"Take me there. Now," I said as I kicked my chair out of the way and walked over to Florence.

"I can't right now. Give me a few minutes to prepare a carriage an-"

"That's not enough time. I'll go there myself," I said sharply.

I was impatient and Florence's words were giving me too much hope...a feeling that I thought I had lost long ago.

"No, you can't. Someone has to be there to keep watch on you," Florence said as he held my shoulder to stop me.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to go missing again, so you don't have to overreact whenever I want to go somewhere," I tried to say calmly, but the words that left my mouth came out louder than I expected.

Florence seemed to pause for a moment at my words.

He looked angry.

"...Overreacting...?" Florence asked me, his face turning dark.

"Yeah...I promise I won't suddenly go away," I said, pushing his hand off of me.

He didn't seem to know the right words to say.

"No. You're not going by yourself until I make all the necessary preparations. I don't care what you say. The last time you went missing out of nowhere...it was..."

"I'll be okay, I swear. If anything happens, I know I can protect myself," I said seriously.

"That's not the point. Do you know...how much it hurt when you left...?"

I bit my tongue.

"I'm...grateful that you cared so much when I went missing...but I'm back now..." I murmured.

"...I can't...I can't move on...and I never will..." Florence said as he stared at me.

There was nothing I could say to Florence to calm him down.

He seemed extremely upset, and even though I knew why, nothing I could have said would've change anything.

"Just give me five minutes...no...two minutes to get you a carriage and some escorts...please..." Florence murmured.

I couldn't say no to him.

"...Fine," I sighed.

Florence looked relieved for a moment before he looked up to me with a teasing grin.

"If that's the case, maybe I should be my lovely fiance's escort to-"

"Hurry up, Florence."

He chuckled a bit, a small cheeky smile on his face, before running off.

.

.

A While Later

.

.

"I know...you don't like letting me leave on my own...but can I at least...visit Ace alone...?" I asked Florence, who was leading me to the room where Ace was.

"...Sure."

He didn't look too happy.

"Thanks," I said as I breathed out in relief.

I didn't hesitate to rush down the halls to find the room in the very corner of the building labeled with Ace's name, leaving Florence behind.

As I ran, there was a strange feeling in my chest.

I had no idea what I would do or what I would say, and eventually, I reached the room where Ace was meant to be.

I hesitated to open the door, even though I desperately wanted to see him and I mentally prepared myself by patting down all my clothes and straightening my aqua pigtails with my fingers.

My hand began to sweat a little as I swung open the door slowly.

It was quiet inside and the room was lit up with some sort of magic.

My eyes wandered to the single bed in the back middle of the room.

And there he was.

Ace.

He was sleeping silently on his bed, breathing softly.

For someone who was in so much pain a few days ago, he had such a peaceful expression on his face.

He was probably so exhausted that he couldn't help but drift off to sleep right away.

And I didn't want to wake him up, since I was sure that he was tired, so I found a nearby seat to sit down on by his bed.

It felt a little strange watching Ace sleep so well, especially since he was in so much pain the last few dozen times I visited that he could barely even tell I was in the room with him.

But now his breathing was slow and steady, and I could see his chest rise and fall heavily as if it had been a while since he had breathed properly.

My eyes grazed over his closed eyelids, his lips which were slightly open as they worked to gasp in much-needed air, and the way his pale thin fingers curled naturally as he slept.

His long legs stretched out over the covers and his long hair, which had not been cut for months, flowed onto the sheets.

The person in front of me was so beautiful that no perfectly crafted sculpture or any piece of art could compare.

To be honest, I had no idea how long I stared at him for.

I found it difficult to look away, so I forced myself to look down instead.

But then I felt the soft gaze of someone on me.

I looked upward almost immediately.

His crystal emerald eyes blinked a few times...

...And he took in the sight of me from the tip of my toes all the way up my legs, from my hips to my shoulders, from my collarbone all the way up my neck, and every inch of my face and down my hair.

It was like he was eating the sight of me.

And when his eyes finally stared into mine, I felt like time stopped for a moment.

We locked eyes for a long time without saying anything.

I never knew silence was so blissful.

No words needed to be spoken and none were said.

I teared up a little from my seat and I covered my eyes with embarrassment.

