The two individuals who have been clashing for hours now stared at the person whom they were trying to protect.

Pier's white hair was the most noticeable feature on his entire body and Gideon found himself constantly looking at his master's white hair.

Pier looked at the knight who swore upon his title and name for him.

Gideon's body had changed so much for the past weeks that they weren't together.

It was an almost close to impossible change.

His body that was once just a little bit buffer than Pier was now totally changed into a body that was noticeably more muscular and stronger.

He eyed Gideon suspiciously as the knight also blatantly stared at him.

"What were you doing for the past months, Gideon?" Pier asked the knight and the latter averted his gaze when he saw his master's questioning ones.

"I... I have been training, young master," He answered truthfully and Pier raised his eyes at the response.

He then turned his head to look at the man who was now in his human form.

It was his first time seeing Ciaran's wolf form and he wanted to inquire more but he knew now was not the right time.

Ciaran was all naked inside the ice enclosure Pier had made.

The young master then proceeded to remove the cloak that he was wearing and went to the spot where Ciaran was trapped.

The Vampire Prince bowed his head after seeing that Pier was starting to walk towards him.

"What's wrong?" the young master asked and Ciaran shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he apologized and Pier sighed.

He knew where this was going again.

"I was not able to protect you when you got lost in the fourth mountain," He whispered in shame.

"Remove"

Immediately, the ice that was freezing the vampire prince dissipated into small ice crystals until it disappeared into the air.

Pier avoided looking down on Ciaran's lower half because he wanted to avoid seeing the manliness the vampire prince possessed.

However, it was the blessing itself that went into him.

Ciaran did not even bother covering himself with the cloak that Pier was handing to him as he went straight to enclose the young master in his arms.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me," The vampire prince whispered in the person trapped in his arms.

Eek!

Pier flinched at the sudden contact and he could feel the bare body of the vampire prince.

Completely bare, from top to bottom and he was having an awkward time.

"I was so scared," He whispered once more and Gideon who was still trapped in his master's spell had wide eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM MY MASTER THIS INSTANT!" He raged while struggling inside the ice but to no avail, even with his strength, the knight could not break out.

Pier pushed the vampire prince away as he gave him the cloak.

"Wear that for now," He spoke as he turned to look at Gideon.

"Release"

He spoke again and the spell that was binding Gideon was released.

Without hesitations, Gideon pulled Pier and hid him behind his back as he pointed his sword at Ciaran again.

"Master! Please be wary of this creature! He is not human at all!" He said with worry while he was constantly switching his gaze back at Pier and towards the naked man who just stood there with a cloak in his hand.

"I know," Pier answered as he was still tired. His memory was hazy and he could only recall a few things.

"Then please do not get near the monster next time!" Gideon said with worry.

He sounded like a mother nagging at Pier to not date the guy he knew would hurt his son.

"Gideon, calm down," Pier called out as he stood beside the knight who was wearing a red cape.

He touched Gideon's arms and held the sword down.

"He's not a monster, he's someone who helped me," He explained and Gideon looked at him as if his master had lost his mind.

"Good heavens, what has happened to my master!" He spoke as he lowered his sword down completely and it was now his turn to embrace the young master in his arms.

He did cry as he was hugging Pier and continuously patting his master's head.

"The Crown Prince must have scarred the mind of my master for him to lose his rationality!" He said while staring angrily at the dark sky.

It looked like Gideon was silently cursing any powerful beings who were watching from the sky and was giving his master a hard time.

"Gideon-"

"AND YOU! YOU DARE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MY MASTER WHEN HE IS IN THE INCORRECT STATE OF MIND!" He turned towards Ciaran who also had a dumbfounded look on his face.

The vampire prince glared at the knight and once more, they started to prepare for another fight to break out between them.

But before they could even lunge and fight each other to death again,

Hick!

The two backed off as swords were pointed at their necks.

Gideon gulped as he watched the burning sword slowly inch closer to his neck while Ciaran also watched with dreadful eyes as the sword made out of ice gave him a chilly and cold feeling as if he was about to face his death.

"Y-Young Master..." Gideon stuttered as he hopelessly looked at his young master in hopes that the latter would not decide to stab his neck on the day that they reunited.

"Pier..." Ciaran called out as well.

Pier sighed as he lowered his swords down.

"Gideon, follow my orders, do not do anything," He spoke a short phrase and the knight immediately nodded his head.

