@cadavrange 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 : “ i bow to no one. “
𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐬, the gentleman, however cruel his bitter heart, disguised himself in his finery. it was an act, agreed upon by the aristocracy, to live their short lives lavishly, as given to them by a generous god above. it was quite the act to witness. in polite company, he had come face to face with this truth ( 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 ) and found it repugnant.
although he remained loyal to his promise, never to bring harm to the lives of mortal men, he did have fervent disdain for the act. it was the nature of man, seemingly unending, to reject all which it did not understand: cursing the sin and the sinner alike. unlike those gentlemen, how does the pauper hide his vices ? they were stripped bare, unprotected, vulnerable to the cruelty of men.
alucard did not know where the man before him stood: so unlike the men with which he was familiar, and yet he mimicked their very nature, and seemed to adopt the tools of the aristocracy for his own. was he oppressor, or did he oppress ?
❝ — ‘no one.’ ❞ he repeats, accent peeking from his well-trained tongue, in all efforts to assimilate to a foreign tongue. exotic, to some, he was certain: to others, a frightening reminder of the world beyond the west. for, though he spent his time encountering nobles and righteous academia, there would ever be whispers of his mysterious, esoteric origins.
❝ all men bow to something. if not kings and critics, then perhaps greed or lust. ❞ it is rhetoric, a musing, gone in a moment as the man adjusts himself before erik, that enigma. leaning forth, chin finds itself hammocked against joined fingers, fixing his eyes upon him in intrigue. he feigns virtue, but for what end alucard was not certain. ❝ what is it that you WILL bow to, erik ? ❞