Gilbert walks down a hallway in the Nightray mansion, keeping an eye out for something... or someone... he stops... he looks up... Eliot, sword out, is trying to bypass Leo, who is blocking him from doing so...
"Let... me... at her!"
"No... you're not going anywhere until you calm down...". Leo glances behind him... he sees Gilbert.
"Oh, Gilbert!". Eliot stops moving. He turns around... he looks at Gilbert with a frown.
"What the hell are you doing here?", says Eliot, obviously pissed. Gilbert slightly looks down.
"I'm... um..."
"It doesn't matter..."
"What?". Eliot walks up to Gilbert, putting his sword back in it's holder.
"YOU have a reason for being here... that girl on the other hand..."
"Girl?", says Gilbert, somewhat scared. Eliot closes his eyes and tsks.
"An intruder... probably some spy from another dukedom..."
"Why would someone want to spy on the Nightrays?", says Gilbert, going along with it, even though he knows who Eliot is talking about.
"Who knows? They probably know something I don't, as always...". There is a pause...
"You didn't... catch a good glimpse of her, did you?", says Gilbert questionably... maybe Eliot did not see her, at least, not enough to remember what she looked like...
"Curly blonde hair, blue eyes, eyebrows that rise up like this when she's surprised...", says Eliot, impersonating... me... Gilbert is dumbfounded...
"Well, that could be anybody..."
"Average womanly waist..."
"Huh?"
"Light skin, bites her nails slightly, a few pimples her and there..."
"Are you always this observant?", says Gilbert, a little intimidated and annoyed.
"Bottom line is, I'd recognize her anywhere."
Oh, that is so great...
"Say... you didn't happen to see where she was going?"
"Tch... I knew perfectly WELL where she was going! But thanks to SOMEONE over here..."
"Eliot?"
"What?". Leo chops him in the head with a book he was reading during their conversation. Gilbert is... shocked...
"Don't criticize my judgement..."
"Ugh... FINE!", says Eliot, rubbing his head.
"So... um... do you think she left the mansion?"
"Of course, she... probably did... but I will never know that, NOW WILL I?". Another chop, courtesy of Holy Knight...
"DOGGONED, LEO! DO YOU HAVE TO HIT ME EVERY TIME SOMETHING COMES OUT OF MY MOUTH?!"
"Maybe I wouldn't have to hit you at all if you learned to say the right things..."
"The right... DAMMIT! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU CONSIDER THE RIGHT THING TO SAY?"
"Stop being so disagreeable..."
"DISAGREEABLE?! YOU SAY MORE BULLSHIT ABOUT ME THAN I SAY ABOUT ANYONE ELSE!"
"That's because you deserve it..."
"I DON'T DESERVE ANY OF THAT!"
And Gilbert, who was already well aware of what was going on, left the scene while not being communicated to... smart move, Gilbert...
"HEY!", says Eliot, pointing his sword at Gilbert as he was turning the corner... Gilbert freezes... Eliot has a serious look on his face...
"If you happen to see that girl, in or around the mansion... please inform her I'm onto her!"
"And then what, Eliot? Challenging her to another fight puts you at a potential loss again...". Eliot gives Leo the death glare...
"You think that's the case, Leo? We-hell, you're gravely mistaken... and by that, I mean... I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE, BURY YOUR ASHES, AND HAVE YOU TASTING DIRT FOR ALL ETERNITY!". And the grateful master says much things to be censored, as does his servant, and Gilbert, seeing it as an opportunity to leave, exits the mansion, with intentions all to his own...

"What were you thinking?!"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean..."
Gilbert and I are at his apartment... I am fixing my hair, while he, coat off, is bickering at me...
"I was only trying to maintain my disguise..."
"Yes... and you sure deceived them! Do you have any idea who that was you were spatting with?". I do not answer... Gilbert walks closer to me.
"Eliot Nightray, soon-to-be duke, heir to the Nightray estate? Ring a bell?". I turn around and look at him.
"The only thing I can recall is that revolting name! Used in ANY sentence, it brings moral avoidance of the entire subject matter all together!", I say with a scowl.
"You listen to me...", says Gilbert, putting one hand on the couch. "The Nightrays are not people you just joke about! They are an entirely different group of people, compared to the kind you are used to associating with!". I cross my arms.
"You're right! They really ARE an entirely different group of people! Us, people, they, savages!". Gilbert frowns... he turns around... he walks over to the wall and looks out the window...
"Where does all this resentment come from, I wonder?". I overhear him... I breathe in and out, closing my eyes...
"I don't know... it's just always been that way, I suppose...". I remember something...

"Is there a reason why you do not want this child?"
"The Nightrays... they are the reason we cannot love her..."
"But, that's preposterous! Didn't you have an obligation to this child when you adopted her?"
"We did... that was before we realized our devotion to the Nightrays is more sacred than to her... she is a beast to them... she is a monster to us..."

I cover my face with my hands.

"She doesn't deserve our love... no one does... if we didn't fear our Creator as much as we did, we would dispose of her from this earth... she is a vile being..."

"No..."

"A useless ragamuffin..."

"No..."

"A creature not even worthy to reside in the coils of the Abyss!"

"NO, I'M NOT! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE M...". I open my eyes to find myself hugging Gilbert from behind, tightly... I must have... ran or something towards the window, imagining I was hugging him... like I... like I did before... two seconds later, I realize I was hugging Gilbert... he is very shocked at first, but then sighs... he lightly brushes my hands off of him as I let go and takes a cigarette from his pocket... he heads for the door...
"I'll be right back...". I watch as he closes the door behind him, dumbfounded. What was I thinking, acting the way I did? It has been YEARS since I have remembered any of that! Then why... why was I hugging him? Was I in some strange state of mind? He merely asked me a question... and I responded without an answer, but an action... a rather random one, at that... the strange part about it is... Gilbert did the same thing... he did... after he... left me... with her... alone... unwanted... without love...