章 27: Asking Questions

"It's quite surprising to see you've lost weight within three days… unless you've been pulling some strings of deceit." She finally said, breaking the sudden silence, her tone refined and smooth.

With a bone chilling tone, Ace replied, "Who would have thought the governor's daughter was you, Dawn."

She paused, folding her hands gracefully before her like a princess would. Her chin raised up, collecting the whole of his attention to himself. She tried to read his mind within those few seconds of silence, but no matter how hard she tried, Ace was nothing but a— stone wall.

"Never thought I could survive after all that happened in the dungeon?"

Casually tucking his hands in his pockets, Ace said. "Missing the point, are we?"

Dawn raised an eyebrow, wondering what his next words would be.

"You never crossed my mind for once. We might have bounded as guild mates for a little while, but we don't have a relationship to fall back on being troubled about if the other survived or not." He lied through his teeth seamlessly.

"Ou…" Dawn reacted, her tone dropping low as she folded her fingers in an inaudible fist.

"I see it's not the same for you," Ace continued ignorantly, leaning forward a little.

"Wh… you're wrong… I mean—" Dawn tried to say in her defense, stuttering as she opened her mouth to say those words that ended up in a meaningless jumble.

"It's quite surprising to see you've lost weight within three days'." Ace recapped, drawing a line with the first words she had said to him upon arrival. "You came to see me when I was unconcious, right?"

Biting her lips hard as her flimsy act got burned brutally, Dawn pulled herself together, holding her head up high enough to look down on Ace.

She was the governor's daughter afterall and her presence should not be looked down on by anyone regardless of who they might be— not even Ace.

Ace muffled a chuckle as he watched her cheeks flush with embarrassment, but he dusted off the emotion faster than the speed of light before he raised a question.

"What was the memory dent with you?" He asked, his expression hurling back to his emotionless self. "In that dungeon, I could see a chunk of you— perhaps, the happy version of you." He added, his tone dropping low as if he was resonating with her 'present not so cheerful' version.

"Don't be mistaken!" Dawn snapped, taking a step towards him, her soft fragrance hurling towards him in a dash. "What you saw down there was an illusion."

"Then—"

She forced his words to a stop, saying; "It was a flimsy trick meant to help with awakening your summon," She paused, her gaze trailing elsewhere other than under Ace's demeaning gaze. "which I doubt worked anyway."

"Seems there's a lot telling that just that." Ace replied calmly.

Dawn returned her gaze at him, taking further strides toward him till she was just two feet away from where he had been standing.

"That is not the reason I have asked to meet here." She said, making a swift diversion from the subject. "This!"

She brought out a photocard, the exact copy she had sent with the letter. She raised it up enough for him to see before she tables another conversation.

"Someone said you were wearing this type of neck-piece, how do you have it?" She questioned, her dull gaze turning sharp as if she was fully prepared to interrogate a servant who stole from his master's treasure box.

Ace tilted his head to the side a little, his eyes narrowing.

"And what do you know about this neck-piece?"

"I ask the questions here, Ace!"

A mellow grin surfaced on his lips and with a gentle snap, he snatched Dawn's slender hand in his, pinning it softly against thin air, enough to make her shudder, but Dawn wouldn't flinch at his touch.

His rash action sold him out at once as his neck-piece flung out from underneath his uniform, glistering up Dawn's face with a look of victory— just like she had found what belonged to her from the beginning of time.

"You might want to start talking now, Dawn. Whatever you say might make me change my mind about hurting you or letting you off the hook."

Despite this, Dawn let her tensed muscle relax in his grip, afterall, she had nothing to hide as it seems he had the same goal as her— finding the owner of that piece.

"Her name was Anya. She was a soft, lovely and kind girl. My father's most trusted aide had brought her to the governor's palace after the district's second awakening which I found out later on her brother had failed to awaken a promising talent.

She was taken away from her family for absurd reasons that were politically inclined and the once lovely girl she used to be outside the first district became a shadow who barely spoke to anyone. I tried to become friends with her, but it took a whole year before she finally opened up to me."

Dawn paused, a bitter smile gracing her lips as she reminisced on the good old days she had spent with Anya.

"Not quite long after we got along and became almost inseperable, war broke out within our clan concerning the ability Anya had suddenly awakened. Somehow, Anya was trapped in this dispute which led to her demise from the royal village— she was taken away by my brother. I tried to bring her back, but I was powerless. Things whirled up so fast and soon, I realized I needed to put things back in place.

Anya deserved better and to bring my dear friend back, I had to become stronger. I got admitted into this academy and was soon slapped with the truth about Anya. Rumors had it that a strange student had been registered in the academy and did not possess any elemental ability a mage should have.

An evil being they named this student and with a contrasting feeling, I surged to unveil who it was as the description I have gotten matched that of Anya. That night, I journeyed to the dorm room," She took a brief pause, her calm blue eyes settled in Ace's.

"Your current room- 101. And when the doors obeyed my call, I saw her seated behind a piano peacefully, but she was not alone in that room. There were thousands of them with her— pouring out of hell's gate that had raised a domain in the room."

Ace flinched, his brows arched up in confusion as his attention wrapped around Dawn's tale, his heart pounding within him aimlessly.

"My brother was there that night as well. He worshiped a being that mounted out of the portal while heading straight for Anya… all I could do was watch." She said with a faint sob.

"Did they take her?" Ace asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl.

"Ac—"

"Having a little fun time, are we?" A familiar voice boomed from behind, announcing their presence in the library as if they were fixed into the picture to stop Dawn from talking.