Chapter 417 [Bonus Chapter]Something She Can Gloat

"After all… I have a wedding to attend."

Aries winked, tossing the sword to the side and skipping to the exit. Aries stopped at the entrance and looked at the knights blocking her path. Her lips curled until her eyes squinted.

"Move," she said. "Or you'll only have five seconds to bid your family farewell."

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The knight's throat bobbed at the sight of her bright aura, yet it still sent a chill down their spine. They glanced at Joaquin on instinct, and to their dismay, Joaquin was simply staring at the empress's back with brooding eyes.

"Follow her," Joaquin ordered, watching Aries look back at him and smile.

"Good boy," she crooned and then glanced back at the knights. "You heard His Majesty. Follow me, but don't touch me."

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The knights cleared their throat and stepped aside, letting her pass voluntarily. Aries didn't idle as she skipped her steps with her hand behind her. Her misplaced mood was truly the complete opposite of the pandemonium outside.

Meanwhile, Joaquin kept his eyes on the exit where Aries left. His fist was trembling, grinding his teeth. After all those tortures, Aries was able to recover from how she was before. Surely, Haimirich treated her well with their advanced medical technology and effective medicines.

"Your Majesty!" suddenly, Hernan's panicking voice came from the opposite door across the exit Aries had taken.

Joaquin huffed and glanced over the railings. "We will end the Valiente today. Find Roman and Ismael, and bring their heads to me. Today's execution will proceed as planned."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Hernan bowed solemnly, rather calm at the situation since he was confident everything was going just as planned. When Hernan raised his head, he glanced around and furrowed his brows upon seeing a knight's dead body on the floor.

"Her Majesty…"

"Send men to lock her up," Joaquin answered, knowing what Hernan could be worrying about at this point. "Once we eliminate all those irrelevant pests, we will have to prepare for an all-out war against the Haimirich Empire."

His eyes darkened even more as his jaw clenched. "Either they attack us right after the end of the Valiente or wait for a while. Whatever the case, tell Javier to prepare our people. I will not allow those people to take what is mine."

Hernan held his breath and gulped a mouthful of saliva. By the tone of Joaquin's voice, Hernan was certain the emperor was positive this would happen.

It was a good thing Joaquin had considered all angles and possible setbacks, Hernan thought.

"Yes, Your Majesty." He placed his fist across his chest once more before hearing Joaquin's cape flutter as the latter marched away. Hernan followed and separated from the emperor halfway on their way to the royal palace.

*******

"Ugh!"

THUD!

Aries closed her eyes and stretched her neck from one side to the other, massaging her stiff shoulder from not using it for quite some time. When she reopened her eyes, her gaze landed on the two knights lying face-first on her feet.

"I told them not to touch me," she mumbled, shaking her head. "Nor I want to be forced again."

She glanced at the sword she looted from them and wiped it on her white dress, adding more colors to it. Her eyes squinted for a bit, gazing at the blood on her dress a little longer.

,m Before stepping foot in this land, she promised she would dye this dress red.

And now… her white dress was no longer pure, just as it made her appear. Her hands weren't clean and her some of her hair was falling from its braids.

Aries grabbed the rubber tying the tip of her hair and took off the pins plunged into her green hair. After removing all of them, she simply grabbed a handful of her hair and tied it into a high ponytail. As soon as she finished, the sound of footsteps she had been hearing came to a halt.

"Heh…" she smirked, glancing over her shoulder before turning on her heel to face them.

The knights darted their eyes from the empress to the knights near her feet, and that blood-stained across her white dress. Anger soon replaced the confusion dominating their faces.

"Don't let her get away!" yelled one knight after concluding the empress was trying to take advantage of the revolt to escape. Joaquin ordered them to take her to a safe place… by hook or by crook.

When she held onto the sword, she looted from the knight she slew, the knights also drew their swords.

"Don't kill her," said the same knight solemnly. "As much as possible, we wouldn't want to hurt you, Your Majesty. But as the order of His Majesty, we cannot —"

"The only way to make me come with you is to kill me." Aries abruptly cut him off with a sinister smirk. "Because I… will not miss my own wedding."

With that being said, the knights' eyes blazed, and in a heartbeat, they vaulted towards her while Aries took a stance. She flung her arm as she thrust her sword forward, letting the sound of metals and shouting deafen her ears.

Aries swiftly slashed their limbs, kicking them in the air, and simply becoming one with the sword.

She was fast, and fighting in such a narrow hallway gave her an advantage. Blades cut through her skirt, ripping a portion of it, but the showdown continued.

In their eyes, even when a blade graze her, she wouldn't budge as if she couldn't feel any pain anymore.

Two years of torture… surely gave her the advantage of increasing her pain tolerance. This simple graze was not enough to hurt her. But alas, this realization came too late for the knights as Aries's every blow was fatal, aiming only for their vitals.

And before they knew it, darkness would follow.

THUD!

"Ah…!" the last standing knight slumped on the floor as he raised his chin, holding his breath at the tip of the bloody sword, pointing at his throat. His eyes shook when he looked up, and all he saw was a demoness looking down at him.

"I told you," said Aries, cocking her head to the side, unfazed by the blood across her body and face, and the exposed skin with her ripped skirt. "The only way to take me with you is by killing me. Otherwise, there's no way I'll walk with my own two feet to be imprisoned by him again."

The knight's lips quivered, opening and closing it, but to no avail. He pissed himself when Aries swung her sword up and he shut his eyes. But the pain didn't come. The knight slowly opened his eyes, and it went huge when all he saw were dead people lying lifelessly in the hallway. When he turned his head back, Aries waved nonchalantly, without looking back.

"Be good from now on," she said lazily. "Thank that bastard Ismael for torturing me and making me read all the knights' records for weeks."

The knight was in tears upon receiving mercy, crawling and kowtowing to express his gratitude. "Your Majesty! Thank you for sparing me!"

Her steps didn't falter despite the knight's gratitude, but instead, continued to walk away.

"I guess I can gloat about this to His Grace…" she smiled, thinking that the knights she came face to face with were nothing compared to the training she went through under Isaiah. That Duke, although often hated by Dexter and Conan, was an excellent instructor.