Chapter 09: Gentleman’s Club

The building was located on the same Main Street as Kilian had been to before. It was lavishly made, with a big entrance.

Kilian had Dante wheel him inside giving the invitation to a man standing at the entrance.

The man bowed slightly, a perfect picture of a butler, with the tailcoat and expressionless face as he greeted Kilian without judgment in his eyes.

He was middle-aged, but had a slender figure and was taller than Dante.

"Young Master Kilian!"

The voice of Mr. Kilga rang through the room, as the man walked towards them to greet them.

"Here I am, Mr. Kilga," Kilian replied with a courteous nod, still sitting in his chair.

"Thank you for the invitation".

Kilian was sitting up straight with his hands folded on his thighs.

He may be in a wheelchair, but Dante noticed the confident attitude he radiated. Mr. Kilda bent down to shake his hand at a height where Kilian would not have to look up.

Kilian gave Mr. Kilga one of his charming smiles appreciating the gesture, which laid the foundation of the reputation with the men that had begun to take notice of the young man that had joined them in a peculiar way.

The men in the room were of different ages ranging from Kilian's age to middle-aged and even older.

"Is that the young third son Kilian Heathgrave?"

"I thought he was crippled and would not be appearing in public".

There were whispers and voices going about, bringing up the name of the new addition to the club.

"Can't you see he is still a cripple? He is sitting in that kind of chair".

The voice was haughty and Kilian could tell the welcome and opinions about him were mixed.

"I for one am grateful to get to know the youngest master of Count Heathgrave".

A man stepped out from among the others. He was tall, as tall as the butler at the entrance, and was wearing all black with a black shirt tucked into a pair of straight black dress pants.

Kilian noticed, that there was no green or anything to indicate the man was following the theme of the gathering.

The man was also wearing a finely designed black mask covering part of his face, but Kilian recognized him instantly.

"Mr. Rayden". He replied nodding at the man.

"How come the young master is not standing, I remember seeing the young Master was able to stand the other day?".

The tall man gave Kilian a smirk, while studying his face, seemingly amused by the slight change in Kilian's expression, as Kilian for barely a second had given off a chilling stare, poking holes in Rayden with his ice-blue eyes.

"Everyone knows very well that I am unable to stand Lord Rayden, you must be mistaken".

Kilian had put his face back into his innocent smiling expression and continued his retort.

"Could it be Lord Rayden gets uncomfortable having to look down?".

Kilian was wondering why the attitude of this man was different from that at the store when they met. But why?

Lord Rayden flashed a smile covering his mouth with the palm of his hand while watching Kilian, not letting anyone see his sudden amusement from the obvious teasing he was doing.

Dante stepped forward standing in front of Kilian.

"Lord Rayden I ask you to not be rude to Master Kilian" The redhead's eyes were furious, and Kilian sighed.

"It is ok Sir Dante".

Kilian simply placed his palm on Dante's arm making him flinch slightly, making the redhead look back down at Kilian with widened eyes.

Dante became quiet and as if he had been commanded by the touch, stepped back again, moving behind the chair.

"Well then if the young Master should ever be standing, then let's have a dance and show off those legs".

Lord Rayden chuckled some and walked away without getting a reply.

'Why is he so different, it is like he enjoys mocking me in front of these people'.

Kilian's mood soured confused how Rayden had acted so differently from when they met at the store.

At the store, the man had seemed genuinely concerned when holding him. Now he was ridiculing him.

'Why?'.

He felt a headache coming on.

"People are unpredictable," he thought, letting Dante wheel him further into the room, greeting a few people that Mr. Kilga brought over.

Many of the people would speak fondly in front of him and admire his face. Some even openly complimented him, and after a while, Kilian felt gross.

"I need air," he mumbled just loud enough for Dante to pick up on it, and he wheeled Kilian to a terrasse that there was access to through the back of the room.

Kilian breathed in the fresh air. It was night and the stars were visible above. They randomly spread out in the sky and were more vivid than he remembered from his modern life.

Did people here even know what they were? He wondered what people might believe when looking up at the stars.

The silence was calming, and neither he nor Dante spoke for a while.

Kilian leaned back resting his head back against the hard abs of Dante standing behind him. His knight didn't move at all but stood as still as he could to not make his master uncomfortable.

He was away from the mansion, away from the maids and his gloomy room.

