Locking their eyes together made Hans unable to fathom the perplexed feeling he is having right now. Unable to hide his uneasiness made obvious to the people surrounding him even for the Grand Duke himself. He held his breath under Grand Duke Arthur's gaze and luckily, his master saved him by gathering everyone's attention.
"Ahem! So, as we had already discussed, it is clear that some unexpected event happened between the hunters and vampires that made us form this contract. Of course, the contracts we agreed upon were… One, was to investigate the Forbidden Venom. Two, from now on, we will collaborate with each other regardless if it's about the Forbidden Venom or not. And lastly, is to go through exchange. If one clan finds the Female Blood of the other, they will hand it over to them with or without benefit from it." Dir. Melvis explained.
"Now, you know about the contract. Are you still willing to go through with this joint proposal?" he asked the Supreme Alpha.
Although, originally, there were four contracts but it doesn't seem necessary for Dir. Melvis to share the last one. Since, it sounded more of a demand than just a simple contract. Because if he indeed shared it with them, the hunter's clan will have a great loss and will be more on the edge of this contract. Fortunately, Emperor Charles seemed to understand the situation and agreed to his request without further questions.
"Hmm… It's true that we won't gain much in this contract. On the contrary, the first contract seems to fit our needs. So, I don't think it will be a huge loss to us as well. And besides, I want to help my best friend." Supreme Alpha Liam gave some thoughts about the contract.
"Please think of it thoroughly, Supreme Alpha. This is no—" Dir. Melvis tried to convince him.
"Do you really think I'm not taking this matter seriously, Dir. Russy?" he questioned him sternly.
"I wouldn't accept these useless terms if I know I won't benefit from it. And that Forbidden Venom is really a pain in the ass these days." He added.
"What do you mean?" Head Akito asked him, not wanting to make his guess right.
"Some of the branches of our clan had been complaining of the missing lycans in their territory and to your Forbidden Venom." The Supreme Alpha stared coldly at them full of discontent.
"And for some entertainment! Sometimes you just have to gaze at someone from a far and wait for them to ask for help. Unfortunately, I'm not the type to wait. I AM a very impatient Lycan, you see." He added playfully.
"So, why don't I do something about it, right? Also, I would love to see how this situation turns out. Isn't that interesting?" he concluded.
He glanced at Hans and waved at him happily which Hans didn't seem fond of. The same goes to how everyone inside the meeting hall especially, the way he is taking matters lightly. It's as if everything the Supreme Alpha does were just for fun.
Head Akito calmly said, "You seem to have so much free time on your hands, Supreme Alpha."
Liam, the Supreme Alpha chuckled while asking, "Do I look like one?
Head Akito nodded while he uttered his reply then Supreme Alpha Liam shrugged his shoulders and listlessly responded, "Hmm… Well, maybe."
This time, Grand Duke Arthur calmly stood up and unconsciously gathered everyone's attention to himself. He first glimpsed at Hans before facing the Director.
"Since this meeting is done. I guess it's time for us to leave." Grand Duke Arthur bluntly announced while tucking his hands in the pocket.
The Grand Duke's sudden displeasure made Emperor Charles stare at him with crossed arms. It took him a few seconds to finally divert his gaze from him. He stood from his chair and called out his sons without meeting them eye to eye.
However, to their surprise, Prince Nikolai ecstatically requested his father. "Father, I have a request for you.
"Go ahead, my child." Emperor Charles replied.
"I wished for Hans to escort us out of this place." He looked at his father with determination.
Upon hearing his request, they all looked at the third prince with doubt and curiosity. Hans didn't show any protest but he surely disagrees to become an escort. He hates being associated with them and who knows what they'll do to him, he wondered. Dir. Melvis did everything he could to protest but Prince Nikolai was too stubborn to give in.
The director thought for a second and decided to give in to his request that made the third prince beamed in delight. Hans reluctantly stared at his master and all his master could utter in silence was.
'I'm sorry.'
Thus, he has no choice but to abide by his master's orders.
He walked towards the vampires and offered to escort them out of the meeting hall. He waited for all the vampires to walk out of the meeting hall and took a last glimpse of his master. However, before they disappeared in his view, he saw the Supreme Alpha waved at him with glee then his smile soon turned into a smirk. Hans turned heedlessly looking piqued by the sight of the alpha.
He just silently followed behind them to avoid another unwanted attraction. The walk made him think that each step he takes is like a loophole and anytime he would get trapped into. He also felt that the time went by so slowly but he knew that he couldn't possibly do anything to offend the vampire.
Prince William seemed to notice Hans' discomfort when he slowed down his pace to match.
"My apologies." He said.
