A/N: ATTENTION ALL READERS!

In commemoration of Another Life, Another Me reaching ONE MILLION reads, I have updated not one, but TWO chapters today~ The total word count is a little over 8,000 words~

Please read the chapter after this one if you have the time!! (Not like you guys will be able to stop yourself from doing it anyway...haha...)

Also, please read the special announcement after both of these chapters that I will update soon! Trust me, you won't regret it~

Alright, enjoy these chapters!!

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"Oh! Good morning, my dear Cordelia. Who would have thought that I would bump into you so early in the morning?" Gideon laughed amicably as he walked over to me.

He bent forward and reached out for my hand, just how a gentleman would, but, before he could even touch me, I was quickly pulled out of his reach.

"Back off," Ace growled menacingly to Gideon with a very frown on his face.

Ace didn't even attempt to hide his contempt for Gideon at all and, instead, held me inside of his arms as if he would never let me go, even if the sky were to split in half.

"It looks like someone isn't particularly in a good mood today. Forgive me. I must have done something wrong to make you upset," Gideon apologized sincerely(?)

Hmm...

Maybe it was just me, but I could almost see lethal electric sparks flying between the two, even though one of them, Gideon, was smiling.

"I don't need an apology. Just don't ever show us your face again," Ace said with a big frown on his face.

"...Ace...?! Why are you being so rude today...?!" I whispered loudly as I tried to catch his attention.

Slowly, Ace turned his head down to look at me and gave a small pout as if though I were the one in the wrong for not being able to understand...!

"You have to treat him with more respect, okay?" I whisper-yelled as I lightly patted his hands that wrapped around me.

"...Do I have to?"

"Yes...!"

"..."

And with that, Ace turned his head toward Gideon with a small frustrated pout and gave him a very sharp glare.

"Ace...! That's not how you act polite!!" I scolded him.

Then, with a very hesitant expression on his face, as if though he really had no other choice, he opened his lips.

"...Hi," Ace managed to say through gritted teeth.

There was silence for a while as both Gideon and I waited for Ace to continue...but after that, Ace didn't say another word.

At this point, I gave up all hope for a good relationship between Ace and Gideon.

It simply wasn't possible.

"Ahem. Yes, good morning, my dear Ace," Gideon said as if though he couldn't sense the hostility that was radiating from Ace's piercing glare.

And, as if though he had suddenly turned deaf, Ace gave no acknowledgment to Gideon and, instead, nestled his face into my hair as though he were pleading me to quickly end this conversation.

I blushed at his childish actions and gave an awkward cough as I tried to control my breathing.

"Oh my...How regrettable...I didn't bring any popcorn with me..." Gideon mumbled underneath his breath.

"Eh? Popcorn?" I questioned.

"Ah...yes, it's a new snack that has been becoming quite popular as of lately among the common people, I heard," Gideon smiled wistfully as if he were reminiscing about some sort of unknown past.

Hmm...But I wonder why Gideon was craving popcorn right now of all times...

"Oh, if you're hungry, would you like to join me and Ace for breakfast, Gideon?" I asked politely.

I could feel Ace's arms stiffen a little around my waist at what I said and I gave a small exasperated sigh.

If he wasn't going to willingly get along with Gideon, then I was going to force him to.

Humph.

"I would absolutely love to, my dear Cordelia! And as soon as we are done, let's have that private tea party we were talking about yesterday, okay? It can be just you and me," Gideon agreed as he added emphasis to a few random words.

"Yes, of course," I agreed quickly.

For some reason, the air felt a little chilly after that, but I had no idea why.

"Let's go get breakfast now, okay, Ace?" I asked as I turned my head up to see him looming above me from behind.

Suddenly, the chilly air disappeared as if it was never there in the first place!

"Mmm, yeah. Let's go get you something to eat," he smiled as he gave me a little squeeze.

Then he picked me up straight from the ground and walked away from Gideon with me in his arms.

