"I thought you had run off somewhere," Emilia took a step forward toward Ace.
Though Ace felt uncomfortable, he continued the exchange. "Run off? Where to?"
Emilia continued to move towards him, looking straight into his eyes. "I don't know. To die maybe?"
Ace flinched a little bit.
'I knew it. There's something about her eyes that's changed. What is...' Ace's thoughts were interrupted by Emilia's strange order.
"Anyway, sit," Emilia pointed at a bench that was nearby.
"Huh?" Ace had a surprised look in his eyes. "What?"
"I said sit," Emilia's clear yet piercing gaze forced a reaction from Ace, and a very surprising one at that…
He sat down.
"Good. Now listen," Emilia began, as smooth or warm as her voice was, the tone in which she spoke was more authoritative than requesting. "From now on you'll listen to whatever I tell you no question asked."
"Eh?" Ace got confused. "What do you-?"
"It's non-negotiable," Emilia cut his words. "There's no telling what you would do if I don't keep an eye on you, and as I said, your life is mine. I won't allow you to throw it away without my permission."
'What the hell?' Ace's thoughts paused, Emilia's unwavering gaze not allowing him to retaliate. 'Again?'
"If that's out of the way… hand," Emilia stretched out her hand towards him.
"What?" Ace looked at her with a mix of confusion and refusal. "I'm not a dog, you know."
"I know."
"Huh?"
Emilia's hand reached out to his cheek, and she started pinching and pulling it with force.
"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow," Ace only felt respite when Emilia unhanded him.
"Now hand," she asked for his hand once again.
'What's going on here?'
Emilia's eyes held no anger, no irritation, no impatience. They were simply straight, clear and unwavering. No other emotion clouded them, and Ace, even though he knew he was stronger than her, felt a weird sense of intimidation from her.
And once again, a reaction was forced out of him, and Ace took Emilia's hand without resisting.
"Good. Now let's go join the others," Emilia pulled Ace by the hand, the sight of her back making him unable to compute this weird situation that had no sense in his mind.
Unlike him, Emilia was sure of what to do and what she would need to from now on.
'Thank goodness I found him. I was afraid he'd do something dangerous,' her mind shifted to the same night where she found and grounded her resolve.
'Maybe it was because I had too many things going on in my head, but I don't remember when I fell asleep. And when I woke up the next morning, Ace was nowhere to be seen in the room. There was simply breakfast on the table and nothing else. When I took a look outside, he was sitting outside while staring at the sky with a blank expression.'
Each of those events replayed precisely in her mind, a conviction forming in her heart.
'If he is left to his own devices, there's no telling what he could. It wouldn't matter to him how many people would be in the way, he would kill them, even if they are innocent. If I don't keep him in check, I doubt anything could stop him. And…'
Ace's words from that night echoed in her mind, making her even more certain of the path she had chosen to take.
'For my revenge, but also for myself, I'll even make a deal with the devil himself.'
Several minutes passed and the two finally met up with Frank and Mira who were locked in a surprising scene.
"Oh, Emi!" Mira had a beaten-up Frank hanging from his collar in her hand.
"What happened?" asked Emi, still holding onto Ace which made Mira tense like a rock.
"Eh?" Mira's eyes locked onto the intertwined hands. "E-Emi? Why are you and Ace…?"
"Hmm?" Emilia looked in the direction of Mira's gaze. "Oh, this? It's to prevent him from getting lost."
"What? Getting lost?" Mira looked at them with confusion in her eyes.
Frank, who got up from the ground, also had his own confused thoughts.
'Lost? What is he, a 5-year-old? Ah.'
"Ah," Frank noticed Ace's brain-fried expression. 'What happened to him?'
"Anyway, where to next?" Emilia asked honestly as Mira and Frank had the same aligning thought.
'Does she not realize how weird and embarrassing this situation is?'
And yet, at the same time, they could clearly see how Ace looked like a crashed computer that's in overload.
With the scene being so awkward that they were at a loss for words, Frank and Mira exchanged sheepish looks, nodding both at the same time.
"Hey, Emi," Mira came in between Ace and Emilia. "Let's go freshen up in the restroom, okay? Okay?"
Mira's presence gradually became overbearing.
Covertly, Frank seemed to send a signal to Emilia that said: Don't worry about him. I'll keep an eye on him for you.
"O-okay," Emilia finally resigned herself as Mira exploded into a "Yay!"
"Let's go, let's go," Mira dragged Emilia away with her.
'Well, now that that's taken care of…' Frank glanced at Ace.
"Hey. Heeeey," Frank tried to get a reaction out of Ace. "Hey, buddy, you okay?"
"Huh? What?" Ace finally reacted.
"Let's take a walk, mano to mano."
Ace looked at Frank with a deadpan expression. "Sure…"
'This fucker,' a vein popped out of Frank's forehead as his brow twitched.
As they walked, Frank asked the question.
"So, did you confess to her and get rejected or something?"
"Confess, huh?" Ace pondered about it before giving a very misleading answer. "I guess you could say that."
"Huh? What? Seriously!" Frank's expression shifted from different stages of surprise.
'Wow. This guy's a menace.'
"So, what was the verdict?" Frank could no longer hold back his curiosity.
"Verdict?" Ace, with his inability to read the room, blurted out yet another misleading statement. "She said my life was hers from now on."
"Huh? Emi said that?" Frank was in such total disbelief that when Ace's nod of confirmation followed, he looked like a ghost who had been ripped away from his body.
"Hahaha," Frank's evil chuckles turned into diabolical laughter.
'Wait until Mira hears this. Her expression will be priceless. Truly the benevolent Lord knows how to preserve justice,' Frank's mind imagined the entire scenario of Mira in tears and him mocking her.
Ace glanced at Frank as if he was looking at trash, and without warning…
Ace appeared where Frank stood in an instant, a stick in his hand that let a drop of blood flow from it.
"Hey, now…" Frank began, the wound on his ear healing instantaneously as awkward smile played on his lips. "What was that for?"
'As expected…'