"For what, Your Highness?" Hans questioned with a puzzled look.
"On behalf of my little brother, I apologize." He repeated.
"He did nothing wrong, Your Highness." Hans cleared things up with him.
"I know… I know, you neither want to escort nor be friends with us vampires." Prince William gave him a genuine smile that somehow his stomach twinge because of guilt.
"I-" Hans was cut off when the first prince spoke again.
"It's alright. We always experience that especially as a first impression towards our clan. But I hope that whatever spite…. I mean, those dislikes you feel towards us will soon subside. My brother genuinely adores you for some reason."
He couldn't muster the words he wanted to say as he pondered, 'I don't know if my dislike towards your clan will even subside.'
Prince Alexander noticed his brother and Hans wrapping themselves into discussion. He stared at them for a minute or so then slowly his wandering face turned into a smirk. He dashed towards their side that startled Hans by his sudden appearance.
The second prince smiled at him and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"
"I apologized to him." Prince William responded with a smile on his face.
"Huh? Why would you? Did you do something wrong?" the second prince asked again.
But before he could explain, Prince Nikolai appeared out of nowhere.
"May I ask what conversation you guys are having, right now?" He asked.
"Big brother apologized to Hans." Prince Alexander replied.
"Why?" the third prince asked his big brother as he faced Prince William.
Prince William sighed and explained, "I apologized because of your stubbornness."
"Why? What did I do?" Prince Nikolai asked in confusion.
"Because you forced Hans to escort us when he clearly didn't want to." Prince Alexander elaborates bluntly.
"You hated it?" the third prince asked Hans.
Hans felt guilty with how Prince Nikolai looked at him sadly. Although, the two older princes guessed him right but he couldn't just say it to the little prince heartlessly. He sighed heavily, not knowing what to say. But he knew he had to explain.
"It's not like that. I just thought that it was unnecessary for me to escort you since someone was already tasked to do that. Also, I planned to finish my work after the meeting."
"Ohh… I'm sorry." Prince Nikolai dropped as he held his head down.
When Hans saw his reaction, he couldn't help but feel slightly startled and went to explain again to lessen the guilt of the third prince.
"Y-your Highness… it's alright, really. I-I mean, it's not that i-i-i-important anyway. So, there's no n-need for y-you to a-a-apologize!"
"Really?" Prince Nikolai asked.
Hans nodded without a second thought, "Yes, Your Highness."
While they're at that conversation, Prince Alexander secretly smirks as he purposely blurted out his thoughts.
"If Hans is a human. Then… Why is a human here?"
Hans and the other princes were surprised with his question that made Prince William hurriedly scold him.
"Alex! What are you saying? Enough of that!"
"Ah! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask you that. I accidentally blurted out my thoughts." He apologized.
"I-it's alright, Your Highness." Hans smiled awkwardly.
Grand Duke Arthur seemed to notice the fuss behind them. He went near to his brother and whispered to him without meeting his gaze. When he distanced himself a little, the Emperor glanced at him waiting for the Grand Duke to continue but to his dismay, no words followed after.
Emperor Charles sighed and whispered, "Settle that matter quickly."
"Yes, brother." Grand Duke Arthur responded as he slightly leaned forward.
The Emperor used his telepathic ability to his sons and the rest of the vampires while his eyes glowered in red.
'Sons, we have to go. The rest follow me.' He commanded.
All of them heed to his command as they hurry back to their cars. Prince Nikolai couldn't help wanting to protest from his father but Emperor Charles gave an authoritative tone which means that he is completely serious this time. They followed him without any question and hurried out of the mansion.
Hans was about to follow them because he was suspicious by the unpleasant reaction they were displaying. However, he halted and jolted when the Grand Duke came within his sight. He slowly stepped back but as he did so, Grand Duke Arthur forged forward as well.
Hans began to feel uneasy by the Grand Duke's actions as they continued until, at some point, he was cornered by him. Grand Duke Arthur reached out his hand and when Hans saw this made him close his eyes, wondering what he'll do to him. Despite that, he felt nothing so he opened one of his eyes and saw the Grand Duke's face getting closer to him.
Grand Duke Arthur with a stern look on his face, leaned his hand on the wall while the other was inside his pocket.
"I want to repeat what my nephew asked..." he said sternly.
"Why is a human here?" the Grand Duke asked bluntly.
They both stared at each other while Grand Duke Arthur waited for his reply. Hans couldn't find his voice to speak because of how the vampire in front of him intimidated him. He clenched his first, not letting the Grand Duke out of his gaze.
They stared while the ecstasy of overwhelming protruding aura surrounded them subsequently.
...