Cordelia POV
The sun was already quite high in the sky when I woke up.
I groaned in frustration as I tussled my hair with my hands and recalled what had happened last night.
How dare Ace force me to sleep?!
I'm not a child, you know!!
With a disheartened sigh, I hopped up from my bed and gingerly left the room to search for something good to eat.
Yes...food.
Food is the only thing that can make my mood better now...
For some reason, on the way to the dining room, my foot bumped into something extremely soft and plushy on the ground.
Did the maids neglect their cleaning duties or something...???
"FUUUUUUUUUU--------KKKKK!! SJDFJHSJCI!!" a voice screeched.
E-Eh...?
To my utter horror, when I looked down, I realized that I had accidentally kicked a small teddy bear across the entire corridor as if it were a football.
"S-Sin?! Is that you?!?!" I gasped as I ran after the tumbling teddy bear.
"AAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!" Sin screamed as his body finally rolled to a stop.
"I-I...I AM SO SORRY!! I didn't see you at all!!" I apologized over and over again loudly to the teddy bear, who laid flat on the ground dramatically.
"D-MN IT! I was wondering what a b-tch like you has been up to lately but, APPARENTLY, I SHOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN A F-CK!!!"
"Sorry!! I'm so sorry, Sin!!" I apologized as I tried to console the small teddy bear.
Using my creation magic, I created a tiny wooden crutch for Sin to lean on.
Luckily, Sin was made up of fabric and fluff, so there wasn't a single bone in his body that should be able to break...I think.
He'll be fine...probably.
"I'll remember this, b-tch. One day I'm gonna..." Sin mumbled curses underneath his breath as he stood up shakily.
"So...um...What are you doing here, Sin...? It's been like...28 chapters since I've last seen you...!" I inquired as I picked Sin up with my hands, feeling my fingers sink into his fabric.
Sin was as impeccably soft and plushy as always.
"Sh-t...Don't f-cking remind me. I know I don't get enough d-mn screentime, okay," Sin spat as he didn't resist my attempts to cradle him in my arms.
"I'm sorry, Sin...but we were going through an excruciatingly long romance arc a few weeks ago, you see...And I'm sure you wouldn't want to be around for that."
"That's true. F-ck romance."
"Ahaha...So where have you been?" I asked, hoping for an answer.
But unfortunately, I could sense two pairs of footsteps approaching and I looked up to see two identical individuals pop their heads out from around the hall.
It was Lin and Min, the twins.
"Wow, I see how it is, Sin," Lin pouted.
"You like Cowdelia more than us now," Min frowned.
"Don't you..." the twins said at the same time.
Sin gave the twins a sharp glare before giving a small sigh.
"Who the f-ck said that I like this b-tch?!?! Come here, d-ckheads. I'm gonna need to knock some f-cking sense in your pea-sized brains," Sin huffed as he began flailing his limbs in the air toward the twins helplessly from within my hands.
The feeling of Sin's soft fabric rubbing against my fingers was quite ticklish so I gave a small laugh as I stood up and handed Sin over to the twins, where he belonged.
Min picked up Sin, who finally stopped struggling, and cradled Sin in his arms as he regularly did.
"The cow is hungry, Lin," Min said as he looked at me.
"She's always hungry though, Min," Lin replied.
"Would you like to eat breakfast with us?" the twins asked me as they both stretched out their hands to me.
It was then that I noticed that their severed hands were still wrapped in white bandages.
"You don't have to feel bad, Cowdelia," the twins said at the same time as if though they could read my mind.
Oh, wait.
The twins actually can read my mind.
"How could you even forget we can read minds?" Min asked.
"That's like the only interesting power we have," Lin sighed.
"But that's why we know..." the twins murmured into both of my ears, "You're planning on doing something really fun soon...right?"
I glared at the twins.
How dare the twins read my mind without my permission.
"We can help you, you know," Lin said.
"The Marquis and Marquess are nothing when compared to us," Min continued.
"We could easily get rid of them for you," they whispered.
