Another Life, Another Me

66. Memories

"Take me there. Now," I said as I kicked my chair out of the way and walked over to Florence.

"I can't right now. Give me a few minutes to prepare a carriage an-"

"That's not enough time. I'll go there myself," I said sharply.

I was impatient and Florence's words were giving me too much hope...a feeling that I thought I had lost long ago.

"No, you can't. Someone has to be there to keep watch on you," Florence said as he held my shoulder to stop me.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to go missing again, so you don't have to overreact whenever I want to go somewhere," I tried to say calmly, but the words that left my mouth came out louder than I expected.

Florence seemed to pause for a moment at my words.

He looked angry.

"...Overreacting...?" Florence asked me, his face turning dark.

"Yeah...I promise I won't suddenly go away," I said, pushing his hand off of me.

He didn't seem to know the right words to say.

"No. You're not going by yourself until I make all the necessary preparations. I don't care what you say. The last time you went missing out of nowhere...it was..."

"I'll be okay, I swear. If anything happens, I know I can protect myself," I said seriously.

"That's not the point. Do you know...how much it hurt when you left...?"

I bit my tongue.

"I'm...grateful that you cared so much when I went missing...but I'm back now..." I murmured.

"...I can't...I can't move on...and I never will..." Florence said as he stared at me.

There was nothing I could say to Florence to calm him down.

He seemed extremely upset, and even though I knew why, nothing I could have said would've change anything. 

"Just give me five minutes...no...two minutes to get you a carriage and some escorts...please..." Florence murmured.

I couldn't say no to him.

"...Fine," I sighed.

Florence looked relieved for a moment before he looked up to me with a teasing grin.

"If that's the case, maybe I should be my lovely fiance's escort to-"

"Hurry up, Florence."

He chuckled a bit, a small cheeky smile on his face, before running off.

.

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A While Later

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"I know...you don't like letting me leave on my own...but can I at least...visit Ace alone...?" I asked Florence, who was leading me to the room where Ace was.

"...Sure."

He didn't look too happy.

"Thanks," I said as I breathed out in relief.

I didn't hesitate to rush down the halls to find the room in the very corner of the building labeled with Ace's name, leaving Florence behind.

As I ran, there was a strange feeling in my chest.

I had no idea what I would do or what I would say, and eventually, I reached the room where Ace was meant to be.

I hesitated to open the door, even though I desperately wanted to see him and I mentally prepared myself by patting down all my clothes and straightening my aqua pigtails with my fingers.