Seducing the Guideverse With My System — Raising an Anomaly [BL]

"Daddy!" As expected, the second Ambrose stepped into his suite after being discharged, Orion ran to him. The little rascal wrapped his arms around him. "I’ve missed you so much."

"So I’ve heard, little urchin," Ambrose chuckled, swooping him up with ease. He beamed, searching Orion’s cheekbones for any signs of thinning. "I see your papa and uncle have kept you well fed."

Lingering in the hallway behind him were Viktor and Devon—both standing side by side with their arms crossed.

Viktor puffed his chest. "Only the best for my favourite... nephew?" His brows knitted. "Should I call him that? Still confused on that part."

"Don’t start," Devon shoved past him with a snort, stepping into the room. "This place has felt so empty with you, Rose. An oddly... peaceful six days."

"Well, ouch," Ambrose turned around to face him. "What? So I’m the harbinger of chaos now?"

Orion giggled at his expense while Devon smirked.

"I want a hamburger." The kid pushed a finger into his mouth, blinking at Devon and Viktor. "Can we make some for daddy? Pretty please?"

"Harbinger and hamburger have zero correlation, little one," Viktor gestured once before taking Orion off Ambrose’s arms. "But come on. There’s this delicious recipe my mother used to use."

"Yay!" Orion spread out his arms as the ice Prince took him to the kitchen—leaving Ambrose and Devon alone.

Devon shut the living room door behind him while Ambrose scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

Memories of everything that happened before he fainted hit him at once. From Devon’s love confession. To the intruder who admitted to having been sent by Han. Then the explosion—and gosh, how could he forget?

Viktor’s kiss.

There were a lot of things he left unattended during his coma. And now they were here for him to face.

"So..." he cleared his throat. "The situation with Guide Han Jae-won. How’s it going? Did your grandfather—"

"The Guild master said it was all baseless, accusations," Devon’s mouth stretched in a bitter smile. "There was barely an investigation before he decided Cecil must’ve pinned the blame on Han because he knew about the drama between you two."

"Drama?" That brought an instant frown to his face. "The..." he was about to swear when he remembered Orion. So he lowered his voice. "... The fucker was going to kill me. In that alleyway before you and I—"

"I know, I know," the Esper held his shoulder reassuringly. "I believe you now."

"Well, that’s pointless if the investigation is off in the wind," Ambrose said too quickly, regretting it instantly. "I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just... I feel so unsafe. What if Han does something worse? What if Orion hadn’t been able to defend himself somehow?"

Devon rubbed his thumb over his shoulder. "You just got out of a coma, Rose." The Guide tried to look away, but he caught his chin, bringing those silver orbs back to him. "Han hasn’t done shit these past six days. And he won’t."

"He... he didn’t do anything?"

"Well..." Devon’s hand dropped. "The day you fainted he... did show up in my suite. But I sent him out when he said something about dissecting Orion’s secrets."

The calm building up in Ambrose’s chest shattered like Lego blocks. His face paled. "He... he said what?"

"This was before I came back here and walked in on you and Viktor." Devon pulled in a breath. "I know I should’ve told you sooner, but... You know. With everything that happened—"

"He threatened my son?" A flicker of something dark flashed in Ambrose’s eyes.

Devon felt the shift and quickly caught his arms. "He used the words ’little pet’. I assumed he was talking about Orion—but he might’ve been talking about you too."

For once Devon’s calm wasn’t charming. It was agitating.

Ambrose slipped away from his hold, angling his head in the opposite direction. It took everything in him to calm himself. Just then, Orion’s giggles resounded from the kitchen.

The anger in Ambrose’s chest faded gradually. His gaze swerved to the kitchen. Viktor and Orion were behind the kitchen island, the former putting on an apron while the latter brought over some eggs.

A couple of weeks back if someone told him Viktor fucking Morozov would just casually be in his space, he would’ve cursed them out. Heck, if someone told him he’d have this close to perfect picture of a family he would’ve given them the finger.

On the side, Devon just stayed silent, letting him feel his emotions. Then—

"I still can’t wrap my head around the idea of you two co-parenting," Ambrose scoffed, arching his brow at the S-Rank. "And the suite looks... so organised."

