okay so... Gabriel is Ning Yu/ML, who was also reborn.
the times when the silver masked 'gabriel' wasn't actually NY was usually because NY ordered it so that he could keep his identity secret.
sometime between ch30-60 a whole bunch of dogblood happens:
captured by JS
- JS's pursuit gets crazier and more intense, he basically keeps MC at the palace and kisses him forcefully every day
- MC eventually gets out, and then agrees to enter a 'superficial' engagement with Carlos to keep JS at bay... JS and Carlos end up fighting over him for this
- amidst all this, MC saves a normal civilian soldier (as opposed to an aristocrat) and re-catches ML/NY's attention
captured by ML/NY
- NY arranges for the rebels to 'capture' him and MC and effectively tricks MC into letting him (NY as Gabriel) play with his body in return for NY (in his non-rebel identity) to be safe and taken care of... 'Gabriel' never goes the whole way, and actually instead gave MC a period of time where he was free from JS and Carlos' pursuit
- at some point ML asks MC if he wants to be with either JS or Carlos, and MC tells him he doesn't want to be with either
- when MC & the place where he was captured is about to be discovered, Gabriel leaves him with a bunch of kiss marks and bails
- JS 'rescues' him and brings him out, and all the gongs then come to the misunderstanding that MC was seriously ravaged/traumatized during his capture...
re-captured by JS
- MC purposely set that up so that he could keep JS at bay (he's back at the palace, 'captured' by JS)... because of this, JS doesn't try to have sex with him and instead keeps his distance for a while
- MC has a horrible time trying to resist all the delicious food being cooked for him because he uses his fake 'loss of appetite' to show how depressed/traumatized he was by his capture by the rebels
- he learns one day that JS is about to forcefully marry him to be the Empress to 'protect his reputation' (and also because he's possessive and wants him even tho MC says he doesn't love him anymore)
- MC pretends to suicide and then pretends to 'rebirth', starting to let the gongs all realize that he remembers how shitty they treated him in the past and using it to explain why he'll never like/trust/love them in this life
captured by Carlos
- Brandon eventually intervenes and MC is able to leave the palace and return to his parents
- he then tries to cancel the engagement with Carlos, but C refuses and instead starts to spread rumors to pressure his family. MC agrees to go out and meet him to discuss terms for breaking the engagement, but ends up kidnapped by Carlos. Carlos avoids having people find out by releasing a AI bot with MC's face/data to 'live' his life until their supposed wedding one month later
- Carlos hides MC in the underground palace his family had built over generations and pampers him (and kisses him all the time but doesn't go the whole way), but refuses to let MC go until 'they' are formally married
'saved' by Wen Yan
- Wen Yan finds out about the plan and works with Brandon to save MC, then they go to a regular planet and live a regular life.. WY doesn't try anything on MC, but he does kill to protect him and sets them up with identities as brothers
- ML revealed his identity as the rebel leader Gabriel when he discovered that the 'MC' that was wandering around the capital was actually a robot and sent his men to investigate... he was attacked/chased by both JS and Carlos for it but managed to escape, tho he was heavily injured in the process
- he ends up in the planet that MC and WY were holed up via clues his subordinates gave him... MC takes him to his friend's place and starts to heal him, but believes that ML doesn't know who he is due to his changed appearance (he's wrong, ML knows)
confessed to by ML
- ML confesses, MC says that he's not someone that should be liked and runs off, flustered. MC still thinks that ML doesn't know his identity
- WY notices MC has been acting strangely and goes to investigate, then discovers that ML has shown up on their planet
- WY convinces ML to leave (ML also sees that MC is happy here and realizes he shouldn't be here), but before ML leaves, he asks MC if he could pursue him if he ever saw him again
- MC, thinking that ML doesn't know ho he is, agrees...