"I'm...sorry about this...haha...I'm sure you didn't want to see my cry like this after waking up...so..."

Ace's finger twitched before moving, almost as if Ace was struggling to move his own body the way he wanted it to.

He reached his hand out and wiped all the tears from my eyes.

"Welcome back...Cordelia," he murmured.

His voice was horribly weak and dry, but the words that left his lips were so strong and warm.

"What are you talking about...I should be saying that to you..." I laughed as I grabbed his hand, which was about to fall back down to the bed.

I did my best to hold back my tears and give him a bright smile, but my eyes began to tingle a little and drip tears without my knowing.

Ace continued to stare at me without saying anything, trying to absorb the sight of me crying even though I didn't want him to.

I wanted to tell him to stop...that it was embarrassing...but I didn't.

"Don't cry...please..." Ace said softly.

"How can I...not cry...?" I asked with a small broken chuckle.

I missed him so much.

Unconsciously, I gripped his hand a bit too hard and he flinched.

"S-Sorry," I said quickly as I placed it gently back on the bed.

Ace looked embarrassed as if he didn't mean to show the pain on his face.

"No...it's fine..." he murmured as he gazed into my eyes.

"Mm..." I nodded.

I had never seen Ace so vulnerable and weak.

"When did you...come back...?" he asked me gently as if he were trying to make sure I didn't feel bad.

"...About...two months ago?" I said with uncertainty as I counted the months.

It took Ace around three months to recover.

If only...if only I came back sooner...

Ace turned his head from me to the ceiling and covered his eyes with his wrist.

"I'm so...glad..." he murmured quietly.

Even though Ace's words were so full of kindness, I still felt guilt mixed in with the feelings of happiness in my chest.

"...I'm sorry...Ace..." I said slowly as my throat tightened.

He turned his head toward me, frowning at my words.

"Why...are you sorry...?" he asked me as he stroked my hand with his.

I turned my head upward to him quickly.

"It's my fault...you...wouldn't have been sick...if...I came back sooner...then..." I mumbled.

Ace paused for a moment, taking the time to listen to my incoherent mumbling.

Then he shook his head.

"It wasn't that bad...it hurt more...not knowing if you'd come back...or not..." he grinned at me weakly as he held my hand.

My heart squeezed.

Even though I knew that he was over-exaggerating, I still felt happy hearing those words come from him.

Why...was he still so nice...?

I sniffled a little before I returned his smile.

"I heard...you got your memories...back..." I said quietly to try and change the conversation.

Ace gave a small chuckle, which made my heart flutter a little.

"Yes...well...kind of...it's all a little fuzzy...but if I try...I can remember a few things..." Ace replied as he continued to stare into my eyes.

"R-Really?" I asked him, my voice accidentally squeaking a little from happiness.

Ace nodded his head slowly and moved my hand from his side and onto his chest.

I could feel the warmth of his body and the slight thumping of his heart.

For some reason, his heartbeat was much quicker than usual, but I simply assumed it was because he was just finally starting to recover after months of pain.

"I'm...sorry...for hurting you. I said so many cold things to you...back then...all because I couldn't remember you...I'm sorry..." Ace murmured, his eyes looking slightly away from my eyes as if he regretted the past.

I was shocked.

Why would he feel the need to apologize?

He couldn't even help it.

"Don't apologize...Besides, you became much sweeter near the end," I said sincerely as I smiled, remembering the fun times we had.

Ace paused for a bit, a sour look appearing on his face.

It was as if he was irritated over something.

"...Lucky bastard..." he mumbled in such a quiet voice that I couldn't quite hear him.

"What did you say?" I asked him, confused.

Ace just shook his head.

He slightly blushed suddenly as if he were embarrassed.

"...That person...wasn't me though...that was just...a shell...with no memories..." he mumbled as a baby pink color flushed his cheeks.

I didn't know why he was so embarrassed, but I found it horribly adorable.

"I-I see..." I stuttered since I was distracted by the look on his face.

"U-Um...So, why did you go missing?" Ace asked slowly as he tried to change the conversation.

"I...well...fell into this pit and went on to train underground and then I met a drago- Oh...! I nearly forgot to tell you...I think I may have met your mother..." I said.

Ace widened his eyes in disbelief.

"...What?" he asked me.

