My father...
M-M-M-Married.
To who?
Sophie?
When in the world did this happen?!
"My dad's...finally getting remarried..." I murmured as I glanced over the letter about a hundred times.
"Is that...a bad thing...?" Florence asked me carefully.
"No...not at all. This is amazing..." I whispered with a smile.
"When is the wedding?" Ace asked as he glanced over my shoulder.
"The first day of spring...A few months from now," I replied, completely unfocused to everything around me.
I can't believe my father is getting married to Sophie!
Shouldn't he have told me about this sooner?!
And what's worse...instead of telling me in person, he decided to tell me through a letter of all things...
"Wait. Does Ash know?" I turned to Florence in a hurry.
"Yeah, I handed him a similar letter earlier," Florence nodded as he confirmed that my brother knew our father was getting remarried.
Sophie...
She was like a mother to me ever since I came into this world...
If I had to choose, there would be no one in the world better to fill the position of Duchess than her.
"Who knew...my father could actually pull this off," I giggled a bit at the situation.
My father was a completely hopeless handsome man who was only good at doing his work and nothing else.
I didn't even know it was possible for him to get a girl.
Sorry, Dad, but it's true.
"Congratulations, Cordelia," Ace smiled by my side.
"Haha...You should be congratulating my dad, not me," I replied with a chuckle.
A duke getting married to a mere maid...
This would likely be the main topic of rumors for weeks to come.
People are ruthless in high society, so I'll have to be careful from now on.
Of course, I'd gladly...eliminate...anyone who'd dare to talk trash about Sophie behind my back though...
"Lia...? You okay...? You have a scary look on your face," Florence said with an amused worried expression on his face as he tried to snap me back to reality.
"Huh? Uh...probably," I answered absent-mindedly, which only made Florence raise another eyebrow at me.
"Well, the Duke has already planned a visit to the castle for tomorrow. It seems that he was too busy to come here personally to tell you himself," Florence said.
"Will Sophie come too?" I asked, a small squeak forming in my voice.
"I believe so," Florence smiled.
A warm feeling began to fill my chest.
Sophie was going to marry my dad...!
.
.
A While Later
.
.
"What the heck! The old man's getting married!" Ash said loudly from across the dining table.
"Yeah, I know right?! Who the heck knew dad had it in him?" I nodded furiously along with my brother.
"But that means...Sophie's actually going to be the boss of the house," Ash said with a pale expression on his face.
I shuddered as well.
Sophie was already practically running the household as the head maid...and she acted like a mother to both of us for the past years...but she couldn't "punish" us if we did anything wrong thanks to the difference in social status.
The most we got was an hour-long scolding session.
But now...
Now...
Father...What in the world have you gotten your kids into...?
"Look at that wonderful sibling-ship...you guys have been talking about this for the past two hours. Literally," Florence sighed as he watched the two of us bickering back and forth.
"Our dad is getting married though???" both Ash and I said loudly at the same time.
Meanwhile, the twins were also listening to our conversation.
"Dang, Min," Lin said.
"They're more coordinated than we are, Lin," Min nodded.
"What if they can talk at the same time better than us?" they both asked at the same time.
"But then what would be the point of us being twins, Min?" Lin asked.
"There would be no point, Lin," Min sighed.
"...Does that make us pointless characters?" they asked out loud at the same time.
I had no idea how they came to that conclusion at all, but their synchronization was as impressive as always.
"Milady, are you done with your meal yet?" Grey asked me as he entered the room with some more food.
"I'll never finish if you keep bringing in plates...not that I'm complaining though," I said as I stuffed my face with spoonfuls of whatever delicious substance was in front of me.
"Of course. It's my job to make sure you are well fed," Grey sighed as he cleared my empty plate.
"Why don't you join us?" I asked as I beckoned for him to sit down too.
"I will...but first, where is Deux?" Grey asked.
I snickered and snorted a bit.
"Oh~ You're worried about him, right?" I giggled like a schoolgirl.
