A/N: I'm just going to leave a light trigger warning here for some of you...haha...don't mind me.

Don't read if you're sensitive to topics about/related to dying!

Ok, please enjoy~

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Kill...?

His gleaming red eyes as they stared at me felt...foreign...as if they came from someone I didn't know.

A buzzing feeling remained on my lips from when he kissed me and I had to touch my lips with my hand to confirm that it was real.

"...Flor...ence...?" I murmured.

"Yes, Lia?" he asked as he reached out to me and buried me within his arms.

I was in too much shock to even push him aside.

My body felt numb and nauseous as he wrapped me up inside of his body on the bed, which felt strangely cold at the moment.

"Shhh...It's okay..." he whispered over and over again as he used his hand to brush aside my hair from my face.

I turned my head to Florence slowly.

"Are you serious...?" I asked in a very quiet voice, to the point where it was almost a whisper.

"I've always been serious, Lia," he replied with a small cheerful grin that I could not read.

He rubbed my back gently with his sturdy arms as if he were trying to lull me to sleep.

His words were repeated in my mind.

Over and over again.

'I'll kill you.'

Kill...?

Florence wanted...to kill me...?

"You're mine, Lia. From the moment I met you, you've always been mine," he whispered as he squished me against his body.

The room was dark since there were no lights on and it was late evening.

I could hardly see the expression on his face, besides his two gleaming ruby eyes filled with obsession.

"I love you, Lia. I love you more than anyone else in the world."

An eruption of shivers went down my spine.

His words carried a weight that I didn't want to hold.

And then something finally cracked.

Broke apart.

Split in half.

Shattered.

In the back of my mind.

All of a sudden, it felt as if though a flip had been switched.

"Do you want me dead?" I asked slowly.

My voice was smoother than normal.

I felt strangely calm too.

"I want you to be with me...and only me...forever. I want to lock you away and tie you up...all for myself," he said as he gave me a small kiss on the forehead.

It wasn't a good enough answer for me to be satisfied with.

"Do you want me dead?" I repeated.

"It doesn't matter to me anymore, Lia, as long as you're by my side. As long as you're by my side, I feel as if though I can do anything."

Ah...

It didn't matter to him.

Even though I asked him twice, he didn't try to deny it.

He really was...someone who wanted to kill me.

Even though I don't want to die again...

Like how I died in my first life because of a mistake in fate.

Or how I died in this life at the hands of my mother.

I don't want to die.

It's painful.

It hurts to lose everything.

It hurts to know that someone would be happier if you died.

It hurts when you die before you ever get to know what being loved really feels like.

I try to act like it's fine knowing I'm a rare freak of nature who got the chance to be reincarnated into a deadly otome game, constantly afraid of a day where everything I had grown to love suddenly disappears before my eyes.

It's really not...

It's not fine.

I don't want to die.

I don't want to lose everything...when I've just barely found happiness here.

Not again.

Never again.

I can never let it happen again.

"Lia-"

"...Florence."

"What is it, Lia?" Florence spoke in a soft voice, clearly pleased after conveying his feelings to me.

His eyes were soft and they flickered from red back to their usual shade of green as if he had become a puppy.

With his long arms, he wrapped his body around me tightly with no plans of letting me go.

"I can't let you kill me, Florence."

My consciousness slipped away for a brief moment and before I knew it, my hands were reaching out to Florence's face.

He smiled at the touch and buried his head into my hands just like a cat would.

...

...

...

This man will kill me.

My hands had slipped from his face and wound themselves around his throat.

Our position had changed and, before I realized it, I was on top of him, pinning his throat down onto the bed.

I tightened my hands around his neck and squeezed it until it became a bloody red color.

My vision was blurred and it was hard to focus, but I knew...I knew that I needed to kill him before it was too late.

I need to kill him.

Before he kills me...I'd rather kill him.

Even though I grew up with him.

Even though he was my fiance.

Even though I considered him my friend...

It wasn't worth it if it meant I would die by his hands.

I gripped his neck tighter and tighter to the point where his face went red from the lack of blood flow.

I was determined to get rid of him here...

But...

I froze when I saw the expression on his face.

I stared down at Florence who was being suffocated under the strength of my hands.

He didn't say anything.

He didn't even wince in pain.

But he...