"Y-Yeah...she was this giant gray dragon with these huge wings...she had the same light blue horns as yours too...and..." I tried to describe as my voice trailed off.

...and I saw her die.

"And...what...?" Ace asked, his eyes showing just how confused he was.

"A-And...um...she asked me to tell you hello..." I mumbled.

Ace stayed quiet and seemed to be deeply thinking about something.

"That's...not possible..." Ace said quietly.

"Huh...? Why not?" I asked.

Ace bit his lip before replying.

"My mother committed suicide decades ago."

I froze.

That couldn't be...

"I'm sorry to hear that...O-Oh...maybe she wasn't your mom then...she never told me who her son was...so I just assumed..." I said quickly.

Ace shook his head.

"No...your description...matched her perfectly..." he mumbled.

"I...see..."

He stayed silent as he thought over everything that brought him to this moment.

But then he sighed.

"I'm sorry...My mother was very wise but...she was quite...impulsive. If she wanted to do something...she would just do it. Was she the one...who took you?" Ace asked me.

"Are you...upset...?" I asked him quietly.

He froze a little, slightly nodding his head.

"I'm just...confused. I swear...I saw her body but...it happened in my childhood...and it has been so many years that...I don't understand. Why would she take you...? Did she even think...why..." he said quietly in slow phrases.

He seemed to be struggling to communicate properly, just like how I struggled to speak after leaving the caverns.

But...he was still doing his best to talk to me like normal...

"It's okay...I understand..." I said softly as I squeezed his hand.

He smiled at me gently.

"How is...my mother these days...?" he asked.

I paused for a moment and I started fidgeting with my fingers.

"...She's...not..." I murmured as I turned away from Ace.

He seemed to understand almost immediately.

And he also squeezed my hand with his weak strength.

"It's okay...I get it..." he replied giving me a small grin to show that he was fine.

I looked down, unable to stare him in the eye.

He stared at me for a while without saying anything.

Eventually, he gave me a frown.

"...What's wrong...?" I asked quietly with worry as he seemed troubled over something.

Without saying anything, he sat up slowly and looped one of his arms around my back and the other around my legs as he picked me up straight from my seat and lifted me into the air.

"H-Hey...! Wai-"

"...You're so light."

"...A-Am I...?" I asked as I tried to free myself without hurting Ace, who was already so weak.

Ace nodded his head to my question easily, but he didn't let go.

Instead, he brought me closer to him from the air and sat me down on his thighs softly so he could take a closer look at me.

I blushed at our position.

"...Have you been eating...properly...? I don't think I've ever seen you this thin..." Ace said.

Honestly, I couldn't even pay attention to what he was saying since his warm hands were gently holding both sides of my hips.

"Cordelia...? What's wrong...Are you sick?" he asked me as he weakly bumped his forehead onto mine to check my temperature.

I grew even redder by the second.

We were way too close and I could smell a soft scent of grass and clouds coming from him that I couldn't quite describe.

And he was so close that his soft lips were just an inch or two from mine.

My eyes locked onto his lips and I felt a slight urge to kis-

I stopped myself right then and there.

What in the world was I thinking...???

Mentally, I should be a woman in her thirties...!

...I wasn't some teenage girl...even though I physically was...

"Um...No, I'm not sick...Don't worry," I replied unnaturally slowly.

Ace still looked horribly worried and I felt guilty because the one who should be more worried than the other is me.

He was the patient and yet, why was he worried about me?

"How about you...? Are you okay...?" I asked him as I tried to turn the topic of the conversation to be about him.

"I'm fine...What about you?" he asked as he completely turned it back on me again.

"I'm good too...Are you sure you're okay?" I asked once more, trying to gear the conversation on him.

"Yes...I'm definitely fine now...Even though I'm like...this...I can lift you so easily...Are you sure you aren't sick?" he asked gently.

My attempts were futile.

We went on like this for a while and every time I tried to bring his well being into the conversation, he always immediately changed it back to me.

It was like we were playing an impossible game that had no winner.

I wanted to tell him to shut up and let me worry about him, but he gave me no chances to.

And I had no idea whether he did it on purpose or not.

Ace stopped for a moment to stare at me and I looked back questioningly.

He began to smile softly as if he just realized something extremely good.

"What is it?" I asked him, completely confused.

