Cordelia POV

As we were walking back to the main hall, I noticed a nice musty scent waft up to my nose.

What was it?

I sniffed around the air to get a clue of what it belonged to and immediately froze the moment I found my nose nearly buried in Ace's chest.

"Is there...something wrong, Cordelia?" Ace asked in a slightly flustered voice as he stopped walking for a brief moment.

Poof.

My face immediately exploded in a burst of red as I realized who the nice smell belonged to.

"N-Nothing!" I squeaked as I tried to walk a few steps ahead of Ace and fan my face slightly with my hands.

But there was one minor detail that I had forgotten.

We were holding hands, so my right hand was completely wrapped within his left.

Even if I wanted to walk ahead of him, I was completely anchored to his side with nowhere else to go.

It was then that I realized the significance of our hand-holding.

What if my hands are sweaty?

Oh no...please don't tell me my hands are sweating.

Oh god.

My hands are sweating, aren't they.

Aghhhhh...this is so embarrassing...!

As I was internally shrieking in my head, I could feel Ace slowly let go of my hand with a little bit of blush on his face.

No way...

Did he let go of my hands after feeling how utterly sweaty and grimy they felt?!

Aghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

My anxiety spiked for a moment as I gave a small glance at his perfect face.

What if he thinks I'm disgusting now???

Shoot...Shoot...Shoot...Shoot...Shoot.

For a moment, I seriously contemplated jumping off a cliff as I tried to think of something to say.

"I'm sorry, my hands were a little swea-"

"I'm sorry, my hands started to get a little sweaty...so..." Ace mumbled as he looked away from me slightly and hid his hands from my view.

It took me a moment to register what he had said.

3...

2...

1...

"...It was my hands that were sweaty though?!?!" I exclaimed.

"N-No...it was definitely me..." Ace awkwardly blushed a little.

"No. No. No. You don't understand how it feels for a maiden like me to hold the hands of a handsome god like you. It was definitely me," I said seriously with a few shakes of my head.

For a moment, I thought I could hear Ace mumble something underneath his breath with an exasperated sigh.

"What did you say?" I asked with the cock of my head.

"I can hear the front doors opening. Let's hurry, Cordelia, before we are late," Ace said as he completely changed the conversation.

I went silent for a bit as I focused my hearing as well.

He was right...the front doors were definitely opening.

For the moment, a scary face popped into my head as I was thinking.

Sophie...is going to kill me.

"Let's go!!" I yelled as I immediately started running at my maximum speed.

I'm dead...I'm screwed...I'm dead...I'm screwed...

Within a blink of an eye, I was back at the main hall, along with Ace who followed me.

I quickly straightened out my dress and smoothed my hair before I stepped into the hall with a calm, amicable smile on my face.

My father and Sophie were already greeting someone, who I couldn't see, out in the front of the manor.

"Welcome, Holy Priest Gideon. My dearest apologies for not greeting you sooner," I said with as much elegance and grace as I could after respectfully dipping my head low in a 90-degree bow.

"Ah, you must be Lady Cyllia," a sweet voice of a man said from above.

"Yes, your holiness," I confirmed as I continued to keep my head low.

No matter how hard I try to apologize, I had already disrespected the most powerful man on the planet by being late for our meeting.

I wouldn't be surprised if he banished me somewhere far away.

"You are forgiven. Now, raise your head. I came here as a guest. There's no need for you to be so wary," he said in an amused voice.

I almost let out a sigh of relief.

He didn't seem mad, which was definitely a good thing.

Slowly, I lifted up my head gracefully and immediately froze the moment my eyes landed on his face.

A woman...?

No, he was definitely a man.

An exceptionally beautiful man.



(A/N: Hahaha~ While editing this, I just noticed how long his fingers are...like dang. Did he get finger extensions or something??)

His skin was whiter than snow and was milky with a pristine, unparallelled complexion.

Even his hair was a shade of blonde that was so light that it was practically pure white, giving him an appearance of snow itself.

He had ridiculously thick, natural lashes and a small, thin nose that seemed so delicate that it looked like it could break at the slightest touch.

I found myself in awe at his appearance and, just a little bit, envious.

I mean...I'm a female too, you know...!

I have my pride too, you know...!!

It hurts to see such a beautiful man, you know...!!! (A/N: Dattebayo! Ahem. Naruto, anyone?)

"Ah...I heard many rumors, but you are just as beautiful as they say, Lady Cyllia. Perhaps even more so," he smiled amicably.

Normally, those words would have been a lovely compliment...but coming from his mouth, it sounded almost like an insult.

