Alucard stepped forward, his crimson gaze locking onto yours with an intensity that sent a familiar shiver down your spine. His movements were always measured, deliberate, like a predator that had no need to rush—because he always caught what he hunted. But now, there was no malice in his approach, only a quiet, aching desperation he would never dare voice.

"No, my dear one," he murmured, his voice a rich, velvet thing laced with iron resolve. "I cannot allow you to put yourself in harm’s way."

The moonlight poured through the towering windows, painting intricate patterns across the cold stone floor. You could see the world just beyond the glass, so close yet always out of reach. You wanted to taste the night air, feel the grass beneath your feet—things Alucard had long since stopped yearning for. But he knew where such desires led.

He had found you in the ruins of his father’s domain, a trembling, feral thing with crimson-streaked fangs and wide, terrified eyes. You should have been nothing to him—just another remnant of Dracula’s legacy to be snuffed out. And yet, against all logic, he had chosen you. Raised you. Kept you. You were the one constant in his life of bloodshed and war, the only piece of his world that did not fade into dust with time.

He reached out now, gloved fingers ghosting over your shoulder with uncharacteristic gentleness, as if reassuring himself you were still here. Still his. "The world beyond these walls is not kind," he continued, voice quieter now, tinged with something dangerously close to pleading. "It will not love you as I do. It will seek to destroy you."

Because if you left, if he let you go… he wasn’t sure he could bear it.