"Father?"

From afar I could see a tall man with blue hair and eyes like mine standing in front of our estate.

"Sweetie, is that you?" he asked with his eyes wide at my unexpected arrival.

I stared at him for a while with wide eyes as well.

Before I knew it, I was already running toward him as fast as I could on my two legs.

Obviously, since my maximum speed wasn't something to laugh at, I already had my arms around him within a blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, though, in my excitement, I forgot to control my strength and I accidentally tackled my father to the ground.

"W-Woah!" my father yelled as his back was slammed to the ground with a loud thud.

"...I missed you so much," I mumbled.

Ah...tears started to flow from my eyes against my will.

I hate to admit it but...maybe I do care for this daughter-con father much more than I like to think.

"Sweetie...! Did you come to visit me???" my father squealed in joy as he squeezed me tightly in his arms.

In the past, when I was young, his tight squeezes would suffocate me and nearly break my poor spine.

But now, his squeeze didn't feel painful at all and I could finally feel the immeasurable amount of warmth in his embrace.

It felt nice.

And a little bit refreshing.

"Mmm...I missed you a lot, father," I cried a little in his arms.

I missed him a lot.

"Oh...! My daughter is the cutest thing in the entire world!!! Oh my goodness...I'd be happy even if I die tomorrow!" he yelled as he stood up with me in his arms and held me high up in the sky.

"Don't say that, father...You have to marry Sophie soon! What would she think if you die before the wedding?" I said jokingly in reply.

My father laughed as he swung me around in the air.

After all the stupid drama I've been through...I'm finally going to have a break.

Ah...home really is the best thing in the world.

"Yes...It really would be a shame if you happened to die before our wedding, Alastair. You aren't thinking of doing anything rash again, are you?" another voice appeared.

I turned my head to see a mature beauty with beautiful flowing dark brown locks and a familiar strict look in her gray eyes that I recognized almost immediately.

Wait a minute...

Is that...?

SOPHIE?!



No...

No.

No...

Since when was Sophie such a mature-looking, sexy woman?!

Where did the strict motherly maid that once raised me since childhood go...???

Did she have a major glow-up or something...???

"Is that you...Sophie...?" I asked a bit hesitantly.

Maybe I was mistaken...

After all, the Sophie that I remember was just an average maid.

She wasn't the type of woman to make all men kneel in front of her just with her beauty alone...!

"Cordelia! It's so good to see you again," she replied as she stepped over to me quickly and immediately saved me from the clutches of my father.

No way...

It really was Sophie...

She wasn't wearing her maid outfit anymore and her brown hair wasn't tied up in her usual neat, tidy bun either.

And she was even wearing makeup, which was something maids usually didn't have enough money to buy.

Holy cow...

My new step-mother is super hot.

"Alastair, how many times do I have to tell you to control yourself in front of Cordelia?? She's already a grown woman, so you can't keep treating her like an innocent child anymore!" she said harshly to my father, who pouted a little.

"Well...I was just so happy she decided to visit us all of a sudden so..." my father murmured a bit childishly as he tried coming up with as many different excuses as he could.

Hmm...

On the other hand, my father looks exactly like a puppy, even though he exudes the handsome charm of a mature older man.

Sophie and Father...

I can already imagine the mayhem that will appear at their wedding.

A hot man marrying an even hotter woman.

The other nobles will be talking about them for the next few weeks...maybe even months after their wedding.

"I'm sorry...Sophie..." my father muttered quietly as he dipped his head into Sophie's shoulder from embarrassment.

"Ah...W-Well, as long as you understand what you did wrong, Alastair..." Sophie stuttered slightly.

My father couldn't see it, because his head was too low, but Sophie was blushing adorably at my father's puppy-like antics.

She quickly fixed her expression and whacked my father in the head before he could look up and notice though.

"How long are you going to have your head in my shoulder for?!" Sophie protested as she pushed my father away.

It was at this moment...I realized...

Sophie is a tsundere.

"Hehe...I'm sorry. I just wanted to see how cutely you would react," my father said smoothly as he gave a wide smile.

"Wha-" Sophie said with wide eyes as her face flushed pink and she whacked my father on the head again a few times.

Ugh...

I didn't know whether to be disgusted or happy to see them so deeply in love.

On one hand, seeing my father flirt made me cringe a little...and almost made me nauseous enough to throw up...

But on the other hand, seeing my father and Sophie getting along so well made me very happy.

Hehe...

Father and Sophie are marrying out of love...

I turned my head to Ace and our eyes met for a moment.

We both nodded our heads and, without another word, we both quietly left the area to leave my father and Sophie alone together.

Geez...those two didn't even notice us leaving...!

How deeply in love were they...?!

But, even though I was slightly irritated over the fact that my father chose to flirt with Sophie over spending time with his daughter, who took the time to visit him...

"Hehe..." I giggled.

"They seem to make a great match," Ace also smiled as we left the two lovebirds together.

"Yeah...I wonder if that's what love is," I said wistfully as I walked into the familiar mansion with a small grin creeping up my face.

"Trust me, Cordelia, that is exactly what love is," Ace said with a serious look on his face.

"Why are you acting so serious, Ace? Of course, I know what love is!" I replied with a small laugh as I continued walking.

"...Do you?" Ace asked as he chuckled a little at my words.

"Of course, I do! It might not seem like it, but even I've fallen in love before," I blurted out by accident.

Ace stopped walking and turned to look at me with wide eyes.

Within moments, it had become completely silent.

"Oops...Sorry, pretend you didn't hear me say that..." I chuckled awkwardly as I realized my mistake.

But even so, Ace's eyes were shaking a little and he looked at me with an expression that I couldn't describe.

"Who..." he mumbled in a voice so quiet that I could hardly hear it.