"Oh, you're too kind, Holy Priest Gideon. But you're much more charming than me," I replied honestly with a slightly forced smile.

"Ahem," Sophie coughed next to me.

I turned my head carefully...as slowly as possible...and I think...for just a moment...I saw the abyss of hell inside of Sophie's two eyes.

Haha...I think I understand how it feels to be like my father now...

"Once again, I hope you forgive me for being ever so slightly late, your holiness," I apologized once more.

"There's no need for you to apologize so much. You have already been forgiven once. Don't make me repeat it twice, Lady Cyllia," he said.

No...No, you don't understand.

I'll be killed by Sophie if I don't.

"Thank you for your boundless goodwill, your holiness," I said with a small bow.

"Of course. Although...you're much more humble and reserved than I imagined. I had heard you were a beautiful and bright young woman with a fiery temperament," he said with his delicate fingers raised to his lips.

"Rumors...are quite exaggerated sometimes, aren't they?" I laughed awkwardly as I tried to change the question.

Surely, rumors like that didn't exist about me...right?

"Hmm...and who might that young man be?" he asked as he looked over my head.

I turned around and saw Ace standing near the far back of the hall, casually leaning against a pillar without too much care.

He looked up at us the moment he felt my gaze on him and he cocked his head a little as if he were asking: Are you done?

"That's...um...my companion, Ace. He is a dragon, your holiness, even though he takes the form of a human. Please don't mind his rudeness," I said with a smile as I tried to avert the Holy Priest's attention back to me.

But even so, the Holy Priest's eyes were locked onto Ace with great interest.

"We've been standing out here for too long, your holiness. How about we go inside and have a meal?" my father asked as he invited the Holy Priest further into the manor.

"Yes, of course. However..." the Holy Priest murmured as he moved toward Ace.

Every single last one of his movements oozed so much gracefulness that it was almost like watching a fairy walk.

But the moment he stepped in front of Ace, he stopped.

Ace, who was previously in his own little world, was forced to look up at the Holy Priest with a bemused expression on his face.

"I am Holy Priest Gideon III. Who may you be?" he asked in a lighthearted, curious tone.

For a moment, Ace didn't respond and he looked over the Holy Priest's shoulder at me.

"I thought Cordelia already told you," he finally said as he looked back at the Holy Priest.

Ah...Ace...!!!

You're supposed to be more respectful, darn it!!

But the Holy Priest laughed at Ace's curt response and looked back at me with a smile.

"Lady Cyllia...is she someone important to you?" he asked.

"Yes."

Ace answered without an ounce of hesitation and his response was so to-the-point that I blushed a little...

Darn...even though I knew he didn't mean it romantically...it still felt good.

"That's good. You have someone to live for. But...do you like it?" the Holy Priest asked with a small chuckle.

"...Like what?" Ace inquired.

"The feeling of being domesticated by people. Like a dog," he answered.

In that exact moment, the air was hit with a terrible, awkward tension.

What...in the world was this man talking about...?

"I had thought that dragons were a race far superior to humans. It's not every day that you see a dragon being submissive to a human girl. Do you like it?" he asked with an amused tone in his voice.

"You...What are you trying to say?" Ace murmured in a rigid voice as he stared at the Holy Priest straight in the eyes.

"Ah...there's no need for you to answer. I was merely curious," he said with a smile.

"..."

"Forgive me. I must have upset you. I don't leave the Holy Temple often, so I am quite unaccustomed with meetings like this," the Holy Priest apologized with a slight bow.

His apology seemed pretty genuine.

I held my breath.

The Holy Priest had a position that was so great that, in his life, there shouldn't ever be a situation where he should ever need to lower his head to someone else.

When Ace didn't respond to his apology, the Holy Priest smiled a bit before turning away from Ace to return to my father and Sophie.

"...I wouldn't hate it," Ace murmured before the Holy Priest could step away, "Becoming Cordelia's dog, I mean."

W-What...!!!

"...Fufu~" the Holy Priest paused before he gave a low chuckle and continued to walk away.

Ace, who had nothing else to say, didn't say another word.

"I'm sorry for the delay. Shall we head inside now?" the Holy Priest asked as if the exchange between him and Ace had never happened.

"...Of course, your holiness," my father nodded awkwardly.

And with that, we all went inside to enjoy a meal.

.

.

.

To my disappointment, there was only a humble amount of food on the dinner table when we arrived.

The church believed in frugalness, so having an extravagant amount of food would be more offensive than anything.