Almost unconsciously, I shuddered.
Their words seemed familiar to me somehow...as if though I had already heard them before.
But...where...?
And that's when I realized.
The twins...had repeated the exact same lines that they had spoken in the otome game right before they decided to brutally kill Cordelia, the villainess.
.
"It's okay...I'm sure Lady Cyllia doesn't mean any harm..." Lilly whispered as she gripped her right hand over her left arm, which had a large, deep bloodied gash.
Just moments before, the villainess had "accidentally" misfired a potentially deadly blade of water magic toward the heroine, Lilly.
For a while, the twins were silent and they looked to one another silently as dangerous thoughts passed through their minds.
"We can help you, you know," Lin said.
"Lady Cyllia is nothing when compared to us," Min continued.
"We can easily get rid of her for you..."
.
My hands trembled slightly as I realized that this world, even though it had changed so much over the years, this world was still undeniably the same as the otome game I played.
This is why...
This is why I have to make sure I get a happy ending no matter what...
...Never...never will I let my ending become the exact same as the otome game's Cordelia.
"It's fine. I'd rather do it on my own. It won't be satisfying otherwise," I growled.
"Are you sure?" they asked.
I gave a deep sigh to slowly calm myself down before looking back up at the twins straight in the eye.
"...Have you ever even met those two in person before...?" I asked.
"No, we haven't," Lin shook his head.
"But we wouldn't be afraid to try," Min shrugged.
"...You two have already been through enough so just let me handle it. But...I'll tell you if I ever need anything though," I finally said after a while.
And, with that, the twins were satisfied and together they escorted me to the dining room so I could finally eat breakfast.
Mmm...breakfast.
Yum.
.
.
.
.
And from that point, a few days passed and the day of my father and Sophie's wedding was nearing.
But, rather than preparing the clothes I would wear during the wedding, I was preparing for other things...
Namely...revenge.
Of course, in order to carry out my revenge, I would need to have the perfect place and time to do it.
And the perfect time and place would be somewhere full of witnesses, who would all be able to watch the Marquis and Marquess crumble right before their eyes.
But...
Ever since...ahem...I went through a series of...unfortunately life-threatening events...I have been banned from attending any banquets or parties with the other noble ladies.
No matter how hard I ask, there is absolutely no way that my father would ever let me go anywhere until he was absolutely sure that I wouldn't be getting into any more trouble anytime soon.
Which meant the only upcoming event that I even had a chance of attending, where every single last person of major influence would be, is...my father's wedding.
I clicked my tongue.
I'd have to be one heck of a daughter to ruin her father's wedding to carry out a revenge plan...
But what choice did I have...?
Should I wait a few more years until my over-protective father gives me the freedom to do as I like...?
Or should I just do it now...and get it over with...?
I let out a deep sigh as I considered my options.
"Maybe I should just open my window in the middle of the night and run outside without my father ever noticing," I whistled casually.
Somewhere behind me, I could hear the breathing of multiple men stop and I chuckled in my amusement.
My father didn't know but...I could tell.
One above me...two to the right...one in the corner of the room...
There were guards secretly watching me everywhere I went.
Without a doubt in my mind, I knew my father was the one who placed them there.
Did my father think I wouldn't notice...?
Or maybe he placed guards around me on purpose, knowing that I would notice them almost immediately as if to warn me: "Don't you dare sneak out."
I gave a dry chuckle at my current predicament.
Hmm...I wonder what I should do...
.
.
.
.
And so, the moment that night came, I made my decision to do as my father wanted and be a "good girl."
Just kidding.
There's no way I would actually be a "good girl."
I was just going to pretend to be one instead and do things under my father's nose without him noticing.
Which meant...
I needed to somehow get rid of the troublesome guards that my father placed around me if I wanted to do anything.
As much as I'd love to kill all of the guards and get it over with...that would, unfortunately, defeat the purpose of me trying to pretend to be a good daughter.
My father would easily find out about it before I could even take a step outside the dukedom.
So the only option that I had left was...
