A few weeks after that, Ace began to recover.
He could now freely switch between being a dragon or a human without the need to drink human blood, for some strange reason.
After being trapped up in a cage for so long, he didn't enjoy staying indoors and preferred to fly and wander outdoors instead, which was fine with me since I had claustrophobia anyway.
I would follow him on his walks and we'd run outside in the lovely wind, forgetting our painful memories and replacing them with happier ones.
Life was so peaceful that the time flew by quickly.
Four months, perhaps, went by as we spent the time relaxing.
It was such a lazy life that it almost felt...wrong.
As a kid, I always wanted to grow up to be a couch potato...but now the thought of doing nothing all day long just felt almost...scandalous?
"Is there any work that needs to be done?" I asked Florence who was drowning behind a sea of papers.
Florence raised his eyebrow at my statement.
"Yes...but you don't need to worry about that," he said as he continued scribbling down in neat cursive on all the papers he had to do.
His hair shimmered from the light of the afternoon sun coming through the window behind him.
He had a pair of glasses which, even though I hated to admit it, made his charming appeal even greater than it usually was.
His green eyes, emphasized by his reading glasses, darted across papers and other papers and more papers...
Why was he always so busy...?
I don't think I've ever seen him take a proper break ever since I came back a few months ago.
"I'm technically the future crown princess, so there has to be some sort of work or duty I have to carry out. Don't tell me that all a crown princess does is sleep and play all day," I said stubbornly.
Florence glanced up quietly from his papers and smirked.
"Well, you're only job right now is to rest and recover...unless...you want to get a head start on your duties?" he asked with a strange humorous look on his face.
"Of course. I'd do anything at this point. I've taken a million walks and a million naps. Just give me something to do," I nodded my head furiously.
He stood up from his seat and beckoned for me to sit in his desk.
I did as he implied, but the moment I walked in a foot radius from him, he scooped me up and laid me down on top of his desk instead.
"...Excuse me. What?" I asked blankly.
"Don't you know...the greatest duty of a royal's wife...is to birth an heir?" he chuckled as he gently grazed my stomach with his fingers.
He supported my back gently with his other arm and brought my face close to his so that I could tell he was looking at no one else but me.
"Oh, heck no," I said sharply as I pushed Florence off me easily.
I patted down my rumpled dress down and glared at him.
"You try that again and I'm going to break your hands," I said threateningly.
He laughed a bit at what he considered a very funny situation.
"Haha...Of course, Lia. I won't lay a single hand on you...at least...until we marry," Florence winked with a snicker.
I shook my head with a sigh.
Honestly, if only the rest of society knew that this was what the prince was like...
...there'd be chaos.
"Even then...if you touch me without my consent...you're dead," I said seriously.
"I've been to hell and back and practically died before. I'm sure I'll be able to handle your fiery anger," Florence smiled as his gaze never drifted off of my scowl once.
Pfft.
How cute.
I mean...I've died legitimately twice...so...how in the world could he compare himself to me?
Just as I was about to tell him that, someone else said exactly what was on my mind.
"How cute, your highness," Grey said as he walked into the room carrying a few refreshments and snacks.
Florence cocked his head at Grey's statement.
"Dying once, not even legitimately, I mean, your highness. That's cute," Grey chuckled as he elegantly poured tea into two teacups in front of both me and Florence.
"What's cute is that sick attitude you still have whenever you try to talk politely, Grey," Florence said in a gruff voice as he sat back down on his seat and went back to work.
I frowned.
"There's tea. Why don't you take a small break?" I asked as I raised the hot cup up to my lips.
The thing about being a noblewoman in this world is that you drank so many cups of hot tea that your tongue practically gains fire resistance.
I remember the first few times someone poured freshly brewed tea straight from the teapot and asked me, "Please try it and tell me what you think, Lady Cyllia."
It was practically child abuse.
But now I could drink anything without ever burning my tongue...which was good...I guess.
Grey was a bit disappointed though when I stopped burning myself on accident.
