Chapter 288: Someone needs to give them basic English lessons.

"Well, he surrendered."

Lucian grinned and Garrick’s mouth twitched.

This was him... not causing trouble...?

The Vampire stared at Lucian, Lucian stared back at him with a gentle, almost innocent smile on his face and the Vampire turned towards Garrick.

"We will need to verify the prisoner before entry."

"Go ahead."

Garrick nodded.

The Enclave convoy pulled into a separate inspection section beside the main gate, Lucian and Garrick stepped out, several Enclave Hunters came out of the other vehicles, they then opened the rear doors of the truck carrying Varek and there he was, inside the Null Cradle he was placed in, in exactly the same limbless situation as before.

His eyes were closed, but he wasn’t unconscious, he had just closed his eyes because he was too exhausted to keep them open.

Of course, as the door opened and he sensed movement outside, he slowly opened his eyes. The first man he looked at was Lucian. Lucian grinned provocatively, wanting to see him react, but then—

Something surprising happened.

Varek did not show even the slightest change, he... didn’t even seem angry.

It was almost as if seeing the Gates of House Arcelis... changed him.

’Huh.’

That made Lucian frown.

To think the man who glared at him with that intense anger and hatred now seemed... completely unaffected.

While Lucian thought all that, the Arcelis Vampires approached the Null Cradle, one inspected the restraints, another checked the Marrow Pins and the seals placed all over the frame, then finally—

The older Vampire stepped closer.

His gaze landed on Varek.

Varek looked back.

And for a moment, there was silence.

The older Vampire showed absolutely nothing, no hatred, no disgust, no anger at seeing the disgraced member of his House return after decades.

He simply... stared at him.

Then—

"Varek."

He called.

And Varek’s expression hardened, the older Vampire’s words actually got a reaction out of him, though even then, Varek remained silent.

The old Vampire didn’t seem like he expected an answer either, his eyes simply observed Varek’s body, his missing limbs, the restraints, the Marrow Pins, then finally, he turned towards Garrick and—

"His condition?"

"Stable."

Garrick answered.

"He has been kept under continuous suppression since his capture. His regeneration has been restricted and his supernatural reserves are being maintained below a dangerous threshold."

The Vampire nodded. He then nodded at one of the Arcelis attendants, the attendant nodded and stepped forward with a thin black case.

He opened the case when he stepped in front of the older Vampire, inside the case was a small silver needle. The older Vampire took the needle, pierced it slightly into Varek’s chest, the blood that came out stuck to the needle, the older Vampire took it out.

He stared at the bloodied needle for about five seconds, then he nodded and gave the needle back to the attendant.

Lucian watched the exchange.

He didn’t exactly know what happened, but if he had to guess, it seemed like some sort of identity verification.

And seeing how the Vampires hadn’t attacked them yet, it seemed like the verification was successful.

So the transaction was complete, it was all over. Though Lucian... he found it a little strange, especially the older Vampire’s reaction, or in this case, lack thereof.

This was the same man who had dragged the Arcelis name through the dirt for decades, a Vampire who formed a disgraceful contract with a demon, a Vampire who tortured countless members of his own kind.

Honestly, this entire transaction felt strange.

The Arcelis were so ashamed of Varek that they exiled him from their House, then...

Why take him again?

Initially, Lucian thought they wanted to execute him themselves, after all, exiled or not, Varek was still an Arcelis, his existence alone was a damning stain on their name, execution made sense.

But...

To want to execute someone meant having... a certain level of hatred for them. But from the Arcelis Vampires’ reactions, they seemed... more indifferent than hateful.

Were they... pretending to be indifferent?

But then why bother?

They bought the man and seeing how quickly the Enclave agreed, it was obvious they did not offer a low price.

That fact alone proved that they were not indifferent to him, so why act otherwise?

Lucian had multiple questions and no answers.

It was not a feeling he liked.

And while he thought of all that and got increasingly uncomfortable, the older Vampire looked towards Garrick and—

"The terms agreed upon with the Enclave have already been fulfilled. Once custody is formally transferred, House Arcelis will assume complete responsibility for him."

"I know."

Garrick nodded.

He then extended his hand towards one of the Enclave staff members, the staff member moved and passed him a tablet that had a document.

An Arcelis representative stepped forward as well.

Both sides confirmed the transfer, that was it, it all took less than a minute and it was done.

The Arcelis attendants moved towards the Null Cradle and began transferring control of the artifact. Varek remained silent throughout it all, as for Lucian—

He continued watching him, wanting to know why he seemed so... different the moment he returned to his territory.

Though Lucian couldn’t actually find out since Varek was soon carried through the gates without another word. Lucian watched until they disappeared from sight, something about the entire exchange bothered him, he just couldn’t point it out.

Not that he could do anything about it at this point, he couldn’t do anything about this at any point.

So he shrugged, easing his mind, he noticed the large gates opening in front of him, then, as he looked inside—

His expression changed.

He thought there was a House beyond the large gate, an extremely lavish mansion maybe, but...

What he saw instantly made him widen his eyes.

This was not a house or a mansion, those words were a gross understatement, it was practically a small city!

Lucian stared at the massive road standing between perfectly maintained gardens, smaller roads branched towards separate estates and buildings.

There were guest residences, staff quarters, training grounds, a large lake, a building that seemed like a private medical facility, several enormous halls and far in the distance—

At the very centre of everything was the Arcelis Ancestral House.

It was enormous.

Ancient stone foundations, tall Gothic towers, glass structures, courtyards, balconies, gardens and all of it surrounded by yet another wall.

And Lucian—

He could not believe what he was seeing.

"...they call this a House?

Someone needs to give them basic English lessons."