...Why was he was smiling so peacefully as if he were genuinely happy...?

Before I could figure it out, my eyes were covered by someone who snuck up behind me and I heard a loud crashing sound inside the room along with a loud yell of pain from Florence.

Florence's neck was ripped away from my hands and I was tightly pinned by someone else against the bed.

"Cordelia...calm down," a familiar voice said.

I paused for a moment.

"...A...ce?"

"Breathe in and out slowly. You need to calm down," he said in a deep steady voice.

His voice was sweet like honey and almost hypnotic.

I stopped moving.

It was then that I noticed my entire body was shaking.

Ace loosened his grip on my body slightly, but he didn't let go of me in case I tried to do something.

"Ah..."

Tears flooded my eyes and I sat there in utter horror at what I was about to do.

What the heck was I about to do...?

Ace didn't move a single inch as I cried into the sheets of the bed and shook horribly like a leaf in the wind.

And he stayed like that for a while until I could finally breathe properly.

"Cordelia, can you hear me?" he asked gently.

"Mmm," I nodded my head slowly as I sniffled a bit.

I felt so dizzy I wanted to die.

"Ace...Ace, I feel sick. I don't feel like myself. I'm scared. Ace. Something is wrong with me. Where is Florence? I-"

"Shh..." Ace silenced me.

But no matter how calming of an existence Ace was for me, the neverending feeling of dread kept creeping into my heart.

Florence...

I tried to kill him.

My blood went cold and I was sure that my face was equally as pale.

Treason...

I committed treason against the royal family...

If Florence wouldn't kill me, this would.

"Cordelia...everything is going to be okay. Do you hear me?" Ace asked me, the grip of his arm around my waist tightening.

For the first time, I noticed that Ace was trembling too.

I was shaking so much that I didn't notice the smaller shaking coming from the man behind me.

"Ace..."

"I'm sorry...please rest, for now, Cordelia," Ace murmured into my ear before I could finish.

"...Wh...at...?" I tried to ask, but my words became slurred and my mind went a little fuzzy.

With that, I collapsed in Ace's arms and lost consciousness.

.

.

.

.

.

.

When I woke up, the sun was high in the sky.

My mind was a bit groggy so I couldn't remember anything for a while.

But when I finally managed to recall everything that happened, I snapped up in horror and leaped from my bed to run out of the room.

Where was I...?

I sprinted down the halls and, since I had no idea where in the world I was, I opened up a nearby window and jumped outside.

It was much easier to navigate the outdoors of the palace than the indoors.

The wind blew across my face as I ran.

I still felt a little dizzy and, on the inside, I was at a complete loss for what to do.

Quicker...

I need to run quicker.

Using the most amount of speed I could muster, I sprinted until I found a familiar corner of the palace and leaped through its window.

Florence's office.

As I leaped into the room, a gust of wind followed me, and all the papers in the room flew around in a flurry.

Gracefully, I landed with my two feet planted into the ground and stood up.

In front of me, sitting in a chair that was facing the opposite direction from me, was the back of Florence's head.

His golden hair shined under the light and, upon my arrival, he turned around slowly with his eyes wide.

"Lia...?" he tried to murmur before I grabbed his collar and slammed him down onto the floor below me.

I bit my tongue when I saw his expression.

"Explain yourself," I said darkly.

"...Excuse me?" he asked.

"I asked you to explain yourself," I repeated angrily as I pinned him down with my arms.

"...Explain...what? Also, I didn't know you liked being on top so much, Lia," Florence said with a chuckle as he grazed his hand across my cheek.

"That's not what I asked," I growled.

Florence, clearly not knowing what to do, brushed his hair back with his hand before giving a long sigh.

"Why are you doing this, Lia?" he asked.

I stared at him, utterly flabbergasted.

"What do you mean? Don't you remember what happened?!" I asked him loudly as I clenched his collar tightly with my hands.

"And...what happened...? I'm sorry, but I won't be able to remember properly if you keep trying to seduce me like this. Are you doing this on purpose?" he asked with a sadistic smirk as he pointed to our position.

I froze.

Was he being serious...?

"..."

"...Did you have a bad dream, Lia?" he asked, his sadistic expression slightly twisted with worry as he noticed how pale I was becoming.

"A dream? Are you kidding me right now?? You dragged me to your room yesterday! Don't you remember what we were doing?" I asked darkly.

