Caught!

Leopold and his squad of knights escorted the group all the way to the castle of the Garou.

Once inside, the lion headed man began took the responsibility of leading the group of fallen towards the throne room where Keran's mother was waiting.

If the queen learned that her daughter had returned and she was not brought before her, Leopold and his men would be forced to deal with the consequences.

As he led them along the elaborate stony castle, the lion could no longer suppress his burning curiosity and began to interrogate his daughters.

"I am glad that the two of you have returned but I must ask, who is that man holding the princess?"

Both Kohaku and Kuro looked at each other like they had no idea what they should say.

"He is.. someone very dear to her." Kohaku began.

"You could say that they are old friends." Kuro confirmed.

Leopold was unsatisfied with this answer, but he knew his daughters well enough to know that this was the best answer he was going to receive.

He didn't put much more thought into it, simply based on the assumption that Indra was not fated to live long.

Queen Ayame was famous for her dislike of weak men around her daughter and it wasn't uncommon for one to go missing if they stared at the princess too long.

'But this man... why does he seem so familiar?' He wondered.

The old lion could almost swear that he'd seen someone who looked like him before, yet he couldn't place it.

Even the man's aura was utterly foreign to him and it left him feeling incredibly perplexed.

What kind of being was this?

Eventually, the lion merely shook his head and decided to focus on more important issues.

"Well no matter, the queen will sort that out herself. What I'm more curious about is..."

Leopold's body became a blur as he disappeared from his position at the head of the group towards the back where Vermeil was hiding.

He immediately grabbed the human girl by the neck and ripped off her hood.

"Kyaa!"

"Why... is there a damned human traveling amongst you?!"

Leopold was a cultivator sitting firmly within the sovereign realm.

For him, sniffing out Vermeil was as easy as breathing.

He had avoided blowing her cover earlier to avoid causing another riot, but now that the group were alone in this hallway, there was no better time to sort this out.

Kohaku : "Father, put her down!"

Kuro : "That isn't necessary. That girl is stupid and harmless."

Keran finally freed herself from Indra's embrace and even she began trying to convince Leopold to let her go. "Captain of the guard, release my companion this instant!"

Leopold suppressed the urge to snort when Keran attempted to throw her rank around.

While he was duty bound to obey the royal family, something like this was out of the question.

"Princess, this is blasphemy of the highest degree! What possible reason could you have for coming home with this insect, yet none of your hastily assembled army?"

The lion's words had hit Keran directly in a sensitive place and she put her head down as she clenched her fists.

"That girl belongs to me. Put her down."

Leopold was partially surprised when Indra who had remained silent all this time finally spoke.

Unfortunately, the words he'd used only served to rile up the beastman even more. "You would play with a filthy human in addition to the princess? You're a disgusting monstrosity!"

He had taken Indra's words to mean that Vermeil was his pleasure toy and he wanted her to be returned to him.

Unlike humans who partake in such depraved acts recreationally, fallen typically have no interest in copulating with the races of light, even for relief purposes.

To do such a thing was considered reprehensible and it was also part of the reason why humans typically violated fallen after a battle.

It was intended to symbolize a complete loss, on both a physical and emotional plane.

"She is not my woman, beast. She is my thrall."

Leopold's ears twitched when he heard a word that hadn't been said in a very long time.

All of a sudden he recalled an image of a man with long silver hair and cold red eyes that greatly resembled that of the one standing in front of him.

"You... how is that possible?"

Indra did not immediately respond and kept his eyes focused on Vermeil who was beginning to turn purple.

"I said release her."

A vampire's thrall was treated as an extension of the vampire themselves.

Because of their dislike of going out in the daytime, they would often keep thralls around as a sort of gofer to handle matters that were more time sensitive.

To harm a vampire's thrall was considered as a sign of great disrespect and a justifiable cause for war.

The lion released Vermeil and she crashed down to the ground a wheezing and asphyxiated mess.

Kohaku assisted her in catching her breath and helping her back to her feet, and the young girl instinctively found Indra and hid behind his back.

In all honesty, what he'd just done was a rather large gamble.

The only reason he knew about the relationship between vampires and thralls was because it was a part of the stories Enyo had told him while they were still in the castle.

He wasn't sure if Leopold would believe his lie, but he figured he was old enough to know about vampires and their pet servants due to his obvious strength.

The shortest amount of time it has ever taken anyone to reach the sovereign realm was six hundred years, making it conceivable that Leopold not only knew about vampires, but had interacted with some as well.

The lion head bowed his massive head slightly as a sign of respect and apology.

"I ask for forgiveness for my transgression, and I pay my respects to the Ascalon royal family, the apostles of Absalom."