"O-oh, hello there, Ace…" I squeaked. Oh dear, last time I saw him, I left him in the forest to the mercy of the cat. He might be angry and-

I stepped back out of reflex and tripped over the end of a coiled cord with Christmas lights that was placed behind the counter. With a loud thump, I fell on my behind in the most ungraceful way known to mankind.

I sat like an idiot for a full five seconds on the wooden floor, before utter humiliation coloured my face. I slapped my hands in front of my eyes and groaned.

WHY? Is it even possible to be this unlucky? Not only do I meet Ace today to remind me of the guilt I have felt since I ditched him in the woods, I also fell on my bum right in front of him. Ugh, if only I had put the cord up earlier to decorate the place like I was supposed to... Even though winter has just started and Christmas seemed faraway.

As I was suddenly aware of a presence, I looked up and saw Ace standing in front of me and extending his hand to me. Wha? How did he get behind the counter so quickly? And how did I not hear him moving? He is wearing heavy boots, for heaven's sake. I should have heard his footsteps but…

Still a little baffled, I accepted his offer and rose to my feet while rubbing my bottom. Ouch, ouch, ouch…

"Ahahaha! You're really clumsy, huh? This is the second time you tripped on something! But are you okay?"

I immediately created some space between us – this time keeping an eye on the cord – and averted my gaze, thoroughly embarrassed by the whole thing.

"You can't laugh at someone first and then ask if that person's okay. But, yes thank you, I'm alright," I lied. Of course I'm not alright, I just fell before his eyes! Why is it that I can't seem to function properly in front of handsome people? What is this curse?

"Now, I will kindly ask you", I said with a fake professional smile and, contrary to my words, lightly pushed against his arm, "to stand on the other side of the counter. This side is for staff only and if my boss happens to come back while you are loitering behind the counter, he would kill us."

"Hahaha, not if I kill him first~" Ace said cheerily, as he willingly moved away. He then walked over to the glass showcases with a curious sparkle in his eye. He bent down and peered inside to inspect the different sorts of pastries lined up. At the same time, my mind slowly processed his words.

Kill… him… first? My smile froze and my heart fleetingly stopped for a moment. Wait, wait, wait, wait, HOLD UP. That was a joke, right? That had to be a joke… right? I mean, I was totally joking when I said Roberto would kill us and it's a common thing to say 'to kill' instead of 'to be angry with' to express exaggeration. So Ace must have picked up the joke and continued it, of course.

…Then why do I have this creepy feeling he was being serious? I gripped on the counter and eyed the Knight's sword.

"S-so, uhmm, Ace", I said hastily to distract myself. Because he was still bending forward, it made him look up and I swooned for a second before recovering myself. Dammit Smiley. That was too much for my heart to handle.

"Yes?"

"Could you please stand up straight?" OH MY GOSH DID I JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD? What have I done? Nooooooo… I held back a string of colourful curses and kicked to counter softly with my foot to dispel the frustration. No, no, no, Fay, calm down. You've already made a fool out of yourself twice in a row now. A third time will not be appreciated.

"Huh? Okay." He straightened up, not at all weirded out by my request like normal people would be.

I forced a smile. Thank goodness Ace doesn't seem to be normal. But I have to be more careful! I can't slip up again.

"Right. I actually want to talk about last time…" A troubled feeling bubbled up as I recalled leaving him in the forest without so much of a word. After that time period, I had been torn between going out there to find Ace and avoiding him completely for all of eternity out of sheer embarrassment. But it seemed the choice was made for me now.

"I'm really terribly sorry I left so suddenly! You see, I met Pierce and he told me that the cat was near, so then we both ran for our lives," I gushed out the words in record time, feeling increasingly miserable with every word.

"I wanted to go back, but then all of a sudden, it became night and, and, and-"

"Oooh, that time!" Ace said as he tapped his finger to his temple, like he just remembered the event. "Yeah, I figured something like that must have happened, because I met Mr Kittykat when I was collecting firewood."