A dream...?

"Oh...? You were in my room yesterday? That's the first I've heard of it," Florence said as he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, I was. And you...you..."

"And...what did I do, Lia?" Florence asked, amusement grazing his face.

"Don't act like you don't remember," I said through gritted teeth.

"I swear on my name, Lia, that I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about right now," Florence said with his hands raised above his head in surrender.

"Are you serious...? I'll kick you in the balls if you're lying," I said darkly.

"I, Florence van Gloria, am being serious right now. Lia, did you accidentally drink something strange? I don't understand why you're doing this," Florence said as he examined me, lowering my face with his hand so that he could see me better.

I let go of him quickly in confusion, stood up, and backed away from him slowly in denial.

"I tried to kill you! Don't you remember?!" I yelled.

There was no way everything was just a dream.

It felt too real to be fake.

"Killing me would be treason, Lia. You shouldn't joke about those things too loudly or someone might hear-"

"I know it's treason!!" I yelled before collapsing on the ground.

"Lia?" Florence questioned as he kneeled by my side almost automatically.

I can't believe this...

I didn't know what to believe anymore.

Judging on the way Florence was acting, he really didn't remember anything.

Did I really...dream everything up...?

But it...it felt so real...

"Let me take you back to your room. You still aren't well, right?" Florence asked.

"What...?"

"The doctor said you shouldn't leave your room yet. How did you even manage to run all the way here anyway? I was told you were so weak that you wouldn't be able to move for another week," Florence said with his brows furrowed.

"...Why? I recovered a few days ago, remember?" I asked.

"Lia, are you okay? You ended up in the infirmary a few days ago. How in the world do you expect me to believe you recovered already? That vampire sucked out way more blood than I think you realize, Lia," Florence said with a frown.

"What...? But..."

Now that he mentioned it...he was right.

My body felt horribly fatigued and nauseous.

I just never noticed because of my adrenaline rush.

It was as if my body had reverted back to its sickly state from a few days ago.

"How is this possible..." I murmured.

"Lia, I'm taking you back to the infirmary. That doctor...I thought I already made sure I told him to treat you with his life on the line. It looks like he didn't take my words seriously though," Florence said as his expression grew scarily dark.

"No, wait, that doctor is innocent-"

"I could care less," Florence growled.

...

...Doctor, wherever you are, I am sorry.

I'll definitely get you a raise.

Definitely.

Florence lifted up my weak body in his arms and started to carry me back into the room that I was in before.

"So...everything was just a dream..." I mumbled.

Recovering from my anemia...

Making up with Wolfe and trying to spar with him...

Being dragged away by Florence to his room...

Florence's words to me...

Me trying to kill him...

...All of it was just a dream?

It was so hard to believe.

No...it was impossible to believe.

"We had that argument a few days ago over what to do with that vampire, so I thought you wouldn't want to see me again. But I'm glad...you ran all the way to my office as if your life depended on it," Florence chuckled.

I turned my head up to Florence's face as he carried me.

He turned his face down to stare at me too and he gave me a small happy grin.

I was about to turn away from embarrassment, but before I did, I saw his eyes flash red and his lips twist with a scary smile.

And within that instant, I felt as if though something were terribly wrong.

"Florence...?" I murmured as I tensed my body.

"What is it, Lia?" Florence asked me with a gentle smile.

I stared at his face.

Was I mistaken?

His eyes were the same shade of green as they always had been.

"...It's...nothing," I replied as I turned away from him.

But no matter what I did, I couldn't remove the rising sense of dread in my heart.

And later on, I would learn that my horrifying "dream" would be the first of many that could show me pieces of the future.

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A/N: Basically...everything was a dream! Haha~ All of you have been bamboozled! You're welcome~

In other words, Cordelia has the power to see parts of the future through her dreams~ Isn't that great? I wonder how and why she is able to do this though... ;)

Also, I finally have a week off from school for fall break!! Yayyyy!!!

But.

If you're someone like me, who has a thousand assignments piled up that all happen to be due at the end of break...you end up doing a ton of work anyway. :( I'll be studying all week for my upcoming finals too...JSHDFJHSDK! I JUST WANT SLEEP!

Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing! Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters for everything you do!

Stay safe, everyone~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2522