However, he still gave the creature he treated as a monster a glare.

"You too, Ciaran, stop acting like a child," He called out to the vampire prince.

Ciaran nodded his head as he started to wear the cloak Pier gave him.

"Both of you, sit down,"

He instructed.

'I just had some bad memories flash through my mind and now I'm scolding these two idiots.' He sighed in defeat as he observed the two males sit right in front of him.

They still maintained their distance though.

"Gideon, why are you here?" He first asked the knight who gave him the surprise of the year after seeing him right after he woke up.

"I came here because... because I wanted to get stronger and train more, young master!" He explained and Pier rose his eyebrows as a sign of further elaboration.

"The... the Headmaster had told me that this would be the best place for me to train because there are some... uhh.... what do you call that again..." He scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of the word that would perfectly fit his answer.

"Irregularty?" He asked, unsure of his own words.

Pier facepalmed himself as he listened to the knight he chose as his personal guard.

"Irregularities, Gideon," Pier corrected him and Gideon beamed like a star in the night sky.

"That's correct, young master! The headmaster told me that the monsters would be stronger because of some irregularities!" He explained while he had a huge grin on his face.

It was just the Gideon Woodlock that Pier knew.

The goofy knight who liked to smile all the time.

Gideon's body build was now bigger but he still had that soft attitude that would make anyone find him cute.

Not for his master though.

Pier found Gideon's happy face annoying. It contrasted his attitude.

Gideon was a huge guard dog that smiles at everyone while Pier was the small and expensive chihuahua who had anger issues.

He did miss Gideon's childish antics.

"Oh! and the Headmaster also told me to bring something back that rightfully belongs to the House of Masters, and guess what I found out, young master?!" He asked excitedly.

Pier was starting to see the imaginary tail wagging behind Gideon again.

"What?" He was also starting to think he had caught Gideon's infectious disease of being stupid because he went along with the knight's acts of stupidity.

"I found out that it was you the Headmaster was talking about!" He spoke proudly and he puffed out his chest like a child who was able to pay alone at the counter without asking for his parents' help.

"Wow... great..." He spoke in response.

However, there was something else running in Pier's hazy mind.

"How did he know?" He asked himself.

How did Ronnovian know that his son was in the Mir Mountains? and why did he instruct Gideon to do that when he could have taken Pier back himself.

Was he referring to the young master who ran away?

He then proceeded to look at Ciaran. The Vampire Prince was quiet as he listened to the knight and the young master's conversation.

'That's right.' It was Ciaran who abducted him.

It was Ciaran who forcefully took him out of the kingdom and brought him in Nightfall.

If he were to tell Gideon that the man sitting at a distance from him was the one that abducted his master, he knew Gideon would not listen to him anymore and would lash out at Ciaran.

"Ciaran, could you leave us for a moment?" He asked the vampire prince and Ciaran's eyes looked at him hoping that he would not be chased out by the young master.

But Pier knew he needed to hear things out from Gideon first.

He had so many questions.

Why did Gideon mention the Crown Prince? Did he know about Asher's proposal towards his master?

How was he able to get through the first mountain?

The Gideon he knew that was left behind the kingdom when he was taken out by Ciaran could not even protect him properly so how was he able to reach the fourth mountain?

"Go," He instructed and Ciaran sighed before he stood up.

He gave the knight one last glare before smoke started to surround his body.

"Just know that I will never leave you again while we are at this place, Pier" He spoke and Pier rolled his eyes.

It was the young master's decision to run away all alone and destroy an entire portion of a mountain in just one night but Ciaran was blaming himself too much.

He also knew he needed to talk with the vampire prince.

Ciaran disappeared as the smoke from his body also dissipated.

He then turned to look at Gideon who was looking up at him with puppy-like eyes but with a smile on his face.

'My master is so beautiful,' He complimented Pier in his mind as Gideon observed the master whom he dearly missed for the past weeks.

'His white hair looks really cool... the black hair was nice but young master's white hair is even better!'

If Pier was to hear Gideon's thoughts right now he would've smacked his knight at the back of his head.

Pier then proceeded to sit beside Gideon.

"How are you?" He asked and Gideon turned to look at his master.

Pier was looking at the horizon before them. Trees no longer covered the skies and the moonlight shone brightly upon them.

Pier's blue eyes sparkled as a glint of the light from the moon came in contact with it.

