The drive back was deadly quiet except for the occasional stopovers at checkpoints. Gideon was not sure of what he did wrong. He only said the truth, didn't he? Hell, this kid tried to kill him just a week ago. He looked down at the things Kaiden bought for him. Perhaps it was guilt? Or the fact that he remembered the things that happened in the novel but he suddenly felt sad for Kaiden.
'This child did not have a single friend.'
Gideon would have said that he knows how he feels but realized that back then he had Alice, in this world he had Stephen and Theodora. But Kaiden? He really didn't have anyone to look out for him that wasn't out of a sense of responsibility or fear. The car stopped and that's when Gideon realized that they were in front of his place already.
"Well we're here," Kaiden says, to Gideon, he sounded unamused.
Gideon opened the car door but the moment he was about to step out, he went back in and closed the door. This action confused Kaiden and thus he raised an eyebrow at Gideon.
"I'm sorry" Gideon starts and Kaiden sighed while shaking his head.
"No no, I'm the one who should be sorry. You were right, I wasn't considering your feelings on the matter."
"Let me finish talking first"
Kaiden stops the prepared apology speech that he had been going over the entire car drive. Technically he had already readied himself for Gideon to tell him to stop visiting since there was no reason. And not only that he did terrorize him, what sane person would continue to hang out with him? He was prepared to hear all of that but he heard something else that surprised him and even made him close to tearing up.
Gideon told him that he was only surprised by everything but it didn't mean that he was pushing him away either. Continuing to explain that he really had fun today and that he would like to hang out again with Kaiden sometime once they're free since they were friends. He topped that off with a goodnight and told Kaiden to message him once he's home before getting out of the car and walking into the house.
Kaiden waited until Gideon got into the house before driving away only to pull over by the side after a few blocks. He was close to crying because he was really worried. Gideon still forgave him even after everything. How could someone be so kind? He had every reason to resent Kaiden and yet he didn't. Gideon had no reason to pretend and the entire day they spent together already confirmed it.
"I'm still his friend, how… why?"
He stopped questioning it. What matters is that he won't let Gideon go this time around.
When Gideon entered the house, he saw Stephen on the sofa angrily drinking red fluids from a wine glass. There were empty blood packs in front of him.
"It took you a while to get home"
"I texted you the moment we were on the way back and when we entered the checkpoint to here"
"I know but why did you go back in his car the moment you two arrived?"
Gideon forgot that Stephen had a keen sense of hearing so he probably heard the car arrive and waited for him to come inside. Gideon scratched his head and said that he paid for the stuff he bought. He then showed the small bag full of treats and trinkets. Stephen knew that he was dodging his question but he decided to let it slide since Gideon was a good kid.
He cleaned up the packets and sat with Gideon to talk about how his day went. Gideon didn't include all of the small details like the fake date scenario. He spoke about everything else and Stephen had some mixed responses here and there. He finally lets him go and tells him to clean up and rest.
"I'm way too old for this shit" Stephen muttered to himself the moment Gideon left and drank the rest of the blood in his glass.
Gideon took a shower and the moment he came back to his room, he saw that his phone had a notification. Kaiden had texted him something a few minutes ago.
Kaiden: I'm back at the palace.
Kaiden: *Sent a yawning sticker emoji*
Gideon snorted because who knew the protagonist was the kind of person to send sticker emojis to someone. He thought of what to send and he took a quick photo of himself on his mirror with his phone blocking his face so only his pajamas could be seen. He sends that to Kaiden and texted back.
Gideon: *Sent a photo*
Gideon: Sorry I just saw this. I was getting ready for bed, rest soon when you can. Good Night! :)
Gideon did not receive a reply and just assumed that Kaiden probably went to bed already or that he was working. A prince does have a lot of duties and the fact he took over some of Amias' load means more work. How he does it is something Gideon would not know.
At the castle, Kaiden was not able to see the reply from Gideon because he was called to his father's office the moment he arrived. He was included in the briefing of Kassandra's Unit that had just returned after blocking off the monsters in the north. Some eyewitnesses stated that there had been a person that they spotted near the monsters. According to them, the person appeared to be speaking to the creatures but no one could verify who it was since it was mostly passed around as gossip in their village.
"Well Matthew indeed was an Aligist, meaning he could speak in any language"
Luciel began to ponder on how to verify this piece of information. Because if it was indeed true that it was Matthew then it would make sense for why there are now coordinated attacks. But it would not make sense because he would have done this back then so why now? It also brings up the next theory that there is another Angel or quite possibly a Demon who has a different kind of ability that allows them to speak with the monsters.
Kassandra had a scowl while her subordinates continued to report to the Father-son duo. These so-called monsters were glorious creatures that she once took care of and yet it was only due to mankind that they got corrupted. Well only the Human men, the females were kind hence why she took them as her underlings. She glanced at Theodora who was explaining the rest of their plans and let out a tired sigh.
"This is enough for today, you all just got back recently. Take this time to rest first and come back once Damien returns with his reports"
Luciel took notice of Kassandra's mood and swiftly dismissed the meeting. He wanted to speak to his son originally but suddenly Kassandra came in with her second in command. He knew Kaiden was tired from his trip today and so he could only let his son rest.
'Being a father and a ruler is quite difficult' He thought to himself and wondered how El even managed to look after him and Matthew back then.
Theodora was still glaring at Kaiden on their way out of Luciel's office. He already noticed it earlier when they were briefing earlier and now that it was done it was even worse. He turned in her direction and smiled at her.
"Does Miss Theodora need something from me?" He asks out of nowhere.
"What does the prince want with my servant?" Kassandra is known to be overprotective of her girls and she stepped forward to "shield" Theodora from Kaiden.
"Well Lady Kassandra, your servant had been boring holes into my head the entire time with her gaze…"
"Don't you flatter yourself too much prince" Theodora side comments and Kassandra shoots her a look.
"I wasn't implying that. Oh yeah since you'll be returning to your place, please tell Gideon I had fun playing around with him"
Theodora gritted her teeth which caused her fang to be partially visible. Her kind does this as a threat and thus Kassandra immediately grabs her hand to calm her down.
"I'll make sure to remind my servant, Good night my prince" Kassandra answered for Theodora as she bowed her head and walked away with Theodora in tow.
Kaiden only smiled in amusement since it was back to being fake friendly again. When he came back to his room he checked his phone and saw that Gideon had replied to him. Upon opening the chat, he saw that Gideon had sent a photo as well. Perhaps it was not a good idea to open the photo because he was caught off guard by it. It was Gideon in a dark gray pajama set.
His collarbones showed a bit and it was enough for Kaiden to feel like he was looking at something scandalous. He had to reply with another sticker that was going to sleep. Totally not because he wanted to bury that into their chat history. He closed his phone and placed it on his nightstand and cleaned himself up as well thinking about the phrase "Out of sight, Out of mind" over and over.