"M-Mattius?!" I yelled in shock.

"Y-YES IT'S M-" Mattius was about to stay before Ash wrapped his hands around his throat.

"...Shut. Up. Now," Ash threatened slowly with dark eyes.

"Wait! Stop it, Ash! He can't breathe!!!" I yelled as I watched everything.

"Good. He doesn't need to," Grey said as he twisted his shadow magic until Mattius' feet turned purple.

"DIDN'T YOU TWO HEAR ME?! I SAID TO STOP IT!" I yelled as loud as I could.

Using my illusion magic, I made it so Mattius looked like he was on fire.

Immediately, Ash let go of Mattius' throat in shock as Mattius became enveloped in a fake fire that I had created.

"AAAAHHHHH! I AM ON FIRE! H-HELP ME!" Mattius screamed in panic.

"Don't worry!!! The flames aren't real! I'm using my illusion magic!" I yelled as I canceled my magic.

"Cordelia, don't help this piece of trash," Ash said with furrowed brows on his handsome face.

"Why?! He didn't even do anything wrong! He just...snuck into a girl's bedroom while she was asleep...and acted like he was going to kidnap me!" I explained unconvincingly.

"...Milady...you don't understand anything...please, don't try to argue against us," Grey growled.

"Where's Ace?! He needs to help me stop the two of you!" I yelled at the two of them.

I was about to touch the dragon's mark on my ankle before Mattius yelled to stop me.

"WAIT! P-PLEASE! DON'T SUMMON T-THAT M-MONSTER!" Mattius screamed suddenly.

"It's okay! Ace isn't going to hurt you! He'll probably help you out an-" I tried to say.

"HE WILL KILL ME! THAT THING IS A MONSTER! IT'S A BLOOD-THIRSTY BEAST!" Mattius screamed again in his panic.

"What did you say...?!" I gasped in surprise.

"THAT THING IS A MONSTER! PLEASE DON'T SUMMON IT!" Mattius begged again.

"I'm sorry...I don't think I heard you correctly..." I chuckled.

"DON'T SUMMON THAT BLACK-HEARTED MONSTER!" Mattius said as he tried to escape.

"...Black-hearted monster...?" I repeated.

"Y-YES! P-Please...Please don't summon him!" Mattius shouted.

Excuse me?!

Did he just call Ace a black-hearted monster?!

Ace is the most peaceful living thing I've ever met!

The only time when Ace is ever violent is when I'm hurt!!!

...But...suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped 20 degrees.

"......Are you talking about me...?" Ace said from somewhere inside my room.

Mattius' eyes grew as wide as golf balls when he heard Ace's voice and he began to struggle to escape.

"I-I n-need to g-go!" Mattius stuttered as he attempted to break free again.

Unfortunately for him, he was weak.

Actually...

Mattius wasn't weak.

He was just average.

He wasn't like a male lead at all.

"Didn't I warn you about coming near Cordelia before...?" Ace said again from somewhere inside my room.

Even though I could hear Ace's voice...I couldn't see him.

"I'M SORRY! I-I THOUGHT THAT I C-Could..." Mattius cried before his voice trailed off.

"...What did you think you could do...?" Ace asked.

For some reason, even though Ace's voice wasn't raised at all, it still sent shivers down my spine.

The temperature dropped a few more degrees.

"Ace...!? Where are you?" I asked out loud.

There was no reply back to me.

Then, I realized.

Ace was directly behind Mattius the entire time.

"Get out of this place, now," Ace growled behind Mattius' head directly into his ear.

"I'M TRYING TO LEAVE BUT I CAN'T! M-MY H-HANDS AND F-FEET ARE TIED!" Mattius yelled.

Immediately, Grey walked up to Mattius and bent forward to move his face as close as he could to Mattius' own face. Grey tilted his head slightly so Mattius could only see his eyes.

I swear Mattius almost wet his pants.

"I'll give you five seconds to get out of my sight...or else I might have to clean blood stains out of milady's carpet and bedsheets, okay?" Grey smiled as he released his shadow magic.

Ash groaned to himself and released his plant magic on Mattius too.

"Get out of here before I change my mind," Ash threatened as Mattius swiftly stumbled out of my room through the window.

Mattius didn't even bother to say goodbye.

After a brief silence between all of us, Ash broke the silence.

"Why did we just let him go?! We could've captured him for trespassing and ended his life," Ash grunted as he punched my bedroom wall in frustration.

"Are you kidding me?! You guys looked like you wanted to kill him!" I yelled at them.

"It's because we did, milady," Grey smiled(?)

"You don't understand anything, so shut up," Ash scolded me.

"Why are you guys yelling at me?! Don't you guys understand what you just tried to do...?!" I yelled in exasperation.

"No...it's you who doesn't understand anything..." Ace said slowly for me to hear.

"Excuse me?! Me?! You're saying I'm the one who doesn't understand that YOU GUYS TRIED TO KILL THE POOR GUY?!" I yelled in anger.

"Shut up, sis! We might've just saved your life, okay? You might've die-" Ash tried to say before Grey used his shadow magic to wrap around Ash's mouth to stop him from speaking.

"Young master, I request that you stop talking..." Grey murmured toward Ash with dark eyes.

Were they trying to hide something from me...?!

"What are you guys trying to keep a secret from me?!" I said as I raised my voice threateningly.

"Grey...Ash...Please leave," Ace murmured out loud.

