CHAPTER 514: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD?

Brent looked up in shock. "Y-You are willing to pay for ten years before having a single lesson?" He wasn’t so shocked about the amount of money it would cost more than that fact. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well the lessons and stuff are actually the secondary reason for me being here. I want access to the library and having property here means I get access to it all the time don’t I? That and the fact that with the way classes are set up, I am going to be coming and going here even after the first year."

Brent nodded his head and smiled in understanding. "Very well Sir, your extended stay isn’t uncommon, but is definitely incredibly rare for first years. We have those who have full time homes here while they work on their experiments etcetera. As for getting your payment set up, my associate will take you to your ship for the payment now and after the opening ceremony, you may begin to take your things to your new home." He then stood up and offered out his hand for a shake.

I reciprocated in kind before following the woman he pointed to. As we were following her, Janine spoke up. "I think I’m going to be sick... That is so much money and you are going to spend it so nonchalantly. Literally, you are disgusting to me right now."

Her reaction caused me to chuckle. I didn’t care about money, I have never actually needed it so I was incredibly lucky. "Well, think of it this way, we are investing in our home. Our little corner away from everything. I think spending that amount of money is worth the investment as having that place is going to create some special memories for all of us."

As Gabrielle watched Apollo say that, she smiled. ’He is a real charmer and he doesn’t even realise it.’ She thought as she looked at the two women who blushed slightly at his sweetness.

Just as she was about to say something, her communicator began chiming in her pocket, causing everyone to turn towards her. She thought about declining the call, but after seeing who it was and what happened the last time she declined...

"Excuse me a moment, I have to take this~" She said before walking in another direction. After the group was out of earshot, she accepted the communication and very grittily rumbled out a single word. "What!?!"

"Whoa! Easy Gabrielle, it’s just me." Hugo expressed calmly. "I was just calling to see if you had made contact with Archon Lambdason yet? We received word that he had arrived." Gabrielle narrowed her eyes.

"We? Why are you spying on my son Hugo? He is a sweet, handsome, caring young man and he doesn’t need your shitty agents watching him. He deserves normalcy... He deserves everything and anything."

There was a pause in the communication before Hugo softly asked. "So you have met him?"

"I was with him when you called and now I am not with him. You could imagine how I am feeling right now Hugo..." She said with a sharpness in her tone. Hugo gulped before he found the courage to ask his next question.

"Have you... Have you told him about your connection? You seemed like a woman on a mission the last time you spoke about it."

Gabrielle went silent for a moment as she began to collect her words. Hugo could hear her breathing and simply waited for his friend and patient to get out what she needed. He was beyond worried for her after all, she had been unstable for so long. With this Apollo actually being her son, whom she thought was long dead, he could only imagine the emotional turmoil she has been going through and what decisions she has been making.

"No... I have not told him. He is close with the Praetorian Nerissa so I have slipped into his social circle by being friends with her. I, I haven’t told him about our bond yet, as that bitch Valerica Hyllus is here and has adopted him recently..."

Hugo suddenly jolted hearing this. "Wait, she actually went through with it? I thought she was just joking around when she told me about it." He said, mistakenly, as Gabrielle’s voice became ladened with hate.

"Wait... You knew some old bitch had her sights on my baby and did nothing to stop it?" Hugo began typing at his data screen and got what he searched for quickly. "Gabrielle, there was nothing I could do, even if I had tried to. It should have taken months for such a high profile noble family to complete the adoption of an Archon, but King Sigismund himself fast tracked the adoption, it looks like they pulled a lot of favors to secure Apollo into their family."

Gabrielle’s mommy instincts kicked in immediately. "The king? Why would he do that? Why would he know about my... The video..." she suddenly realised. Her son had already shown how powerful he was without meaning to, he killed that creature. That must have sparked the king’s interest...

"He is not having him, Hugo... That bastard is not having my son." She said, causing Hugo to suddenly feel that his throat was very dry. His milkshake order had been delayed as well so he was seriously struggling.

"G-Gabrielle, let’s not say anything treasonous on an Olympus line... Again. Let’s change the subject shall we? Since you haven’t told Apollo about your relations, what is your plan moving forward?... Gabrielle?"

Even the breathing had stopped at this point as silence took over the communication. He knew she was there, which made the silence even worse... After nearly two minutes the woman finally spoke.

"I cannot confess to Apollo right now as he might just see me as a crazy old woman, or worse, believe me and hate me for what I did to him. No, my plan is to build a relationship with him. Grow close to him, close to his heart by any means necessary. And once I know that we cannot live without one another. I will tell him."

Hugo suddenly got a really bad feeling about the way Gabrielle just said that. She had spoken about some weird stuff the last time they spoke so he was almost dreading asking this question.

"Gabrielle... How do you plan on getting close to your son? I really really hope you aren’t talking about-" "-Well he has been inside me once before Hugo and to be perfectly honest, that was the last fucking time I was happy before I realised he was alive. So if he wants to revisit his old room, he is more than welcome!"

Hugo began to rub his eye socket with his knuckle to relieve the stress headache that just manifested itself. "Gabrielle, can you try and think clearly for a second? This is all sorts of fucked up. You are talking about grooming your kid by sleeping with him so you can tell him you are his mother after the fact... Just... As your therapist let me say something professionally for a moment."

"What the actual fuck?"

’Fuck me there aren’t enough milkshakes in the galaxy to fix this mess...’ He thought after saying that before carrying on. "Gabrielle, surely there are alternate ways for you to build a connection that doesn’t make you uncomfortable?"

A silence emerged between the two of them again, but before long Gabrielle spoke. "I am not uncomfortable." Hugo was confused. "What? What do you mean?" With a bit more confidence in her voice she spoke again.

"I am not uncomfortable with it... Hugo, trust me, I am not so far gone that I don’t understand that what I am going to do is all sorts of messed up, but I really am not uncomfortable with it. Actually. I sort of want it... This love I feel for him... It isn’t just motherly. I love him with my existence, every aspect of love. He is perfect. But the problem is he is surrounded by so many beautiful women who clearly see to his needs that he also clearly loves. If I have a shot at having a loving relationship with my son and that is the threshold I need to cross to obtain it... I am not uncomfortable crossing it."

"..."

"..."

"..."

He tried to speak three times but failed miserably. On the fourth attempt he gave up and simply stated. "I will be on Leondis planet side in two weeks for a war meeting. After that is done, I am coming to see you. I think we need to have a long and serious discussion face to face. Just don’t do anything you might regret until then. Ok?"

"Nothing I will ever do with my son ever again will be a regret Hugo. I have already regretted one decision and it ruined my life. Never again." Gabrielle said before she hung up on him. Hugo immediately covered his hands with his face. His headache was worse than when that brain burster, burst his brain.

"That woman is going to be the death of me. I swear..." He mumbled to himself before his office door opened, causing him to vent his feelings to the person that came through the door.

"Where the hell have you been?!? I ordered this shake two hours ago! Go back to the store and get me more! Fuck the procedures in place! Actually, fuck that. Get out of my way! I am going to Ron’s myself!"