Of course, since Gideon agreed to have breakfast with us, he began to follow Ace with a carefree expression on his face as if he didn't care about a thing in the slightest.

But Ace, who was determined to leave Gideon behind, started to walk at an increasingly faster pace while taking unnecessary random turns here and there to confuse him.

At some point, we were traveling at Mach speeds and were zooming around the manor without a single care in the slightest.

I, who couldn't understand why Ace hated Gideon so much, gave a small exasperated sigh and simply sat in his arms to enjoy the ride.

It was like a rollercoaster...

...If rollercoasters ran at speeds of Mach 10 per hour, had the sharpest and most dangerous turns, and probably needed a signed death waiver before riding...

But, somewhere in the back of my mind, I completely believed that this "super-deadly rollercoaster ride" wasn't dangerous at all—that I was completely safe.

So, rather than being scared, I started enjoying myself.

"FASTER!! WOOOOOOO!!!" I screamed with a loud burst of laughter.

At this point, we had probably circled the manor at least eighty times, and Ace, who chuckled at my screams of excitement, actually sped up until we were traveling so fast that even I couldn't keep up!

For a moment, I forgot that we were being incredibly rude to Gideon, but oh well.

Since when was I one who cared about formalities anyway??

Screw etiquette!

But all good things have to come to an end at some point, so eventually, Ace's running slowly came to a stop, and, for a moment, we were both silent as we both took a few gasps of air to calm down.

I looked up at Ace and he looked down at me.

And, with that, we broke out into joyous laughter at what we had done.

"What? This is the first time I've ever seen you tired out!" I laughed as I pointed out his unstable breathing.

And with a small raspy chuckle, he replied, "I didn't want to let you go, you know."

"Are you calling me heavy???"

"No, rather, it's the opposite. You're so light that I'm afraid you're going to fly away if I'm not careful," he replied with a concerned expression on his face as he gave me a little pinch on the cheek.

"What?! That's impossible!! You, out of all people, should know how much I eat on a daily basis!" I complained as I started to angrily poke my belly.

"I know...that's why I'm confused. Where does all that food disappear to?" he asked with a humorous smile.

Humph.

If I knew the secret to my insanely high metabolism, I would've already written it down on paper and sold it to make an absolute fortune!!

"Is it just me...or do you two have the most extreme path to reach the dining room?" a voice said from behind us.

When Ace and I turned our heads, we could see the oh-so-beautiful Gideon standing in the center of the hall in all of his glory.

"2,893 flights of stairs...8,749 right turns...6,017 left turns...Surely you two could have just simply walked directly here? Or perhaps it would have been more efficient to break through all of the walls without needing to take a single turn?" he asked as he recounted all of our actions.

I stared at him with my mouth agape.

He was following us the whole time?!

No...

More than that...

He was counting too?!?!?!?!

"Well, if that's the path you two take every morning before breakfast, I'm sure the both of you must be famished. Now, let's go inside and eat, shall we?" Gideon said with an innocent smile as he entered the dining room first with a content expression on his face.

Even when the door gently closed behind him, I was still speechless...!

This man...!

"...Don't think about him too much..." Ace murmured as he pulled my attention away from Gideon.

"I don't understand...! How in the world was he able to do that...?!" I finally gasped.

There was a large gap of silence for a while until Ace finally decided to reply.

"...It's no big deal," Ace mumbled.

"What?" I asked.

"I can run much faster than that...so fast that he would never be able to catch up...I was just afraid that you'd get hurt..."

"I-Is that so?"

"Mhm...So don't think about him too much. Okay?"

I nodded my head and gave a reassuring grin to confirm that I would do exactly as he had said.

"Instead...you only need to think about me. It's easy, right?" he murmured quietly with a cheeky grin.

"You make it sound like I don't already think about you all the time—" I blurted out by accident.

What...in the world...did I just say...?!