Kilian knew he was here to gather allies, to gain some sort of support to stay alive, but the moment was just too peaceful. He closed his eyes, meaning it to be just for a moment.

Dante stood awkwardly behind his master, and when noticing the young Kilian had fallen asleep, he gently moved his head off him.

The feelings he had started to have for this young man was filling his mind, and he was confused.

IT was not only forbidden to covet the attention of one's master, but Kilian was also a man, which was a taboo among the people.

The soft-touch of the blonde hair against his palm was only for a brief moment and made him feel guilty. At that moment he was happy the young master could not read his mind.

Dante stepped back and left to find a blanket, needing a minute away to clear his mind.

Cold liquid splashed on his face and Kilian woke up instantly, wiping his face with the back of his hand, looking up at a man in front of him.

The man had short dark brown hair and dark blue eyes, and he was staring back down with a furious look.

"Why are you here cripple?". The harsh voice was low to not alert anyone inside.

"Answer me, why are you here… brother".

The last word was said with an obvious vicious tone, and Kilian looked up, recognizing his older brother from the memories of the original Kilian of this world.

Both of his brothers had taken after the Count in looks and were praised swordsmen and magic users at the Academy.

Until they left for the Academy they had contributed to the bullying of the young Kilian in his youth.

"Greetings… brother Lucien".

Kilian spat out a vicious voice as Lucien had, replying in kind.

"What?"

Lucien had not expected a reply but had looked forward to seeing his younger brother cover in fear. But the young man in front of him looked back at him confidently and even gave a small sneer.

Had he heard it correctly? He had drunk quite a bit.

Lucien's cheeks got red from rage, never expecting Kilian to talk back with a defiant tone.

"Brother, I was invited just like you, please refrain from lowering the family's dignity by lashing out here".

Kilian pushed it, giving Lucien one of the fake smiles he had practiced for situations like this.

Lucien had thrown the wine from his glass, and Kilian was sitting calmly, with the red liquid running down his face. The sight in the dark almost made it look like Kilian was bleeding, a sight that stirred Lucien, giving him a creepy expression.

"I don't see your escort now…".

Lucien returned with a wicked smile, and bend down, grabbing Kilian by the chin, pressing down with his thumb to push Kilian's mouth open.

Kilian instantly grabbed onto Lucien's arm trying to get his face free but was too late as Lucien brought the bottle of wine he was holding in his other hand to Kilian's mouth, pouring it in.

Kilian choked on the wine, trying to spit it out, but the constant pouring made its way down his throat, and made him gasp for air, coughing and swallowing in panic as any attempt he did to try and break free was futile.

Kilian was still too weak, and his escort was not here to help.

His eyes welled up with tears, and his mind started to go blank as all he could hear was a low chuckle seeing his brother's close face distort in the delight of what he was doing.

"You are useless little brother".

Lucien started berating Kilian still with a low voice.

"Why are you still alive, you and your mother should just quietly disappear".

Kilian was panicking, feeling like he was drowning, forced to swallow the strong wine.

'Why….why was he being treated like this'.

Kilian refused to give in and gave Lucien a sharp defiant stare, his ice-blue eyes staring directly into the dark blue eyes of his brother.

"Stop!" Was all he could think, but couldn't say it.

A sudden force pushed Lucien back banging his body into a statue that was located in the middle of the garden further from the terrasse. It had been such a sudden strong force.

Kilian coughed up wine frantically gasping for air, as a tall man dressed in black came running up to him.

"Kilian!"

Kilian's vision was blurry, and his headache had become worse, the wine he had drunk already was taking its toll on his light body.

"Dante?"

He could barely get a word out but felt relieved someone had stopped Lucien, he had thought he would choke to death on that disgusting-tasting wine.

"You will be ok".

Kilian heard the words and grimaced, keeping the tears back.

He seriously needed to get stronger. He had been lucky someone had come by. He was envious of whatever magic the person had used to fling Lucien away instantly.

A pair of cold hands with long slender fingers cupped his face, and he couldn't help but rest his warm cheeks against them. They felt so good on his skin, dulling the headache. Was this magic too?

"F...feels good," he mumbled, trying to decipher who was helping him, and looked up.

Kilian couldn't say anything more and his blurry vision got worse till he completely blanked out, not knowing who it was.