I was momentarily in shock when I saw this boy's abs. Luckily, I think I was able to recover fairly quickly...maybe.

Jeez...this is so unfair.

How the heck does he have a six-pack when I've been training for five years without being able to get a two-pack...?!

"W-Wow..." I breathed out in a creepy pervert voice.

Technically, even though I have a mental age of about 25 years old, my body's age is about the same as his...so I'm allowed to react like this...right?!

It's not illegal...right?!

"H-How...?! This is so...just...wow," I muttered outloud by accident.

"I know..." the boy replied shortly after my comment.

Huh...I didn't know that this boy liked bragging about his abs so much...

"...the wound is bad," the boy continued.

Oh...he was talking about his wound...not his abs...

Whoops.

I almost forgot that he was on the brink of death...

"...Anyway...How did you get this burn?!" I asked him, finally becoming worried about his condition.

"..."

He didn't answer my question. In fact, he completely ignored me.

"Alright...let me start treating you. It might hurt a little, but it probably wouldn't be any worse than what you feel right now," I warned him.

The boy just nodded his head. The hood and mask covering his face made it difficult for me to see what expression he was making.

...I wonder what he looks like. Since his face is covered, I can't figure out who he is...

Maybe I'll ask him to take off his mask and hood later...I need to treat him right now though.

Using my water magic, I rinsed his wound and, later, gently dried it using a soft towel that I created from my creation magic.

I cautiously dabbed the towel on his wound to get rid of any water or excess blood and carefully applied an antibiotic. I needed to make sure that he wouldn't get an infection later on.

The boy stiffened as I added the antibiotic onto his wound. I'm sure it probably stung a little.

"Just hang in there," I commanded him.

"..." the boy remained silent.

"I'm going to add something that will relieve your burn next, okay?"

Using my creation magic and the library in my head, I created a type of burn relief and gently rubbed it onto his burn.

While I was doing so, I may have accidentally grazed over his abs...multiple times.

...I think that I've become a pervert. Wahhhh...my poor innocence that never existed has died...!

After I finished rubbing the burn medicine onto him, the boy began to relax a little.

"Alright. Can you sit up for me?" I asked him as kindly as I could.

The boy complied and slowly got himself off of the ground.

Using my creation magic again, I created a roll of bandages and some cloth. I first used the cloth to cover the wound and then used the bandages to wrap around his body.

When I finished, the boy moved his shirt down properly and turned to look at me.

"Thanks," he said curtly.

"No problem...So...uh...Do you have anywhere you can go after this?" I asked slowly.

"...No," he replied after a long pause.

"That isn't good...Your wound needs a little attention every day in order for it to heal properly," I said with a sigh.

This honestly wasn't a good situation for him.

...And...I want to leave him alone...but I can't do that...

Ugh...this has become more troublesome than I thought.

"I'm going to assume that you don't want anyone to find you...right?" I said slowly.

The boy slowly nodded his head.

Great...I can't take him back to my home...My father would notice him right away...

I guess...I'll just need to hide him somewhere...

"Judging by how fast you were running away earlier and how you have ridiculously unfair abs, I'm going to give you a choice," I said after a small pause.

The boy stiffened as he waited for me to elaborate.

"You can either stay here and fend for yourself...or I can try to find someone trustworthy to care for you," I said in a serious voice.

From what I could see so far, this guy was far from weak. If anything happened to him, I was sure that he would be able to care for himself.

"..." the boy stayed silent as if he was dissatisfied with both options.

"Look...I know that both options are incredibly bad, but they're the only options you have. So...which one will you choose?" I asked.

"..."

"We don't have all day. I need to head back to my group soon so that they can help my dislocated leg. In case you've forgotten, I'm injured too!"

"..."

"Argh...If you don't make a decision now, I'm just going to leave right now!" I yelled as I tried to stand up.

Whoops.

As I was standing up, I remembered that my leg was broken...A huge flare of pain in my leg caused the knee in my other leg to buckle.

I stumbled back to the ground and the boy caught me.

"Th-Thanks for catching me," I stuttered.

I blushed to myself.

Jeez...that was so embarrassing. I just had to fall after yelling at him...

Then, I realized that I was literally sitting in his lap since he caught me.

"Oh. Sorry...let me get off of yo-" I tried to say before he cut me off.

"Stay," he said straight into my ear from behind as he stopped me from getting off of him.

...Huh...?!

I tried my best to move away from him, but he held me back by wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Let go of me now!" I yelled at him as I struggled to push him away.