"Mm...Maybe a little later," Florence said absent-mindedly.
His concentration never broke away from his work once.
I could hear a few light footsteps coming from the hallway outside of the room.
The door to the room opened and my brother, Ash, peeked inside.
"Why is everyone in here right now...?" he asked as he stepped into the room.
Florence didn't even bother to bat an eyelash at Ash.
"Good afternoon, young master. I came in here to serve his highness and milady some tea," Grey greeted Ash with a nod.
"Oh hey, Ash. How are your studies going?" I asked.
Ash sighed and plopped himself on the nearest couch.
"I finally got half an hour off. Father is really out to kill me, I swear," the heir of the dukedom complained as he closed his eyes for a nap.
"It'll be worth it in the end," I said encouragingly.
Lately, Ash's schedule has been packed to the brim with economic, political, and other classes by our father.
...I pitied him a little.
"Hey, sis, where's Deux? I haven't seen him anywhere lately," Ash asked as he looked to me.
"What do you mean...? He's sitting over there," I said as I pointed to one of the windowsills where Deux was comfortably sitting without a care in the world.
He was quietly staring outside the window by himself and he only took a single glance toward us when we mentioned his name.
"W-Woah! What the heck?! He was just sitting there the whole time?!" Ash sat up in surprise.
"Yeah. He's been there ever since this chapter started," I nodded.
Florence chuckled at Ash's reaction.
"It looks like your senses became dull ever since you started studying, Ash. Maybe I should tell Duke Cyllia to add another class to your schedul-"
"You tell my father a single thing and I swear I'll crush you, brat," Ash said through gritted teeth as he interrupted Florence.
"Guards~! The young master of the duchy is planning treason~! Take him away-"
"YOU JERK! SHUT UP OR THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY THROW ME OUT!" Ash yelled as he started strangling Florence half to death.
"Ack-"
I sighed and I turned away from the two of them.
I'm sure Ash won't actually kill Florence...maybe.
...It'll be okay.
"Deux, did you eat breakfast this morning?" Grey turned to the fair silver-haired boy staring out of the window.
Deux glanced at Grey and it took him a good half a minute or so before he shook his head no.
"Did you eat lunch yet?" Grey asked once more, in which Deux replied with another shake of the head.
It was already well past noon, so he definitely should have eaten something by now.
I mean...the food here is amazing.
Who wouldn't want to eat food all day?
"Then I must escort you to the dining room," Grey said as he opened the door for Deux.
But Deux completely ignored Grey and continued to stare outside the window as if he couldn't be bothered to listen or care.
Grey sighed as if he expected this completely and he walked over to Deux in heavy strides before wrapping his arms around Deux to lift him up.
I froze.
The princess carry...???
And there they were.
Grey cradling Deux in his arms gently as the soft light of the afternoon through the window speckled and dotted their skin.
This sight...
What is this feeling...??
Grey's pitch-black hair and dark eyes with his large build contrasted with Deux's white silvery hair and pale blue eyes with his fair and slim body...
...And it almost seemed as if...
As if...
This was...fate?!
Could this be...!!!!!!
My fujoshi heart and soul began to beat way to fast considering the situation.
I started to squeal and fan-girl internally and did my best to keep a straight face throughout all of this.
"U-Um...D-Do you guys do this o-often...?" I stuttered with a small squeak appearing in my voice.
"Do what, milady?" Grey asked me.
"Carry...Deux...like that," I said as I pointed at Deux who was limply laying in Grey's arm while staring at the ceiling with no care in the world.
"Well...if we leave Deux alone, he won't ever eat and slowly starve himself to death, milady," Grey nodded.
I imagined Grey carrying Deux to breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day like this.
My gosh...the power these boys have...
I'm sure there must be at least a dozen or so maids who fainted upon seeing the godly-appearance of two male leads holding each other in such close proximity.
"O-Okay...Go on ahead," I giggled creepily out loud as I watched Grey leave the room with a slight bit of concern on his face for my well being.