What the heck is wrong with me...?!

H-How embarrassing...!!!!!

And, thanks to my unexpected confession, the both of us were quiet as Ace struggled to come up with words to say.

"...Do you?" he asked, his voice a little lower than usual.

He sounded shocked but, at the same time, a little expectant...a little hopeful for something.

"W-Well...n-no...I mean...y-yeah..." I stuttered as I felt my face growing hot.

"..."

For a moment, he was completely silent as if though a sudden revelation had just hit him.

But then he shook his head as if though he couldn't believe it.

"...No...that's impossible...this is Cordelia that we are talking about..." he muttered in a voice so quiet that I could barely hear it.

"Ace...?! Are you okay?" I asked out of concern when I noticed that his breathing had suddenly grown rough and unsteady.

"..."

"Ace...?"

But instead of responding, he clenched his hand over his chest and looked up to me with an indescribable emotion burning in his eyes.

His gaze was so intense that I felt as if though all the oxygen in my lungs had been sucked out of me.

I was unable to move or even speak as if though he were bounding me tightly with his eyes alone.

"Hmm...But, Cordelia, you see, I'm a very greedy dragon. Just being inside your head isn't merely enough for me to be satisfied..." he whispered as he tightened his embrace around me.

"H-Huh?" I blinked as I was suddenly pulled away from my trance.

"I want to engrain every single last ounce of my being...in here..." he smiled as he pointed his index finger directly into the center of my chest, where my heart was.

I looked at where his finger grazed my chest and an indescribable emotion welled up in me.

But...you already do...

I could feel it.

His very essence was already gently etched into every corner of my heart.

A part of me wanted to tell him that but...I was confused.

Very confused.

Why would he...want my heart...?

"Umm..." I tried to open my mouth to speak.

...But I was interrupted before I could even try to ask Ace why.

"Oh, I would have loved to give you two some more time but our breakfast has been sitting on the table for a while now and I'm worried it'll grow cold before we even have a chance to take a bite...!" Gideon called out as he suddenly peaked his head out from behind the dining room's door.

"Huh? Oh...yeah...breakfast..." I murmured as I suddenly remembered why we were here in the first place.

Shoot...we had kept Holy Priest Gideon waiting for too long...!

"Let's all hurry inside, okay?" Gideon asked with a smile as he ushered both Ace and me into the dining hall briskly as if he couldn't wait any longer.

Without protesting, I sat down in an empty seat at the corner of the table and gestured for Ace to sit by me.

But, before he could, Gideon intercepted and took it before Ace had a chance to.

"Oh well...It can't be helped...My dear Ace, why don't you sit over there?" Gideon said with a playful chuckle as he pointed to the opposite side of the table.

Clearly, Gideon was doing everything in his ability to annoy Ace.

But Ace, who was noticeably tired of Gideon's shenanigans, didn't move a step from where we were standing and gave a forced smile.

"No...It's fine. I don't need to eat anyway. I'll just stand here," Ace said through gritted teeth as he stepped over to my side.

"Really? Well, that's fine too," Gideon nodded happily.

"Wait...but won't that be uncomfortable, Ace?" I asked as I glanced back and forth between Ace and Gideon.

"Don't worry. I can stand still for a few weeks without feeling tired," Ace said truthfully as he absolutely refused to move.

He stared daggers at Gideon as if though the holy priest had done something utterly unforgivable.

While the two of them were failing to get along as always, I took a look at what the menu was for breakfast.

Just like dinner last night, the amount of food was very meager in comparison to usual, thanks to the presence of the frugal Gideon.

But, it smelled absolutely wonderful...!

There was a main dish of rich, apple risotto topped with bacon that had both a sweet, yet filling, scent.

On the side, there were a few Japanese dishes (since this was a Japanese otome game world after all) that consisted of creamy omurice and some humble onigiri—both of which were simple, yet delicious, dishes.