I tried to get away from him, but my dislocated leg was making it difficult to properly struggle and the boy had an iron hold on me.

"No," he answered bluntly.

What does this kid think that he's doing?!

"Why in the world are you doing this?!" I questioned him loudly.

"..."

The boy didn't answer and continued to stop me from escaping.

"Seriously...Let. Go. Of. Me. I'm not going to run away!!! If you don't let me go now I will PINCH your wound," I said threateningly.

After a little bit, the boy let go of me. I quickly scooted off of him and moved as far away as I could from the boy.

"...Alright...anyway, what are you going to do?! Are you going to stay here on your own or are you going to let me find someone to care for you?!" I asked again.

"..."

"You're going to have to answer me at some point..."

"...Neither," he replied after a long pause.

"Huh...? What the heck does that mean...?" I questioned him in my confusion.

"I'm not choosing either."

"What do you mean by that?! It's not possibl-"

"I'm going with you."

"Wait...WHAT?! You can't do tha-"

In one quick motion, he moved over to me, took his hand, and lifted my chin up to his face.

"Do you think anything you say will stop me?" he said calmly with a sharp look in his eye.

For the first time, I noticed the color of his eyes. They were the only part of his face that weren't covered.

His eyes were the lightest shade of blue you could think of. But even though they had such a light shade, they were able to pierce right through me.

It was cold.

His eyes had no warmth at all. It was almost...scary.

"Y-Yeah...my bad. I shouldn't have tried to let you go on your own..." I stammered unknowingly.

"..."

The boy ignored what I said and let go of me.

"...So...you want to follow me all the way back to where I live?! That's almost impossible to do without getting caught!" I yelled at him.

"I can do it," he said with confidence.

For some reason, even though I couldn't see his face and knew that he was only a boy my age, I kind of believed him...But there was no way that I was going to risk the life of someone I JUST SAVED.

"I live two hours away by carriage. If you want to follow me, you'll have to walk the entire way back on foot," I said, trying to convince him to stay in the capital.

"..."

"Not only that but I'll be going home with some other guys my age...If you didn't know, everyone with me is almost like a monster..." I explained.

I'll be riding a carriage with Grey, Ash, and Ace. All three of them are overpowered and would know immediately if anyone was following us.

Obviously, the boy in front of me doesn't want to be discovered by anyone. So if he wants to follow me back, he'll have to walk and stay completely hidden from them.

It's impossible.

"So what...?" the boy replied nonchalantly.

"Did you not hear me just now?! I'm telling you that it's almost impossible!!! You should give up and stay he-"

"No."

"B-But you might get caught an-"

Before I could finish what I was saying, I felt shivers down my spine.

The boy in front of me was emitting a scary aura.

And when I looked deeper into his eyes, I could see them intensely glaring at me.

What the heck did I do to get him so mad?!

"Let me follow you," the boy said in a sharp manner.

"B-But...Ugh. FINE! You can follow me! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" I yelled as I gave up.

"Yes."

"UGHHHHH! Alright...Give me a moment to suppress my bloodlust for you before I BLOW UP!" I screeched.

This kid was extremely pushy, rude, stupid, and just...ugh.

"Okay," he replied.

I don't know about you guys, but his short replies are getting on my nerves.

Who the heck does this kid think he is?!

"ANYWAY, I'm going to call for some help now...so just hide as best as you can or something. If you're caught by my friends at any point during the day...I'll pretend I don't know you and leave, okay?" I briskly told him.

The boy nodded his head and disappeared.

He just disappeared into thin air.

How the heck did he do that?!

"...H-Hey...Are you still here?" I asked quietly towards the place he was at before he disappeared.

There was silence in the air as I waited for him to reply back.

"Yes," he replied...behind me.

"AHHH! IT'S A GHOST! I'M GONNA DIE [AGAIN]!!!" I screamed as I turned around in a defensive pose.

When I finally realized that there was actually no ghost, I calmed myself down.

"H-How the heck did you get behind me?! You j-just disappeared into thin air so I assumed tha-" I murmured before being interrupted by the boy.

He pulled me closer to his body and lifted my chin to his face.

"I don't need to tell you, right?" he said sarcastically with his piercing eyes.

"R-Right!" I stammered back.

He let me go and promptly disappeared again.

Wow...I guess he has an okay chance of following me without getting caught by the other male leads...