He smiled happily and then went back to browse the bakery's products.

Meanwhile, my mouth still hadn't closed from the time when I didn't finish my sentence. Was that… it? I felt extremely uncertain.

"Ace… are you- are you not angry?"

"Hmm ..." Ace said as he kept that grin on his handsome face, eyes in the shape of a crescent moon. But he wasn't smiling. Not... really. I froze momentarily. Why did I just think that? His smile was just the same as always, but...

My thoughts were cut off as Ace continued, "Nope! Not at all!" The strange atmosphere disappeared as sudden as it came. "Well, Mr Kittykat was hunting after all! I guess you couldn't be blamed for getting scared...

A shiver ran up my spine at the word 'hunting'. I guess I really was close to getting eaten at that. I have to thank Pierce properly again next time I see him. Maybe I should give him one of the special cupcakes we sell? And about cupcakes-

"But still, taking you away without a word wasn't nice, now was it? That rat…"

Oh- ooooh dear. Did I sense that correctly?! This time I was one hundred percent sure. That was hostility in his voice. Is he angry at Pierce? Was he angry at me? Was he even angry at someone in general?! I couldn't tell!

In my flustered state, my eyes intuitively glanced back and forth between his face and his sword while I tried to think of the right words.

"A-Ace, don't misunderstand! I panicked and ran away and Pierce just- you know, ran along or something. It's not like he kidnapped me!"

"Ah, really now?"

"Yes, yes! It's like that! So I'm now-" Think of something clever, Fay… "… going to uhh… give you something from the bakery!" I clapped my hands once and produced the brightest smile I could in the circumstances.

"Really?" Ace grinned without any trace of hostility. Huh? I was positive I felt something, but now… Oh, who cares, he seems like the normal Ace now and that's all what matters.

I rubbed my hands together and grinned in victory. Yes, yes… this would work! I eagerly walked to the customer area and stood beside him.

"Hey Ace? You seem to like cupcakes! Do you have a favourite one, perhaps? The chocolate one with the little gingerbread man on top of the ginger icing is selling well these days and I would definitely recommend it!" I wasn't lying. If I could eat without getting fat, then these cupcakes would have to run for their lives because I would eat every single one of them.

"That one does seem appetising! But then again, everything looks good when you haven't got a proper meal in a long time."

I gasped out loudly as I heard the words that should have never been put together in the same sentence. The inner granny in me who wants to feed people until their tummies are filled to brim awakened inside of me.

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

"Well, I just suddenly found myself in town this time period and before that I had been wandering in the forest!" At the very moment he finished his sentence, I could hear the dreadful sound of a stomach growling. I pointedly stared at the culprit, his stomach.

"WHAT? You mean you haven't left those woods since the last time I saw you? Impossible! You must be starving!"

"Hahaha no, Fay! I have been eating what the forest has provided me, so don't wo-"

I didn't let him finish as I zoomed past him and opened the door to back of the shop. I ran inside the small room we used for short breaks to the table, almost knocking down the single chair that stood beside it. I pushed away several folders, careful not to knock over a pack of papers filled with Roberto's scribbles. I finally found my little purple lunchbox, grabbed it and dashed away again to a slightly befuddled Ace.

In all seriousness, I handed the box over to him.

"Fay, what-"

"It's a sandwich. It's not much, but eat. Now."

The next minute, it was so silent that you could practically hear a needle drop. Then Ace's cheerful laughter filled the shop, and it immediately brought me back to reality.

"Ah… uh… I mean, p-please eat that sandwich. I usually eat something when I have a break, but have it anyway. I-if you don't mind having a cheese sandwich that is! Oh, and uhm, there's also some lettuce inside… and tomatoes…" I mumbled.

"Hahaha! Thank you, Fay, you're so kind! I'll eat it right away!"

I turned away embarrassed, already looking for a place to hide and not face this man. I jumped when I felt a large gloved hand ruffle my hair.