With one large leap, I jumped in front of where the first guard was hiding, knocked him out with the least amount of strength that I could muster, and used the momentum to knock out another nearby guard before they could even realize what was going on.
In total, there were about nine guards.
Nine...
Dang it, Dad.
Why the heck did you feel the need to put eight nine around a single girl???
Isn't that a bit overkill???
I sprinted to the next guard at Mach speed, doing my best to control my strength and lightly knock him out.
And I did the same, over and over again, while moving so fast that the average person wouldn't even be able to see what I was doing.
Within a split second, all nine guards were on the floor, unconscious.
I gave a small sigh of relief after making sure that they were all still alive.
Haha...it's hard to control your strength when you're moving at Mach speed...
I cracked my knuckles and stretched my limbs a bit as I prepared to run away.
Making sure to move as quietly as possible, I walked over to my bedroom window and opened it, taking a moment to lean my head out to stare at the almost full moon and the crystal clear night sky.
Luckily, the guards that my father placed on me were quite second-rate...which was strange since I'm sure my father knew that there was no way a few guards would be able to stop me from leaving.
He must have seriously underestimated me...
If he was smart, he would have placed someone a lot stronger to watch over me-
"Where are you going...Cordelia...?"
"..."
I froze as two arms reached out on both sides of my body, caging me from behind.
"Why did you knock out all of the other guards...?" he whispered.
Just from his voice alone, I knew exactly who it was.
Oh...haha...I am so dead.
"Come here. You're not going anywhere," he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me up easily as if I weighed as light as a feather.
I watched as Ace closed the window, the only hope for my escape and freedom, with a casual flick of the hand and carried me all the way back to my bed over his shoulder as if I were some sort of baby.
"Wait...noooo..." I cried out as I helplessly reached out to the windowsill with my hand as Ace carried me away mercilessly.
Dang it!!
How the heck did I not even think of the possibility that Ace was also a guard watching over me under the requests of my father?!?!
There weren't nine guards!
There were ten!
"Ughhh..." I groaned in frustration as Ace plopped me onto my bed gently.
My father clearly did not underestimate me...
I thought my father was quite stupid for only putting a few average guards to keep watch over me but, in reality...all of those guards were just foil.
The only real guard was Ace...!
"Wait. Ace. Please, this is important. I have to go-"
"No."
"You didn't even hear what I had to say yet-"
"No."
"Can I go somewhere real quick tonight, please...?"
"No."
"Pretty please?? Pretty please with a cherry on top...??"
"..."
Ace went silent as he listened to me whine and beg over and over again for him to let me leave.
"I don't know what you're planning, Cordelia...But I'm not letting you go anywhere tonight..." he sighed as he tucked me into the bedsheets.
"But this is important!!!"
"Your health and safety are more important."
"It'll only take a few minutes, I promise! I'll run there and back so quickly that you wouldn't even notice that I was gone in the first place!" I pleaded.
But, unfortunately, there wasn't even an ounce of sympathy on Ace's face.
"I'll even let you go with me! So, please...I just need to go somewhere real quick..." I whispered, slowly becoming disheartened by the situation.
"..."
"Please...?"
"If I let you go..."
"Yes...??"
"...What will you do for me in return...?" Ace asked as he leaned his body over mine.
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A/N: Alright! That's it for this chapter!! Again, I'm super sorry for not being able to update yesterday :(
I had a day-long banquet for one of my clubs and, basically, it was a party to announce who won during our state-level competitions! And haha~ Good news!! I did great!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Overall, I placed second for my state, so I'm going to move on and compete at the national level now~ Wooooo!!! I'm super excited~!
Anyways, thank you to ALL of my readers/voters/commenters for understanding why I delayed my update!! I love you all so much!! Next week's update will be on the usual weekly schedule, so don't worry about another late update~
Also, I am SUPER sorry if the grammar/spelling of this chapter is off!! I actually had to edit this chapter on my phone this week...so forgive me, please!
Stay safe, everyone~
Okie byeee!
Word Count: 2464