Chapter 247

Meanwhile back at Theapan Palace,

Rumors were spreading throughout the capital and had reached the palace guests. Nobles had already begun to whisper about rumors of strange men gallivanting all over the capital streets on horseback. It had become a common topic among the nobles as they wondered who would be crazy enough to run all over the capital like a mad man. The buzz about this gave Ashley a bad feeling as he could not find any sign of his master on the palace grounds.

"Don't tell me..." Ashley's gaze darkened as he glanced in the direction of the capital. Master, I only left you alone for a bit to clean up the mess like you asked... and this happens...

"What?" Chase asked from the side.

Since Vorbuk had left Ashley alone at the palace without warning. He could not locate where Vorbuk had gone. Knowing that his 'young master' had been targeted tonight he could only stand guard until he located his master. Ashley could not allow anything to happen to Prince Chase.

"The rumors are probably master and..." Ashley closed his mouth in front of Prince Chase. That darned Prince Leo. Nothing good ever happens with him around master.

Scanning the crowd Ashley could assume who the others were with Vorbuk. It must have been King Micah and Grand Duke Heket. A heavy sigh escaped him.

"Father will be fine." Prince Chase stated clearly as he had faith in Vorbuk to take care of himself. He was not worried about him in the slightest. In fact he would sooner expect Prince Leo to fall before Vorbuk.

Ashley flinched at those words however as it did not matter to him how much faith he had in Vorbuk. His fate was bound to Vorbuk's survival and that made his harder for him to simply allow things to taint his master's reputation or threaten his life. The best outcome for his master also meant the best for him. It was not that he cared about material things or titles but simply that he wanted his master to have what he felt his master deserved.

After a slight hesitation Ashley spoke again, "I think I should inform Daryl about this. If Bredret went with him only Daryl can keep that dragon under control when he goes crazy."

"Send Aoki." Chase responded as he understood that Ashley was finding reasons to locate Vorbuk quickly. The tiger could see the worry hidden behind the vampires eyes.

Ashley glanced down into the young tiger boy's eyes and gave a slight nod when he realized that the young master was not asking him but directly ordering him, Chase did not want Ashley to leave him alone in case something else happened while Ashley left him alone, "Yes. Understood."

Chase watched as Ashley rushed off to the side. When he was away from the crowd he approached a pillar where Aoki was hiding in the shadows. The thing about vampires was they often kept themselves hidden when among crowds. They did not need to be close to others in order to listen in on conversations. It was a skill that could be terrifying but in order to convey with each other more carefully they still spoke normally face to face like others. Whispering to each other from across the room would just take a ridiculous amount of time and concentration.

Not waiting for him to return Chase slowly began to walk around a bit. Ashley would find him quickly and he did not want to linger in one place very long. The large banquet crowd made him uncomfortable. That was the reason he left earlier and was caught alone by the intruders. Crowds were new to Chase because he had not experienced the outside world until Vorbuk found him in that dungeon. It would take him a long time to adjust comfortably to such situations.

"Do you really think a companion beast and some unknown feline can handle running Theapan?"

"You should be careful talking like that while we're on palace grounds!"

Chase turned his head at the rude whispers from a young nobleman. He could see another noble trying to warn the young noble to speak carefully. They were inside the palace and any rude remarks towards the royal family could put their families at risk. However the young noble seemed to not care about the risk of speaking his mind. That was a natural reaction since Vorbuk was new to being a royal and especially since Theapan was a werewolf kingdom and the royal family had suddenly become foreign races. Some naturally found it difficult to accept such a thing.

"What are they going to do? Do you really think they are going to bother wasting their time with me for saying such a thing?" The young nobleman laughed to himself.

His friend flinched and looked around carefully as if he was still worried, "Your still only the heir... If you cause problems here what is your father going to think?"

Ah, so the young noble was the heir of a family in Theapan. Chase understood quickly that the young noble was probably riding on hopes that his father's status would protect him regardless of what he said. In fact the young noble did not look as if there was much age difference between him and Chase's young human form. He was maybe a few years older then Chase's human form.

"I don't care what father thinks of me." The young nobleman said as he took look into the crowd of people at the banquet, "What good could come from a filthy feline becoming our crown prince?"

The friend flinched at the young nobleman's harsh words towards Prince Chase.

Slowly stepping closer to them, Chase looked around his surroundings. There were tables of sweets to his side as he walked. Reaching out his hand he grasped hold of a piece of strawberry cake. His steps quickening the moment the cake was in his hands.

This will do I guess. Chase thought to himself.

The young nobleman's friend froze in place as he saw Prince Chase walking up to them. Seeing his reaction the young nobleman even turned to look for himself. It was as if Prince Chase's presence caused them both to freeze in time. They never expected that the moment Prince Chase stood in front of them they'd have no time to even utter a greeting.

SPLAT!

A delicious and sweet piece of strawberry cake was smashed into the young nobleman's face before he could understand what was happening around them.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness," Prince Chase's words caused everyone around to go quiet as they listened to what he had to say, even Ashley and the others among the crowd couldn't help but pause, it was unusual for Chase to speak so much, "noble etiquette is usually to throw a glove at the one you request a dual from, however, I do not wear gloves."

Everyone was quiet as Prince Chase's words were delivered clear as day. The young nobleman had crossed the line with Chase. He wanted to beat the young man to a bloody pulp. However Chase knew that he had to be careful about his actions for the sake of Vorbuk and the others. Offering a dual would give him a valid reason to fight with him after listening to the noble's harsh words.