"Y-You..."

"What do you think you were doing to Cordelia?"

Florence gripped his hands around the arm that Ace had wound around his neck and struggled to remove it.

But no matter how hard he tried, Ace's hand did not move—his arm didn't even shake.

"A-Ace...?" I murmured quietly out loud, but Ace didn't turn his head once to look at me.

He was intently focusing on choking Florence to death.

"I'm tired of this. I'm tired of you treating her like that," Ace said, his expression twisting with frustration.

Florence tried to respond, but Ace's hand was so tightly gripped around his neck that he couldn't speak.

"I try. I try. I swear I'm trying. I look away whenever you flirt with her. I let you treat her however you want. I do my best to not cross the line and I know my place. Because I know. I know you're her fiancé. I get it."

"You...g-ge...get...yo...ur...han...d...off...me..." Florence gasped out.

"I know I'm only allowed to watch. I get it. I get it. But I hate it. I hate it so much."

"..."

"Tch."

At this point, Florence was on the verge of passing out from lack of oxygen and Ace stared at him with disgust.

He threw Florence from the wall to the ground with a thud before Florence could fully lose consciousness.

"Hey. Listen to me. Don't pass out yet," Ace said coldly as he knelt down by Florence and grabbed his collar.

Florence began coughing and retching on the ground as he greedily sucked in as much air as he could.

"You..." Florence said through gritted teeth.

"Me? What. Are you going to get rid of me too?" Ace said, his eyes switching from green to red.

"..."

"Are you planning on kicking me out or killing me like the others? Oh. I forgot. You can't."

"..."

"You can't kick me out without killing me first. And even if you could kill me, Cordelia would die. But I would never let that happen. I would never let you even touch me."

"B-stard. You're a b-stard. That's what you are," Florence spat at Ace, his own eyes turning red.

"No. I'm not. But you...you should take a look at yourself. What the hell do you think you were doing? She's sick. She's a patient. Didn't you hear the doctor? She needs to stay in bed."

"...Didn't you hear what she was saying earlier though?! She wants to keep that thing here! That stupid vampire! Don't even lie to me...! You want to get rid of him as much as I do!"

"I know...I hate him. I hate him too. I was so mad when I saw her like that. I thought I was going to kill him."

"Then why?! Why are you doing this?!"

"Because I hate everyone who hurts Cordelia equally. And, right now, you are hurting her more than anyone else."

"..."

"Who do you think you are? If anyone touches her you're allowed to kill them, but if you hurt her, make her cry, or force yourself on her, it's alright?"

"...What are you..."

"And, besides, it's what she wants. She wants Wolfe here. Who am I to disagree?"

Ace was smiling, but his smile didn't properly reach his eyes.

It was a painful smile that struck the heart.

"Unlike you, who wants to take her heart...all I want to do is give her mine."

The words that left Ace's mouth...

...I didn't understand them.

Without another word, Ace turned away from Florence and walked over to me, who was currently flopped onto the bed in a really weird position.

He picked me up gently in his strong, muscular arms and positioned me comfortably in the center of the bed before placing a comfy blanket over my body.

Ace's sudden switch in personality confused me.

This was the first time I had seen Ace so angry in a long time.

His cold, calm demeanor he exerted was the same as it was when I was younger...and it was enough to freeze and crush the strongest of hearts mercilessly.

It wasn't the same gentle, sweet Ace that I had spent these last few years with.

Even I was scared a little.

And I think Ace noticed that.

He gave me a gentle smile—something I was much more accustomed to than his previous cold glare.

His frightening red eyes changed back to their calming shade of green and he seemed a bit sorry that he scared me.

Then he turned back to Florence with a serious expression on his face.

"Florence...I know I don't have a say in whatever you do to her or what you two do together...but at the very least, just let her rest comfortably for now. Until the doctor says she's fine again. Please. It's a request."

"...Tch. You think I wasn't already planning on doing that?!" Florence said bitterly.

"..."

Ace didn't even choose to acknowledge Florence's rhetorical question and he turned to me instead.

"Get well soon, Cordelia," Ace murmured as he gave my head one gentle stroke.

Then he left the room and, as he did, the smile he had on his face reverted back to stone.

He closed the door behind him with the perfect amount of controlled strength that not even a creak or the thud of the door closing could be heard.

And that was it.

Florence, who was still on the ground from whatever happened earlier, stood up and straightened his clothes before turning to me.

I flinched.

His eyes were still red and he had a horribly irritated expression on his face.

"Lia."

"...Yes?" I asked, keeping my voice as calm and neutral as possible.

He stared at me for a while and I had no idea what was going through his head as he did.

