"What… what are you doing?" Stacy hissed at her brother who seized her hand and started tugging her forwards. "This isn't what we talked about in the room!"
"Well, yeah? Change of plans." Alexei shrugged offhandedly and pushed Rowena out of the way as they went down the staircase.
"You're crazy!" Stacy told her brother, hot angry tears pricking her eyes.
"I know." Alexei grinned. "But I never was one to fit in noble roles. We're surrounded by pricks!"
That should have been enough of Stacy to warrant her to hit her brother and try to salvage things with the Carmilla House. Theodore had said that the Carmilla House was biased and once favored, even if the Vardokens were 'criminals' then the Overlord wouldn't really care and still stand by their side.
It was the same Theodore who hopped out of the van and looked ready to pick them up and take them away.
"This isn't…"
"Shhh! Don't ruin it."
"What is this nonsense?!" Heloise Carmilla's voice echoed inside of the ballroom. Even though her voice was loud, it shouldn't have been enough to fill the entire place or make Alexei momentarily falter alongside Stacy.
They've done this before… running against the 'Great Leader of the Veiled Forest' and while things had worked out before back then, the same couldn't be said for here.
All of a sudden, many Vampires who blended in with the crowd suddenly came forward and also encircled Lukas, Chaerin, Theodore and the van as well as blocking the path for Stacy and Alexei.
Fury should have been evident in the voice of Heloise Carmilla, but a strange smile suddenly took over her face. "This is a strange turn of events, but something that cannot be resolved with a simple conversation. Tell me, Anastasia and Alexei… what has exactly gone through your heads to do something like this?"
The question was addressed to the two Vardoken siblings, and yet every inch of Lukas wanted to answer the question or return it back to the woman.
'What exactly are you doing with the consorting of the enemy deal?' Lukas silently thought.
Chaerin clung to the sleeve of his shirt and bit on her lip. Surrounded again. It was not the best feeling, and she didn't want to dig a bigger whole for their group… and yet once again, she had nothing much to offer.
"Sorry about that, grandma." Alexei said, glancing at Stacy and the rest of the group then back to the Overlord. "Realized that we didn't want to be part of any of this… but decided that we should at least leave in style."
"This is…" Heloise narrowed her eyes at them, before her gaze flickered back to the Aurelius Overlord who was at the other end of the room. It was clear to her that they haven't talked yet…
"Something that can be talked about with right?" Stacy said and took a deep breath. She didn't like the idea of talking her way through things, and yet that somehow almost seemed like the only way to get out safely.
Even though Heloise Carmilla was Overlord, there were still other spectators in the group.
"She didn't actually have any say in this." Alexei coughed and jerked a thumb at his sister. "It was all me and me. But there was no way that I was going to leave my sister behind and get married to who knows who."
Heloise's expression turned stony, but she glanced at Stacy.
"I hope you are more reasonable then. Your brother's fears are a little… too much. Was that the issue here? Is there something more?"
Stacy was glad for the spectators, but also upset about it at the same time because of what she was about to say. Her gaze flickered across the crowd and they landed on Lukas, Chaerin and Theodore.
Were they a part of Alexei's whole scene?
ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm Lukas and Chaerin obviously weren't… and she hoped that they wouldn't get implicated.
"Perhaps another reason why we wished to leave was because we were not entirely being honest about circumstances." Stacy straightened up and gestured at her and Alexei. "This is… the Vardoken House does not deserve this."
"Dear, by virtue of blood, you deserve all of that and more." Heloise Carmilla stated. "Leaders of our kind—"
"The reason why the Lux City has kept our existence a secret is because our ancestors has committed a grave crime against our kind." Stacy frowned. "And it is those actions that have brought great grief to many of our people. Anastasius dis Vardoken was someone who sympathized with humans."
Lukas stared at Stacy in disbelief. He didn't think that she'd lay it all out in the open like that, but she really did.
There were some gasps in the room, but that was a background thing to the way that Heloise Carmilla walked forward without any fear and then suddenly grabbed Stacy's hands and kindly smiled.
"Oh dear, if what you said had any truth to it… then the two of you shouldn't have to suffer for it."
Lukas frowned a little.
It was a calculated answer that didn't immediately agree with the statement but didn't disprove it either, but the effect was still monumental.
"Betrayals, sabotage and the like was a common thing in the past." Heloise Carmilla said, shaking her head with a slightly dismayed smile.
'She's acting like she's actually lived through those times.' Drusilla's voice dripped with some venom in Lukas' head.
"Not all Vampire Houses were friendly with each other, and this resulted to even the death of some Houses… but this is a new era, a new age. Our circumstances has allowed us to change for the better and this bright future can only be achieved if we learn how to let go of the past. I hope that all of us can stop clinging to it, when it's clear to see that we are only hurting each other. So what do you say?"
Words that spoke of hope and a future, with a gentle smile adorning on Heloise Carmilla's face… it swayed the hearts of the people.
Lukas wanted to call it utter bull.
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