If they were just a little bit closer their lips would be-
And they would be-
I stopped myself.
I needed to get rid of all of my naughty thoughts.
"Stop it. Bad. Go away. Shoo," I murmured out loud crazily.
My brother, Ash, and Florence stared at me as if I had finally gone insane.
"Are you possessed by a demon or something, sis?" Ash asked me as he slowly picked up a random holy cross trinket in the office and brought it closer to me just in case.
"No, I don't think I am," I replied without realizing that my words gave them the wrong idea.
Ash turned to Florence.
"She's not sure if she's been possessed, dude. What the heck do we do?" Ash asked nervously.
"I-I'm not sure...I've never been in this situation either," Florence murmured in reply seriously.
"...Ugh. Well anyway, since the flow of this conversation has become strange...I'm going to leave now, okay?" I said as I pointed to the door and walked out slowly.
Before I left the room, I swear I heard Ash murmuring to Florence about something.
"Maybe we should call the High Priest from the church..." he said before I closed the door shut.
.
.
A While Later
.
.
I decided to take a walk in our estate's backyard.
There was way too much time in my hands and way too little to do.
Quietly, I checked my surroundings to make sure no one was nearby and, luckily, there wasn't.
Freedom~
It's been a while since I've had any time for myself.
I quietly breathed in the fresh air and relaxed.
These days I've been given so much joy...so much happiness.
I smiled a bit.
I wandered around the outdoors and found myself drawn to the shade of a small tree, so I sat down on the grassy dirt by its trunk.
Later, I'll probably get scolded for getting my dress all dirty, but I didn't really care.
The white clouds rolled by above my head, periodically covering the sun every once and a while, letting the shade and cool air come for a bit.
I reached my hand out to the light.
Light...it was so beautiful...so pretty.
It was something that I took for granted.
Light...
Hmm...I feel like I'm forgetting something...or someone...but I can't remember.
"What in the world am I forgetting...?" I murmured as I grazed my hand through the flowing light.
But no matter how much I tried to remember, it was like there was some sort of blockage in my mind.
So, I simply gave up on it and moved on.
And, instead, I decided to play around with my magic instead.
I tried making a miniature army of gingerbread men with my illusion magic.
They all ran around smashing into each other and committing cannibalism as they ate each other's arms.
I had no idea what was going through my mind as I did all this.
Eventually, all the gingerbread men disappeared without a trace as I deactivated my magic and sighed.
Then, I practiced my ice magic and began sculpting sculptures of ice, watching as they melted under the sun.
I let my creativity go, letting my hands use the magic that I was restricted from using for months in the caverns.
I continued to spiral up my magic, creating larger and larger grand figurines of random things I could come up with.
And slowly, I built up a giant ball of ice and sculpted it like Earth, the world I left behind.
Grand cities slowly formed on the surface of the ice and busy streets bustling with cars underneath an infinite number of electrical poles and lights popped into my mind as I did my best to remember...
...but I could barely remember.
Surely, by this point, I was forgetting too many details of my old life.
Even now, I couldn't remember what a plane looked like...or random things like...like...
I sighed.
This current world is my world now.
So, I used my magic to create things of this world, from the places I had been to the people I knew.
And slowly, my imagination led me to carefully craft a small pocket-sized sculpture of Ace.
In this sculpture, Ace was in the midway stage of transforming from a dragon to a person.
His tail, where his human legs should have been, were delicately formed and slowly I built up to his human torso and his hands that were in the process of forming.
His face bloomed out from a beautiful spiral of small petals of light and slowly his chiseled, yet soft, hands followed suit, leaving only his dragon tail left to change.
No matter how many times I saw him change, it was beautiful.
The amount of concentration I put into such a small sculpture was immense.
It was to the point I didn't even notice the silent footsteps behind me.
"Is that...me...?" Ace asked as he peered over my shoulder.
Shivers went down my spine the moment his breath met my ear and I yelped in surprise.
