"I'm sick and tired of you getting in the way...! Every. Single. Time. Over and over again. She's mine to begin with. Why can't you understand that?!" Florence yelled as he gripped my body closer to his chest.

He had a clean, almost earthy, scent that didn't suit the boiling irritation on his face.

But besides his irritation, there was another emotion etched onto his face that I wasn't used to seeing.

It was a look of desperation.

The playful and cool Florence looked as if though he were about to be pushed off of a cliff.

"She's mine...she's always been mine...So why the hell does it always seem as if though she's going to be swept away...?" Florence said through gritted teeth.

"You changed, Florence," Ace replied darkly.

Florence glared at Ace and cursed underneath his breath.

"I wish you never got your memories back. If you didn't, maybe it would have been easier to accept that I was the only one for her," Florence spat.

His cold words and demeanor sent shivers down my spine.

"...You're right. Maybe it really would have been better if I remained an amnesiac for the rest of my life," Ace replied with an empty chuckle.

"So you agree-"

But before Florence could finish his sentence, an excruciatingly loud bang resonated around the room as Ace's fist made contact with Florence's face.

The single punch produced a shock wave so loud that it could almost be compared to the sound of a gunshot.

"But with or without my memories, I don't think I would have been able to hold myself back from wanting to kill you," Ace murmured quietly.

Florence, who was absolutely knocked off guard by the unexpected attack stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground, accidentally losing his grip on me for a good moment.

I took the chance to immediately separate myself from his arms and shakily wobble away from him as fast as I could.

My legs felt shaky and my head was a little dizzy.

Darn, all of my energy was already wasted.

I recalled one of the last conversations I had with my doctor before he permitted me to roam freely.

---

"It seems your body has recovered and there is nothing else I can do for you."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Just make sure to get good amounts of sleep every day and to not overwork yourself, okay? Your body may collapse if you aren't careful."

"I promise to be careful. There's no need to worry."

---

Hmm...I was too careless.

My body felt just fine a few seconds ago...so why...

"..."

Ace watched me as I struggled to make my way toward him.

As if he couldn't take it anymore, he moved toward me and wrapped his arms around my waist, helping to support my weight.

I turned my head to look at Florence, who was groaning on the ground from pain.

It's almost a shock that his jaw didn't seem broken in any way, judging by how powerful the punch was.

Was it possible that Ace hit him at the exact perfect angle with an extremely precise punch in order to not break anything...?

...Or was it all just a coincidence?

"Cordelia..." Ace murmured as he dipped his head and buried it into my shoulder.

He pulled me toward him with a shaky, almost weak, embrace without letting me go.

After a second had passed, Ace seemed to regain his composure and removed his arms from around my waist before backing away from me slightly.

"...Are you okay?" he asked me as he examined the places where Florence had mercilessly gripped onto, with his trembling green eyes.

There were numerous red marks all over my right arm and leg.

Some of them were even purple.

In all honesty, the marks didn't hurt too much...but the grave look in Ace's eyes as he took note of the red and purple spots almost made my skin sting.

Then his gaze drifted from the colored marks on my body to my swollen and bleeding lips, where Florence had forcefully kissed earlier.

"..."

He took his hand to raise my chin and gently rubbed away at the small puddle of blood that had formed around my lower lips with his thumb.

"...He bit you," Ace murmured to himself in an eerily quiet voice.

"Ah...w-wait. I can do that myself," I stuttered in response when Ace's gentle touch became too much for me to bear.

His thumb moved in slow and small circles, causing a strange wave of electricity to jolt through the flesh of my lips and a slight fluttering sensation to form in my stomach.

"...Does it hurt...?" Ace asked absentmindedly as his eyes didn't move away from my lips once.

I shook my head 'no' immediately and backed away from him slightly with a few small steps.

Ace finally looked away from my lips and he looked down to see the small bloodstain on his thumb.

He seemed to appear a bit sick at the sight of my blood.

"I'm okay. I'm just a little tired and worn out," I replied a little weakly.

Ace looked at me with a face that showed that he absolutely didn't believe me, but nonetheless, he replied, "That's good."

