"Huh?" Aries' ears perked up.
If he had been disjointed and disoriented by the previous actions of the Tiger King, then the words he had just heard managed to snap his senses sharply back into place.
Aries looked at the king and said, confusion thick in his voice, "What do you mean by that? Who are you branding, and with what?"
"What a fucking sadist you are!"
Aries knew very well what a brand was meant to signify. He had read and watched countless historical movies and stories to understand what branding meant in a setting like theirs.
Yet, since arriving in this world, Aries had hoped desperately that this would be one thing that turned out differently. He wished that what he knew wouldn't apply here, that it would be something else entirely, something less cruel.
But if wishes were free, all beggars would be rich.
Aries' hope proved to be nothing more than wishful thinking when the guard the king had instructed returned just as quickly as he had left.
