Over the past few weeks, Gideon was hidden away in the house. Stephen and Theodora didn't want to do this but they worry the moment that they step out they will be caught by Kaiden. But Gideon's worries weren't on that matter, instead, he spent those days thinking about just exactly what Kaiden wanted out of him. He can't cross out the possibility of Kaiden wanting to kill him just yet so he doesn't dare to seek out the protagonist just yet.
"I'm nothing but a cannon fodder in your story, Kaiden… After all these years you're still chasing me when you should be chasing the real villain"
On that thought, Matthew still had not made his move. In the original novel's plot, he sabotaged the announcement of Kaiden's Return to the public but instead it was Gideon who stirred up problems. This made Gideon's mouth run dry.
'Perhaps the novel is assigning me the parts where Matthew should have appeared because I did change some of the plot points. But still-'
It still meant that Gideon was a villain in the end even if he did not do anything. Just his existence alone was enough to ruin the protagonist's life in one way or another.
'This sucks'
Gideon finally got out of his room and was greeted by Theodora who was walking down the hallway in her uniform. He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Emilia and felt the embarrassment surging within him again.
"Are you ok Gideon?" The poor boy looked like he saw a ghost or something.
She was aware that she did look ghoulish due to her complexion and red eyes but this was the first time she saw Gideon like this.
"Y-yes, don't worry I just remembered something! Are you heading to work now aunty?"
"I am, someone needs to fend off the sudden swarm of monsters up north so I'll be gone for a few days. Stephen also left earlier today to deliver orders for today"
"So that means I'll be alone for a while?" Gideon felt a little sad about this and Theodora only patted his head.
"Yeah, so make sure to stay inside. I haven't heard any news of the prince's movements since the ball"
Theodora went on with her usual reminders. Gideon only sighed and gave her a smile because she reminded him of his late mother. He felt the urge to hug her to which she was caught off guard by it but eventually hugged him back.
'This boy rarely shows affection but obviously craves it' Theodora thought to herself and finally left the house.
Gideon decided that he'll read some books and maybe watch the news. As he was entering the living room, he heard the door click.
"Aunty, did you forget something?" No one answered so it made Gideon tense up
Footsteps down the hall can be heard and Gideon was about to run when he couldn't move.
"What about you? Didn't you forget something?" an unfamiliar voice spoke.
Gideon looked down and saw the familiar blood-red energy wrapping around him and slowly making its way up to his neck.
"Why are you suddenly quiet?" Kaiden crossed his arms and walked to Gideon's side so he could take a good look at him.
"I'm pretty sure you still recognize me since you did runoff during the parade" He smiled at Gideon. The snake-like power was already wrapped around his neck and it was only a matter of time before Kaiden decided to kill him.
"Kaiden" Gideon spoke and this made the prince smile. It looked sincere and felt all the more sinister because of that fact.
"Hello Gideon"
"What do you want?"
Gideon tried to move around but realized that the more he moved, the more Kaiden tightened it. Kaiden stopped smiling and straightened up his body while looking at Gideon from head to toe. He wasn't hearing the words he wanted and thus he grabbed Gideon by the neck and slammed him to the floor.
At the very same time, Azazel was speaking to Luciel due to urgent matters. Every single one of the nobles got bombarded with work. At first, they thought this was possibly the work of Matthew to weaken their defense. But Azazel noticed that the prince was not around so he rushed to Luciel to report and look for the prince. Until suddenly he vomited blood and felt his knees give out.
Luciel's eyes widened and he rushed to Azazel's side to heal him but the latter was already losing consciousness due to blood loss.
"L-Luciel"
"DON'T TALK ANYMORE" Luciel shouted as he poured out his powers to Azazel. He was not willing to lose another person he cared about. Azazel shook his head and glanced at the pool of blood.
'Gideon… if he dies, I'll definitely die. This should be enough.'
Azazel tried to teleport the both of them to where Gideon was residing and to his surprise the array broke. His eyes widened and realized that Kaiden had most likely set up an array to prevent anyone from teleporting there. He chuckled and thought that Kaiden did listen to the lessons they gave to him before finally passing out.
Back at Theodora's place, Gideon was close to passing out due to Kaiden strangling him. Earlier he managed to break free by making Kaiden temporarily hallucinate thus making him dissipate the energy wrapped around him. Thankfully he could heal himself a little bit and he tried to run away since he knew he was no match for Kaiden. Unfortunately, he broke free from that small illusion quickly and he caught Gideon once again.
"Running away only proves you're guilty of something" Kaiden states as he lets go of Gideon to let him breathe. He did not want to kill him but it was more like he was demonstrating the fact that Gideon can no longer run away and any attempt is futile.
Gideon coughed and healed himself a little. If he continues to use his powers, he'll pass out at this rate. Kaiden grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the front of the coffee table. He threw Gideon on the floor while he took a seat on the sofa before he looked down at his "old friend".
"My patience is slowly running out so you better start begging if you want me to consider forgiving you"
"..."
"Still not going to speak? Or did you really forget what you did to me? Heh, compared to me, you had it good" Kaiden leaned back on the sofa and looked around the room.
"You actually had people who cared for you and not your status"
His eyes looked desolate as he spoke these words and Gideon could only look at him with guilt.
"Kaiden, I should have never done that to you"
"What exactly did you do to me?"
Kaiden looked back at Gideon. He was really insisting on the fact that Gideon acknowledges the pain that he inflicted on him. What he was doing to Gideon is nothing compared to what he felt.
Gideon sighed and realized that he cannot run and that Amias lied. Kaiden was going to kill him earlier but just wanted him to confess. He was stupid as well for not giving a proper explanation back then but he did not have the time to tell Kaiden the reason. Since he had the opportunity to tell him now, he should explain it to him now, right? He only prayed that Kaiden would actually listen.
"Kaiden, about what I did in the past I did not mean for it to happen. I noticed that Ms. Valerie was having trouble with keeping everyone safe especially when you're getting stronger day by day. Without anyone else teaching you how to control it, you'll put yourself at risk as well."
"Hmm, Azazel and the others already told me this"
"Then why are you still angry at me?!"
Perhaps it was a wrong decision for Gideon to raise his voice because Kaiden suddenly kicked the coffee table that was in between them to the side in anger.
"YOU BETRAYED ME! You promised you would stay by my side! And yet you left me all these years alone with no proper reason why"
"I already gave you my reason!"
"It still does not explain why you needed to leave! I would have returned to my father with no problem if you were there with me"
Kaiden gritted his teeth in anger, a part of him was hoping that there was another reason for this but you can't entirely blame him for not being logical due to his resentment.
"You still don't understand it" Gideon muttered and it made Kaiden scoff at the remark.
"What else is there to understand from that logic? Would big bro Deon care to elaborate?"