I carefully followed the sound of footsteps that were gradually moving away from me at a very fast pace.

Without even thinking, I closed my eyes and simply followed the hardly noticeable pit-a-pat sound of his walking as I turned left and right through the halls easily.

Sometimes, it was easier to see with my eyes closed.

Eventually, I heard Ace's footsteps stop somewhere a few halls away and paused as I calculated where he might be.

Could it be...

My old room...?

Slowly, I blinked open my eyes and lightly skipped through the familiar hallways until I reached a nostalgic door.

Since it was technically my room, I didn't feel the need to knock and simply opened the door without a word.

The old door creaked a little as I pushed it open and the light from my room flooded the dark hallways.

"Ace~" I called out as I peeked around the door with a small childish giggle.

On the other side, Ace, who sat on my bed and didn't look surprised in the slightest by my appearance, turned his head away from me.

"...What's wrong?" I asked, slightly worried that I might have done something to offend him.

"..."

"Hmm...?"

I tried to step into his field a vision multiple times but, no matter what I did, he continued to turn his head from me.

Was he possibly...pouting??

The perfect and mature Ace was...pouting??

Slightly intrigued by the side of Ace that I didn't see often, I reached out my index finger and poked one of his puffed-out cheeks.

It felt soft and a little bit squishy.

"Hehe..." I giggled as I continually teased him by poking him here-and-there all over his face.

"Mmm..." Ace mumbled unhappily, completely passive to my neverending barrage of lethal attacks.

"Is something wrong?" I asked as I took a seat right next to him.

"...No."

It was such a blatant lie that I nearly gave a chuckle but, thinking that it'd be rude, I clamped my mouth shut and simply hid a sneaky smile behind my hands.

"Did the food taste bad earlier?"

"...No."

"Are you sick?"

"No..."

"Are you going through a phase...?

"No...!" Ace shook his head adamantly at this, which made me giggle in surprise.

What in the world was going through this man's head???

"You know, if you don't tell me, I'll never know," I said with a big sigh as I plopped onto my old bed.

For some reason, even though the palace beds were made of the finest quality materials, the beds of the duchy felt so much better in comparison that I nearly drifted off to sleep instantly...!

How dangerous...

"Are you...sleepy?" Ace asked as he noticed me struggling with drowsiness.

"Ugh...yes, but I can't fall asleep now. I still need to head back to entertain Holy Priest Gideon..."

"..."

Without another word, I was ready to hop straight out of bed and get ready to go back to business but, before I could, Ace held me down lightly with one hand on my stomach to stop me.

"...What's wrong, Ace?"

"..."

"What? Why are you being so quiet?"

"..."

"If you aren't going to say anything, let me go. It's rude to keep Holy Priest Gideon waiting for too long," I said sternly as I tried to brush away Ace's hand.

But, quickly after I did, Ace placed his hand down on me once more.

I brushed away his hand again...

And again...

And again...

Again...

"Agh! Why the heck are you doing this?!" I complained as I gave up.

Ace can win this battle...but I will never let him win the war...

"...There's no need for you to go back there. Just go to sleep. I'm sure none of them will mind," Ace finally said.

"What- Ace...! You know that's not true," I gasped.

Ace stared wordlessly at me as if though even he did not know what else he could say.

"Ever since Holy Priest Gideon arrived, you've been acting weird, Ace. Look, he's a bit eccentric, but he doesn't seem to be a bad dude and-"

"...I don't like him."

"Excuse me?"

"He's hiding something. I can tell. He's not a good man."

"Hiding...? What would he be hiding?"

"I don't know. I just don't like him. So don't talk to him anymore, Cordelia."

"Well, even if you say that...he's still the Holy Priest. And he hasn't done anything wrong either. I still have to treat him well as a guest," I said.

"..."

Ace had a sour and bitter expression on his face as he gritted his teeth a little.

"Is there a reason why you dislike him?" I asked after noticing his upset expression.

"I don't dislike him."

"Oh?"

"I absolutely hate him."

"Oh..."

What in the world did Holy Priest Gideon do to get Ace so upset??

"Is it because he was being a little bit rude earlier...? When he introduced himself..." I murmured.

"No. I couldn't care less about that."

"Then did you not like the way he acted at the dining table?"

"..."

Ace didn't deny what I said, so I naturally assumed that I was right.

"Did he say something you didn't like, Ace?"

"..."

