The next day, Ace woke up and saw Maeve sleeping beside him with a neutral expression. Gracie was still sleeping in her own crib which was of the size of a bed itself.
"Love… wake up…" Ace spoke tenderly while he positioned Maeve's hair to the back of her ear and kneaded her cheeks with warm love.
"Umm…" Maeve let out a soft voice while her hand automatically moved towards Ace's waist and she hugged her husband while still in sleep.
"Wake up… we have to train…" Ace repeated, his voice, a little louder than before but was still full of love.
Maeve's eyes twitched lightly before she opened them slowly.
"Hmm… Gwood morning…" Maeve greeted but this greeting wasn't her normal, loving greeting.
Ace decided to ignore that and repeated, "Wake up… we have to train before Gracie wakes up"
"What's the point…" Maeve replied while she lowers her gaze and tightened her hug around Ace.
'As expected…' Ace thought as he smiled wryly…
Yesterday, when Gracie formed her core, he noticed the slight change in Maeve's expression which she quickly hid, thinking that no one saw it.
Ace quickly closed the distance between them while he grabbed Maeve, turned her in a way that her back now faced him, and he hugged her waist gently from behind before placing his chin on her shoulder and saying, "Do you want to talk about it?" He made sure to be as gentle as he could since he knew Maeve's mood was down.
As her husband, he knew he had to deal with it patiently and calmly.
"So you noticed…" Maeve smiled wryly.
"I would be ashamed of myself if I was unable to notice the change in my wife's mood. Tell me, what's troubling you?" Ace questioned gently as he kneaded Maeve's belly. It wasn't his normal touches, like the ones he does for pleasure; it had a calming effect instead.
"It is just tha… It's nothing… forget it…" Maeve replied uncertainly.
"Do you seriously think you can lie to me like that? I can feel that something's troubling you… come on… talk to me…" Ace persuaded, his tone stricter than usual.
"Gracie formed a core within 1 month even though the Qi is scarce here…" Maeve muttered softly.
"Mhm, she is incredible" Ace nodded in agreement.
"Not only her… even you… even you improved a lot in these last 8 years, the past you won't even be able to put a fight against you now. You might even be stronger than the other 2 emperors combined now" Maeve spoke and Ace nodded again.
He has improved a lot in these past 8 years, even he didn't think that he would improve so quickly but right now, that wasn't the main topic, the foremost topic was Maeve and right now, Ace somehow had a rough idea about what is bothering her.
"You two are incredible... while I… I haven't even broken through, I am just like I was back in Herferd, hell, I might even be weaker now…" Maeve continued, the sadness and her disappointment in herself was clear in her eyes. Ace just kept caressing Maeve's belly and didn't say anything; he knew that Maeve needed a listener at this moment.
"Even… even though the amount of Qi in the air is irrelevant in Soul element… I still haven't improved a bit…"
The 3 strongest elements, Soul, Space, and Time don't depend on Qi, no, more precisely, they don't have a Qi. There is no Space Qi, Soul Qi, or Time Qi in the air. It is a completely different process altogether.
"You have SS Rank affinity with every element… while Gracie… she is even monstrous, she has the legendary SSS Rank affinity with every single element…" Maeve continued.
"You started off weaker than me but then you surpassed me… the same will happen with Gracie… she will surpass me soon enough… Of course, I will be happy that my daughter will surpass me but… but at the same time… I feel out of place.
I feel like I don't belong here. I don't belong here with you or with Gracie… Being around with someone as awesome as you two… I don't deserve this.
Don't get me wrong, I know perfectly well that you don't think like that while Gracie is not old enough to even consider something like that but… but it feels weird…
Is it jealousy? I don't know… maybe it is…
I am not the princess in that story where the hero saves the princess and then she lives happily after while being protected by the hero. I am not a side character of a random story, I am a human. I too have emotions… I feel insecure… I feel… I feel jealous.
I don't want to be protected by you… I want to walk right beside you while we protect each other.
I don't want to be a burden on you… I want to be your strength.
Is this selfish…?
Why am I the only one left behind…?
Don't I work hard enough?
Why am I the only one who is not as awesome as you two?" Maeve poured everything she had in the mind while her index finger circled around Ace's hand.
Maeve herself didn't know what was she feeling. Maybe she was jealous. Maybe she was insecure. Or maybe she just doesn't want to be left out. Which is perfectly normal as anyone would feel like that.
"..." but to her answer, Ace remained silent. He remained silent for a long time, thinking about how should or how could he reply to that.
"Hey…" After a long pause, Ace called out.
"Hmm?" Maeve answered with a complicated look.
"Answer this, what did you think of me when you found me in the forest fighting those wolves?" Ace questioned.
"Hmm? Why are you asking something like that?" Maeve questioned as she recalled that incident.
"Just answer me"
"Well… I was impressed how you dealt with them and were still fighting even after being so tired. But what I was really impressed about was that you actually managed to survive that long in the forest" Maeve replied with a smile, she still remembers how Ace jumped on her when he saw her.
"Okay… then what did you think when you taught me the basics of the sword?" Ace questioned again.
"Umm… Well, I was impressed by how fast you learned"
"What did you think about me when I was about to get defeated by that General of the Dragon kingdom and you had to intervene to help me defeat him?"
"I was very angry when I saw him using despicable means to beat you… I couldn't help but intervene…" Maeve replied with a slight trace of anger in her voice.
"Alright… so all this while…
Did you ever look down on me?" Ace questioned as he held Maeve's chin and looked into her eyes.
"Of course not. I never did and never will" Maeve replied almost instantly as if something like that was printed in her mind.
A smile appeared on Ace's face before he questioned again "Okay… another question… how did you fell in love with me?"
"Hmm? How did I fell in love with you…? That is a difficult question…" Maeve muttered.
"I was really touched when I learned that you didn't treat me as an object like others did but actually respected my opinion but that only raised my views on you… I didn't really fell for you at that moment.
Then I saw how hard-working you were.
How it was so easy to talk with you.
How you always tried to improve.
How you always looked at me with those tender, loving eyes.
How you were always so over-protective of me.
How you were always ready to risk your life for me.
How my opinions always mattered to you.
How you always respected me.
How you always cared about me...
There are many more reasons… I could go on and on about it…" Maeve replied with a beautiful smile as she remembered all those beautiful moments she spent with Ace.
Ace also had a smile on his face, he felt so good while being praised by Maeve that he forgot his main motive for a moment there.
"Alright… that's enough… now answer this…
Did you fell for me due to my strength?"