However, since the Holy Priest was still an extremely influential man, there was no way that the dukedom would ever serve him something that was subpar.

So, even though there wasn't a lot of food, everything was made to absolute perfection.

I almost forgot my manners and drooled at the sight of it.

"Thank you for having me here today," the Holy Priest said as he took a seat in the chair that a servant had held out for him.

"It's no problem at all. We are very blessed to have you here," Sophie smiled.

"Not at all. Since coming here, I have already met two intriguing individuals and have been enjoying myself quite nicely because of it," the Holy Priest replied.

"Two?" my father asked.

"Yes. That man over there, Ace," the Holy Priest listed as he pointed toward him, "and also...Lady Cyllia," he finished as he pointed toward me.

Huh????

What the heck did I do to get his attention????

"I am overjoyed, Holy Priest Gideon. Thank you," I said robotically.

"Oh, there's no need to call me by my title. 'Gideon' is fine," he smiled.

What?!

Oh heck no!!

"I-I'm sorry, your holiness, but I don't think I have the right to-"

"No, don't worry. It's fine. I've taken a liking toward you."

"...You don't understand...I'd be very troubled, your holiness, so-"

"'Gideon' will do, Lady Cyllia. Ah...Would it be alright if I call you Cordelia as well?"

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

"Haha...feel free to call me whatever you would like...your holiness..." I forced a laugh.

"If so, then I will call you 'Cordelia.' I've always like that name," he smiled.

"Wha-"

"If you haven't understood yet, but I've taken quite a liking to you, Cordelia. Ah...maybe you are too clueless to understand what that means...I have heard many rumors that you were an impenetrable fortress."

"I'm very grateful(?) Thank you, your holines-"

"Gideon."

"Excuse me?"

"Please call me by my given name with no titles, Cordelia."

"I don't know if I can-"

"Cordelia, it's 'Gideon.'"

Why the heck was this man being so pushy...??

"Yes, your holine-I mean...Gid...eon..." I said slowly with a very forced smile.

"Ah...Thank you. My name really does sound different when it comes from your lips."

"Excuse me??"

For some reason, my father had a scary expression on his face as he turned toward the Holy Priest.

"Y-You like...my daughter?" he asked with a forced smile.

"Yes, of course. She's extraordinarily beautiful and quite intriguing as well."

"...I...am...so...happy...you...think...so...!" my father said slowly through gritted teeth and varying pitches as he stared at the Holy Priest with a scary smile.

"She is quite blessed. As the Holy Priest, I have no choice but to take a liking to her," he replied.

I flinched.

It sounded as if he knew me somehow.

All of a sudden, Ace stood up from the dinner table with a slightly irritated expression on his face.

"...I've lost my appetite," Ace murmured before leaving the room with a blank expression on his face.

"Eh?" I asked.

Did something happen...?

"Oopsie. Ah...Did I somehow cause some sort of misunderstanding?" Gideon asked with a grin on his face.

He seemed to be really enjoying this.

"Oh, but when I said that I took a liking to Cordelia, I didn't mean it romantically, if that's what you all thought. I'm old enough to be her father after all," he explained.

"You..." my father murmured.

"Fufu~ I must have accidentally given poor Ace the wrong idea. Forgive me," he chuckled as he took another bite of his meal.

Something tells me that...he definitely did it on purpose.

"Hmm...that boy must be quite in a bad mood for him to leave so suddenly. Can you go comfort him for a bit, Cordelia?" he asked.

"Well...I..." I murmured to my father and Sophie.

Both of them were as confused as I was.

"Yes, of course," I said with a small dip of my head.

"Come back soon," he said with a mischievous grin, which he hid behind one of his hands.

Somehow I had a strange revelation.

The Holy Priest...

Was he just playing around with all of us?

Nah...it was probably just my imagination.

-------------------------------------------------

A/N: I've finally introduced the Holy Priest! This man will play an important role in the story, so keep an eye on him~

Also, for the first time in months, I finally checked my story stats on Wattpad! And...um...it came to my attention that 25% of all my readers are Filipino, which is second only to the 30% of my American readers~

So, I wanted to say thank you to all you guys out there~

Mahal na mahal ko kayong lahat! Salamat sa pagbabasa ng aking kwento~

...I don't actually know Filipino, so I used Google Translate for this...forgive me if there are any errors...haha~

And also thank you to everyone else who is reading my story overseas! You guys are amazing and I love you all so much~

Thanks, again, to all of my readers/voters/commenters! You guys are the best~

Stay safe, everyone!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2473