"Well, I do admit he was acting a little strange, but that was all. He was actually quite polite you know. But that's to be expected, of course. Anyone with his caliber of beauty would probably be very good at handling girls. Even I was nearly swept off of my feet by the mere sight of him...!"

"..."

"Besides, he's a very powerful man, Ace, so even if you don't like what he says, you still have to nod along and agree. Although most of the things that come out of his mouth are absolute nonsense, I think. He called me 'very beautiful' earlier. Can you believe it???"

"..."

"He, out of everyone in the world, has no right to call someone beautiful. I mean, just look at him...! He supposedly worships the gods, but to be honest, he looks exactly like one. You have no idea how annoyed I was when-"

"Cordelia."

"What is it, Ace?"

His eyes were glazed with something dark and scary as he called my name.

And his hands, which were gently resting on my body to keep me from sitting up, slowly moved to the side of my head as he gracefully brushed some of my hair behind my ear.

But still, his fingers felt cold.

It was as if though his magic were subconsciously leaking from his body.

"Do you like it?"

"Like what?"

"When he praises your beauty like that. And blatantly flirts with you. Do you like it?" he asked, his voice in a low murmur.

"E-Eh??? Flirting??? He wasn't flirting with me!" I immediately shook my head.

"That's not what I asked, Cordelia," Ace said, a quiet growl unconsciously escaping his throat.

Flirting...??

The Holy Priest...??

To me...??

"He's over three times my age, Ace...!" I squeaked.

"Well...So am I...!" Ace replied.

"...Eh?"

"Eh?"

Ace, who also realized he said something strange, quickly placed one of his hands over his mouth and blushed.

I mean...I always knew was much, much, much older than me but hearing him say it directly from his mouth was a little weird.

Just a little.

"W-Well...ever since I made my contract with you...your body regressed into one of the same age as me...! We're going to live and die at the same time...so it doesn't count, right?" I asked with an awkward laugh as I avoided his eyes.

"Y-Yes, you're right. It doesn't count..."

"R-Right..."

And then we were enveloped in very awkward silence.

"Ahem. Let's head back, shall we?" I gestured as I tried to stand up.

"Don't wanna," Ace replied childishly almost instantaneously.

"What? Oh, come on...! We can't sit around here forever, you know," I whined as I pulled on him to get off of me.

"Do you like him that much? The Holy Priest?"

"No...! Oh my god, Ace! I swear...!" I answered loudly.

The one I like is you...!!!

If only you could understand that...life would be so much easier...

Creak.

Out of nowhere, the door to my room creaked open, which awoke my defensive instincts immediately.

Since there were no weapons around, I prepared my magic instead.

Who was it...?!

I didn't even sense them coming...

All of a sudden, a cold chill erupted down my back and I quickly turned my head in shock toward Ace.

"Who's there," Ace called out in an extremely frightening voice.

The temperature of the room dropped to degrees colder than ice, causing my teeth to slightly chatter.

No way...

Even Ace looked surprised.

From the looks of it, Ace probably didn't sense their arrival either...

Is that even possible...??

To sneak past even Ace's defenses...

Who could it be-

A buzzing noise along with a low rumble shook the manor as Ace stood up from my bed slowly and stared at the door.

"Answer me. Who's there?"

His eyes flashed red as he glared at an unknown figure, who stood directly outside of my bedroom door.

Ace was mad.

He was mad, mad.

Well, I guess it's understandable...

It's not every day that he comes across someone who can erase their presence to the point that even he can't tell.

And that one-in-a-billion person just used their ability to sneak up on us when we were least expecting it.

"La~ Vida~ Sola~ Vi~ Viviras~ La~ Vida~ Sola~ Vi~ Viviras~" a voice hummed as he opened my bedroom door slightly and peeked inside.

It was Holy Priest Gideon.

"Oh, hello again, you two. I'm sorry...Did I happen to scare you somehow?" he asked as a small friendly grin appeared on his face.

I nearly collapsed on the ground in relief that it was just him.

Wait...

No...

This isn't something to be relieved about.

Holy Priest Gideon...how was he able to walk all the way to my room without either me or Ace noticing?

Ace never let his guard down once around Gideon but, realizing that the Holy Priest wasn't here to cause any harm, he calmed down and his red eyes flickered from an angry shade of red to a calm shade of green.

"Fufu~ So you two were hanging out together in this room the whole time," he chuckled as he opened my door completely and asked, "May I come in?"

Of course, I had no reason to refuse, so I simply nodded my head and Holy Priest Gideon easily waltzed into my room.

