The Fallen Vampire

Keran had to admit, she had never been so upset that a journey had gone by so quickly.

The city lord had kept his word and had prepared for the group a caravan that swiftly escorted them to Ferran in under the expected two day timeline.

Unlike Oba, Ferran was a rich and lively city, with various large buildings and a thriving shopping market.

The streets were neatly paved with a unique white stone that gave the city a refreshing and picturesque scenery.

The caravan released the group right outside of the city's gates and all six of them were promptly granted entry.

Luckily, Vermeil wasn't searched very hard because Keran had stolen away all of the guards' attention.

"The princess has returned!"

"Let her in, let her in!"

Once they were granted entry and declined the offer of a small escort, the group were immersed in the large crowd of people that even Keran was not easily recognizable in.

Keran and Kohaku kept their eyes firmly locked onto their princess.

They knew full well about all of the drama that had taken place before they'd left and they wondered just how she would take being back in this environment.

Vermeil however did not seem to notice the tense atmosphere as she spun around in wonder to take in the sights of a bustling city filled with more types of beastkin than she could even count.

"You have to tread extra carefully here." Lucia warned. "Someone like you being sighted in Ferran would immediately cause a riot."

She wasn't sure why this human was still traveling with them, but if her princess did not take issue with it then she would not comment either.

"Okay, okay... everyone has such cute animal ears though..." Vermeil felt a burning desire to run around giving everyone headpats but suppressed it to the best of her ability.

Meanwhile, Indra had taken a look around for only a few moments and came to an inescapable realization.

'I do not want to be here...'

The amount of people walking around here was incomparable to the amount that were in Oba.

Indra was naturally an antisocial individual and the massive sea of bodies in front of him had only served to spark his ire.

The good thing about this was that in a crowd like this one, less people noticed him.

The few that did immediately sniffed him out to see if he was human before they found themselves completely mesmerized by his good looks.

"We should figure out what we're going to do." Keran suddenly said.

Just as the group nodded in agreement, an elderly woman with the horns of a goat approached the werewolf from behind.

"Princess, you've returned!" The woman began looking around eagerly for someone and became slightly disappointed when she did not find them.

"Did my son return with you? His name is Jin and he's a goatkin like myself, about this tall and..."

Keran actually knew exactly who this woman was looking for.

He was a charming young man who had a good personality and was a capable warrior.

He got along well with all of the other soldiers, and even the ones with pricklier personalities like Kuro couldn't find much bad to say about him.

Jin was one of the first soldiers Kuro had recruited, and he was one of the first to die as well.

"I'm sorry ma'am... Jin fought bravely but..."

Keran did not even get to finish her sentence before the woman's eyes filled with tears and she collapsed onto the ground. "No... NOOOO!"

The wailing of the elderly woman attracted a great deal of attention, and everyone simultaneously looked for the source.

Once everyone saw an elderly woman sobbing at the feet of the princess, it did not take them long to put two and two together.

One by one, the people surrounding them had all come up to Keran, each desperate to hear about the whereabouts of their loved ones.

"M-My husband, where is my husband?!"

"Please, tell me that my daughter returned with you!"

"What happened to my father and brothers?!"

The street had quickly filled up with panic, and the members of the group were all trying their best to keep these rowdy beast men away from Keran.

The werewolf princess however, seemed content to let these people scream at her.

She had even gone so far as to stop her bodyguards from taking any action to scare them away.

She simply stood there motionless with a trembling lip as she held in her tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.

'Don't cry... you don't deserve to cry...'

At the end of the day, she hadn't actually lost anyone close to her.

The ones who deserved to shed tears in this scenario were the men and women who were in front of her right now.

They had lost sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, sisters and daughters.

All of this was happening because she had asked them to place their trust in her and allow her to lead them.

They had done so, under the belief that they would be paving the way to a better future for their families and loved ones.

But when the battle was over, not only had they not changed anything, they had all been utterly annihilated as well. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝗯𝐧𝗼𝘃𝐞𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝐦

"I'm so sorry everyone... so very sorry..."

None could hear Keran's heart wrenching apology over the crowd's constant screaming.

None except for Indra who had unknowingly begun to protect his former betrothed of his own volition.

The raw emotion conveyed within her voice tore at his heart for reasons that he did not understand and before he knew it, his body was moving on its own.

He wrapped his arm around Keran and pulled her into his embrace, subsequently shielding her from the onslaught of insults being hurled her way.

"B-Beloved?"

Indra did not respond, for he did not understand why he had grabbed her either.

He simply pressed her head against his chest and kept her as close as possible.

"Break it up!"

"Back away from the princess!"

"All of you disperse, immediately!"

Almost on cue, a small brigade of guards in gleaming black armor began to clear a path through the crowd.

The head of the guards was a tall and muscular man with the head of a lion who wielded a giant broadsword.

This was the father of Kohaku and Kuro, Leopold.

He was briefly alarmed by the unknown man that was holding the princess in his embrace, but after seeing how deeply she was leaning into him, he decided this man was not an immediate threat.

Turning to his daughters, he immediately gave them orders to follow.

"We're getting you all out of here, follow me!"