Both Grey and Ash did not move from their spots. Instead, they looked at Ace as if he had grown two heads.

"...Excuse me for saying this, but I only work for and obey milady. I can not follow the orders of anyone else, no matter who they may be," Grey said coldly.

Ace didn't say anything because he knew Grey was right.

"Just listen to him, Grey. Both of you need to get out now," I intervened.

"Milady, you can't jus-" Grey tried to stay before I stopped him.

"Leave," I repeated sharply.

"Sis, you don't know enough...just sit down and listen to us," Ash pleaded.

...Did he basically tell me to just let them boss me around...?!

"No. Get out, now, before I blow a fuse," I said as I pointed a few ice shards in their direction.

Out of all of the magic that I could use, the one that I found the easiest to use was my ice magic. I don't know why...but it was just...easy to control.

"You don't know what you're doing, milady. Just let us handle all of the work an-" Grey tried to say before I yelled at him.

"No! I don't want you guys to always act like you need to protect me all the time! I'm not a snowflake! I'm not weak!" I yelled.

I hated it.

I hated how everyone around me treated me like a child...how everyone treated me like I was a useless princess.

"Sis..." Ash pleaded one last time before Grey shook his head at him and they both left.

Only Ace and I were left in the room.

I looked at Ace and he looked at me.

"..........Ace...it's been a while since we've had a talk like this...right?" I said awkwardly.

"...Yes...it has..." Ace replied.

Ugh.

This was so awkward!

"...Is there something you're hiding from me...?" I blurted out the question I had on my mind.

".....Do you remember everything that happened at the royal festival a few years ago...?" Ace asked me as he moved closer to me.

How could I forget the royal festival?

It was like my life took a slight turn that day.

I gained a new friend, Deux, that day...but...I lost the most important friend I had in return.

"Yeah...That was a pretty crazy day, right?" I said as I thought back to that day.

By any normal circumstances, remembering a specific day that happened over five years ago is impossible.

It shouldn't be possible.

But for some reason, I could remember that exact day just like it happened yesterday.

"You were eating too much food that day..." Ace joked as he also reminisced about the past.

"How the heck do you remember that? I thought no one would remember how much money I wasted that day...for that delicious food..." I chuckled as I slightly drooled.

Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten anything today yet.

I'm hungry.

"How could I forget...? Grey had to threaten you in order for you to stop eating," Ace smiled.

"...I remember. He was so mad that day..."

"He looked as if he was about to destroy the entire festival."

"I know!!! I thought he was overreacting, to be honest."

"I don't think so...I would've been mad too if I had to poison check all of the food you ate."

"Actually...now that I think about it...you have poison magic too, right? Why didn't you help Grey poison check my food...?"

Ace coughed in reply and tried to change the subject.

"...Let's talk about something else, okay...?" Ace said with an awkward chuckle.

I started to giggle out loud.

"You sneaky brat!" I yelled as I tackled Ace from the air onto my bed.

Both Ace and I began to laugh as we realized how stupid we were acting.

It's been so long since I've had a good laugh with Ace before.

"...Can't we talk like this every day from now on...?" I asked him.

"..." Ace stayed quiet.

"We can get along again! If we could just..."

"No."

"You're being unreasonable!"

"Cordelia..."

"Ace. Why can't you talk to me? I won't know what you're thinking until you tell me..."

"...Some things are never meant to be said, you know?" Ace replied with a sad look in his eyes.

Ace...Why do you always look like you're in pain when you're around me...? I can't understand the meaning behind your eyes.

Is there something you need to tell me?

"Ace...Even if you can't tell me why you refuse to talk to me...Can you at least explain why you guys hate Mattius?"

To be honest, I didn't even care about anything Ace had to say about Mattius.

I just wanted at least some clues about why everyone, especially Ace, was acting so weird.

"...Back then...when we were separated......"

"What happened?!"

"...You were gone."

"Well, yeah. Duh."

"No...you weren't just gone...you didn't exist anymore..."

"Pfft. What do you mean by that? Last time I checked, I exist."

"Cordelia. Listen to me. No one in the group could remember who you were. All of our memories together were erased..."

"Umm, what...?"

"Even though you were gone. Even though I was already keeping my eye on you. Even though everyone around us was looking for you...you couldn't be found...Your existence faded away."

"Maybe you all received amnesia at the same time............."

"Cordelia...We didn't. Our memories of you were forced out of us by someone."

"Who was it?"

"...It was...Mattius."

"Huh? Did I hear you wrong? I swear that I heard you say Mattius of all people. Pfft. I must be going deaf because there is no way that dude would ever try to-"

"Cordelia...don't you trust me...?"

Wait.

Was Ace being serious...?!

"Mattius!?" I yelled again to make sure.

Mattius is weak.

He's like super weak.

Is Ace basically telling me that everyone got messed up because of him...?!

"Cordelia...he isn't good for you. He's trying to kill you. He's so lucky we let him go...All of us wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill him. He can't be trusted...Can you...believe...me...?" he rambled.

Wait...I'm confused.

Ace is not kidding, is he?!

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

A/N: I finally got a laptop! I've been basically begging my parents for one ever since I've been writing 2,000-3,000 words a week~ It's basically an early Christmas gift for me!

Anyway, on another note, I have around ten more days until my finals! After that, my chapter lengths should be back to normal~

I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me again!

So...thank you to everyone who read/voted/commented!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2000