"A-Ace?" I asked quickly out loud as I tried to cover the sculpture I made with my body.
Ace looked at me with a funny look on his face with a twinkle behind his bright emerald eyes.
"...Can I see...the sculpture you made of me?" he asked with a smile.
I froze.
I didn't make a sculpture like this to show it to the person in question!
Part of my face was becoming hot and I chuckled awkwardly.
"W-Well...it's not really done yet...and I'm not an artist so...I can't promise how good it'll look," I said with a little blush on my face.
Ace shook his head slightly.
"I already caught a small glimpse of it and I can promise you that it looks beautiful," he said seriously.
"You're not saying that because it's your face...right?" I asked him teasingly.
He paused and smiled back.
"No...Anything in your hands would look beautiful," he replied seriously.
Darn...he's good.
"I'll...show it to you later," I said as I continued to hide the sculpture behind me.
He sighed and just agreed with me even though I was pretty sure he wanted to see it.
Ever since Ace was released from the hospital, I don't think he's ever said 'no' to me.
At this point, he'd probably nod if I ask him to fly upside-down for the rest of his life.
"You can argue back and say no, you know," I said seriously.
"...No, I don't want to," Ace said.
Dang.
I looked at him with a small pout before laughing.
This idiot...
"I didn't say it was okay to say no to saying no," I chuckled at his blatant display of stubbornness.
"I only do exactly what you wish, Cordelia," he also laughed innocently alongside me.
"You're so stupid," I said through a little giggle.
The face Ace makes whenever he laughs is so...
...I couldn't look away.
I stared at his cheerful face for a while before I noticed Ace's bright emerald eyes staring back at me too.
We both looked away almost immediately.
"Sorry...for staring..." we both said awkwardly at the same time.
I paused.
"No, I'm sorry," I said.
"...No. I should be sorry..."
"If you're sorry, then I'm more sorry," I said defiantly.
Ace looked at me with a mischievous look in his eyes as he continued.
"No, I'm definitely much more sorry than you are," Ace said.
"Excuse me? Are you blind? Can't you see how much more sorry I am than you?"
"No, my eyesight has always been perfectly clear. I can visibly see how much more sorry I am than you."
"You must be imagining things," I said with a smirk.
"I can assure you that I am not," Ace replied with his own grin.
"Oh really? Because I know you are."
And we went on and on like this until I couldn't handle it anymore and I tackled Ace to the ground.
"Just listen to me already!! I'm more sorry than you'll ever be in your entire life!!" I yelled loudly on top of him.
"I...Fine," he suddenly agreed out of nowhere.
"Aha! I win," I said triumphantly.
It took me a long time before I realized what I had just done.
Ace was shifting his body stiffly beneath mine as he waited for me to realize.
"O-Oh, sorry about that...Um...it's getting late so...I guess we should go," I chuckled awkwardly as I tried to get off of him.
But before I could, he dragged me down with him.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a small pout on his face.
"Wha- Get off of me," I squealed as I tried to push him off, but his strength completely overpowered mine.
Even with all my added strength...how...
Dragons are too strong...
I stared up at Ace's face, which was closely hovering above mine and I turned red almost immediately.
He had a strange look on his face.
"H-Hey, I really suggest that you get off now," I said as I tried to break free.
I wasn't used to this.
The feeling of being overpowered in strength...
...It felt strange to me.
But Ace didn't let me go at all and he gripped my wrists even tighter.
"You can't go. You didn't show me the ice-sculpture you made of me yet," Ace said.
I paused.
"Excuse me. What?" I asked him in surprise.
He didn't forget about that sculpture??
"It'll melt by the end of today if you don't show me..." Ace frowned as he continued to lock my wrists to the ground.
"That's...all...?" I questioned him.
Ace looked confused for a moment.
"What else would it be?" he asked me.
I almost burst into laughter right then and there.
What the heck?
"You could have just asked normally, you know," I said with a small chuckle as Ace quickly let me go.
