For a moment, there was a deep, heavy void of silence.

"Sometimes, you act strange, Grey...as if you're constantly trying really hard to not act suspicious. I know that you've told me before...how you've never kept a secret from me...but..." I murmured as I stared at the ground by my feet.

"...Do you not trust me, milady?"

I widened my eyes and immediately looked up to see Grey with his expression dark.

"No...! That's not it! It's just—"

"It's just what?" Grey said as he started to move toward me.

I choked on my own words as I watched him stop so close to me that I could feel his breath tickle the tops of my head.

"...It's just...I was w-worried...about y-you..." I whispered.

"..."

Grey didn't say another word for a very long time and I was starting to wonder if I had maybe broken him somehow.

"I know...I'm not as reliable or capable as you are, Grey, but...I just wanted to let you know that, if there is anything weighing on your mind from now on, you'll always be free to talk to me..."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

To be honest, I knew exactly how much of a hypocrite I sounded right now.

Especially since I've never once spoken to any of the boys about my secrets...unless it was against my will, of course.

"...I appreciate the sentiment, milady, but...I would prefer it if you wouldn't pry."

His words were sharp as if he were drawing a line between me and him that I could never cross even if I tried.

He felt strangely...

...lonely.

For a tiny second, I was unsure of how to answer him but, before I knew it, I had already reached out and gripped his hands in mine.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," I said as a faint, reassuring smile appeared on my face, "I'll wait until the day you confide in me yourself, okay?"

"..."

"I trust you, Grey," I finally added as I gave his large hands a light squeeze.

He was silent for a while before suddenly giving a long, heavy sigh.

He muttered something under his breath and shook away his hands from mine.

"Ah...sorry..." I was about to say before Grey took his free hands and wrapped them around mine instead.

"Milady, you truly are a hopeless woman. I'm starting to think I didn't raise you properly," Grey said with another sigh.

Then, he sighed again.

And again.

"Hey, wait a minute— Aren't you sighing a little too much here—?" I said before Grey cut me off once more.

"Milady."

"...Yes?"

"You're too defenseless."

"E-Eh? Excuse me?"

"It looks like..."

"...Looks like...what?"

"...I'll have to retrain you all over again."

I froze.

No...

No.

No.

Suddenly, my entire body from head to toe was doused in a horrible sense of dread.

"Wait...But. Why?! What did I do?!" I protested as I took a few steps back unconsciously.

...Grey had a very concerning black aura encasing him.

"And it's even more worrisome that you don't know what you're doing wrong..." Grey gave another sigh.

"Huh???"

"Men have hearts too, milady, so you shouldn't get into the habit of playing them."

"Excuse me???"

"Ah...I'm quite exhausted from all the pain you force me through every day. Should I try to get my revenge?"

"Revenge??? On who???"

"Why, who else would it be but you, milady?"

"..."

"Milady?"

"Ahaha...You're just joking with me...r-right?"

"Absolutely not."

"...Oh."

Honestly, I had no idea why Grey was suddenly acting so scary right now or why he was so upset with me...but I definitely knew that I didn't want to stick around him too long anymore.

"W-Would you look at the time!" I exclaimed as I looked up at the sky, "It's getting quite late and I promised my dad that I'd be back by now so...I'm just going to go—"

But it was too late.

Before I could even turn around and run away, Grey had already snapped his fingers and called upon his shadows to pick me up by all four limbs.

"Allow me to take you back, milady," Grey said with a dark smile.

"Haha...T-Thanks..."

Aha.

I am screwed, aren't I...

.

.

.

"Cordelia."

I flinched and turned around with my arms raised in defense.

"W-Who's there," I stuttered.

"W-Woah! Calm down, sis. It's just me," my brother, Ash, yelped as he gave a small jump back in surprise.

"Oh...thank goodness..." I sighed in relief.

"Why are you so jumpy today...?" my brother asked as he scratched the back of his head.

Suddenly, flashbacks of a very dark room and Grey's evil laughter flooded my mind and I gulped.

"N-No reason, Ash," I replied with a small shudder.

Never again.

I will never speak about Grey's hidden past again...at least for now.

"Hmm...well, whatever. It's not like I care anyway," my brother said as he rolled his eyes.

"Haha...So um...What are you doing now?" I asked as I began to walk beside Ash to see where he was going.

"Father put me in charge of his wedding's management so I'm planning on heading to the warehouse to check that all the materials and decor that we ordered are ready to be used," my brother sighed.

Now that I paid closer attention, Ash looked very tired.

It was as if he hadn't gotten a single wink of sleep for the past few days or so.

"Are you tired?" I asked him.

"Nah, I'm alright, sis...Once the wedding is over, I can just get as much sleep as I want," he smiled as he stretched his limbs a bit.

I admired Ash a bit.

