The Tyrant's Pet

[ Banquet Hall ]

"La ga ta…"

Thud!

The chanting continued, hearing bodies falling onto the ground one after another. The night council and the guests who weren't part of it had to lend Aries their complete energy to support her. They had been giving it to her all night, making others pass out when they couldn't take it anymore.

It was a dangerous spell to execute, but even if it was, they gave no hesitation in supporting Aries. The empress of the empire might've made them agree through a deal, but they knew her goal was to protect their land, their home, especially the land where witches were not purged.

Thud!

Marcia Graves chanted under her breath, opening her eyes, and seeing multiple people on the ground. Almost half of them fainted. She lifted her eyes, only to see those who were still conscious looking at each other. Their lips continued to move; some were having a nosebleed, while others were just as pale as a white sheet.

'We were almost there,' crossed Marcia's mind, thinking that they could almost feel Maleficent's presence in this spell. She turned her head in the royal's direction, only to see Suzanne standing beside the empty seat of the empress.

Suzanne kept a stony countenance. There was no trace of emotions on the handmaiden's face. She held Marcia's gaze emotionlessly, not bothering about what was going on inside the mind of the Wiccan leader at the moment.

Thud!

Another body fell to the ground, but Suzanne and Marcia didn't look away from each other. When two more night council fell on the ground, Marcia peeled her gaze from Suzanne.

Five. 

Marcia didn't need to count to know the number of people who were still standing and chanting, including her. And all those who remained standing were witches gifted with incredible mana and had honed their witch for years.

"La brak she li ma…" Marcia blinked, only to hear another one fall. Her grip was carefully clenched, opening her eyes ever so tenderly. As soon as she did, another thud caressed her ears and their chanting volume down.

Now, they were down to three people: Two Wiccan Leaders which was Marcia and Gloria, and another young witch. Marcia moved her eyes to the young witch, who had always been exceptional in the coven.

That young lady, who was barely showing signs of exhaustion, was Bertha. If Marcia remembered correctly, Bertha was the first to approach Aries, or rather, Leon, that night of the coven with Abel. Bertha wasn't a member of the night council, but she earned a spot in the full moon coven to kill Abel.

"Re wo shi…" Marcia's thoughts trailed off, shifting her attention to the other Wiccan leader, Gloria, who had always clashed with Marcia. Gloria was a powerful witch and also a wise one. They might have tons of disagreements, but Gloria earned Marcia's respect over the years.

Never once did Marcia had ever seen this proud leader show the slightest weakness. Gloria was that proud, and it was her defense mechanism not to show weakness because women like them had gone through hell and back before they met Abel and became a member of the night council.

Gloria coughed out blood, covering her mouth with her hand, but Marcia already saw the blood. She tried continuing just because she didn't want to faint before Marcia or this young witch, but Gloria eventually fell to the ground after several seconds.

Now, there were just the two of them.

Under normal circumstances, Marcia would praise the young witch for lasting this long. Even Gloria fainted, showing how hard this spell was to perform, even though they were simply supporting Aries and not entirely the people who had to maintain the Maleficent World.

But they had to continue this until Aries's powers were ripe. They were almost there, after all. Almost. Close. Just a bit more.

Marcia watched the young witch raise her eyes back to her. No words were uttered between them, but both women had the same understanding of what they had to do.

Continue. 

Both women closed their eyes, raising the volume of their chanting as they added more power to each of their words. They knew they were also reaching their limits, but they couldn't fall now. They didn't come this far to just come this far. If they fall before Maleficent's awakening, everything would go down the drain.

Aries had to succeed. Abel too.

The women's determination was apparent in Suzanne's perspective. Suzanne never moved a muscle from her spot, watching everyone fall one after another. All her focus was to make sure someone would stay in here and continue everything until Abel woke up or Aries come back.

'Your Majesty,' called Suzanne in her head, clenching her teeth silently. 'These witches were already at their limits.'

Minutes had gone by and Marcia started to have nosebleeds. Meanwhile, the young witch was already swaying, barely keeping her balance. Just how much more powers did they have to give Aries for Aries to awaken?

Suzanne didn't know. She had no idea. But what she was certain was that if these last two witches fell before Aries's awakening, uncertainty would follow. Their plan would surely go downhill, and everything would just be pure chaos.

"I have to do something…" Suzanne trailed off, shifting her eyes at the entrance of the banquet hall the second the door creaked. Marcia and the young witch Bertha didn't stop chanting and kept their focus on the spell. Thus, they couldn't care less about their surrounding.

Suzanne's expression turned colder, eyes on the person stepping inside the banquet hall.

Marsella. 

She had seen this woman once as Aries's lady-in-waiting, but then, Aries told Suzanne Marsella was actually Abel's sister in passing. Aries didn't say much about Marsella as the latter just suddenly disappeared after Aries's coronation.

However, now that Marsella was here and looking back at Suzanne, the empress's lady-in-waiting was certain about one thing.

Trouble. 

The corner of Marsella's lips curled up into a sinister smirk, guessing Suzanne's thought as the empress's handmaiden showed everything on her face.

'But what else can you do?' Marsella mouthed ever so slowly so Suzanne could read her lips. 'Stop me?'