Adriel took the emblem from Lloyd, carefully stroking it in his hand, feeling the insignia and hefting the weight in his hand. He had recognised it immediately, but he was reluctant to tell Lloyd what it was. He heaved a sigh, downing two sausages in one go before picking the emblem back up.

"Are you sure the vampires who attacked your father dropped this? Did you see it drop out of their reach?" He had to make sure. He couldn't go diving head-first into this, simply because of the mess it would stir up.

Lloyd cocked his head. "Yeah, they did. Why? Is it important?"

He was afraid that the vampires who attacked his father might have been important, and could send the whole system crashing down.

"This emblem..." he started, but sighed. "This emblem is my family crest, and this specific set: the gryffin, belongs to my younger brother. That leads me to two possibilities: one, that my brother was involved with some hooligans in killing your father, or two, this was a family affair, and they were out for blood." He steeled himself for any reaction that Lloyd might have, wishing that he hadn't gotten himself into this mess, wishing that he hadn't fallen in love with this man.

"Wh... What?" Lloyd gasped. "Your... Your fami..."

He stood up. "Why... Did..."

Adriel stared sternly, eyes narrowing as Lloyd stood all of a sudden. "Sit down, Lloyd," he said, voice matching the intensity of his stare. "I'm not sure about the circumstances about your family, but I realise you haven't told me your family name. Perhaps we could resolve this a lot faster if you didn't withhold any information from me, at least any that you know of."

"Oh... Yes, I'm sorry. Buckingham." Lloyd replied. "And yours?"

"The family name is Sigmund, but I've been disowned. I have no family name now," Adriel spat bitterly. "That explains a lot. The Buckinghams were the moderators of the vampire community for the Queen. I suppose that it would be a family thing, since my family has had multiple assassinations of our former head vampires. Luckily, they were wise enough to transfer leadership around before their passings, but my father - the current head - has had enough. So he probably started by culling your father to send a message to you." He leaned back in his chair, sipping on his cup of tea.

"The problem is, I was destined to be the next head vampire, and now that I've been disowned, my father has no heir. He can't pass it to my second brother: it doesn't work merely as a title. It's in the blood. I'm betting that if you want to get to the root of the cause, you'll have to face my father." He sat closer to Lloyd, staring at him straight into his eyes. "But if he dies, you kill the entire family, including me."

"So... If I get my revenge... You die..." Lloyd mused.

He stood up. "I... I have to think about it..."

Adriel nodded back as he heard the ring of the doorbell. "Ah, the new shipment," he exclaimed, sort of happy as he put down his cup of tea. "Not to worry, Lloyd. You have the entire day to think about it. Well, you are a hunter after all and it doesn't really matter if you wipe out one of the most established families. Actually, it would matter: it would make you famous! But then you'd be the target of all the other families, so you might want to consider that as well." Adriel signed the delivery notice, humming a tune as he waited for the delivery man to leave. He leaned over and kissed Lloyd on his ear, before stumbling back in confusion. Had he just kissed the man on instinct?

"Ah... I should get to sorting the stock..." he mumbled ,diving into the storeroom and busying himself with the shredding of cardboard boxes to open the new packages. What the hell was happening to him?

"Isn't there... Some other way?" Lloyd asked, following Adriel to the store-room.

"Want any help?" He asked.