"Stefan..."

Stefan ignored the white-haired boy who glared at him and approached Arlo with a light smile on his face.

"Hey there." He ruffled Arlo's golden hair.

Headmaster Holden walked deeper into the hall and ignored what was going on.

In the first place, he was a protector and wasn't supposed to involve himself in vampire matters.

"Stefan! Are you trying to disparage our ritual?"

Stefan finally turned toward the white-haired boy:

"Toon, have you forgotten the beating I gave you the last time?"

"You..." the white-haired boy pointed at Stefan and trembled in anger.

On the other hand, Arlo silently memorized his name, as he looked at him with an unreadable expression.

No one knew the evil thoughts that were going through the head of the seven-year-old boy. If they did, they would have fallen on their knees right there and pleaded for mercy.

"Stefan, I don't think it is right to..."

"That is Prince Stefan for you." the middle-aged man who shouted at Arlo before, Count Hayes, leader of the Hayes family wanted to speak, but Stefan interrupted him.

Stefan didn't miss the look of disdain that flashed on Count Hayes's face for a moment but he didn't care.

"Prince Stefan..."

Stefan nodded in satisfaction.

"...A human shouldn't be in this ritual."

Even as they spoke, more people kept entering the hall. There were several Counts and their families among those who entered. In normal circumstances, they would be greeted and welcomed by the noble vampires, but the drama playing caught their attention. Even the Counts weren't annoyed and instead found a place to watch what was going on.

Slowly, the people in the hall formed nine groups. The vampire nobles moved toward the Counts who were the leaders of the nine vampire families.

Only Headmaster Holden stood alone.

Tibu and his wife moved toward Count Aaron.

Beside their group was Count Vlad who had Long silky black hair that fell down his back, with several streaks of white mixed within. The vampires in his family surrounded him.

While the other Counts looked between Stefan and Count Hayes, Count Vlad studied Arlo carefully. He was the one Scarlett entrusted Arlo to, and he was the one who gave Arlo to Tibu to use as a slave. Now that he saw Arlo in just a few weeks, he couldn't help but be surprised. He still could not feel any trace of mana from Arlo, but he could tell Arlo was several times stronger than when they met.

Stefan patted Arlo on the shoulder and smiled, "Arlo is not just any human, he is a friend of mine and he is also close to my grandmother."

The words Count Hayes wanted to say died down his throat after hearing Arlo was close to Scarlett. He didn't dare to disparage anyone close to their liege.

However just because he wouldn't dare doesn't mean that others wouldn't too.

"Prince Stefan, I don't think our liege would like for a human to participate in the ritual."

Stefan, Arlo, and the people in the hall looked towards a particular group of people. At the center of the group was a person Arlo and Joe recognized. It was the middle-aged man they met earlier during the day. Beside him was his wife, and son who seemed to be glaring in their direction

"Count Cromwell..." Stefan whispered in a grave voice.

Count Cromwell smiled at Stefan Amicably, "Our Liege said not to harm the human, but from what I have heard, our Liege also told us to treat him like we would treat any human, isn't that right, Count Vlad?"

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Count Vlad frowned at Count Cromwell. He didn't want to be involved in this matter, not to mention that he disliked the Cromwell family in the first place. But seeing that everybody's attention was on him, he had no choice but to answer:

"Yes..."

A sly glint flashed past Count Cromwell's eyes before he turned back to Stefan, "I don't believe what my son said is wrong. A human shouldn't be involved in our matters."

"Hahaha! Father is right!" laughed Toon, but upon seeing Count Cromwell's brief glare, he quickly shut up. Still, he looked at Stefan and flashed him a smug smile.

Stefan clenched his hands in anger. His usual light smile had long disappeared from his face. He, a prince was being treated disrespectfully in Public, yet nobody helped him.

When Arlo saw Stefan placed in a difficult spot because of him, he felt guilty and decided to leave.

It was at this moment that several new figures entered the hall.

Every vampire within the hall fell to their knees. No, four figures remained standing. It was Headmaster Holden, Stefan, Arlo and Joe.

"We greet the Lords!"

Eight figures donned in white robes entered the hall. What they all had in common was that they were old. However, none of the people in the hall dared to look down on them. Among the eight old figures were five men and three women. While they appeared old, the air of dignity around them added to their natural charm.

