Another Life, Another Me

88. Surely, a Dragon

"...I love you, Ace."

The words spilled out of my mouth before I could even think to stop them.

I closed my eyes tightly shut to avoid whatever expression Ace would have on his face.

How would he react, I wonder.

I didn't know what I would do if he rejected me with pity in his eyes.

Throughout my life, there were many times where I had felt afraid...nervous...scared...

But at this moment, it was as if all of my fears had come crashing down at once.

Even though I knew...I knew how much Ace deeply cared for me.

I was still afraid of rejection and what he would tell me.

"..."

We were quiet for so long that I ran out of patience and slightly peeked open my eyes to look at him properly.

He was still standing there.

And the expression on his face was as unreadable as stone.

His face was rigid...

...and was the opposite of what I had imagined it to be.

"...Ace, I..."

"...Shhh...it's okay, Cordelia...you must be really tired..." Ace murmured as he gave me a few gentle pats on the head.

He had a stiff smile on his face that gave nothing away.

I couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.

"Ace-"

"You should go to sleep...Don't worry...I'll make sure no one interrupts you," Ace said as he completely ignored anything I had to say.

It was as if he were stopping me from saying anything else.

As if he didn't want to hear it.

Ah...

He was...

...rejecting me...

Right?

I lowered my eyes and bit my tongue, forcing myself to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.

It was as if a giant void had replaced the spot where my heart had been, sucking my throat tightly shut.

"Thank you, Ace," I murmured as I simply enjoyed the feeling of his hand on my head.

"...Sleep well, Cordelia," Ace said as he dropped his hand from my head and took a step back as if he were trying to run away.

"...Ace..."

But before I knew it, he had already turned around and was quickly walking away on his two legs.

Not once did he turn around to even look at me.

And when he was finally gone, I let the tears that I had desperately contained flow from my eyes like rivers.

I cried and cried for so long that I didn't even know what the time of day was anymore.

When I had somewhat calmed myself down, my pillow was already soaked with both my tears and snot.

But by that point, I had already become too tired to even care and fell asleep, muffling my quiet whimpers through the sheets of my blankets.

.

.

.

Ace POV