"Patriarch! PATRIARCH!" An old man ran into a room, screaming. His face was one of pure joy and relief, and upon entering the room, he almost threw himself on his knees.

"Patriarch, Young Master Sirus has returned!" He half-yelled, trying to calm himself. In front of him, an ancient man that looked more like a skeleton than a man widened his eyes.

"Truly? Haha, quickly, let's go!" The patriarch said, pushing himself up from his chair with some difficulty. Seeing this, the old man quickly went and helped him.

"Faster... I must see my son..." The patriarch anxiously said, trying to walk faster but almost tripping. The old man at his side could only sigh as he carefully helped the patriarch.

Meanwhile, at the dock, a large ship was being pulled over to the docks, where it was then tied and anchored. After a brief moment, several long wooden planks were put to act as bridges. The large crowd that had gathered for the return of their hero began to cheer.

First, sailors ran down and went to their families. Others were carrying down large, heavy crates.

At last, Sirus too walked down the bridge. Seeing him, alive and healthy, the crowd began to cheer and praise him. Sirus smiled and thanked them for their concern. After him, the Ravens went down, but unlike Sirus, they didn't stop to talk to the crowd and pushed their way out of the docks and into the city, their goals unknown.

Just as the crowd was about to overwhelm Sirus, the patriarch's guards forcefully dispersed them. Sirus watched in amusements as the guards brought away a huge number of women who refused to leave Sirus before dumping them outside of the docks and then forming a literal shield wall as many, refusing to give up, tried to force their way through.

"Sirus." An old voice called, and Sirus instantly turned towards the source, finding the patriarch walking towards him at a slow pace.

"Father!" Sirus yelled and rushed towards him, hugging him the moment he reached him. The patriarch laughed and hugged his son too. "I'm glad to see you're alive and well. You almost gave your old man a heart attack, you know?"

Looking ashamed, Sirus could only try to explain. "I'm sorry, dad. It's just... we had unforeseen events. I'll tell you all about it later." The patriarch nodded with a smile as he patted his son's back.

"Come, come. I'm sure your brother is dying to see you, you have no idea how anxious he was the whole time you were out."

Sirus nodded and followed his father. The old man who acted as a butler and caretaker for his father handed him several pieces of paper, and after skimming through them as they walked, he could only clench his teeth in fury.

"Father, that old pig is trying to take us over! Why isn't His Majesty doing anything?!" Sirus said, trying to contain his anger. The patriarch laughed sadly as he explained. "The bastard promised His Majesty several huge concessions, as well as offering him four million platinum coins in exchange for his silence on the matter."

Sirus' eyes bulged at the amount. "So much money!? How is he so rich?"

The patriarch shook his head, "The bastard might be a bastardly, treacherous pig, but his intellect is nothing to scoff at. He does run the biggest legal slave market in the country, after all."

At the mentioning of slaves, Sirus frowned. He was one of the growing number of people that absolutely despised slavery, having seen its horrors and inefficiency.

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When they reached their family mansion, the patriarch and butler went in, and Sirus stood back. The patriarch turned with a confused face and looked at his son.

Sirus smiled awkwardly and asked "Uh, can I have a minute? I just need to do something real quick..."

The patriarch was confused but still nodded and went back to his office as the butler rushed into the depths of the mansion to tell Sirus' brother of Sirus' return.

Looking around and seeing nobody, Sirus sighed and said: "Come here, Luna."

Instantly, the petite, white-haired girl showed up. In her hands were two chickens, both of them held by their throats. They weren't moving, so Sirus guessed she had likely killed them for some reason.

Said reason was immediately explained when Luna brought one of the chickens to her mouth and bit into it, feathers and all. A silent crunch came as the bones were crushed, and the meat quickly swallowed.

"..." Sirus looked at the young catkin eagerly devouring raw chicken, trying to decide whether to stop her or just wait for her to finish.

He decided on the latter, mainly because the two chickens disappeared after a couple seconds, a satisfied Luna smiling at him.

"Good bird. Taste good. Haven't eaten in long, long time!" She exclaimed and caught Sirus' hand. "Catch birds me with?" 

Sirus looked at her with an amused smile but shook his head. "Luna, remember what I told you..."

Luna frowned as she thought for a moment before repeating the rules he had explained to her hundreds of times, "No stealing, no kill, no leave city, no be bad and no naked. Yes?" She asked, looking at him with puppy eyes.

"Yes! Good job, you got them all." Sirus nodded and rubbed her head. Luna's eyes half-closed at the gesture and she tried to push her head into his hand, but he quickly took it back.

"We can go buy you stuff later, but for now, come with me. I'm going to introduce you to my family, we might need your help after all." Sirus said, his voice soft, but even Luna could sense the anger in his voice.

She grabbed his hand again and said, "Humans bad things do? Kill bad humans?"

Sirius spent a moment trying to find a way to word it in a way that wouldn't result in a massacre. "Yes, there are some bad people who want to do bad things, but they didn't do them yet, so there is no need to worry..."

Luna nodded in understanding. Sirus only sighed, "You don't get it, do you?"

Luna nodded again, this time, her face was somewhat red from embarrassment. "Don't worry. For now, come with me."

As they entered the mansion, several servants came and greeted the returning Young Master. Most were surprised to see him coming with a beastkin, and many wondered where she came from.

After a couple minutes of walking, Sirus pushed open a large door, revealing his father's large office. In that room was the patriarch, a man in his 30's and a young woman dressed expensive robes.

Seeing him enter, the man ran up to Sirus before hugging him and lifting him up, swinging him around as they both laughed. "Big brother, please, have some restraint" Sirus begged although he was still laughing.

"What the hell!? You vanish on me for such a long time, and then ask to 'have restraint'?? Has your mind turned to mush at last from all the girls chasing you?" The brother said, putting down Sirus after a couple seconds.

As the two brothers talked, the young woman merely shook her head and looked. Her eyes suddenly narrowed when she noticed a peeking figure from the entrance.

"Patriarch..." She whispered. He looked at her and then at the direction of her eyes. He saw a small eye looking at them before it moved away, not letting them see it.

Sirus noticed his father's serious gaze and quickly said. "Don't worry, that's a friend. She's just shy... Luna, come over here!"

The brother stopped talking when he heard Sirus' words, moving backward to give him some space. After a couple hesitant moments, the door was slowly pushed open as a small figure with long, white hair peeked her head in.

"Hi...?" She said with an awkward smile. The room fell silent as the three people who had never before seen Luna looked at her with strange eyes. Seeing the silence, Luna slowly entered and then quickly ran behind Sirus, using him as a shield.

Seeing her actions, the brother's eyes widened and he looked at Sirus, then at Luna. He frowned and put his hand under his chin before breaking the silence "Well then, little Sirus. Has the forbidden romance finally been achieved? I always thought you were more a melon-lover, but I won't judge..." He leaned into Sirus' ear, scaring Luna into the other side of Sirus' body.

"Have you done it already?"

Sirus' face instantly turned red and he shouted "Fuck off, Mark, of course we didn't! It's not like that!"

Mark scoffed and looked away. His brother had the best looks of the kingdom and could have any girl he wanted, and yet he, with his mediocre looks, couldn't even get one no matter how hard he tried. The world isn't fair, Mark lamented in his mind.