Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The reverberation of a cannon blast sliced through the stillness of the arena sky, an echo sharp and hollow that acted like a physical jolt, snapping both Aries and Estella to attention with the force of a whip crack. They froze in place, the sound stealing the air from their lungs and the words from their mouths. Eyes locked—his, burning with an intensity that could melt steel, hers, unreadable, a placid surface concealing turbulent depths—as the chilling realization, stark and undeniable, struck them both with the weight of a physical blow: someone else had just met their end.
Died. Again. In this brutal, senseless game.
"That better not be Cato," Aries muttered, the words escaping his lips as a low, guttural growl. Venom dripped from every syllable, poisoning the very air around him. He sat hunched over, diligently sharpening his knives, the slow, rhythmic scrape of steel against the rough surface of the stone a grating counterpoint to the oppressive silence, mirroring the fire of barely controlled rage simmering just beneath the surface of his intense, unwavering glare. "I swear, I'll only be even remotely satisfied, I mean truly content, if I'm the one who delivers the final blow, the one who personally kills him."
Estella, however, didn't so much as flinch. She remained utterly still, seemingly unaffected. Didn't respond—not with a single word, not with even a subtle shift in expression. She simply, almost dismissively, glanced at him, her gaze fleeting and unimpressed, before calmly returning her full attention to the intricate flower crown she was painstakingly weaving, a futile exercise in beauty born entirely out of boredom.
Yet, despite her apparent indifference, Aries could acutely feel her eyes brushing over him now and then, a fleeting touch that registered on his skin. Her gaze was soft, almost delicate, but calculated nonetheless, like the deceptively smooth edge of a sharpened blade wrapped in silk, hiding its lethal potential.
A cocky, almost involuntary grin twitched onto his face, revealing a flash of teeth, as he consciously adopted an air of being unbothered, invulnerable. He made a show of dramatically clashing his swords together, creating a theatrical flourish of metallic sound, as he deliberately turned back toward her.
"What's wrong with you, my lady?" he asked, leaning in slightly, closing the physical distance between them, his voice low and laced with teasing. "No tears for dear Cato? I fully expected at least a moment of respectful silence, a brief pause for mourning."
Estella slowly lifted her eyes, the corners of her mouth subtly twitching upward into the barest hint of a smile, a fragile expression that didn't quite reach her eyes, leaving them cool and detached. She tilted the flower crown she was holding at him, presenting it almost like a weapon, a silent challenge. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was cool and dry, devoid of emotion. "Cato's death would honestly be the closest thing I'd get to a birthday wish actually coming true."
Aries chuckled, a low, throaty sound, his eyes gleaming with a dark amusement. "I'll make absolutely sure to wrap it up with a nice bow for you, then. Consider it a gift."