Even though he always acted childish now and then, he was definitely a very hard-working individual.

"If there's anyone who could do it, it would be you, Ash. But just tell me if you need any help. I have too much free time these days anyway—"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT," my brother said loudly all of a sudden as he turned his body to face me.

"Eh? Why not??"

"You literally just woke up from a coma. What type of brother would I be if I made you work all day?!" he scolded me as if I had just suggested the worst idea known to mankind.

"I told you already! I'm fine," I emphasized with a groan.

"Nope. Not in my eyes. You aren't," Ash huffed.

"Humph. Sis-con," I said with my eyes averted.

"Wha- What?! When the heck did you learn to call me that?!" Ash gasped.

"Just now."

"I'm not a sis-con!!!!!" my brother yelled.

"That's what all sis-cons say," I teased.

"..."

Ash's cheeks were starting to burn so red from embarrassment that I almost started feeling a little guilty.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you, Ash. Do you want a hug as forgiveness?" I asked with a small grin as I held my arms out wide for him.

"Uh...! Who said I wanted a hug?!" my brother yelled with a small pout as he wacked away my hands.

Now he was starting to turn red from his ears to the nape of his neck.

He looked somewhat like a tomato.

"I hate you so much, sis," he said as he puffed his cheeks out in anger.

"And I love you so much, bro," I smiled.

"..."

"What's wrong?" I asked when Ash suddenly went as quiet as a statue.

"...I'm...I'm leaving..." my brother said as he quickly turned his head from me and run away so fast that I could barely wave him goodbye.

Before he left, I swore I could see his entire body, even down to his fingertips, red.

"O...kay...?" I murmured.

Hmm...I wonder why he suddenly left so fast...

Maybe he's just busy...

.

.

.

"Oh. There you are, Deux! I've been looking for you," I said as I stepped onto the rooftops of the manor.

It was extraordinarily well-lit tonight and millions of stars blotted the sky.

Duex, who heard me call out to him, turned his head toward me and blinked.

"How have you been today?" I asked as I took a seat right by him on the roof.

Without saying a word, he simply nodded his head and turned back up to stare at the stars.

"Can you see? Over there," I said as I pointed my finger in the distance toward the dark forest that surrounded the manor.

It was the same place I had hidden away Deux...when we were still young and running away from assassins.

"I would always bring you food, right? And we would always have the strangest conversations too," I chuckled a bit as I recalled all of the good times that we had.

"...You...did most of the talking though," Duex murmured as he moved his gaze over to the place I had pointed to.

It always felt strange hearing Deux's voice.

It was deep, yet soft, and very smooth to the ear.

He rarely ever said a single word and, when he did, it would almost always only be when he was alone with me.

But, I had a feeling that, if Deux ever spoke in front of others, anyone who was close enough to hear it would go silent.

That's just how powerful his voice was.

"Well, you aren't wrong. I talked a lot but...that was because you're someone I'm naturally comfortable being around," I smiled.

"..."

Suddenly, a thought came to me.

"...Hey, Deux. Do you want to come with me somewhere?" I asked him as I stood up, brushed some of the dust off from my clothes, and held my hand out to him.

"...Where?"

"There's someone we both haven't visited in a while," I murmured.

"..."

Something flickered behind Deux's eyes and he slowly reached his hand out to mine.

"Let's go," I smiled.

Within moments, both Deux and I leaped off of the manor's rooftops and began to leap through the forest.

Neither of us needed to ask for directions because we knew exactly where we were heading.

As we ran, I noticed a small patch of light purple flowers growing in a small clearing of the forest and decided to pick them up from the earth.

Using my creation magic, I created a thin white ribbon and wrapped them around the flowers into a small bouquet.

I carried them with me, holding them carefully against my chest so that they wouldn't be damaged by the wind.

Then, in the short distance, I could see a small grassy hill and a large stone placed at the very base of it.

Engraved on the stone were the words: 'Here Lies Mattius. The Embodiment of Youth and Innocence. A Complete Soul.'

Deux was already there when I arrived with my flowers.

He was kneeling by the stone, completely silent.

And I couldn't even see his face to see what type of expression he was making.

"We came to visit, Mattius," I whispered with a smile as I stepped over to the makeshift grave and placed the bouquet of flowers that I had collected by the base of the stone.

The flowers were oddly beautiful somehow and I began to feel a little drowsy as I knelt by Deux's side.

"It feels so strange..." Deux murmured.

"Huh?"

"...It's like I'm looking at my own grave," he concluded.

"..."

"I don't..."

"Deux..."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

His voice sounded so weak that I almost started to wonder if it was a mistake to bring him here again.

I didn't say another word that night.

And neither did Deux.

.

.

.

I lit up a candle with a small matchstick and placed it on the corner of my desk.