"But what if you tried to run away?" Ace asked me with a cock of his head.
"If I tried to run then that'd be your problem. But at least try asking first," I chuckled in reply.
"...Okay," Ace nodded slightly.
I smiled before I brought out the small ice figure that Ace wanted to see so much.
Ace stared at it curiously and gently picked it up in his hands.
The sight of Ace focusing so intently on a sculpture of himself made me want to chuckle a little.
He looked as if he were seeing pure diamonds in front of his eyes.
"It reminds me..." he murmured.
"Of what?" I asked.
He looked up at me and held the sculpture by my face.
"Of your eyes," he smiled.
I was speechless after that.
The first thing Ace thinks of when he sees an ice sculpture of himself is my eyes.
...Sure, why not.
But he looked super happy, so I didn't try to tell him how ridiculous his statement was.
"...Can I keep it?" Ace asked me quietly.
"This sculpture? Why? You'll have to keep freezing it with ice magic over and over again...it won't be worth it," I said seriously.
Ace shook his head.
"I'll never let it melt," he told me.
He seemed very serious over this, so I just smiled awkwardly and nodded my head.
"Of course...I was planning on throwing it out anyway," I finally said as I let him hold onto the sculpture.
He smiled before we both heard quick footsteps heading toward us.
I turned my head to see Florence walking toward us with a letter in his hand.
"...So this is where you were," Florence sighed as he ran closer to us.
He seemed to be cursing under his breath for a bit.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"I thought you went missing again...I couldn't find you anywhere in the house..." he sighed as he collapsed to the ground.
"Nah...I didn't go missing. I was just out here messing around with Ace," I said slowly.
Florence looked up to see Ace beside me.
"Why do the both of you have dirt all over your clothes?" Florence asked confused.
"Uhhh...No reason," I said awkwardly as I recalled everything we just did.
"Your face is red, Lia," Florence murmured.
"Is it??" I asked as I touched my face on reflex.
"I lied."
"Oh..." I said slowly as I realized he tricked me again.
Darn it...I need to stop trusting this man.
But...I wonder why Florence looks so upset right now...
Florence looked to Ace quietly and then back at me before sighing.
"Anyway, I came here to give you this letter. Your father sent another letter telling me to give it to you in person. He said...he wanted you to be the first to know?" Florence informed me as he handed me the letter.
"Hmm? That's strange...he doesn't normally send me letters like this..." I said as I slowly opened the envelope.
I glanced over the clean cursive that seemed to almost be printed instead of handwritten.
---
To Cordelia de Boren Cyllia,
On the first day of Spring, we wish to formally invite you to the wedding ceremony of Duke Alastair de Boren Cyllia and Baroness Sophie at the Royal Palace. All guests are welcome for a night of dinner and dancing under the light of the stars.
Thank you.
---
I stared at the letter with wide eyes.
"...MY DAD'S GETTING MARRIED TO MY MAID, SOPHIE?!" I screeched out loud by accident.
--------------------------------------------------
A/N: I decided to take a break on all the dark stuff for this chapter~ It's been a while since happiness was a real thing, right?
So...Cordelia's father is getting remarried to Sophie (aka Cordelia's maid)! Woohoo~
Anyway, I have just realized what an idiot I am. Basically, I had a chemistry test this week, so I studied for it (like what good kids do whenever they know a test is coming).
I didn't want to mess up like last week and walk into a class without knowing we have a test. So I went into my chemistry class, took the test, got a good score, and I was happy.
But then.
I walk into my next period, which was math. And BAM. I realize...I had another test today that I had no idea about...! Whyyyyyyyy...I'm so unlucky. I made the same mistake twice within two weeks!!! WHY AM I SO STUPID?!
Thank goodness I did well on my math test too though...because I was ready to cry.
Ahem.
This author's note is getting too long...um...Thanks, again to my readers/voters/commenters! You guys are ever so supportive~
Stay safe!
Okie byeee!
Word Count: 3802