"Hmm~ It's good!" Ace said between bites. My cheeks flared up at the sight of him happily munching on the food I made.

"Y-Yeah? Great. I'm glad…" I muttered and looked at my feet. Why am I getting this happy? It's just Ace, eating a sandwich. The one… I made and- Oh, this is getting out of control!

I snapped back to reality as I suddenly saw half of my sandwich right in front of my mouth. My eyes flitted to meet intense ruby ones.

"You want a bite too, Fay?"

"N-NO NO I'M FINE. No, really… I'm good." I backed away until I felt the cold glass of the showcase in my back. Gosh, that gave me a scare!

"Oh, okay! You're missing out, though!"

"Not funny Ace. It's a sandwich I make every time, it's nothing special," I said crossly, while on the inside I was a little happy. I've only had Holly and Casper tell me that my food was delicious before.

Aaaah, how I miss them. I miss home in general too. And speaking about home… Ace had been so long in the forest, I'm sure he wants to go back to the Castle. Giving him a cupcake would have been a selfish idea. It would only satisfy my need to get rid of the guilty feeling and maybe save Pierce, but it would not help Ace. At least, not really. What he needs most now is probably…

"Ace, I'll take you to the Castle. I have to wait for my boss to get permission to leave work, but after that I'll bring you there." To the entrance, more specifically, because I was not going to enter the cave of a lion willingly. Although the lion is technically a rabbit. With glasses. Uh, yeah.

"Oh, you want to go to the Castle with me?"

"No, I want to take you to the Castle."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"No, it's not. Taking someone somewhere and going with someone are two separate things. There's a vital difference."

"Really?"

"Yes, well, I plan to take you to the Castle which means I will walk in front of you and lead you to that place. If I were to go with you to the Castle then I would be walking next to you." And there was no way I would do that, because then I would go on an 'adventure' again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

"Ah, right," Ace said, looking too bemused to argue any further. Is he… is he, making fun of me? With a big bite he finished the sandwich, not seeing my perplexed face.

I was about to take back the explanation that sounded weird even to my own ears, before shutting my mouth. No, no, I would be the one taking the lead this time. Period.

"Anyway, until my boss is coming back I think I will be making more muffins."

"Oh, okay! I will spend my time going to other shops and looking around before coming back then."

"No! No, that won't be necessary! Why don't you, uh, help me with putting up these lights, huh?" I held up the cord for him to see. I finally found a way to make amends! So Ace, please don't leave this shop or you'll get lost again.

"Oh sure thing!"

After Roberto listened to my explanation and request, he silently went to one of the shelves with fresh bread, grabbed a loaf, sliced it under the machine and put a transparent plastic wrapper around it. He then handed it to me and stepped closer.

"Trust me, you're going to need this." His hands were on my back, lightly guiding me from behind the counter to the customer area where Ace was waiting.

"Oh, but-"

"No, buts, Fay. You've worked hard, so you deserve a couple of time periods off. Just make sure to be back by Christmas. Oh and here's your satchel. And don't forget your cloak, night times are getting colder." I tried to turn to see what was going on in his mind, but he began persistently pushing my back. I could only turn my head because of this and saw a slightly edgy Roberto.

"But I won't be gone for long, the Castle is not far away. I don't need a couple of time periods to-"

"Like I said, trust me. I wish I could give you something to put on your sandwich when you'll make one, but I'm not sure any kind of spreading would taste good after a long while."

"What are you saying, I'm not-"

"Now off you go, Fay! It's not good to let your companion wait. Go, go, go, hahaha!"

Roberto was now practically shoving me in Ace's direction, who smiled at my boss. What in the world is going on? It's like he thinks I'm taking a full vacation or something. And why does it seems like he wants to get rid of us?

"Thank you for the bread, sir!" Ace said politely and then looked down to me. "Shall we go, Fay?"

"Ah, uh, yes. Let's go. And thanks, boss!"

I threw one doubtful glance toward my nervously smiling boss before we left. The moment I left the shop, the door was slammed shut behind me.