Kikimora had returned to the palace after being attacked by a witch who made her lose the Palismen. But she was grateful that the Golden Guard was no more. She entered the throne room where Emperor Belos was waiting. She kneeled down to the emperor "My ledge. I thought you should know this. But the Golden Guard is dead." She said with a fake heavy heart.

To Kikimora, Emperor Belos was just sitting their stoned face. But behind the mask, he was terrified to hear that his nephew was dead. Suddenly the doors opened, and someone walked in, it was Hunter without his mask and cloak. Kikimora stood there speechless seeing the Golden Guard. She tried to make up some excuse just to say that she was grateful that the Golden Guard was alive. But Belos ordered her to leave the room; Kikimora bowed then left the room quickly. Belos saw some of the burn marks on Hunter's clothes and a small cut in his forehead, something in him just kicked in.

He got off his throne then walked over to Hunter who was kneeling and waiting for punishment. Instead Belos gently touched Hunter's cheek and hugged him tight. Hunter flinched thinking that he was going to get hurt, tears streamed down his cheeks. Belos released himself from Hunter seeing his tears. He gently wiped away the tears "Hunter, I thought I lost you." Belos said softly.

Hunter gave him a confused look; his uncle was being nice to him even when he failed his mission. "But I didn't get the palismen, I failed my mission. I should be punished." Hunter stated.

Normally Belos would have lashed out and his curse would be active and almost injure Hunter. But instead, he just told Hunter that the palismen didn't matter now; him being alive was more important. Belos ordered Hunter to head to the healers to deal with his wounds then head to bed. Hunter bowed then walked out of the room. However, Hunter just went to his room and didn't even go to the healers. He laid on his bed thinking about how he could help his uncle with his curse. After losing the palismen, he started feeling like he was useless and pathetic that a powerless witch like him couldn't do anything.

The red cardinal palismen appeared on the window and Hunter saw him. " Palismen!" He grabbed the palismen with a tight grip, but he let him go. "Sorry. If Belos saw you, it would be bad."

But the Little Rascal didn't want to leave, instead the palismen stayed with Hunter. Night fell and Belos decided to check up on Hunter before he headed to bed himself. He knocked on the door, but no one responded. So, he opened the door and found Hunter asleep on his desk with some books open and he was still in uniform, and his wounds weren't even taken care of. Belos suddenly felt his new parental instincts bubble in. He grabbed Hunter up from his chair, pulled back the blankets and put Hunter on the bed. He then took off Hunter's boots, gloves, and cloak to make him feel more comfortable. He grabbed a small bandage and put it over the cut on Hunter's forehead and he even kissed it sweetly. He pulled the covers over Hunter, but he felt the fabric of the blankets and they were so thin.

Hunter hadn't asked his uncle for anything since he was really little. Even back then, Belos started being a loving parent but then he became busy with meetings and when he made Hunter the new Gold Guard, he thought Hunter didn't need to be coddled. So Belos just shut him out and made him think that Hunter needed to be the perfect soldier. But when Belos looked back at Hunter who was sleeping so peacefully, his heart melted. He ran his hand through Hunter's soft blond hair and cupped his cheek where an old scar was. Hunter stirred a little in his sleep and his eyes opened a little.

Belos noticed him waking up so he started shushing him and telling him that everything was fine, and he could go back to sleep. Hunter gave into sleep and soft snores were heard. "Hunter, I know our relationship became different after I made you the Gold Guard. But that is going to change. I promise, Owlet." Belos vowed and he gave Hunter one last kiss on the forehead to seal the promise.