes back to Abel. "... I can feel it down in my soul."

A man?

Abel\'s eyelids drooped, assessing the fear dominating her countenance. But alas, deep in his heart, he wished to not know her right this second. Because he knew his wife from inside and out that he recognized the source of her fear didn\'t come from someone who was afraid to get hurt.

It was the opposite.

It was as though she feared she was the person who would hurt people — Abel, in particular. The fear of being conscious of not entirely resenting the nightmare she had.

"I\'m scared, Abel," Aries continued. "I\'m terrified."

The feeling was mutual.

Abel raised a hand and cupped her jaw, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

"What should I say this second?" he wondered. "How do I make you feel better?"

If Abel didn\'t know, how would she know? After all, making her feel better was his metier. And she was also good at uplifting his mood. But for themselves? They had no idea. If only they knew, they wouldn\'t need each other to fix each other\'s broken pieces.

Aries held his hand that was cupping her jaw, pressing it on her cheek to feel the warmth of his palm.

"Let\'s stay like this," she whispered while looking into his eyes. "Don\'t let me go tonight, Abel."

"Who said I will?"

Abel sprawled his arm around her and pulled her into his embrace, feeling the material of her nightdress.

For some reason, the night was eerily silent. Yet everyone was aware of the brewing tension in the empire, like frogs trapped in the waters wondering whether to jump out of it now or wait for it to reach its boiling point.

*********************************** BREAK ******************************************

Meanwhile, in one of the inns on the outskirt of the capital, a man sat near the window where the moon was filtering through the glass. His leg was resting over the other, his elbow propped against the armrest, with his jaw resting on his knuckles.

He was staring down at his other hand. In between his thumb and index was a ring with a skull filigree. He kept his attention on it for a moment before shifting his eyes to the window.

"What a dilemma‌," mumbled the man. "This is not the role I expect in this story — I\'ll be damned."