Gideon's breath was taken away as he watched the enchanting beauty his master has.

"I'm... I'm good... young master" Gideon stammered.

It was the sight he missed so much. He dearly longed for his young master's presence beside him.

He longed for his young master so much that seeing Pier again in person became just like the first time he met with him.

Silence reigned over the two as Pier just stared at the sky above them.

He missed the view of the starry sky so much that he could not help but focus on it.

But it was different for Gideon.

He was staring at the person who saved his life and the person whom he vowed to protect with all of his life.

Pier's hair danced along with the light breeze of air as the comfortable silence continued to talk their emotions out.

Pier's head was all around the place. His emotions were mixed but he wanted to stay calm by feeling the wind and letting the ambiance of the moon and stars shining up in the sky engulf him.

"Young master..." Gideon was the one to break the silence first.

Pier turned his head to look at his personal knight.

"Yea-"

But before he could finish his words, he stopped as he saw the sight in front of him.

"Hic... young master..." Gideon called out again as he stared at Pier with tears brimming in his eyes.

"Young master... it really is you," He spoke as he clenched his hands and the tears started to fall down the knight's cheeks.

"You're here... you're finally here," He spoke as he wiped the tears off of his eyes but it still kept coming out despite his efforts of containing his sobs.

Gideon trained so hard for the past month.

He bled

He starved

He thirsted

He suffered so much just in exchange for becoming someone better that is fitting for another person.

He worked so hard just so he could prove himself worthy for that person, that he is worthy to be the young master's knight.

And now his master was right beside him.

Sitting as they both were under the moonlight, he could finally feel the breath of relief he was struggling to achieve.

He could finally be happy once more.

"Young master...hic... I missed you so much!" He cried as his face contorted into both pain and happiness.

"You... you have no idea how I always wished I was by my master's side...hic..." He spoke between sobs.

"And... and now I am right beside you again, young master"

Gideon broke down as he watched the majestic sight of his master looking at him.

He missed his young master's frown

He missed his young master's nagging

He missed Pier's existence.

"I'm... I'm so sorry... I know I am not supposed to c-cry but... but I could not help-"

Pat

Pat

Pat

Tears started to form once more in Gideon's eyes as he felt the soft pats that his young master was giving him.

"Hic... young master..." He cried.

Gideon Woodlock of the fourth battalion, the youngest person to reach knighthood and Pier Belmiunde's personal knight cried.

He cried in the arms of his long-lost master.

"It's okay, you can cry, my knight," Pier spoke as he rubbed his hand on his knight's head.

"Y-Young master... Aaaah!" Gideon loudly cried as he embraced the person whom he had been longing to see.

He cried like a child as he was now finally back within the presence of his young master.

"Young master... you have no idea... hic... you have no idea how sad I was" He explained as he continued to cry and weep on the shirt of his master.

"Y-You have no idea how I badly felt when you were gone" He spoke and Pier felt his chest tighten at his knight's words.

Gideon was already so attached to him.

"I'm sorry"

He continued to pat Gideon's head.

"Hic... but now that the young master is here... I am happy once more" He said as his arms embraced Pier's figure.

"Please don't leave me again, young master" Gideon whispered as his tears silently fell on his young master's clothes.

"I will do whatever the young master wants just so he would take me everywhere with him" He promised as he separated himself from Pier.

"Y-Young Master, I have been removed by the position as your personal knight by the Headmaster" Gideon spoke as he started to stand up while his tears continued to fall.

"He said I would be your knight again when I become a swordmaster"

He then proceeded to stand properly without any flaws.

Just like a knight that had undergone strict training, Gideon stood with pride and confidence.

"I am not a swordmaster yet so I cannot be the young master's knight"

He said in a sad tone

"However, I would still like to pledge my subordination unto you once more, young master" He spoke and Pier watched his knight stand proudly with the moon behind him.

"Can I, young master?" Gideon asked and Pier nodded his head gently.

When Gideon saw Pier's response, he felt happiness burst inside his chest. He felt himself float at the clouds of happiness when he saw his young master nod at his request.

"I-I... hic... I, Gideon Woodlock,

No longer a knight of the fourth battalion

No longer a knight of the Royal Palace

But now a knight of my master

Swear upon my name and my title

Swear upon my life

That I will dedicate my strength and power

To the Successor of the House of Masters

To my master, I shall I devote my last breath."