He gripped his hands in a moment of frustration, but he did nothing else.

"Mmm..." I agreed as I turned my head and gave Florence another glance.

From what I could tell, Florence was still breathing and...I think...he was still conscious.

"He's alright...I made sure to hold myself back...at the very last moment," Ace mumbled as if he were a bit hurt that I naturally assumed Florence was dead from his punch.

Ace was...holding back???

In what situation was his punch, that created an ear-shattering boom, the same thing as...holding back...?

I was surprised that Florence's head was still attached to the rest of his body.

"You...b-stard..." Florence groaned from the ground as he stared at the ceiling.

Florence's body shook as he coughed from internal pain and he rolled over his body to look at me.

"Why...Why can't I have you...I don't understand..." he repeated over and over as he tried to reach out to me with his hands.

I stepped away from his outstretched hands easily and stared down at him.

My face unconsciously twisted in sadness when I recalled the days Florence and I had spent in our childhood.

We were younger, wild, and free.

Every moment with him was so much fun, even if he was a bit too sadistic for my liking.

So why...

What was happening now...?

Why have you changed so much, Florence?

"Lia...Lia...You must hate me so much...haha...Lia," Florence chuckled a bit emptily as he stared at me.

My chest wrenched a little a the pitiful sight of Florence on the ground.

"No...I don't hate you. Sometimes I may want to kill you...but I think...I won't ever be able to grow to hate you, Florence," I replied as I knelt by his side and brushed his cheek with my hand.

He grabbed my hand immediately, pulled it away from his cheek, and brought it to his lips.

"It's okay if you hate me, you know. I won't mind, Lia," Florence spoke, his lips lightly brushing over my fingers.

"What are you even saying..."

"Because no matter what, I will always love you..." Florence whispered with his eyes closed before he let go of my hand and let his consciousness drift away.

His body must have pushed itself to the limit trying to remain conscious after Ace's heavy blow.

"...Cordelia-"

"I wonder what Florence meant when he said that..." I murmured as I looked down at the unconscious Florence.

"..."

"...Ace?" I asked as I turned my head to face him.

"..."

"Why did you stop talking all of a sudden, Ace?"

"...It's...almost like a tragedy."

"Excuse me?"

"It's just...I think it's a good thing Florence passed out before he heard you say that."

"Say...what?"

Ace seemed to have a complicated expression on his face as he shook his head.

"It's nothing you would be able to understand, Cordelia..." he replied after some time.

"...I see," I mumbled as I turned to Florence's body and poked his cheek to make sure he wasn't just pretending to be asleep.

I wonder if Ace was implying that I was stupid.

"Cordelia...have you ever wanted to leave this place...?" Ace asked me hesitantly after some time.

"Huh? Why would I ever want to do that?" I asked as I quickly turned my head to Ace.

"I don't know...It's just...You always suffer in one way or another by staying here. Wouldn't it be better to run away to somewhere quiet...and live there peacefully without a single worry in the world?" he asked me quietly.

"Are you asking me that seriously?"

"...Who knows."

I stared at Ace for a while and blinked a few times before processing what he just said.

Hmm...running away...

Certainly, all the problems I would ever have in my life would be quickly reduced to zero but...

"No, I don't want to," I replied with a small cheeky smile after a while.

"Why not?" Ace asked me with a frown as he gripped his hands in frustration.

"I'm not sure either, but I don't want to leave this place. I guess I must be attached to everything. And besides, for the most part, I am happy here," I chuckled awkwardly.

"I...see..." Ace replied as he gave up on the conversation.

"So...What are we going to do now?" I asked awkwardly as I pointed to Florence's body, changing the conversation.

"I'm not sure. I'm sorry...I attacked him quite impulsively," Ace apologized.

"Don't worry about it. There's not much the kingdom can do to punish you anyway, Ace, so I'm sure you'll be fine. My reputation might take a big blow for not being able to look after my familiar properly, but that's not even that bad anyway," I murmured as I listed the possibilities.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused..." Ace apologized once more.

"No, seriously, it's fine. Things could have gone much worse without you," I replied grimly.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked.