"Well, of course."
"Don't worry, he's just taking a nap in his room right now. Feel free to walk in and wake him up..." I said, my mind full of expectations for scenes to come.
"Then, I'll be heading out now, milady," Grey nodded to me before starting to leave.
"Make sure to be gentle!" I said merrily as he left the room.
When did those two get so close?
Maybe my father's marriage isn't the only one I'll have to worry about in the future...
I looked around at the dining table.
Clearly, none of the other boys knew what I was so excited about, except for the twins, who had I-don't-understand-why-she's-like-this expressions on their faces as they read my mind.
"Hmm...Has anyone seen Wolfe around though? I haven't seen him all day...actually, I haven't seen him for almost two weeks..." I said as I tried to start a new conversation.
The palace was so big that sometimes you might never bump into someone no matter how long you decided to wander around for.
"Huh? Wolfe? No...weirdly, I haven't seen him around lately either..." Florence shook his head.
"Nope. We haven't seen him," the twins also shook their heads.
I looked to my brother, Ash, who also shook his head.
Then I turned around to Ace, who was casually flying around the high ceilings of the dining hall, and he also shook his head, confirming that no one had seen Wolfe around at all.
How strange.
Well, I guess he must just be sleeping like always.
I looked around the table and it looked like everyone assumed the same thing as me.
Actually...
A new thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I began to count.
Count the number of people staying in the palace.
Ace...Florence...Ash...Grey...Deux...Lin...Min...Wolfe...
...and me.
Nine.
There were nine of us, just like how it had always been.
But something in the back of my mind was telling me that I was wrong.
That this was wrong.
That there were supposed to be ten of us.
...But that couldn't be right.
Right?
"Are we missing someone?" I asked out loud in a small murmur.
"...Who?" Florence asked in response to my strange question.
"I...just realized that I'm the only girl here," I sighed.
No one responded as the stupidity of my statement sunk in.
"Did you think you were a dude like the rest of us, sis?" Ash chuckled at my remark.
"Nah...I just thought I'd become friends with at least one girl once throughout my life," I replied.
"Maybe you're just socially incapable of making friends," Ash said bluntly.
I smacked my head on the table.
Gee...My brother is so kind.
"I might be going crazy, guys, but I swear there was another girl in our group before..." I said seriously.
For some reason, I had a feeling that I was forgetting someone.
Someone important.
Florence and Ash glanced at one another before breaking into laughter.
"Imagine if there was," Florence chuckled.
"Sis, you're delusional," Ash sighed as he calmed down a bit.
"What girl?" Florence asked through stifled laughter.
Really...?
But I could have sworn...
There was another girl...right?
What was her name again...?
But no matter how hard I tried to remember, nothing came to mind.
"Lin. Min. I'm not going crazy, right?" I asked the two telepathic boys in the room.
Surely, if anyone was going to remember, it would be them.
"The cow's finally questioning her sanity, Min," Lin said.
"Yes, it took her a long time to get here, Lin," Min replied with a nod.
"You're going crazy, Cowdelia," they both nodded.
I glared at the two boys.
"There was definitely another girl with us. Her name was...was..." I said as my voice trailed off.
"Her name was...?" Florence asked as he beckoned for me to continue.
"It was...um...I can't remember, but I swear there was another girl with us," I said seriously this time.
Everyone looked at me incredulously.
"I swear I'm not going crazy...!" I said loudly as I smacked the table.
"That's what crazy people say..." my brother retorted.
I glared at my brother for a while before I finally calmed down.
"Fine...Okay, sorry. I was probably mistaking reality with my make-belief world where I actually I friends," I sighed.
It didn't seem like any of the boys were joking or lying.
Maybe there really wasn't someone else in our group and I was just confused.
...Maybe I was just being paranoid...
"That's actually...really sad. If it makes you feel any better, I don't have any friends either," Ash sighed at an extremely poor attempt to comfort me.
