Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 54. Hide-and-Seek

Gabriel lifted his eyes from his book, gazing out his bedroom window. The sky and the clouds had taken pinkish and orangish hues, becoming a sight to behold. And when his eyes traveled down, he saw the sunset reflecting off the lake surface, glimmering like a thousand lights.

"It has already been three weeks," the teenager sighed, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. Although days were long, time still went by. "Masha must be worried sick. But it's not like I can do much about it."

All he could do was wait. And lately, Gabriel always spent a few hours per day gazing out the window—it was pretty much one of the only things he could do. But the scenery had lost its charm over the weeks, becoming quite dull in his eyes.

When he left the hospital, his stepmother brought him to their family's villa, far from the town. It was a beautiful area; however, he had grown tired of it.

"It's the perfect place to rest!" Angela had said with a sweet smile. "It's a peaceful area, and we often spent our summer vacation here, so it should also help you regain some of your memories."

Needless to say, she was lying through her teeth. The nonsense she spouted almost made Gabriel sneer; how much more shameless could she get?

He had come only once to this villa, and it was a few years ago in wintertime. By bringing him here, she made sure to isolate him in a place he had rarely visited, reducing the possibility of him awakening a memory because of something familiar in the vicinity, like the things in his bedroom.

Besides, Gabriel knew that his stepmother didn't want him to meet anyone who could influence him, and although Masha had never come to the main house, he could have told her the address. There was also that troublesome childhood friend of his that could pop up at any time. It was another reason why Angela chose to bring him to their villa instead of going back to the main house.

It would be troublesome for her if the teenager crossed paths with any of his acquaintances; she needed to brainwash him before he could meet anyone. This, Gabriel had figured out the moment he stepped out of the car and laid eyes on the villa.

Still, he thanked his stepmother for her concerns and told her that he would rest properly, a timid smile on his lips. For now, he would play along.

Things had been a bit awkward since his small outburst at the hospital, when he protected Misha like a mama bear. The following day, Gabriel had to fabricate a quick lie and told her that no matter whether it was the blonde boy or his little brother Tristan, he couldn't stand the sight of a child being roughed up. He would have reacted the same way if it had been Tristan, and that was all. There was no other meaning to his reaction.

Stepping on his pride and moral principles, Gabriel had to agree with his stepmother, admitting that what Misha had said was revolting. Still, it didn't mean that his elder brother had to use his fists to teach him a lesson. Sure, the boy needed one, but not something so severe. He was only a child! In the worst-case scenario, a spanking was enough!

After discussing it for a long time, Gabriel was more or less able to fool her. But now, he had to be careful with his words and actions and thus didn't dare to do or say anything that would arouse suspicion. As a result, Gabriel obediently stayed at the villa, reading books and gazing out the window all day long.

Although Gabriel had "lost his memory", it didn't mean he had become useless. He wasn't an expert and much less a doctor, but he knew that an amnesic patient could retain basic knowledge and a few skills. Different kinds of memories were stored differently in the brain, and only some would be affected depending on the injury. Still, his knowledge mostly came from fiction, like movies or novels, and Gabriel knew they weren't exactly the best sources. Thankfully, his stepmother was the same and didn't think of deepening her knowledge on the matter. Although losing his memory from childhood to now was a rare occurrence, it didn't mean it couldn't happen.