I recalled my horrible dream and bit my tongue.

"It's nothing. We should carry Florence to the infirmary and leave him in the hands of the palace doctors. From what I can see, he doesn't seem to be injured in any way...but we should be careful, just in case, and get him some medical help," I responded simply as I changed the conversation once more.

I was about to pick Florence up and carry him to the infirmary myself, but Ace stopped me before I could.

"You're still weak. Let me handle this," Ace said as he picked Florence up from the ground and tossed him over his shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure I'm perfectly capable of carrying a truck right now though," I sighed with a small pout.

"What is a truck?" Ace paused to ask.

"Uh...it's something that has rolled me over before in a past life. Trust me, trucks are deadly," I replied awkwardly.

Ace still seemed a bit confused by my description, but he didn't press for a better answer and just left with Florence hanging over his shoulder.

"I'll be back soon, Cordelia. Please stay here and don't move," Ace said before he closed the door behind him.

Just as I was about to plop onto my bed, the door opened again and Ace peaked inside.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just making sure you didn't already try to run away. Okay, I'll be on my way again," Ace sighed before he closed the door a second time and actually left.

Humph.

Who does Ace think I am?

I'm not some kid he has to look after...

I gave a small sigh and jumped onto my bed, feeling the overflowing exhaustion hit me suddenly.

It was as if the tension had left me all at once.

Ah...a major crisis has successfully been averted...I think.

Surely, things will turn out better than they did in my dream now.

I stared out the window of my bedroom with a small sigh and stared at the late evening sky.

Hmm...

A part of me felt a little empty for some reason.

"...I miss my family," I murmured out loud by accident.

Ah...I didn't mean to say that.

"Do you want to go?" a voice said from directly beside me.

"AHH! " I yelled in shock as I threw my pillow at whatever demon was talking to me in the dark.

Ploof.

The pillow smacked Ace straight in the face and fell to the ground with a small plop.

"Oh. It's just you..." I sighed in relief as I calmed myself.

Honestly, I wasn't used to being snuck up on.

It's been a while since anyone as appeared behind me without my knowing, so it was genuinely scary.

...Ace might be the only person in the world who can successfully jumpscare me.

"Do you want to go?" Ace asked me again as he leaned his head slightly closer to mine.

"Go where?" I asked.

"To the dukedom," Ace answered.

I froze.

Oh...he heard what I said earlier.

"Uh...well, I still have my brother, Ash, with me...so it's not too bad. I just...kind of...miss my father...and Sophie too," I mumbled.

Ace smiled at my childish rambling and gave me a small pat on the head.

"Then let's go," Ace said as he picked me up from my bed and held me in his arms.

"Huh???" I asked.

A huge burst of wind shocked me and made me close my eyes tightly shut.

For nearly two seconds, I held my breath until the burst of wind disappeared and I squinted open my eyes slowly.

I widened my eyes in shock when I recognized my surroundings.

The Cyllia Dukedom estate...

"How did we get here so fast?!" I asked loudly to Ace, who was still holding me in his arms.

"I ran here as fast as I could," he replied with a small cock of his head.

"Have you been...getting even faster these days...?" I asked slowly in absolute shock.

Amazing...

Ace was truly amazing...and I don't think he even knew it...

"...Sweetie?" a small voice asked me from afar.

I turned my head and recognized the voice immediately.

"Father?" I whispered.

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

A/N: I have successfully finished this chapter! Woohoo! Papa Cyllia is back...which means...yes, you may all have a break from the drama~ :)

By the way, I've noticed that Florence has a small cult following of fans behind him~ Hehe. Some of y'all are really kinky~ ;)

Anyway, in three days...THREE DAYS...I will be having a week of final exams! Yayyy... Good luck to everyone with exams coming up though~ I wish you all the best of luck!

Earlier today, my class surprised my math teacher on zoom with handwritten "Thank You!" papers we made~ It was actually a lot of fun and my teacher really liked it! So...all I'm saying is that I better be getting an 'A' on my math final or else...

Ahem.

Anyway...that's all for this week! Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters! You guys are amazing~

Stay safe, everyone~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2397