Then, he finally spoke.

"Nevermind."

He turned to the doctor, who was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room with a deathly pale expression on his face.

"Make sure to tend to her properly. I'll leave it to you to carefully manage her diet from this day forward until she's healthy again. I'm sure you understand what will happen to you if her condition worsens?"

"Y-Yes, y-y-y-your h-highness," the doctor stuttered in reply as he quickly stood up from his corner and gave a deep bow.

"And if any word of what happened today in this room spreads beyond my knowledge, you can consider yourself done. I hear you have a wife and two daughters at home?"

"Y-Yes..."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"...Yes."

Florence took a few steps to the room's door and put his hand on the door's hand, but before exiting, he turned his head to me.

"I'll give Wolfe a room and find a way to supply him blood. But if he acts even remotely suspicious, I'm throwing him out no matter what you say," he said as left the room, slamming the door shut before I could say another word.

"..."

I didn't even know what to say.

What just happened...?

My mind went blank as I sorted through everything.

"U-Uh...L-Lady C-Cyllia...I-Is there...u-uh...anything y-you wish t-to request of me...?" the doctor suddenly spoke, reminding me of his existence.

"No...I'm fine, thank you very much. For now, I'm just a bit tired and I'd like to rest quietly, please," I answered gracefully.

The doctor nodded his head quickly at my words as if he were heavily relieved that he was finally able to leave.

"Y-Yes, of course, L-Lady Cyllia. H-However, since it has been two days since your last meal, I'll be sending in something light to eat later..." he said with a deep bow to me.

"Of course," I said with a nod.

And after that, the doctor quickly left, running to the door at lightning speed as if he couldn't bear to be in the room any longer.

Poor dude...

I can't believe he had to awkwardly sit through all of that while watching those two.

He probably couldn't even understand what was happening.

Even I didn't understand what was happening.

I'll...discuss with Florence later to give that doctor a raise...

He needs a raise.

Definitely.

Then, after spending some time trying to come up with theories for why the two were arguing like that, and eventually giving up because I couldn't figure it out, I fell asleep from exhaustion.

.

.

A Few Hours Later

.

.

There were soft sounds of footsteps and a tiny knock on my door, waking me up from my sleep.

Lately, I've become a light-sleeper that easily woke up at the slightest of noises.

Maybe it's a habit I learned from the labyrinths.

I could only ever sleep properly when Ace, in his dragon form, of course, was curled up by my side.

But Ace had been sleeping in his own room for the past few weeks, under Florence's orders, so I rarely get a good night's sleep these days.

"Yes, you may enter," I said out loud.

The door creaked open quietly and I could see Grey carrying in a small platter of food.

"Good evening, milady. I have brought you some fish congee and a small salad under the doctor's recommendation," Grey said as he lifted me up from the bed and used my pillow to support me into a sitting position.

He laid a small bed tray in front of me before placing the food on top, placing the utensils by my plates with ease.

Honestly...Grey's description of the food didn't serve the meal justice.

The rice porridge in front of me was made to perfection and had a lovely aroma to it that wasn't fishy, but rather, comforting.

It tasted wonderful as well and the fish in the porridge was soft and savory, making me crave it more and more after each bite.

Beside it was a salad, made primarily of spinach and topped with a few dried raisins among other things, which I didn't particularly enjoy, but ate anyway since it was important to my diet.

And on the salad was a light sauce that wasn't too potent, but was just right for me to swallow easily.

Overall, it was a lovely meal.

"Even though you are currently recovering, milady, you eat so well," Grey chuckled as he cleared my plate and tray.

"No matter what condition I'm in, I'll never pass up a good meal," I replied with a proud smirk.

After all, I knew what it really meant to take food for granted.

"I wouldn't imagine it any other way," Grey said as he handed the plates over to one of the three maids behind him.

Then, he walked over to me and helped reposition my body into a laying position.

Jeez...

I felt like a baby.

Thanks to my apparently extreme anemia, I could barely move properly without having a splitting headache and feeling a horrible backlash in my limbs.

I think...I may have let Wolfe drink a tad bit too much of my blood...

"By the way, how is Wolfe?" I asked Grey when he was done covering with a new, clean blanket.

"His highness has moved Prince Wolfe to one of the guest bedrooms and is currently being treated as a resident of the castle. As of now, he is being fed with the blood of voluntary blood donors, each of which are being rewarded with quite a grand sum of money," Grey answered concisely.

As expected of such a capable man.

Grey's answers were always thorough and short enough for me to get the point.

"Has anyone informed him that I am well?" I asked.

"No, not yet, milady," Grey answered.

