Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 49 - Goals

 Not long into their journey, Cain felt himself nearly slip from his horse. While Maddox moved to catch him, Catalina was quicker, using her demonic powers to shift from her horse to behind Cain in the blink of an eye.

Wrapping her arm around the ill blond, she shot a look towards Maddox, who backed away and instead grabbed the third horse's reins so they would not leave it behind.

Exhaustion washed over Cain, making him fade in and out of consciousness. Soon, the sun was setting and they had to stop and make camp along the side of the road, behind a hill, and out of sight.

Cain fought to stay awake a little longer but wound up drifting off for a few hours anyway. When he awoke, he felt a pair of eyes scrutinizing him.

Slowly he sat up and turned towards Maddox, who did not even try to look away as he continued staring the blond down.

It was obvious why, and Cain didn't see the need to ignore it. "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

Maddox's dark eyes went blank, then he turned towards the fire and started fiddling with his gloved hands.

His silence confirmed it. Of course, Maddox had no clue who he was. Cain had rarely ever made an appearance in high society, so most nobles had no idea what he even looked like. Even the Crown Prince had no idea who he was, despite meeting face to face once before.

"I take pride in knowing everyone of note." Maddox suddenly stated. "Yet I somehow overlooked you."

"I could tell you who I am, but you'd have to give me something of equal value." Cain pried.

"I have a general idea. From the way the people treated you, even without your mask, I could tell you were someone of great importance to them."

"Not really. But I get how you could come to that misunderstanding."

Maddox quirked an eyebrow, but Cain didn't say anymore. Another moment of silence had the villain heave a sigh of defeat. "Alright, what is it you want to know?"

"What is your real name?"

Maddox frowned. "That's not important."

"Fine, then I will not tell you mine." Although the blond knew that it would be an easy task for Maddox to learn it elsewhere. "What was your ultimate goal? You constantly assumed I was after the same thing, so I think I deserve to know what it is now that everything has gone up in smoke."

He watched the villain think carefully over his words before replying. "I want to overthrow the emperor and take the throne."

That was pretty much what Cain had suspected all along, so he wasn't as shocked as he could have been. He couldn't keep himself from letting out a small laugh. To which, Maddox glared at him.

"I'm sorry." He waved off the villain's unspoken words. "I suspected that was what you were after, but to have you put it into words...It feels a bit anti-climactic."

"I take that to mean you're after the same-"

"I am not." He interrupted before the misunderstanding could even begin to form. "Having you achieve your goal would help me achieve mine."

"Which is?"

Catalina gave Cain a look that said to keep quiet, but he ignored it. "My goal is much smaller than yours. And I've technically already obtained something akin to it, but it's still not enough."

"I don't understand."

"I'm after a certain domain. But for now, I have somehow created my own called 'New Ashbury'. It wasn't in my plan, but it happened."