And, as a drink, there was an assortment of warm milk, water, and some refreshing apple juice on the side for us to choose from.

My mouth watered at the sight of it all.

"Thank you for the meal!" I cried out in bliss as I immediately scooped the first bite of risotto in my mouth.

And, just like magic, the risotto melted away in my mouth, coating my tongue in its fragrant flavor and leaving behind a lovely aftertaste of sweet apple.

As I chewed, I realized that there were small pieces of diced, soft apple that was intertwined with the risotto, leaving behind small bursts of apple-sweetness here and there on my palette, heightening my sense of taste.

Of course, I didn't forget about the creamy omurice on the side and immediately used my spoon to scoop a large spoonful of the fried rice below the omelet and took a bite.

It was wonderful.

The egg was wonderfully creamy and it was coated in a very rich demi-glace sauce that watered my tongue and had me desperate for more.

And, when the egg was mixed with the masterfully-made fried rice, it tasted absolutely heavenly—it was undescribable...!

I quickly finished both the risotto and the omurice without much thought and, once I was done, I drank an entire glass of warm milk to easily digest it all.

But, I wasn't done yet.

There was still a plate of untouched onigiri that was simply waiting to be devoured by me.

I grabbed a few of them and, with a single bite, my mind was blown away.

Each onigiri was filled with a different stuffing that ranged from pork, chicken, to even cheese...!

Eating each of them was like going on an exciting adventure—with each being even more exhilarating than the last.

Finally, when there was nothing left, I gave a small content sigh.

(A/N: Hahaha~ I don't know if y'all can tell, but I am HUNGRY. ლ('ڡ'ლ))

I didn't even notice the two pairs of eyes staring at me.

"I...never expected her to be so hungry. Is my dear Cordelia...always like this?" Gideon asked Ace with a slightly bewildered expression on his face.

"What makes you think I'd tell you...?" Ace muttered in reply childishly as he kept his lips sealed.

"Ah...I see," Gideon nodded as he ignored Ace's blunt remark, "...but...I don't understand...Where does all that food go?"

There was a small pause as Ace debated on whether he should answer or not.

"It's...an unsolvable mystery," Ace finally opted to reply.

I had no idea what the two of them were talking about but, from the looks of things, those two are finally starting to get along...!

Although the improvement in their relationship seemed to be going as fast as a snail's pace, it was still improvement nonetheless!

"Why are you smiling so brightly, my dear Cordelia? Did something good happen recently?" Gideon asked once he had finished the last few bites of his food.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing," I quickly shook my head.

"Are you sure, my dear Cordelia~? It seems as if though you are hiding something-"

But before Gideon could finish, I could hear the footsteps of someone nearing the dining room.

The footsteps were light and delicate as if though they belonged to a fairy.

When the dining room's door opened, a hooded priest, wearing white and gold robes, walked into the room and immediately took notice of Gideon.

Then, without hesitation, the priest walked over to Gideon and whispered inaudible, even for me, in his ears.

Suddenly, Gideon's expression completely switched from a carefree smile to a dark frown.

"Are you sure?" Gideon questioned the hooded priest with a stern, unhappy look on his face.

The hooded priest nodded and Gideon gave a deep, heavy sigh as if though it were something that couldn't be helped.

"Forgive me for asking, but did something happen?" I asked, a little concerned.

"Ah...Unfortunately, it seems like something urgent has come up and I must quickly return to the Holy Land. It looks like I won't be able to attend our private, little tea party as we had planned," Gideon pouted in utter disappointment.

"Oh, no, it's fine. I'm sure you must be busy...When do you need to leave?" I asked.

"Immediately."

"A-Ah...Well, if that's the case, I'll call for my father, the Duke, and his fiancee to send their regards before you go," I said politely as I stood up from my seat and waved for a random maid to do as I asked.

"Yes, thank you, my dear Cordelia. Hmm...How about we reschedule our little tea party at a later date?" Gideon asked with a warm smile.