They stood beside Headmaster Holden and nodded towards him in greeting.

"You can rise!" One of the women among them spoke in a soothing voice.

The vampires who were still kneeling like knights to their Lords finally rose to their feet.

"Let us begin the ritual!" the same woman commanded in a light voice.

Principal Stanley and Teacher Julian entered the hall. Principal Stanley was carrying an object covered with a black cloth, while Julian was holding a list. They greeted the nine Lords before moving to the center of the hall.

The vampires around them moved back to give the two some space.

Julian tapped several places on the ground and soon after a massive formation lit up. A square altar 10m in size rose from the floor. That wasn't all, as from the center of the raised altar, rose a small pillar about 2m high. The pillar contained a reddish liquid.

Immediately when the pillar appeared, the air within the hall changed. Arlo noticed the eyes of several vampires shine red, while some even grew fangs from their mouths.

"Human blood..." Joe who was beside Arlo whispered.

Arlo looked at Bon and Judi who were breathing heavily as they gazed at the pillar of blood.

Teacher Julian raised the list in his hand and called out the first name

"Ric Hayes!"

Every vampire in a clan took the name of their respective lords as their last name.

Ric walked toward the altar and took a deep breath with a tense look on his face. He controlled his fast-beating heart and finally climbed the altar before stopping before Principal Stanley.

Principal Stanley nodded at him slightly and was about to remove the black cloth covering the object he was carrying when a voice stopped his action.

"I plead Lord Cromwell to resolve a problem before we start the ritual!" Count Cromwell suddenly stepped forward and kneeled in the direction of one of the Nine Lords.

The majority of the Lords furrowed their brows in displeasure while Headmaster Holden smiled lightly, and the old man whom Cromwell was kneeling to nodded amicably.

Joe who had been looking forward to watching the ritual suddenly trembled while a look of anger flashed on Arlo's face.

Count Cromwell didn't care about Arlo's expression and pointed towards him, "The human and beast should be sent out of here. This is a very important event for we vampires, and it should not be witnessed by outsiders."

The brows of the other lords which had furrowed in displeasure slowly eased up.

Lord Cromwell, an old man with long white hair and a matching mustache looked at Arlo.

The eight lords had noticed Arlo's presence when they entered. It was just that they didn't want to antagonize him since they noticed he was close to Scarlett. But now that one of their subjects had pointed him out, they had no choice but to address the matter.

Lord Cromwell was just about to speak when Stefan's voice resounded within the silent hall:

"Arlo stays with me!" Stefan took a step forward and released his aura as he glared at Count Cromwell, "I am your prince, since when did my words lose weight?"

Count Cromwell merely gazed at Stefan who released his aura towards him.

"Humph!" Lord Cromwell snorted, and Stefan's aura suddenly vanished. He looked at Stefan without bothering to mask the look of disdain on his face:

"Prince Stefan, it is unbecoming of you to act in such a manner." He looked at Arlo with serene eyes and spoke with a cold voice:

"Human, this is no place for you to be. Leave. Take the beast trash beside you and leave this place."

The look of anger on Arlo's face slowly disappeared upon hearing Joe be called trash. He looked at Lord Cromwell with lucid eyes before shifting his gaze toward Stefan who was gritting his teeth.

With a warm smile on his face, Arlo spoke sincerely, "Thank you."

Before Stefan could reply, Arlo spoke to Joe, before turning around.

"Let's leave this place. We are not welcome here."

Teacher Julian hesitated to speak but a moment later he sighed and shook his head.

Arlo had not even taken three steps when an enchanting yet cold voice drifted into the hall:

"Who dares to chase my true disciple?"

The indifferent look on Lord Cromwell's face changed completely. The other Lords had similar expressions to him. Only Lord Holden had an amused smile on his face.

Light footsteps drifted into the hall as all the vampires looked at the entrance with different expressions on their faces.

Fear.

Admiration.

Annoyance.

Under the stare of every vampire in the hall, a woman donned in her characteristic tight-fitting suit that hugged her seductive curves, slowly entered the hall.

Her red luscious lips parted as an enchanting voice echoed within the silent hall:

"I said, who dares to chase away my true disciple?"

Evangeline!