He explored every nook-and-cranny of my room with his eyes.

"Forgive me for asking, but where are my father and Sophie?" I asked as I paid no mind to what he was doing.

"After we finished eating, the two of them escorted me to my temporary room here. Of course, after they left, I decided to sneak outside and explore," he laughed innocently as flowers bloomed behind his head.

"Explore...? If that was the case, I would have gladly offered to escort you-"

"Oh, there's no need to worry, Cordelia. Exploring loses its charm and fun if it's not done in secret. Do you understand?" he asked me with a smile.

Sometimes, I can't tell whether Gideon is a mature adult or an immature child wanting to play.

"I don't leave the Holy Land often, so only in rare cases like this am I allowed to freely roam," he explained with a sigh as he placed on hand on his cheek.

Hmm...A life like his certainly sounds very restricting.

"If that's the case, I'll schedule a time for us to have tea tomorrow. It would be nice to drink some hot tea on cold days like these," I said with a small respectful curtsy.

"Oh~? Will it be a tea party for just you and me, my dear Cordelia?" he asked as he lifted up a lock of my hair and gave it a kiss.

Then, he gave a merry laugh as if though he were enjoying this situation much more than he would have imagined.

Ehhhh??

I could feel a rush of blood flow to my cheeks.

Surely, any woman would blush in this situation.

After all, with all the years of my past life and this life combined, I would be around the same age as Holy Priest Gideon...!

So it was natural for me to feel a little bit giddy around him...

Giddy...

Gideon...

A smile formed on my lips as I figured out the perfect nickname for the Holy Priest.

'Giddy-on' is what I'll call him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look absolutely ethereal when you smile?" the Holy Priest asked as his face became dangerously close to mine.

Immediately, I erased the smile on my lips and took a large step away from him.

"Forgive me. I must have spaced out a little," I apologized.

"Fufu~ You're so defenseless, my dear Cordelia. It makes scary wolves like me just want to eat you up," he smiled as he reached out for my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine.

"You..." Ace murmured as he finally joined the conversation.

"What is it, my dear Ace?" Gideon smiled coyly.

"Stop it."

"Oh...? Stop what? Could you be more specific, my dear Ace? I don't quite understand," he said as he gave a small helpless pout.

If looks could kill, Gideon would have already been ripped to shreds.

A frightening cold aura enveloped the room as Ace stared at Gideon as if he were debating whether or not to kill him.

Why in the world was Ace so upset today...?!

I've never seen him this mad before...!

And we've been around plenty of weird people...!

So why does only Holy Priest Gideon get on his nerves...?

"C-Calm down, Ace-"

"Cordelia," Ace said sharply as he interrupted me and added darkly, "Step away from that man."

I was extremely confused by the current outcome but, after noticing the unbearably cold and icy expression on Ace's face, I decided to listen to him.

"No, no. Stay with me, my dear Cordelia," Gideon murmured into my ear loudly enough for Ace to hear as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, pushed me closer into his chest, and smiled.

"Let go of her, now," Ace growled.

"I don't wanna," he sighed childishly as he leaned his head on top of mine.

"You..."

"If you want her so much, why don't you take her from me yourself?" Holy Priest Gideon challenged Ace with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"What did you say...?" Ace murmured.

"Teehee~☆"

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

A/N: Whew~ That's it for this chapter! The oh-so-powerful Gideon seems to be having a lot of fun. Who knows what he's planning at this point? Will he become the catalyst to make their ship sail? Or will he be the one to ruin it all? Find out soon in the next chapters~ ;)

Also, Ace is getting a little jelly these days...I wonder why~?

Let's just hope Ace doesn't turn out to be another Florence 2.0 by the end of all of this...

Hmm. Although...some of you more...kinky...readers might enjoy a second yandere. Maybe I should-

Ahem.

Don't worry I was just joking. Ace will stay as Ace...haha................hah...yes.

Anyways.

Every week, before I upload my chapters, I scan them through Grammarly to check for any minor mistakes I could have made. And, normally, ten or so impossible-to-see errors pop up and I fix them. But. This week. When I put this chapter through Grammarly...zero errors popped up.

Can you believe it?! My chapters are always over 2000 words long. Honestly, I've been writing so long that my brain automatically spell-checks and grammar-checks everything, I guess...Welp. It's not like I'm complaining though!

Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters! I love you all so much~

Stay safe, everyone!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2441