"Huh? O-Oh, no! It's fine," I shook my head immediately.

I would have to be insane to schedule a private tea party with the Holy Priest out of all people...!

"Well then, we'll likely meet again at the Duke's and Lady Sophie's wedding. Good day, my dear Cordelia," he said as he briskly left the room as if he really had no more time to waste.

Hmm...

...I wonder what could have happened to make him need to leave so suddenly...?

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A While Later

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In the far distance, I could see Gideon's carriage being pulled away by a pair of snow-white horses with golden manes.

Gideon was truly like a storm—he always comes and goes as he pleases.

"FINALLY!!!" my father screeched the moment Gideon was far away enough.

"W-What is it?!?!?" I yelped in surprise at his loud outburst.

"I CAN FINALLY SPEND SOME TIME WITH MY SWEETIE!" my father cheered with joy as he turned to look at me with glittering, expectant eyes.

"Stop it, Alastair," Sophie frowned.

"What? Why-"

"Cordelia is going to be spending some time with me. We need to have our own bonding time, you know," Sophie interrupted with a wide grin.

"B-B-But!!!" my father stuttered in shock.

"Is there something you want to say?" Sophie asked with one of her brows raised.

".................no, ma'am..."

"Fufu~ That's what I thought," Sophie laughed as she easily secured a victory against my father.

Ahem.

Did they forget to ask me, the person in question?

They decided it so easily without even asking me...

"H-How about I spend some time with father tomorrow then...?" I asked as I tried to find the best middle ground.

"YES, PLEASE!!!" my father quickly agreed with a furious nod of the head.

"Hmm...Well...I guess that'd be alright too," Sophie pouted.

I gave a small sigh.

Honestly, these two were almost too difficult to deal with at times.

"Let's head inside then. It's quite cold today," Sophie said as she stared up at the cloudy sky.

"Mhm, I agree. Let's go, okay, sweetie?" my father gestured for me to follow.

I nodded my head and gave a small thumbs-up in return.

But first...

"Hey, Ace. Let's go inside," I said as I turned to the man who stood behind me.

For some reason, he didn't respond as if though he were unable to hear me and, instead, stared off into the unknown distance.

"Are you watching Gideon's carriage...?" I asked as I followed Ace's line of sight with my eyes.

"...No. That's not it," Ace murmured absent-mindedly.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down from dozens of miles away and I flinched a little at the loud burst of noise.

Lightning...?

How strange...

"Let's go inside before it starts raining, Ace," I said as I took in a deep breath of the air's earthy scent.

But Ace didn't move an inch and all I could do was stare at him, confused as to what he was thinking.

"Cordelia...that's not normal lightning..." Ace murmured.

"What? What is it then?" I asked.

Ace bit his lip as if though he were deep in thought.

"...Florence. Florence is coming."

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A/N: MWAHAHAHA~ LET THE DRAMA BEGIN!!!

Ah~ Don't you all just miss Florence as much as I do~?

Luckily, I decided to update TWO chapters today, so y'all won't even have to wait a single second to see what happens next~ Feel free to read the next chapter whenever you have time!

Hmm? What's this? Do you want to know why I decided to do a double update today...?

Well...

It's because...

THIS STORY REACHED ONE MILLION READS A FEW DAYS AGO!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!! WE MADE IT, GUYS!!!!



Needless to say, I was literally crying when I saw the number switch from 999k to 1M. Did I ever think I'd ever get this many views? No. Do I think that I even deserve 1M views? Probably not, no.

Some of y'all must really have some bad taste in stories...I can't believe you guys have read mine until this far, to be honest...ಠ⌣ಠ

BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!

Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF MY READERS/VOTERS/COMMENTERS!! I have never felt happier this week, so thank you so so so so so much!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH~~

Alright, please read the next chapter if you have time!

Stay safe~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 3909