It was already late at night. The moon hung high in the sky, basking Gabriel and the Holy Priestess of Summoning in its moonlight as the two youngsters walked together.
The explosive news about the return of an heir from the Arecia Clan had already reached most parts of the City. Even though most of the people should've been sleeping at a time like this, the news kept them up and discussing the future of the City and the past where they falsely blamed the Arecia Clan.
Everyone who heard about the story felt back about the past, believing that they had been fooled. The story spread from one person to another, and in their guilt, each person kept adding something to the story to make Gabriel sound like a literal god who was the kindest soul on earth.
Within a few hours, Gabriel Arcadius Arecia... This name had spread far and wide. Even though most people who heard this story hadn't seen Gabriel, they still sided with the young man. Gabriel's reputation had increased multiple folds, and this time, it wasn't in fear. This time, people actually idolized him and wanted to help him take what rightfully belonged to him.
Most of the commoners and even the Knights believed that only by giving Gabriel what belonged to him could they ask for repentance from the Saint King in the future after their death.
The Saint Knight had left the Royal Castle to assassinate Gabriel. As he moved through the City, he heard some of this conversation, realizing that the King was right. The young man had already won the hearts of most people with his unwavering and fearless attitude. Some people even called Gabriel the reincarnation of the Saint King!
"Those bastards! Chirp all you want today! From tomorrow, everything will be back to normal." the Saint Knight clenched his fist, feeling his blood boil.
He soon reached the Duke's castle, making sure that he wasn't seen along the way. He didn't take the main entrance to enter the castle.
"I, the Saint Knight, have to barge inside a place like a thief! All because of one boy!"
The Saint Knight landed on the balcony on the first floor. He carefully opened the window and jumped inside one of the rooms.
"If His Majesty hadn't instructed me to avoid the Duke if possible, I would've entered through the main door and slaughtered everyone in this place! For peace in this Empire, that would've been a minor sacrifice!"
Now that he had successfully entered the castle, all he needed to do was find Gabriel and take him out without alerting anyone else.
With silent steps, he walked through the hallways, checking each of the rooms.
"Hmm, this room?"
Most of the rooms he entered had been unused for a long time; however, one of the rooms wasn't. The room he entered didn't have any windows in the room, but looking at the condition of the room, he was sure that someone had been inside the room not long ago and spent quite a long time in bed.
"This shouldn't be the room of Callum. Is this the room that was given to that bastard?"
The Saint Knight entered the bathroom to check.
"Yeah, as I expected. Someone was definitely here and took a shower recently. This room must be his! But why isn't he in the room?"
The Saint Knight stood alone in the room with his hands behind his back, looking at the door.
"Did he leave the room to discuss something with Callum? Instead of going out, it should be much easier to just wait for him here. Sooner or later, he'll have to return here to sleep!"
****
"Hmm?" Avilia glanced back in the direction of the Duke's castle. "That idiot..."
"Did you say something?" Gabriel asked, noticing Avilia looking back.
Avilia shrugged. "Nothing. It has nothing to do with me."
Avilia had a Shadow Beast that could not only hide in the shadows but also create some clones who could also use these shadow abilities. She had left one of those clones back in Gabriel's room, which helped her see everything that was happening there.
The other clones searched around the city to find a restaurant for them to eat.
"This way."
She led the way to lead Gabriel to one of the fanciest restaurants that her Shadow Beast could find.
The two youngsters soon reached the restaurants, which could only be afforded by the wealthiest of people in the city. Due to being this expensive and this late at night, the entire restaurant had no customers at the moment, leaving all the seats empty.
Gabriel and the Holy Priestess of Summoning entered the restaurant. While the Holy Priestess of Summoning was wearing ordinary clothes, Gabriel's clothes were quite fancy, which made the restaurant staff welcome them properly.
The Knight Tournament was near, and quite a few wealthy youngsters had come to the City to either take part in the event or to watch it. Thanks to Gabriel's clothes, the restaurant believed he was one of those wealthy youngsters.
"Young Master, welcome to the best restaurant in the city!" The maids welcomed Gabriel. "I'm sure you and your girlfriend will be very satisfied with our food and our service when you two leave this place!"
"Girlfriend?" Gabriel repeated but didn't bother clarifying the situation. He just walked to the table, which was closer to the window.
As for Avilia, she was waiting for Gabriel to clarify and tell the people that they were just acquaintances. Seeing his silence, she grew somewhat surprised, but she didn't raise the issue.
The maid gave the menu and left Gabriel to decide what to order.
Gabriel went through the menu, realizing that all the dishes mentioned were something that he had never heard before.
"Shouldn't you let your 'girlfriend' order first?" Avilia asked, slightly sarcastically yet amused at the same time. From Gabriel's expressions, it was clear that he didn't understand anything.
"Cough! Cough!"
Gabriel was immersed in the menu, trying to understand it, when he heard Avilia. It was clear that the girl was being sarcastic and teasing him, but it wasn't bad.
Avilia was on the Neutral Side in this battle, and he needed her support. If he could get a Church's support, his safety and this Empire's safety were definitely going to increase. Even though he couldn't lower his guard against Avilia, he still wanted to work with her in the future.
"What happened, Young Prince? Don't you want to listen to your poor girlfriend?" Avilia asked again, but this time she was less sarcastic and more teasing, quite amused by Gabriel's previous reaction when she used it.
The boy, who had been calm and composed since the start, was finally showing some different emotions to her.
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