"You've...stopped crying," Ace replied with a small happy chuckle.

My heartbeat sped up at his words.

Me...The only one he's been talking about this whole time was me.

"Y-Yeah...I guess so..." I said awkwardly as I scratched the back of my head.

I was still sitting on the upper part of Ace's thighs facing toward him.

He...didn't even realize how embarrassing this position was...

...Was it because he was a dragon?

"I missed this so much," he said as he embraced me and brought me down to lay with him.

"W-W-What in the world are you doing...???" I stuttered quickly as my mind went blank.

Our positions changed and now I was lying next to as he held onto me gently, staring deeply into my eyes.

"Hmm?" Ace questioned as he became confused by my reaction.

"W-Why...???" I asked quickly as I scrunched myself up into a little ball.

This wasn't good for my heart at all.

"Didn't we...used to always sleep like this...? Although...you were the one always hugging me while we slept, " Ace chuckled as he brought up the past.

I wanted to slap myself again.

In the past, when Ace was always in his small dragon-form, I would always hug him every night as a stuffed teddy bear to fall asleep comfortably.

But it was different now.

Extremely different.

Especially since he looked like a man.

And Ace had no idea why.

"N-No...you're right..." I mumbled awkwardly with a nod.

"Is something wrong...?" he asked slowly as he became concerned for me.

I shook my head.

Even though I was turning into a red tomato and my head was screaming at me to escape, there was a small fuzzy feeling in my heart that wanted me to stay like this...by his side...

This feeling...

I couldn't even deny it anymore.

For three months straight...there was only one man who kept reappearing in my mind whenever I became close to giving up in those labyrinths...

...and this feeling in my chest as I thought about Ace...

...it was unmistakably...that emotion.

I physically paled as I realized my feelings.

Why didn't I realize it sooner...?

But I was already engaged to Florence, and I wasn't particularly a fan of adultery.

Also, Ace was a dragon...someone of a completely different species.

Falling in love with Ace was the equivalent of a mouse falling in love with a cat.

It was something that should have never happened.

But it did, and I felt regret course through my veins.

I hate myself so much.

I bit my lip and I could taste the stinging flavor of blood fill my mouth.

"...! Your lip...!" Ace said as he took his finger to rub the blood away from my lip.

The feeling of his finger grazing my lips sent electricity down my spine...and he had no idea.

"Why did you do that...?!" he asked quickly as he gripped my hand out of heavy concern.

I didn't know what to say.

There was no way I could just confess...

I felt like such an awful person.

...I'm already engaged, for goodness sake...and on top of that...I fell for a dragon...

Haha...

...It was almost funny.

"I...hate myself..." I blurted out unconsciously.

Immediately, I covered my mouth.

I didn't mean to say that out loud.

Ace grew stiff and quiet, not knowing exactly what was going on or what to say.

Confusion and concern were evident on his face.

He went silent for a while before he tried to come up with the right words, and once he did, he pulled up my chin gently so that I wouldn't shy away from his gaze.

"When...you suddenly went missing...do you know how everyone reacted...?" Ace asked me slowly as he stroked my hair.

"...Panicked? Did they all go crazy...?" I asked.

Ace shook his head.

"No...we all lost a piece...no...the entirety of ourselves. No matter what happened...it was as if the world didn't matter anymore...like we were all already dead," Ace murmured.

"That's an exaggeration..."

Ace shook his head once more.

"I wish...I could over-exaggerate it. But it just so bad...that there was no way to make it sound worse than it already was. It was the epitome of black...of emptiness...nothing mattered anymore. And if I had my memories...I...I wouldn't...it would have been so much worse..."

Ace had a horribly pained expression on his face as he continued.

"There was nothing...everyone lost themselves. The others especially...they became so grim...so empty. And all I could do was watch the days go by...over and over again...waiting...doing nothing...unable to do anything. It all felt like a dream...a nightmare...like it wasn't real...but it was. It was real...the emptiness was real..."

"You must be joking..."

"No...I would never joke about that...Never..."

Clearly, Ace noticed that I truly didn't believe him.

He hesitated for a bit, deciding or not whether he should tell me the rest.

Ace bit his own lip for a moment before continuing.