"But you have me though?" Florence asked with a smirk.
"Who the heck would want to be your friend???" Ash asked loudly in return.
"The whole kingdom. I'm their only prince," Florence shrugged smugly.
"And yet you're still a lonely brat."
"At least I'm not as lonely as you."
"What? How?"
"I have a fiance~" Florence chuckled.
"And I have a sister."
"Wow. Congratulations. You're so special," Florence said sarcastically.
Florence and Ash continued to argue stupidly about pointless things, so I turned my head away from them.
Today has been such a strange day.
"I'm done with my meal, so I'm going to head back to my room now," I said as I excused myself.
I turned up to the ceiling where Ace was, which translated to: 'Do you want to come with me?'
Ace nodded his head and flew all the way down, looping around me once.
Ever since Ace got his ability to fly back, he's been flying everywhere.
I wonder how it feels to be able to soar the sky freely like that...
It must feel so liberating.
.
.
A While Later
.
.
I plopped onto my bed with a sigh.
I must've looked crazy during dinner today.
It wasn't like I could blame them though.
After all, I was talking about nonexistent friends as if they were real.
Anybody would be worried.
"Hey...Ace...I think I've been neglecting my revenge plans against the Marquis and Marquess for too long..." I murmured.
Things have been peaceful lately.
Almost too peaceful.
It would be a shame to ruin it all.
"...I see. You still remember that..." Ace replied as he curled up into a ball by my side in his dragon form.
"Yeah...It's probably one of the only things I haven't forgotten..." I sighed.
I didn't want slow revenge.
I wanted sudden revenge that would surprise them out of nowhere and shred them to pieces instantly.
I wanted to watch their faces crumble into despair before my very eyes.
I wanted to watch them beg for my help, only for me to kick away their outstretched hands and throw them down to hell where they belonged.
I wanted their last moments to be painful.
I had enough strength to do so now.
Nothing could get in my way.
"Calm down, Cordelia. Your face is scary right now," Ace said quietly.
I snapped back to reality immediately.
"Sorry..." I replied.
There were so many ways to ruin them.
But I wanted to do it in public, so everyone could watch them crumble away.
And the only time where every single last noble in the country would meet together in one place would be...
...My dad's upcoming wedding with Sophie.
I bit my tongue.
I would have to be an awful daughter to crash my parents' wedding to enact my revenge.
So, I gave up on the thought for now and sighed.
"Ace...do you resent the man who took away your memories...?" I asked him seriously.
He looked a little surprised that I asked him that.
"I...Of course...I do..." Ace replied slowly, careful to not say anything out of line.
"Have you ever wanted to take revenge against him?" I asked.
Ace hesitated a bit before replying.
"...If I ever meet him again, I certainly won't be able to hold myself back from trying to kill him. But...if not, I don't want to try to seek him out. I don't want revenge or anything grand like that. I just...I just want our lives to stay the way it is..." Ace murmured.
Really...
Ace was essentially a completely different person than me.
I, on the other hand, would gladly spend the rest of my life trying to find out that time-stopping, mind-erasing disgusting man and figure out how to obliterate him from the world.
But...
The type of life Ace wanted...
"I...My brain isn't working normally today. So...I'm going to go stretch my legs before going to bed. Feel free to find me if you need me," I said as I sat up from my bed.
Ace nodded slightly as if he understood where I was coming from.
I left the room and walked out into the hallway.
Revenge...
It was such a strange thing really.
But it was too late now to waver in my plans.
For a while, I wandered the palace halls alone in the dark with no one to guide me.
It was like therapy.
Every inch of my body wanted to open a window and jump outside thanks to my traumas and phobias from the months of walking down endless dark labyrinths underground.
But I breathed slowly and tried to calm myself down as I continued to walk.
It wasn't good to have weaknesses...because who knew if someone would one day try to exploit it?
Anyway, since I was only walking around without any goal in mind, I decided to take a visit to Wolfe's room.
