“What? Who?” he asked with a frown at what she was speaking before it dawned on him that she was talking about the lamb. Sure Leonard had fed the lamb enough for it to become fat but seeing the fondness the girl held for it when Paul had asked in the past if he would like some lamb stew, he had refused it before saying this particular lamb was not to be touched.

Stepping out of the doors, he saw Christopher standing next to his servant who had the lamb’s head in his hand right now.

“I would like them diced and boiled.”

Hearing this much was enough for the boy to go at him before throwing a punch across his face. Though Leonard was three years younger to Christopher, he had enough strength to push the boy on the ground and throw fits of punches. His anger boiled at a much higher pace and it was as if someone had possessed the small boy. For a person of his age, there was too much anger that was contained in him. To think that he had killed the lamb for his taste buds when he himself had held back from killing it, his flew left and right, finding everything and anything which was part of the other boy.

It was until someone pulled him off Christopher did he hear his father speak to him,

“Leonard stop it!” and the boy stopped struggling to get to the other boy. He was then pushed to the side, “Room. Right now,” his father spoke to him sternly with barely container anger of the scene his son had caused where few of the guests had got to witness it.

“What were you doing standing by and looking at instead of stopping them?!” Mr Carmichael scolded the servant who was the one to butcher the lamb. The servant in response stuttered with an apology which Mr Carmichael ignored to help the boy up.

His face was beaten to a point where bruises had begun to form. It was when he noticed one of the boy’s fangs broken did he feel like things weren’t going to go well with his family. For a vampire, the most important part was his fangs, it was the pride of being a vampire. Usually, fangs were broken or pulled out as a form of an old punishment. Once broken, it never grew back.

“What happened here?” the Lord had only stepped on to the scene a few seconds ago to look at the boy on the ground, “Treat the boy,” the lord snapped his finger at his servant who had come along with him.

“Pardon me, milord for seeing something so unsightly,” Mr Carmichael apologized, bowing his head deeply with shame.

“There’s nothing to apologize. Children are always full of energy,” Nicholas smiled, his expression as tranquil as ever. The missing fang didn’t go unnoticed, “Go easy on the boy,” the Lord took his steps back inside the mansion.

As the night came to an end, Mr and Mrs Carmichael apologized to Christopher’s parents profusely, the Lord had stayed back until the end, adding in his wise words and pacifying the family. Thankfully Mrs Carmichael’s cousin hadn’t blamed it entirely on Leonard and believed his son had done something. But the incident was not left alone.

Mr Carmichael was holding the end of the rope when it came to handling his son’s temper. There were times in the past when he had felt if it was the pampering but that had nothing to do with it. As his wife had told, it was something that he had acquired from Renae’s grandfather. All these times he had been lenient but by breaking the other boy’s fang, he didn’t want to oversee the matter. With the matter being shushed, the lord suggested something on the boy’s well being which was considered by the parents after a lot of thought and discussion.

“What you did was wrong today, Leo and to think your mother took extra care by telling you to stay out of trouble,” said Mr Carmichael to Leonard who was sitting at the edge of the bed with a blank face, “It is the severity of what you stole from the boy by defanging him. If the matter reached the council, there would be consequences no matter what the reason you felt you had to do it. The Lord said…” he paused for a moment before continuing, “As a punishment, you will spend a decade at the Rufus mansion,” hearing this the boy snapped his head to look at his father, “You can come here on occasions and we will be allowed to visit you as often as we can but from this moment, you won’t be living here. It is the best option we have right now than send you through the council courts which isn’t something you would want to experience.”

“Malcolm Rufus was the man who brought up the current lord. I am sure you will turn out to be a fine man. I suggest you start packing,” and his father left the room with a dull thud while leaving the boy gaping at the door in shock. Were they sending him away from home?

At first, the boy had thought his parents were making up a bad joke which he realised had turned into a harsh reality. With his mother and maids packing the little number of clothes at the moment, Leonard pleaded with his mother, but it seemed like no one was going to take his side as everyone was upset with him. Seeing that there was no way out this time, he sat in a corner staring at the luggage being packed one after the other. Walking out of the room, he closed the door with a loud thud which resulted in him getting scolded again.

After an hour, carriage of the lord was pulled in the front of the mansion so that the luggage could be tied behind securely. Leonard didn’t speak to his parents until his mother bent down to kiss his forehead.

“Take care, Leo,” he knew his mother was sad but that didn’t change her decision and neither did his father’s.

With the lord who had stepped inside the carriage, waiting for him to come, Leonard turned around to give the mansion a glance before his eyes settled on the little girl who stood behind Paul right now. Her eyes had turned red from the number of tears she had shed after the lamb was killed. She looked at him a little-lost wondering where he was going at this hour of the night, alone with a stranger.

Mustering a small smile as he smiled at her and everyone, he stepped into the carriage for the coachman to close the door behind him. The carriage started with the horses knocking its hooves on the ground and pulling the carriage slowly at first and speeding its pace for it to disappear midst the dark forest of the night.