"We aren’t tantrum-throwing monsters, Rose," Devon took that as his cue to move closer to him. "Although... it did take us a while to get here..."

His mind trailed back to the night after Ambrose fainted. The night that might’ve marked the beginning of a truce between him and his old friend.

★★★★★

Six Days Ago

Devon crashed onto one of Ambrose’s sofas, arching his head with a light groan. He’d just come back from Orion’s bedroom—fortunately, it didn’t take much effort to make him sleep.

He was still stuffed from Viktor’s beef stroganoff.

Speaking of Viktor. "I need to head back home now," the guy was already waltzing to the door, barely glancing at Devon. "Update me on—"

"You aren’t seriously about to leave now, right?" Devon found himself questioning before he could stop himself. But screw it. "Not after everything that happened this afternoon."

Viktor halted, barely looking over his shoulder. "I only came here for Ambrose. And now he’s passed out in your Guild’s infirmary so..." he shrugged. "There’s no use. I’ll just come back tomorrow."

He grabbed the doorknob when Devon stopped him again.

"Vik," not Viktor. Not Morozov. Just that same fondness he used in shortening his name back in college. "Stop. Just... how did we even get here? Where did it go wrong with us?"

Silence.

For once, Viktor didn’t have anything sarcastic to say. He just huffed a small, shaky breath.

Still, Devon went on. "We used to be almost inseparable. Best friends."

"And more," Viktor spun around.

Something struck Devon’s mind just then. He slowly rose to his feet, inching just a few steps forward.

"C–Could that be it?" He asked. "Could that be the reason why you resent me? Because of the way we broke off our—"

Viktor sniggered. "You give yourself way too much credit," a pause. "Last time I checked, you resent me. Not the other way around. I have no reason to—it was always just casual sex back then and I knew it."

Devon’s jaw tightened. "I don’t—"

"Don’t even give me that, Devon," Viktor shook his head. "We’ve always been like this since that one time when I hooked up with that ex of yours. Remember? What was his name again...?"

It was right then that Devon remembered what and whom he was referring to. "... Kevin McLain? Viktor, he wasn’t the only ex you hooked up with. You remember Matthew?"

Viktor’s forehead creased. "Oh—wait, you and Matthew were only together for like a month."

"That’s not the point."

"Then what is? Because it seems to me like you’ve circled right into why you’ve hated me so much all these years."

It was about to escalate into another argument—until Devon stared hard at the smirk on Viktor’s face. They both ended up laughing as the ice Prince strolled back to the sofa.

Devon shook his head, dragging a hand through his hair as he dropped back onto the seat opposite him. "God... we’re actually idiots."

Viktor smirked, stretching his arm across the backrest. "Speak for yourself. I’ve always known that."

A beat passed. Then Devon’s expression shifted—something more serious settling in.

"I told him," he said suddenly.

Viktor’s brow arched. "Told who what?"

"Ambrose." Devon exhaled. "I told him I love him."

Silence fell between them—but it wasn’t heavy. Just... real.

Viktor’s lips curved into a wry smile, gaze lowering for a second before meeting Devon’s again. "Bold move."

Devon clicked his tongue. "Don’t start." He paused. "What about you?"

Viktor tilted his head. "What about me?"

"Do you... feel the same?" Devon asked, eyes narrowing slightly. "About him."

For once, Viktor didn’t answer immediately. He leaned back, staring at the ceiling like the answer might be written there.

"I’m not sure I’d call it love," he admitted after a moment. "Not yet." His lips twitched faintly. "But I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. That much I know."

Devon studied him, then nodded slowly. "Yeah. Same."

Another silence.

Then Devon sighed. "So what now?"

Viktor chuckled under his breath. "Now?" He shrugged lazily. "We wait."

"For him?"

"For him," Viktor confirmed. "Whatever decision Ambrose makes... we follow it."

Devon let out a breath, shoulders easing. "... Damn."

Viktor’s grin widened, eyes glinting with amusement. "A C-Rank Guide really has us wrapped around his fingers, doesn’t he?"

They stayed silent while Viktor’s grin lingered—but just for a second, something in his expression twitched.

’For now, at least.’ he thought.

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