Kiss Me Not

That night, when the rest of the family had left, Gavin walked his wife Brione back to the bedroom and said, "I'll be back soon. I need to talk to Cedric."

After tucking in his wife in bed, Gavin walked to the forbidden wing to have a private conversation with Cedric. The two met, and they stayed at the latter's veranda where there a spectacular view of a beautiful garden that Cedric planted and nurtured himself was present.

"You did great in this garden," Gavin commented. Even though it was night, Cedric managed to install enough lightning that one could still see the beauty of it in the moonlight.

"Yeah… Well, I like plants," Cedric chuckled. "They're the only living things that don't tempt me to suck dry." Before, he didn't even give a single plant a passing glance since he was more of an animal lover… That was before though, back when he was still nothing but a weak human being.

"I'm glad that you're able to control yourself now," Gavin gratefully nodded. He was simply happy to find out that he had a sibling, and a twin one on top of that. It was only unfortunate that he and Cedric didn't grow up together. "I hope we can get some more time to catch up a bit more. I haven't said this before, but I'm really glad I came to know my real family. You and Father… Even though we spent years apart…"

"Yeah," Cedric smiled. "I'm also happy that I have a brother, Gavin. Too bad that we met like this. But then, we still have a lot of time to catch up. It's just so nice to finally be back in the real world." With a slight nod, he then grabbed a bottle of wine and poured a drink into their respective glasses. "Let's drink, Brother."

Looking at the drink, Gavin paused, "Is this…"

Cedric laughed. "Yeah, that's wine. Don't worry, I won't play a prank like that on you like I always do with Will."

"Well, I don't mind you pulling a prank on me every once in a while," Gavin chuckled with a smile. He was sure that like him, Cedric was still adjusting to everything that was happeing. The blood connection and familial love they had for each other was there though, even if the two of them had just recently met.

"Thank you, Gavin, for not giving up on looking out for me… and asking for help to save me from where I was detained," Cedric solemnly whispered.

He heard from Raine how Gavin begged her to save him; that the latter himself even wanted to come and rescue him from Esmeralda's hidden island. If not for Gavin, he would still be stuck at that woman's castle as her favorite playtoy. His face darkened at the foul memory. He would definitely kill that woman with his bare hands if he had the chance.

"How's your training going, by the way?" Gavin asked. At the moment, Cedric was training under Raine's supervision. "Being a hunter's a lot of work, right?"

"I guess so," Cedric shrugged before he let out a scoff. "I still want this, whoever, and I owe so much to Raine. I want to keep myself busy as well. Besides, being a King during the day and a Hunter during the night seems fun and exciting."

"Right… I guess you're ready now, so we should probably talk about the final schedule for me to turn over the crown to you," Gavin reminded with a smile. "I just have to wrap up some more loose ends so I won't feel like I'm leaving you with too much work."

"Ah, you look so happy in passing the crown off to me," Cedric chortled. "I bet the thing's a pain in the ass." Cedric chortled.

"You bet. That's why you should consider Olivia's petition for a democracy," Gavin chuckled. "Besides, why are you so adamant about it? Her ideas are actually good, besides her personal grudge, of course." It was a valid option. Him and his father weren't against abolishing the monarchy since they could always still help their people even without the power afforded by such a position.

"Hmm, I want to deal with Livy myself, my dear Brother," Cedric plainly answered with a wink. "It'll be fun playing games with her over this monarchy versus democracy thing."

"She's changed a lot according to Will. So different now…" Gavin promptly informed.

"So I've heard," Cedric whispered. "Livy's a sweet girl, but she rarely smiles nowadays." He was watching Olivia from the dark the moment he came back and somehow managed to control himself from the trappings of being a vampire. It was really a struggle, especially whenever he was near her. As such, he kept his distance as much as he could.

"She lost Oliver," Gavin explained. "I heard that you and him were close… Like brothers, I take it?"

"Yes," Cedric sighed. "If only I was here during that time… I could've prevented what happened and saved Oliver in the process. But I guess that's just Oliver's fate," he regretfully uttered out before drinking a gulp of his own wine. He then turned to Gavin and asked, "What's your plan once you turn over the crown?"

"Maybe I'll just  lay low and manage my Entertainment and Network company with my wife," Gavin shrugged. "I'm planning on transferring my headquarters here to Country B. And you're also already aware that I have a duty for the Mirage as their Mirage Historian."

"I guess I shouldn't let you be too busy with the crown then," Cedric nodded. "We can do the turnaround this month, Gavin. I'm ready for it, though I bet the people will miss your generous ruling. They'll probably miss your soft and kind heart the most though. I'm kinda different, as is obvious…" he murmured.

"Different? What do you mean?" Gavin asked. He was curious. Though he was already aware of what kind of a ruler Cedric was, he still had a different image of who his brother was. Will, Cain, and even Cedric himself had mentioned how much he had changed, because of all the previous events that had happened to him. They say that Cedric's body was frail, but it wasn't a hindrance for how ruthless and merciless he could still be. Nobody should still mess with him, or even cross his line.

"Don't ponder too much about it, Brother," Cedric reassured. "Don't worry. I'll be a just ruler for sure, and I won't let our people suffer from any crime or inhuman acts. It'll be the same. It's just that I have different way of following procedures in ruling, unlike you and Father…"