Chapter 74 - 74

Kaiden sent the time and location of their hangout rather late into the night. To the point, Gideon already thought that something had come up so their hangout would be moved to another date. Kaiden had messaged him to meet him by the town's plaza at around 10 am which wasn't such a bad idea in his opinion since this was the usual time they met up in the past.

Theodora didn't put up a fight... Well, she did.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GOING TO HANG OUT WITH HIM?!"

"It'll only be for a short while!"

"Even if it's short, I'm not leaving you alone with him. I'll take a leave of absence tomorrow so I can watch over you"

"Mom please"

"Gideon, I'm just worried"

"I tell you for the last time that he will definitely not hurt me" Gideon thought about this but he knew Theodora still won't feel at ease. Maybe it would be a good idea to tell her about the oath.

The two sat down together and Gideon started the explanation. He intentionally left out some details and made some on the spot. Since it won't make sense if he just mentions that Kaiden made a one-sided oath for nothing.

"You're telling me that the prince swore an oath to protect you and to never harm you because he thinks of you as his family?"

Yeah, only he didn't see Gideon as the brother like in the past but rather the wife-

"Yeah, that's the reason"

"Is this the truth?"

Gideon looked straight into Theodora's bright red eyes and said "It is" but not all of it

"Alright, I'll allow you to meet up with him. But if he does mess up, I won't hesitate to go up against him. Even if he's more powerful than me."

"That won't happen"

After that discussion, Theodora went to rest before leaving early in the morning the next day.

Gideon had arrived a few minutes before the scheduled meet-up and checked his messages. The last message that Kaiden had sent to him was that he was already on his way. Gideon types that he was already there and will wait for the prince to arrive. All the while he received a message from Eliam.

Eliam: I'm glad that the two of you had made up.

Gideon had texted Eliam prior to this meeting that Kaiden and he had already made up. It was thanks to his advice that they did makeup after all. But what bothers him still was the fact Amias was trying to find out who he was.

Gideon: By any chance do you know someone named Amias?

Eliam: Do you mean the Demon Noble? Lord Amias? Yes, I know of him since he is our world's Demon Noble.

Gideon thought it was a stupid question since almost everyone knew of the Demon Nobles. Some knew them by name rather than face since it was not always that they showed their face to the public.

Gideon: I see

Eliam: Wait, by any chance are you in the town's plaza?

Gideon was surprised by the sudden question since he didn't mention to Eliam the location of the meet-up with Kaiden. Was he nearby?

Gideon: Yes. Why?

"I knew it was you" A voice suddenly spoke behind Gideon and it surprised him to the point he almost dropped his phone.

"Oh Gosh! You surprised me" Gideon turned around and saw Eliam with a surprised face and his hands up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. It was also a pleasant surprise to see you here" Eliam spoke in a sad tone as if he was whimpering and Gideon shook his head.

"No no, it's alright. It's also a nice surprise to see you here" Gideon smiled at him to reassure things.

"I'll take it that you're meeting with the pri-" Eliam's question was cut off by Gideon's hand blocking his face.

"Shh! You shouldn't openly say that here in public"

Eliam blinked in surprise since it was the first time that someone was bold enough to cut off his words.

"Yes, I'm meeting with my friend here. Refer to him as my friend ok?" Gideon continued to explain and Eliam smiled. Because of his smile, Gideon realized that he had still been covering his mouth and that's why Eliam had not responded.

"Ah! I'm sorry"

"No it's alright" Eliam laughed and looked to the side. He knew that Kaiden had already arrived here for a while now and was just looking at him attentively.

"Do you know who that is?" Eliam pretended to be fooled by the spell that Kaiden had over himself. He pointed in Kaiden's Direction which made the prince surprised that he got noticed.

"Who?" Gideon followed where he was pointing and saw Kaiden looking at him.

"Oh! It's him" He waved at Kaiden and signaled for him to come closer.

Kaiden obediently followed Gideon's guide and when he was close enough he got a good look at this person who was talking to Gideon for a while now. It bothered him because it seems like the two of them were close.

'Even more closer than me and Deon were...'

It seems like he found another rival to Gideon's affection. Gideon on the other hand did not know what to call Kaiden in front of Eliam. Even though he knew Eliam was aware that he and the prince were friends, he was still unsure what Kaiden would feel about the situation.

"This is the friend I was meeting up with... Kai... This is my friend Eliam"

Gideon awkwardly used the childhood nickname that he once called Kaiden. Even Kaiden was surprised by the sudden use of this nickname since he could have sworn that Gideon wouldn't call him that anymore. It's annoying that it was used as a cover-up but it was still nice to hear it from Gideon.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Eliam" Eliam put out his hand and waited for Kaiden to take it.

"Likewise, I'm Kai. I thought it was just us meeting up?" Kaiden glanced at Gideon as if he was the culprit and Gideon furrowed his eyebrows.

"What? that is the plan"

Eliam laughed a little as he watched the two who were in front of him. Though it seemed rude, he just couldn't help but be amused.

"Please don't misunderstand, I just bumped into my good friend Deon here"

Kaiden felt like something inside him cracked a little when he heard this Eliam guy call Gideon by that nickname. Was this the guy Amias was warning him about?

"Ah?" Gideon was surprised by the use of that nickname. He didn't really expect it to come from Eliam but I guess that was the nickname you would get from his name. He would really dislike it if someone called him "Gid".

"Is that so? Since you two are close friends, I want to get to know you sir Eliam. Would you like to join us?" Kaiden smiles at him.

"Wouldn't I be imposing on your planned date"

"It's not a date" Gideon suddenly butts into the conversation that these two were having.

Although Kaiden was aware of that, he couldn't help but feel rejected again.

"Yes, it's not a date, that's why you can join us. We'll be having lunch anyways. Come join us, I insist" Kaiden firmly says the last part with a smile that almost sounded like a threat rather than an invitation.

The corners of Eliam's lips raised into a smile and he nodded.

"I suppose it would be rude if I continue to refuse your offer. And besides that, I had nothing to do anyway... it might be fun to tag along"

It seems like Gideon right now was air to these two men. He didn't really expect that Eliam would tag along with them. Should he be happy or disappointed? The three of them walked together but Kaiden pulled him to the side and placed himself in between him and Eliam. He was about to make a fuss about it but Kaiden's hands were warm and it kind of made Gideon blush that they were holding hands that he didn't notice that Kaiden was glaring at Eliam while the latter continued to smile. Their situation looked very strange to the public's view.

When they arrived at the restaurant, the receptionist asked for their reservations. Kaiden leaned in and whispered something and the receptionist's expression went from suspicion to surprise to a smile

"I see, Mister Lux. You originally had a reservation for two but you wish to change it to a table for three. It just so happened we have a free table, I'll take you there"

"Wow... How lucky that there was a free table" Eliam suddenly spoke out loud and the receptionist laughed.

"Yes yes... who would have known"

Gideon knew that Kaiden had this reserved under his actual name and that's why they were able to get a table this quickly.. Something told him that this lunch was not going to be a peaceful one.