"Then please personally tell him that I am currently doing fine and that I'd love to meet him again once I recover my strength. Make sure he understands I hold no grudge against him," I said.

"Of course, milady. I'll take my leave then," Grey said with a bow before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, I sighed.

I need to recover soon.

The only thing I hated more than feeling hungry was feeling weak.

And right now, I was horribly weak thanks to my anemia.

I hated it.

.

.

A Few Days Later

.

.

People with strong magic always recovered quicker than people without so I, who had more than just a modest sum of mana, began to feel much better after a few days.

I could easily move my body again and my head felt dramatically lighter than before.

And, with each passing day, my meals grew more and more flavorful, which made me very happy, of course.

"Do you feel better today, Cordelia?" Ace asked as he watched me eat.

"Yep. I think I can start walking again soon. Oh...but I'll probably need to do a little bit of light sparring to get back into shape..." I sighed as I thought about all the things I would need to do after I fully recovered.

"Do you need a sparring partner?"

"You're right...I do."

"If you are okay with it, then perhaps I could-"

"Wolfe would make a good sparring partner. He's a really good swordsman, right?"

"..."

"Hm?"

".........Right."

"I'm really curious now. The last time I sparred with Wolfe, I lost so fast that I couldn't even tell what happened. What do you think would happen if I fought with him now?"

"I'm sure you would win easily, Cordelia," he said.

"Are you sure? Ever since I found my way back to the palace from those labyrinths, I haven't had a single proper match against anyone...So, I honestly don't know how strong I am against other people."

"I can tell by sight. I'm certain the duel would be an easy win for you."

"You're joking. From what I remember, Wolfe is really really really strong."

"..."

"Ace...?"

".......I'm a lot stronger than him though," Ace muttered quietly as his face changed into a small pout.

"Hmm? Did you say something? I couldn't hear you..."

"...Nothing," he sighed.

I laughed a bit at how strangely adorable Ace was acting right now.

"Why do you look so upset? Jeez...Did something happen without me knowing?" I asked with a chuckle.

"No..." Ace mumbled.

"Are you sure...?" I asked teasingly.

"........Yes," Ace replied.

"Hmm...Now that I think about it...You're a lot stronger than Wolfe and me, right? I'm not sure how well I'll do in a swordfight with you but...well...Do you want to try sparring with me too?" I asked a bit shyly.

...This was embarrassing.

How in the world were you supposed to ask someone you like to do something with you without sounding awkward...??

"Yes...!" Ace answered immediately a bit loudly to my surprise.

I paused a bit before I started laughing.

Ace wasn't the type to ever raise his voice even if he was mad!

What made him so excited??

"Oh...sorry..." Ace also chuckled a bit as he awkwardly looked away from me.

Cute...

Before I could say anything else though, I heard a knock on the door.

"Yes, you may enter," I said with a tiny bit of irritation for the interruption.

Grey walked into the room and he had a small visible frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked Grey.

"Nothing, milady. It's just that some uninvited guests came to the castle and are now requesting for some of your time," Grey sighed.

"They came uninvited? Are they insane? Just kick them out or something. It's their fault for not telling us ahead of time."

"Of course, milady, but they seem to believe that they have some business with you. They told me that you would certainly agree to meet with them."

"What? Just tell them that I am currently unwell. I mean, I can't even go see them even if I want to," I replied as I also began to frown.

"Yes, milady, I have already informed them of your condition but they seem very...adamant on speaking with you today."

"...Who are they?"

"Marquis and Marquess Scott, milady."

"..."

I should have known.

Those two pieces of trash appear whenever I least expect it.

I bit my tongue.

Fine.

If they want to see me so much, then I'll let them.

"Bring them in," I said.

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

A/N: That's it for this chapter! The Marquis and Marquess have come back and have rudely interrupted Cordelia and Ace in the middle of their conversation~

Also, Florence and Ace are now on terrible terms...I wonder what will unfold between the two...Mwahaha~ May the drama never end~

And. Oh. My. God. I HATE SCHOOL! AHHH!!! I'm sorry, but I'm LITERALLY on my breaking point RIGHT NOW. UGH! I just want to right literally a whole CHAPTER'S worth on HOW MUCH school sucks and RANT for the next few HOURS about it!

Because of school, here's a slightly earlier update today! I...have to go do homework...again.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to reply to any comments for a while. I'm literally drowning in work and my teachers and counselor are the most unhelpful people I have ever met...*sigh*.......Thank you for all of the sweet comments last chapter though! It was really funny seeing how you guys reacted to it~

Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters for everything you guys do to support me~ You guys are always the best!

Stay safe!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2893