"So...Um...I'm just going to call for my familiar real quick...So...uh...yeah..." I awkwardly said out loud into the empty alley around me.

I rubbed the small dragon's mark on my ankle to call for Ace.

It began to glow in a beautiful golden color.

Then, I waited for Ace to come pick me up.

Within five seconds, I could feel the wind shift.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ace fly towards me at high speeds. He seemed to be unusually panicked for some reason.

When he stopped flying, he froze and examined the area around me.

He looked at the cracks in the ground that were left from the grenade I threw. He observed the two psychos' still-alive bodies on the ground.

And after a little moment, his gaze landed on my horribly twisted leg.

He was completely silent as he stared at my dislocated leg.

"H-Hey there...buddy. Um...If it's possible...Can you not tell Dad what happened?" I said with a sarcastic chuckle.

"..."

"...Ace? Are you okay?" I asked after a brief moment of silence between the two of us.

"...After getting yourself hurt...you're asking if I'm okay...?" Ace murmured.

Um...Is it just me...Or is Ace acting a little different than usual right now...?

"Don't worry! I still remember that if I die, you die too. So, you don't have to worry about me accidentally killing you...You can trust me," I tried to reassure Ace.

"You don't understand anything, do you...!" Ace said with anger and disbelief.

"What do you mean?! It's a part of our contract that we will die at the same time, right?!" I asked with confusion and irritation.

Does Ace think I'm an idiot?

For an incredibly long time, there was silence between us.

"...Do you think I even care about our stupid contract?!" Ace yelled.

Huh...I don't think that I've ever heard Ace raise his voice before.

"...Are you okay, Ace?" I asked with worry.

"You..." Ace said while shaking his head in disbelief.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

Suddenly, Ace snapped.

Within milliseconds, he bit my hand, licked my blood, and became a human.

"OW! Why did you bite me?!" I yelled.

When I looked up, I saw Ace transform into a human boy.

It's been years since I have seen Ace in his human form...and he's grown so much.

His baby face had grown slightly more mature. He still looked like a kid though...but he was definitely more handsome.

"I'm sure my small bite doesn't hurt as much as your leg," Ace said with a snarl.

He gripped onto my hand that he bit and began to lick the wound.

"W-WOAH! HOLD UP THERE!" I said loudly in a little bit of shock.

"Stay still...I need to heal the bite..." Ace said quietly as he continued.

...Why the heck is Ace acting so weird?!?!?!?!

Also, where and when did he learn to act like this?!?!?!?!

Did I raise him wrong?!?!?!?!?

He could've healed the bite without using his tongue...right?! Or can he only heal wounds by licking them...?

...Please tell me that he isn't going to try to heal my broken leg. I think that if he starts healing my twisted leg the same way he's healing my hand...I'll die.

When he completely healed my hand, he looked up to face me straight in the eye. He continued to hold onto my hand and looked at me with an emotion I couldn't describe in words.

"Be honest with me...Who do you consider me to be...?" Ace asked seriously.

"That answer is obvious. You are undeniably my bestest friend and the person I trust the most," I said confidently with a smile.

"...If you understand that...why don't you understand this?!" he yelled through clenched teeth.

"What are you even talking about?! I won't understand what you mean until you say it clearly!" I yelled back in frustration. My previous smile was disappearing.

"...Why do you think I stay by your side!?" Ace asked with a shaky breath.

"...So that I don't accidentally take you to death with me?" I answered with a little sarcasm.

"Be serious, please...Cordelia..." Ace said while shaking.

"...What's going on, Ace?! Why are you acting like this?!" I yelled at him.

Was he possessed or something?!

"...I see...You won't tell me how you feel..." Ace said with a dark look.

He moved off of me and let go of my hand, but still stayed in his human form.

"...Ace...?" I asked with a little bit of confusion.

"Hey...Cordelia...I'm sorry," Ace said with a sad look in his eyes.

"...What?"

"Let's just go back, okay?" Ace said as he turned away from me.

...No...

"You're not going anywhere, Ace."

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A/N: Whew! Another chapter has been completed~

I hope you guys liked this chapter! The identity of the boy is still hidden though, so you guys will probably have to wait a little longer to know who he is.

Also, for all of the Ace x Cordelia shippers, how do you guys feel about this chapter? Honestly, while writing this chapter, I had no idea how you guys would react. I hope it was good enough to make you guys happy~

The official male lead has not been confirmed yet either, so please feel free to ship her with anyone you like!

Anyway, thanks for reading/writing/commenting!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2742