His eyes were staring deeply into mine as if he were trying to find some sort of clue.

"Sorry, I must have been confused earlier so I-"

"You're lying..." Ace murmured as he grabbed my hands and squeezed them tightly in his.

"Ace...?"

"Who is it..." Ace asked me again once more in a strained voice.

You...

I wanted to tell him that, but at the same time, I didn't.

...Me and my stupid mouth...

I just had to blurt out something stupid.

"Haha...It's kind of a secret so-"

"Does that mean you are still in love with them?" Ace asked me in a louder voice.

He seemed kind of...

Desperate.

"Yes...well, I mean...no. Sorry...I can't tell you...!!!" I yelled loudly by accident, which caused Ace to stiffen a little.

There was silence for a while as Ace stared at me.

What should I do...?

What should I say...?

The silence felt horribly suffocating for some reason and I found it difficult to breathe.

"I'm sorry, Cordelia," he said with a cold expression on his face.

"Huh?"

With my hands still entwined with his, he pulled me into the closest nearby room.

He lightly pulled me inside before letting go of my hands and turning on the lights.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, slightly worried by the way he was acting.

Ace's face was strangely pale and his entire body was trembling a little.

It was as if he was sick.

"Are you okay?"

He turned his head to me and I flinched at the pained expression on his face.

Wait...was there really something wrong with him right now...?

I stood up on my tippy toes and reached my hand out as high as I could to reach Ace's forehead.

I needed to check to see if he had a fever or not.

In comparison to the incredibly tall Ace, I was sadly very short, so it was difficult for me to reach the top of his head without having to jump a little.

Ace looked down at me as I was struggling with a perplexed expression on his face.

"You shouldn't do that," he said as he grabbed my hand from the air and held onto it.

His skin felt hot.

Like fire.

"Huh?"

"You shouldn't touch me like that. It's dangerous," he repeated as he gripped my hand with a painful look in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Ace?"

He was silent for a while and I became even more worried.

Seriously...

His hands felt like they were boiling...

Was he sick?

"...I'm not the good person you think I am, Cordelia. I get jealous easily. And I have a really bad temper," he murmured to me.

"You do...?" I asked quietly, a little confused.

"But when I'm in front of you, I can't help but act like I don't...I'm a really bad person, Cordelia," he whispered.

Ace...was a bad person?

I couldn't imagine it.

Compared to every other person I've ever met in my life, Ace was like a living angel.

"That's why I'm really scared. What if I force myself onto you? What if I hurt you?" he asked me with his voice trembling a little.

"You won't do any of those things," I replied.

Why would Ace ever want to force himself on me anyway?

"But what if I do...?" he asked again.

The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.

Seriously...why did he looked so scared?

"Then whatever. As long as it is you, I won't be upset," I replied seriously.

Ace's eyes shook at my words.

"Are you...serious...?" he asked me slowly.

"Yes, of course, I am. There's no one in the world I trust more than you. And besides, I know how gentle and sweet you are..." I replied as I blushed a little.

Ugh...What sort of cheesy words were coming out of my mouth right now...?

Maybe living in this romance otome-game world has changed me...

"No...you don't understand-"

"No. You don't understand," I said as I cut Ace off.

I looked at Ace with concern.

"I'm serious. I won't take back my words either," I said with a frown.

"You won't regret saying that...right?" Ace asked.

"Saying what?"

"That you won't be upset if I do anything to you," Ace repeated as he tightened his grip on my hands, looking deeply into my eyes.

"No," I replied simply.

I wonder...why Ace was acting so strangely today.

At my response, Ace turned his head away and seemed to be deeply considering something.

Then he turned his head back to me slowly with a strange look in his eyes.

"No matter what...you can never take back those words, okay?" he said.

The context of his question was strange and I had a bad feeling about what would happen if I answered him wrong.

So, I quickly nodded my head and shook his hands away from mine.

I had a strange premonition that I needed to run out of the room before it was too late but...

It was too late.

Ace reached out his arms and buried me deep into his embrace with a complex expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, Cordelia..." he whispered.

"Ace...?" I asked, my voice a little muffled since my face was pressed against his hard chest.

"I'm a bad person, so I want to keep you all to myself..." he murmured as he buried his face into my hair.

My face was becoming redder by the second as he embraced me so I pushed on him lightly to indicate that I wanted him to stop.

He let go of me awkwardly and stood quietly for a second before giving me a small shy chuckle.

"Sorry...I lost control of myself," he murmured quietly as he apologized.

I sighed.

Thank goodness he was acting like himself again...

I almost didn't know what to do.

"But...I've already decided..." Ace whispered.

"What...?" I asked.

"No matter hard you try to pull away...I won't let go of you until you tell me who it is you've fallen in love with," he murmured as he reached out to my hand and grabbed it.

Wait a minute...

What?!

He pulled me into his chest again and held me tightly in a warm embrace.

I tried pushing him away as hard as I could, but it was impossible.

He really...had no plans of letting me go.

"So, please...Cordelia. Tell me...Who is it?" Ace asked as he softly patted my head and ruffled my hair with his hand.

No...but...

That's impossible...

I can't...!

...Because the one I've fallen in love with is you...!

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

A/N: Ahem, so uh...Cordelia has made the mistake of giving Ace permission to do as he likes. So uh...now he's just going to do as he likes~

Sorry if this chapter seems to have lower-quality(?) I don't know, since I spent less time editing it. This entire week was final exam week, so I barely had any time to write!

But I'm happy to say...

I PASSED ALL MY EXAMS!!!! YAYYYYY!!!!

Oh my goodness, my weeks of stress have now ended~ Thank you, everyone, who wished me good luck on my finals~!

Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters for everything you do~ You guys are wonderful people and I love you all!

Stay safe, everyone~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2240