"When you went missing...we all started looking...doing everything we could to find you. We were like robots-never sleeping...never eating...we only worked. But a few days later...when my connection to your mana became weak...it all went downhill. We assumed you were dying."

His eyes weren't staring at me anymore, but rather, they were staring deeply into space as if he were recalling something he wanted to keep buried.

"We got the citizens involved...the entire nation worked under our hands to find you...but no matter how hard or how long we tried...we couldn't find you. We tried so hard...we tried everything...everything...trying everything..."

He gave a shaky sigh.

"But no matter how hard we tried...you were nowhere...like you never existed in the first place. Even though we tried so hard...we weren't even close to finding you...and all the hope we had just hurt us even more. But when a woman...who looked like you...came to the palace where we all were...we thought we were saved...that we were saved from hell."

His eyes grew darker the longer he went on.

"But she wasn't like you at all. She was nothing like you...her very essence was different...and we found out she was a fake the next day. Everything...from your eyes to your hair to your body...she stole it through illusion magic. But no matter how much she stole...she still wasn't you..." his continued as his eyes began to tear up, the pitch of his voice changing.

I didn't know what to say.

"After that, it was like everything was over. Like there wasn't any point in anything anymore. We were brought to heaven for a brief moment...and then we were thrown back down to hell within seconds...and that broke us. I thought...that was really it. That we'd never see you again. That you would never come back. That this was just how life was going to be. Forever."

Ace arm around my waist was shaking.

"And after that...one after another...we slowly lost ourselves. The devil stole our souls. Wolfe couldn't watch us anymore. He went back to his country and asked...no...begged for help. But it was denied so fast...we didn't even feel anything when he came back with bruises. And the first thing we said when he came all the way back after trying to help was...You useless bastard."

He looked like he was heavily regretting something.

"I didn't...feel like myself anymore. The uncomfortable...almost unbearable...pain in my chest was only continuing to grow. And the others...were already long gone. So when the twins were hiring more guards and workers..."

There was a long pause before he decided to say anything else.

"...All of us just stood and watched as their hands were cut off. The man was in the middle of us all...and we just watched it happen without doing anything...without even trying to help...all because we didn't care what would happen to the twins."

What...?

The twins never told me...

...They said that there was nothing they could do to stop it...that they were careless...

"We could have stopped it...I could have stopped it. But only when the twins started screaming from the pain...did any of us decide to apprehend the man. And it took almost half a minute before that happened," Ace murmured.

But...why...

They just watched it happen silently...

"Did you know what the twins said as their wrists dripped with blood...?"

I shook my head no to his question.

"They said they were happy...that they finally felt alive...That the pain made them realize they weren't dead yet. Haha...We all went insane. The twins probably both put their hand in front of that ax on purpose. They wanted it. They wanted the pain. They wanted anything that could take their mind off of the emptiness."

I felt a chill go down my spine.

"And after that...Deux just stopped eating altogether...we had to force him to eat...to drink...we drugged him so that he could finally sleep. Grey was the one who took care of him...he said he had nothing else to do...but...we all knew it was because he would go insane otherwise..."

Ace gripped my shoulder.

"Your brother...Ash...he was the only one who still tried. He worked with Florence to try to find you...but at some point, Florence's personality warped. Florence just started killing anyone...anyone who upset him...anyone who impersonated you...anyone he could get his hands on. And then Ash started isolating himself...he started working on his own...he didn't talk to anyone at all...he couldn't take it anymore..."

As Ace continued, I found myself falling more and more into disbelief.

When I came back...they all acted happy and ecstatic, of course...but not once did I ever find them acting out of the ordinary.

Well...when I first met them, they were slightly cold until they realized I was the real me...but after that, nothing was wrong.

Nothing at all.

Ace's words almost didn't feel real to me.

"And as for me...as each day went by...I couldn't sleep anymore. I couldn't breathe. The aching in my chest...it grew and grew...and it continued to grow. It wouldn't stop. It couldn't stop. There were moments in time when I thought that I had reached the peak of pain...but then it kept rising...again and again...higher and higher...over and over..." Ace said.

He repeated it over and over as if he were also feeling insane.

His breathing grew ragged and he stared at me before pulling me into a deep embrace.

"A-Ace...?" I stuttered as I felt him grip onto me tighter, refusing to let me go.

