13 Chapter 13

At this moment, Alexander, who was summoned by Kaiden to go look for the person who tried leaving the capital at this hour, received an incoming call. Kaiden glanced at the person whose phone was vibrating while he was briefing and pursed his lips.

"I'm so sorry your highness, but can you excuse me briefly to answer this call?" Alex bowed his head towards Kaiden and the prince only rolled his eyes.

"Alright but you have to be quick"

"Thank you"

And with that, Alexander left the meeting room and checked who it was calling. Regardless of who it was calling, He would cast a small array around him to prevent anyone else from hearing what their conversation was about.

"Hey, Why are you calling? I thought you would be at the ball with Ms. Theodora?"

"Ah, no I stayed back since you know about me and Kaiden"

"Oh yeah, you did mention that… what do you need?"

Somehow Alexander had a gut feeling that Gideon was the one who tried to leave the capital.

"Are you busy? I just need someone to talk to at the moment"

Alexander was silent for a moment, thinking if he should tell Gideon but there was a chance it wasn't him leaving.

'I'll just warn him regardless' Alexander noted in his head.

"I'm kind of busy but I'll try to get out of it"

"If you can't it's alright, take care, Alex"

"You too, don't leave the house for now ok?"

Alexander ended his call and looked back at the door only to see Kaiden leaning on it while staring at him. He got spooked by this action a little and he took down the array so he could be heard.

"Your Highness" he called out

"Why did you need to set up an array? Are you hiding something?"

Kaiden was suspicious of Alexander given he was Lianna's son. He had already started working for the capital when he and Gideon had met. But he already learned the hard way that he can't trust anyone anymore.

"I always set up an array when I'm on call since it's my right for privacy" is a simple sentence that answered both of Kaiden's questions. In short, Alexander meant "Why should I tell you?".

Kaiden's eyes narrowed and he was about to say something else when someone came up and reported that the person who had tried to leave the capital was escorted back into the capital. When Kaiden asked who it was and where they were escorted, the servant shook his head saying that the Person escorting him was under Lady Kassandra's faction and they could not approach or see who these were due to the monsters preventing them from doing so.

"Is that so? Lady Kassandra is attending the ball is she not?"

"Yes, all of the Nobles are present and are talking with the King at the moment"

"Hmm, change of plans. Alexander, tell your team that the mission is canceled and you are all dismissed, however…" Kaiden walked closer to Alex and placed his hand on his shoulder to lean in and whisper.

"I know you're hiding Deon, all I suggest is that you don't get in my way as well" Kaiden moved away and smiled at Alex who looked like he got shit in his mouth.

Kaiden waved his hands as he walked away to attend the ball at the last minute to talk to Kassandra. When Kaiden's arrival was announced to the ballroom, everyone stopped and was shocked because they did not expect the prince to come especially when the Father already stated that the Prince intended to rest since the parade made him dreary. Luciel walked up to his son and smiled, eyeing him up and down since he was in a different attire but nonetheless, it was still presentable.

"I thought you did not want to attend today's banquet" Luciel patted his son on the back to gesture for him to come along to the other nobles.

"I changed my mind and I need to talk to Lady Kassandra about something"

Kaiden gently pushed his father's hand away and he strode to Kassandra, who was talking to Arda about the current state of affairs within the capital.

"Lady Kassandra, Lady Arda" Kaiden looked at the two and the two bowed in different manners. Kassandra did a courtesy bow and Arda did the usual bow that men did.

"Prince Kaiden" they both acknowledged him.

Kaiden didn't really care about the Demon Nobles even though they helped in raising him. They were still cunning individuals who had self-interest as their main priority in life. It's just that his father, Luciel, gave them exactly what they wanted that's why they still follow him to this day. However, he does not clearly know what their goals were so he can't get them to be on his side.

"I need to speak to you, Lady Kassandra"

"Oh? What do I owe the pleasure to your Highness?" Kassandra smiles and Arda decides to excuse herself to give the both of them some privacy. Kassandra spun the glass of wine in her hand waiting for Kaiden to speak up.

"I overheard that someone tried exiting the Capital at this hour" At the mention of this, Kassandra stopped spinning the wine but still retained her smile.

"Indeed, but not to worry my women took care of it"

"So I've heard, but what bothers me is who would desperately try to leave during this hour?"

Kaiden still pushed on the topic and it made Kassandra a little irritated thinking how Azazel managed to drag her ass into this problem.

"It is common for people to come and leave from the capital so I do not see the reason for your highness to get interested in silly matters" She took a sip from her glass and still continued to observe Kaiden.

"You're right, but it's just that I have a feeling that it's Gideon trying to leave"

When Kaiden mentioned that name, it was as if a bomb got dropped and several people paused in what they were doing. Namely, those people were Azazel, Amias, Luciel, Kassandra, Theodora, and Stephen. Arda and Damien knew of the situation but thankfully they weren't dragged into this mess so they could only watch from the side and continue with their light banter.

"Why is your highness still thinking about that Peasant?" When Kassandra called Gideon that derogatory term it only made Kaiden's blood boil but he still remained calm.

"The word Peasant seems to be outdated but I won't blame you since some of us are youngsters who aren't aware of how derogatory that term is"

This also implied that Kassandra was old and it made her face stiff.

Azazel decided to butt in because it was getting out of hand and called out to Kaiden. When Kaiden heard him, he smiled and turned in his direction.

"Azazel, just the man I wanted to talk to"

"Your Highness…"

"Be honest, did you try to help Gideon leave again?"

"No your Highness, I've been aiding your father with the banquet the entire time. Why are you still bothering yourself with that child?"

"Well that's none of your concern anymore"

Kaiden grew tired of this, but it only confirms that it was indeed Gideon trying to leave. It's just that none of the nobles were in it and were also preventing him from leaving.

'I wonder why, maybe because they think Deon would betray them since that seems to be a habit of his'

When the prince left the hall, Stephen turned to Theodora and got a look from her telling him not to leave yet. Even though both of them were extremely concerned for Gideon, their faction was already under suspicion. They can't expose themselves if they want to protect themselves and Gideon.

Gideon busied himself with baking cookies that night and had a feeling that someone was inside the house. He readied his hands if ever someone pounced on him and to his surprise it was Amias who appeared. He keeps forgetting that Amias and Azazel can teleport with ease as long as they are familiar and welcomed to the area they were trying to go to.

"I thought you would be at the banquet?" Gideon lowered his guard, he trusted Amias to some degree.

"I was, so how did you get yourself caught after 11 whole years of hiding?"

Amias wanted to smoke but he knew that he can't smoke in this house since he'll get a beating from Kassandra. So instead he went for the cookies that Gideon made and ate one.

'Tasty'

"I was delivering orders earlier and got stuck in the crowd during the parade. Kaiden must have recognized me but we only locked eyes for a few seconds"

"That's quite a weird way to say that you were curious about how Kaiden was doing and you accidentally exposed yourself"

"?!" Gideon almost coughed out the cookie he was eating.

"I hit the nail right on the head?" Amias grinned and took another cookie to eat.

"Drink water, while you're at it get me something to drink as well… anyways the prince had been looking for you non-stop in the past 11 years. But the thing is, we don't know why"

Gideon handed Amias a glass of water and drank from his own cup to clear his throat.

"Isn't it obvious? He hates me and wants me dead"