It was currently very late at night and Deux and I had just returned from our small trip to visit Mattius.

I clicked my tongue as I scanned through every document...every last ounce of evidence that I had of the Marquis and Marquess' corruption.

"I need to take those pieces of trash out as soon as I can," I murmured to myself quietly.

After seeing Mattius' grave again, the embers of revenge were reignited once more and I felt the burning hot urge to slice the throats of everyone related to that sick couple.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," he said, his voice shaking in both guilt and regret.

I gripped my hands.

'Here Lies Mattius. The Embodiment of Youth and Innocence. A Complete Soul.'

I slammed my hands against my desk and stood up, a small ache forming in the back of my head.

"I should have gotten rid of the Marquisdom years ago," I muttered as I bit the nail of my thumb.

Dang it.

I took too many detours.

Greenwood Academy.

The Dragon Labyrinths.

Returning to Earth.

While I was doing all of that, the Marquis and Marquess must have been spending all of their time enjoying torturing their subjects and reaping the benefits of their misdeeds.

Slowly, the gears in the back of my mind began to turn and I felt the outlines of a plan form in the back of my mind.

There was no more time for delay.

"I'll make sure they're all dead by the end of the month," I chuckled as I jotted down everything that I needed down on a piece of paper.

Once I was satisfied, I threw the paper into my storage for safekeeping and was about to turn around to go to bed before I bumped into a very broad chest in front of me.

"E-Eh?!" I gasped as I leaped back a few steps.

I couldn't sense their presence at all!

"Cordelia...?" a familiar voice asked.

"Ace?" I murmured in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

The man who had managed to sneak up on me without me even noticing was actually Ace all along.

"..."

"What's wrong, Ace?" I asked when I noticed he had gone completely silent.

"..."

"...?"

"...This whole day, you didn't come to see me even once..." he said as his voice slowly trailed off.

Eh?

I blinked my eyes a few times.

"...So I just wanted to see...if you were maybe...already asleep or not..." he said a bit awkwardly and scratched the back of his head as if he were a child that got caught doing something bad.

"..."

"I'm sorry...I didn't think you were still awake...so..." Ace murmured as he covered the bottom half of his face a bit.

It was quite dark, so I really couldn't tell, but I had the sneaking suspicion that he was blushing.

"Pfft," I accidentally snorted.

"..."

Eventually, I couldn't hold it back anymore and began to laugh without any restraint.

Oh my...

The boy I fell in love with is so cute.

"It's okay, Ace. I'm not mad," I said with a wide grin as I tried to hold back the last few bits of laughter I had left.

"..." Ace gripped his own collar before asking, "Are you teasing me...?"

At this, I had burst into more laughter before finally calming down.

"Well...maybe a little..." I said with a small mischievous smile.

"..."

"So...What are you doing up so late, Ace?" I asked him with a small cock of the head, changing the conversation.

"I should be asking you the same question, Cordelia," Ace sighed.

"Oh...I just had a bit of work to do...My father's marriage is coming so..." I muttered.

"I see...You shouldn't be working too hard right now, Cordelia. You've just barely recovered after all," Ace frowned with concern clearly etched onto his face.

"Ugh...I'm alright! I promise, so don't worry," I groaned before giving him a reassuring smile.

"If...you say so..." Ace reluctantly sighed.

"So? What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you up so late, Ace?" I asked him.

"...Ah."

"Huh?"

"It's nothing much. I just haven't been sleeping very well for these past few days," he replied with an apologetic smile.

"What? Why?" I asked him, suddenly very worried.

"It's nothing you have to worry about, Cordelia. I promise," Ace murmured as he brought his face close to mine and gave me a small peck on the forehead.

I blushed a little bit before growing a little irritated.

This man was clearly trying to take my mind off of his problems.

"No...How could I not be worried? Just tell me what's wrong..." I pouted as I gave a small tug on his sleeve.

It was at this very moment...

...that I realized that Ace was wearing nothing but a night robe.

When I tugged on his sleeve, his collar dipped along with it, revealing his perfectly smooth, chiseled chest underneath.

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

A/N: AHAHAHA~ I have no idea why I decided to end this chapter here of all places but I did...so...

Wooo! Ace's abs! Yay!

And also, oh my god, while writing this chapter, I got hit by so much nostalgia that it was crazy. I was like— All of the old, original male leads that I haven't written anything about for the past few months just came back to haunt me or something. I don't know.

Also, I said last week that I would make a second character description chapter for you guys to refresh your memory but then I completely forgot— I'll try to have it done by tomorrow or something! Maybe! ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Anyways, thanks again to all of my readers/voters/commenters for everything that you do! Honestly, I love y'all so much that you guys can't even imagine it. I know I may act mean sometimes *but* I still love you!

Stay safe, everyone~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2700