"It hurt...It hurt so much...It hurt so much without you..." he said with an unsteady breath as he dug his face into the nape of my neck.

"Shh...It's all okay...It's all okay...so..." I whispered as I felt myself tearing up again.

I used all my willpower to hold back my tears.

The one who needed to cry wasn't me.

"They tried feeding me their mana...but it tasted disgusting. Nothing even compared to yours...and there wasn't enough...I needed more...and more and more...the pain...over and over again...it shook my body and it wouldn't stop growing...it never stopped growing...and I wanted it to stop...but it never did...and it just went on...Cordelia...it just went on and on...to the point where I couldn't move anymore...to the point I couldn't think anymore...I was dying...but I couldn't die. I wanted to die..."

He trembled like a leaf in my hands and gripped onto me as he continued without stopping.

"I tried to stop myself...I wanted to kill someone...I didn't even care anymore...Someone...I needed to kill anyone...but I stopped myself by locking myself up in my room...I made sure no one could come in...so I couldn't see or smell anyone...and then when I saw a noble boy walking by from outside my window..."

His voice trailed off.

"...Before I knew it...my hands were already around his neck...and the boy started to cry...and scream for help...Do you know what that child said? 'Monster! Guards! There's a monster trying to eat me!'"

Ace started chuckling sadly.

"I wasn't even human to begin with...but it still hurt...it hurt a lot. I only had a few months of actual memories back then and I was so confused. I didn't know who I was anymore...why I was here...why I was even alive."

He looked at me as if he were confirming that I was here, listening to him.

"And then I realized...What if you never came back...? I felt so scared back then. What if you never came back...? What if I could never see you again...? What if I had to live like this for the rest of my life...? What if this was just how it was going to be...? Forever...a life without you. That thought was so painful...so scary...that all the pain in my chest just went numb."

I was speechless.

"You're lying..." I murmured.

Ace shook his head.

"I'm serious...At that moment...the pain in my heart was worse than the one in my body..." he chuckled painfully.

My throat tightened unconsciously.

"I begged them to lock me away...to tie me up...and they did. I told no one to come close...but Deux volunteered to stay by my side to watch over me in case I broke free. He had no idea...how much I wanted to kill him. And even though I was all tied up and locked away...the pain still wouldn't stop growing...it just never stopped..." he said softly.

At that moment, I subconsciously brought him in close.

All this pain.

Everything he endured.

Because of me.

All of it...was so painfully beautiful...

Everything about him.

Ace widened his eyes when I squeezed him and refused to let go no matter how much he tried to gently widen the gap between us.

I didn't want to let go.

Everything.

I wanted to be the only one to hold onto his everything.

To take away his pain.

To take away his worries.

To take away his sadness.

"...Do you know why I told you all of this...?' Ace asked me gently as he rubbed me back slowly when I didn't let go.

"...Because...I have a right to know?" I tried guessing.

He shook his head.

"I told you because there are a lot more people out there who love you, even if you don't yourself. Even if you hate yourself, we all love you. I love you," he whispered seriously as he ran his fingers through my hair.

My heart throbbed at his last words.

I knew...that Ace didn't mean it romantically.

He only meant it in a platonic way...as a friend.

But...still...

It was enough for me to die happily.

Just like how he stroked my hair, I did the same to his now-long locks.

It felt so soft.

And I smiled softly.

"Yeah...I love you too..." I whispered in reply.

But...not as a friend.

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

A/N: I know you guys have been waiting ages for this to happen...so I decided to dedicate a whole 5000-word chapter for it. Congratulations, Ace x Cordelia shippers...you win.

And, yes, even though Cordelia finally gained enough EQ to realize her feelings...she's still a tad too dense to realize anyone else's! So...uh...it'll take her some more time...

Also, Ace has got his memories back! Yay!! It took a long time to get here (longer than I expected) but it finally happened~

By the way, have any of you guys ever walked into a class and then realize that there was a test today that you never studied for...? Because that happens all the time to me. And it happened again today. Ughhhhhh! My anxiety can't handle this, I swear...

I did well on the test though, so yay! I'm not sure if I'll be so lucky next time though...

Thanks, again, to all my readers/voters/commenters! I've been having a lot of fun writing this story and I'm glad you guys have been enjoying it so far too!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 5216