I wonder why no one had seen him for the past week or two...
Eventually, my feet guided me to Wolfe's room on the other side of the castle.
A piece of paper was taped to the door of his room and it said, 'Don't enter, please. Leave me alone.'
I pulled the paper off of the door incredulously.
Are you serious...?
Has he locked himself up in his room?
Is this why no one has seen him lately?
Why?
I ripped the paper in half.
A part of me knew that I was being inconsiderate to Wolfe's feelings, but there was a limit to how far you could go.
How long has he been like this?
Has he been eating?
What about drinking water?
Slowly, I stepped forward to the door and knocked a few times, waiting for a response.
Silence was the only thing that replied to me.
"Wolfe...? Hey...Are you okay? It's me, Cordelia," I said, a little worried now that he wasn't responding.
What if he died and no one knew??
I opened the door slowly and checked inside.
The room was dark and every surface in the room had a small layer of dust over it as if no one had even touched anything for weeks.
...What was the point of the palace maids if they couldn't even clean a room??
Then, I sensed a very weak living presence from Wolfe's bed in the corner of this dusty, yet lavish, place.
It was a very...very...very...weak presence.
Was that...Wolfe...?
The presence was so weak that even I couldn't notice it right away.
It could hardly be called a living presence at all.
It was more like...
...death.
I widened my eyes and ran over to Wolfe's bed in a hurry, nearly tripping over my toes in the process.
"Wolfe...?!" I yelled loudly, a bit panicked now that I realized something was horribly wrong.
Then, I saw his body laying down on his bed.
It was as still and unmoving as stone.
Please tell me he's just sleeping like usual.
I touched his finger.
It was ice cold.
Dread coursed through my veins.
I checked his wrist for a pulse.
And then I felt it.
It was almost unnoticeable.
But there was a small pulse.
Thank god...
"Wolfe...! Wolfe...! What's wrong?! Wake up," I said as I shook his body.
But there was no response.
A doctor...
I need to call a doctor now.
Quickly, I moved away from his bed and was just about to run as fast as I could to go call for a doctor or some sort of healing mage to help him, but before I could leave, an ice-cold hand wrapped around my wrist, gripping it tightly.
"Wolfe...?" I asked slowly as I turned around.
Crack.
It was at that moment when my guard was completely down from the fear that Wolfe was dying, that the hand around my wrist tightened so hard that it broke the bone underneath.
I shrieked for a moment from the sudden pain coming from my arm and looked to see two gleaming red eyes staring back at me.
"...r...un..." Wolfe said, his red eyes tearing up, before he pulled me in toward him, biting down hard on the nape of my neck.
My eyes widened as I felt my blood drip down my shoulder.
But there was something else mixed in with my blood, and it was Wolfe's warm tears.
"Wolfe...?! Hey, what are you doin-" I tried to say but my body went numb.
Paralysis...?
"...r...un..." he murmured through gritted teeth, his red eyes twisting in some sort of pain.
And that was when I finally realized that Wolfe wasn't human.
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A/N: Well that's it for this chapter! Wolfe's finally taking the spotlight for once~ And before you guys say something, no, he's not being possessed this time around, which is a good thing, right? Right?
It also seems like everyone has forgotten a certain character that I introduced during the school arc~ Can you guys guess who it is? ;)
I wonder why they've forgotten her though...She was such an important character... :(
Anyway, the next chapter will be Wolfe's special!! Dang, it's been a while since I last wrote a special, so I might be a little rusty, but I'll do my best anyway...It'll be about Wolfe's backstory, so bring some snacks or something next week when you read it!
Also...guess what day it is~
It's my...B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y!!
YAYYY!!! I'm officially ONE YEAR OLDER than I was last year!!! WOOHOO! Celebration time~
Thanks, again, to all my readers/voters/commenters! You guys are all lovely people, and I wish you the best. Thank you for always making my day~
Stay safe, everyone!
Okie byeee!
Word Count: 2909