𝐌𝐋𝐁𝐁: 𝐀 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥

𝟯 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁

Silvanna's POV.

"Alucard?" Silvanna asked. She stopped walking and turned around to see who distracted him. She followed his gaze to see a lonely, mysterious man sitting in the corner. She wondered if Alucard knew him, or if he was a newcomer, or maybe even... a threat.

"Yes, give me a minute," Alucard responded, his eyes still pinned on him. Silvanna slowly walked towards the demon hunter, wondering if the lonely man needed some help. Who was he, anyway? She had never really seen anyone like him. What made him more distracting was his violin case and his gun, which was very rare of someone to choose both options for whatever reasons. She assumed he was a nomad, but a nomad with no other people to travel with was particularly strange, especially that his only belonging was a violin and a gun and pretty much nothing else. Was he a musician? A marksman? Or both?

She witnessed Alucard sitting next to him, carefully moving his violin case aside. Silvanna also walked forward but decided not to sit. He probably didn't want a lot of people surrounding him, so she stood still instead, examining the stranger.

"Need company?" Alucard asked nicely. The man stayed silent. Not a single word escaped his perfectly closed lips. Silvanna decided to talk as well.

"We can give you a place to stay," she said. She heard Tigreal walking towards her as well, standing beside her. Despite all the kindness and generosity they gave, the man looked at them with a stern look. His crimson, scarred eyes were sharp enough that Silvanna had to step back and Alucard moved his sitting position a bit further.

"Get out of my sight," was all he said in response. His voice was unbelievably cold, still staring at the princess, Alucard and everyone around him. He stood up from the ground, revealing his complete appearance from head to toe. His hair was black with a bit of white streak on the edge of it. His tall-collared jacket was dark and dirty, with ashes and some bloodstain covering his old trousers. He didn't show any of his skin, even his hands were completely covered in thick, grey gloves.

Who was he, exactly? He looked so sorrowful as if nobody had been there for him. They wouldn't know if nobody decided to open his heart to tell him he was not alone. Silvanna understood why he would reply such thing, and she pitied him.

"Contain your words and respect the princess!" Tigreal demanded, but Silvanna dialed him down. It's okay, she mouthed. Tigreal went silent, but his blue eyes still fixed at the foreign man with so much dislike.

"So she's the princess? Hmph," he said carelessly, attempting to leave, but Silvanna was concerned. For sure, this man needed help, but she could not seem to find a way how to do it.

"I can help you," Silvanna said louder for him to hear. "Whatever trouble you're in, we can help." The man slowly stopped in his tracks, figuring what to say.

"I don't trust anyone," he snapped at her without looking back.

"Even the ruler of the empire herself?" Silvanna snapped back. "Join me. It's not a threat, I can promise you that."

The man sighed and went silent for a while. As the princess, she did not want any of her people to suffer. Everyone did admire her not only for her beauty, but her kindness to her citizens as well. Tigreal told her this long ago, and now that she knew and realized it, she wanted everyone to know that they were right about her, and she wanted to proof it.

"Fine," the man finally replied. "But I do not promise I'd stay for long." Silvanna slowly smiled, her eyes closed as she let out a small breath of relief. She led everyone the way back to the palace, hoping this day would become a great day for her new friends.

Alucard was an old friend of her captain, surely they would get along well. She had heard of him before, Tigreal talked about him once or twice, and she hoped the friendly demon hunter was just as accurate as how her captain described him the other day.