The day started with Stephen rushing and kissing Theodora on the lips. He kept repeating that Theodora should come home safe and sound. Theodora on the other hand would smile and nod, saying that she will come home because he was waiting for her. He finally left and Gideon went ahead to approach her. She patted his head once again and still was amused over the fact that he only reached up till her eyes and the fact that her boots had heels made her even more taller.
Gideon ignored the fact that Theodora might have been thinking that he was small when he wasn't THAT small.
The two set off to go to the Palace after lunch. They both were taking the bus because Stephen took the family car to deliver. This gave them the opportunity to talk more before they part again for who knows how long. Ever since Kaiden no longer posed a threat to Gideon's life, she had been pestering him to make more friends.
"You are turning twenty-two in a few days and yet you still have no friends!" Theodora scolded him and Gideon's weak points were attacked with those words.
Even in this world, he had this sort of antisocial barrier with everyone and only limited the people who can go past this barrier. But there are some people that didn't respect that barrier and would directly go past it to talk to Gideon. Such a person could be called the Prince of that world, Kaiden.
"I'm still upset, I tried reasoning with Lady Kassandra if I could stay a few more days but alas I can't neglect my duty"
"It's okay aunty, we can always call once you have free time"
This suggestion brought a smile to Theodora's face and this was one of the many moments that she thanked this "curse" of immortality. She thanked Lady Kassandra for letting her live to meet people such as Stephen and Gideon.
There were some specks of white that fell from the sky. It made Gideon stare out of the window and so Theodora glanced behind her and saw the weather.
"Would you look at that, the first snowfall of the year"
The two of them arrived at the Palace and it was already evening because their rides got delayed due to the unexpected change of weather. This meant that Theodora has to swiftly say her goodbyes. This is because she needs to go to the meeting with the others before going to the teleportation array. Luckily Alexander mentioned that he was on his way and that he was only held up by a few errands by Lady Arda.
"I'll be going now Gideon, here." Theodora gave her rose-shaped brooch to Gideon.
"I'm not sure how long Alexander will take but if someone approaches you and asks you for identification, just show that pendant"
Gideon nodded and Theodora guided him to the Library. She said that everyone who works here is allowed access to this Library. Since he was here as her family, he is still allowed to read within the library as he waits. She kissed him on the forehead before taking off and Gideon felt a little fuzzy. Theodora keeps reminding him of his mother.
Sure enough, when Gideon entered the library, it was worthy of being called a Royal Library with how many books there were. There were staircases that went further down that he wasn't sure how many floors were there just looking down from where he was. He was guessing it had 10 floors.
'Don't these Demons get tired from walking down- oh there's an elevator… wow this Library is fancy as fuck'
He explored the floor he was in and realized that it was mostly random books. Nothing specific really as they ranged from regular cookbooks to literature that was vastly similar to his world. So he could assume that the more he goes down a floor, the more knowledge it contains. Gideon went down five floors and realized that the six-floor to the seventh had a barrier. He held up his hand against the barrier and to his surprise, his hand passed through. But he immediately retracted his hand because he felt like it was a trap. And so he backed away from the set of stairs and decided to explore the fifth floor instead.
Most of the books here were written by Demons and those who are bound by a contract. So It was a little rare to find nonsense books like the ones from the first floor. There were books on the different classifications of Demons as well as a general book about how to control their powers.
"These look like the books Valerie lent to us as kids…" he mumbles to himself while he looks through the titles of the books.
Perhaps Alexander was the one who would pick up books for them and lend them out under his name. Such a reliable person he is, that Alexander.
He took a few books that he found interesting. They were mostly about the history of Demons in this world. There were tables and chairs in the middle of the floor as well as a Hanged Portrait of a Woman. Now that Gideon was looking at the Portrait, he got curious. He placed down the books on one of the tables and walked closer to the Portrait. The woman looked very beautiful with her wavy black hair and sparkling blue eyes. It looked like she was actually there smiling at you.
Gideon didn't have to guess who this was because it was already obvious that this was a Portrait of Gabriella. Although she passed away before this castle was built… How did they manage to paint her a portrait?
"The artist I commissioned struggled a bit with capturing her charm. But no matter how many times they did it, no one could come close"
A voice suddenly spoke next to Gideon which startled him. He could have sworn that he was the only person on the fifth floor compared to the other floors that had people reading here and there. Upon looking to his side to see who it was, he was suddenly lost for words.
"Did I startle you?" Luciel asked him gently.
"N-no your majesty"
"Please just call me Luciel since we're the only ones here"
'LIKE HELL I WOULD'
Gideon just felt like Luciel was the cause of the barrier allowing him to pass through. Was he testing him? Gideon couldn't tell. He's only relying on what he remembers from his sister's rants regarding the first series.
"Luciel is a manipulative asshole! He didn't even realize that he loved Gabriella till the end! If it weren't for him she would still be alive"
This was one of the few things Alice would scream in the first week when Gabriella died. She really went through five stages of grief in that period of time over a fictional character. At first, Gideon didn't really get it but he loves his sister too much to scold her about it so he just understood it instead. And that led him to his situation of being transmigrated in the very novel they read.
"You're quite the shy type" Luciel glanced at the books on the table near them.
"I see you're reading up on our history" he walks to the table to pick up some of the books.
"You know these books left out some details, there are more accurate ones on the lower floors" the way Luciel spoke these words is as if they were laced with a hint of sweetness that can tempt a person.
Gideon shook his head a little to get rid of that temptation. He could tell this guy was trying to pry something out of him.
"Ah no your majesty, I'm fine with those books. I just need to pass the time while I wait for someone"
"Oh, you're waiting for someone? Who is it if I might ask?" The question itself was innocent but the vibe Luciel was giving off was something else.
"A Family friend…" Gideon answered and Luciel smiled.
"I was asking for his name not the nature of your relationship with him"
Those words made Gideon feel breathless. He was terrified right now. What did he do? Why was Luciel like this towards him? And how did Luciel know that the person he was waiting for was a male?
There were so many questions running through his head right now. The first novel was set in Gabriella's point of view, and the second novel was set in Kaiden's. Both novels couldn't portray Luciel's Personality because one was deeply in love with the person while the other despised him to the bone. Which was the truth?
A person came rushing down from the staircase. Luciel turned around to see who it was to which is why it also caught Gideon's attention.
"Sorry I'm Late- Oh, was I interrupting something?"