Five days had gone by since Alucard and Crina last saw each other and during that time, the young dhampir kept himself busy with both cleanup and experiments, more specifically in the kitchen. After obtaining some vegetables, spices and meat from the Lupo's packed pantry a few weeks back, Alucard decided to try out some of the recipes that Maria gave him. One of those recipes that he was working on now was a beef stew made with red wine, pearl onions and mushrooms. The wavering smell of red wine and matching spices filled the room as Alucard stirred the stew in accordance to the document that he had hanging from one of the cabinet doors.

"Now lets see here….'keep stirring until the stew starts to boil, then add the water/flour mixture in small amounts, stirring the stew until well blended. Then repeat the steps until the stew is at the thickness of a heavy cream'…" he said to himself, reading the recipe out loud.

Complying with the recipe, he took a small bowl with a 1:1 cup of flour to cup of water ratio mixture along with a large serving spoon and gave it a stir to get the water and flour to mix after settling for a bit. He then took the spoon and put in two spoonful's of the mixture into the stew before stirring it again. After letting it all blend for a few minutes, Alucard looked at the stew, looking at the thickness to see how it was coming along. He then gave an uneasy groan. Even though he enjoyed Maria's food, he's never seen nor eaten her beef stew before, so he wasn't exactly sure if he was doing it right. After repeating the necessary steps, the stew was about as thick as heavy cream with the wine and the spices being mellowed out and now combining into a balanced scent that made the young man smile.

"It sure smells delicious. Now the question is taste" he said to himself. He then turned to the recipe and read that he should remove the pot from the stove to let it cool when the stew has reached its thickness. Doing so, he turned off the heat and moved the pot off to a cool burner to let it set and settle.

"There we go, now the wait" he said quietly to himself. As he waited he worked on cleaning up the kitchen, taking care of both the dishes and the messy countertops. As he washed down the counters, he noticed that there was still some flour residue from when he did his other cooking earlier, more specifically, making bread to go with the soup, and worked on cleaning that up as well. He then turned to put the cleaning cloth down and moved to look in the oven to see how the bread was cooking, the smell of both butter and salt filling his nose as he saw that the bread was rising nicely.

"About another half hour with that and it will be ready to set out to cool" he said to himself.

He then went to the table and uncorked a bottle of wine to pour himself a drink. Taking a small sniff and a sip, he sighed. It was rather lonely, but it didn't feel so as much as before since now he had neighbors to talk to, albeit a little distanced. However, his thoughts then turned to Trevor and Sypha, wondering how those two were coming along on their journey. He didn't hear much about them other than what Crina had told him during her brief encounter with them on her year long journey. His mind would wander from time to time about what life would be like if Trevor and Sypha decided to stay in the castle. It certainly would've been different, with Sypha going through all of his father's books and learning all she possibly could to pass on while Trevor would either mess with the armory or drink the wine cellar of all its treasures, then possibly puking it all up later somewhere in the darker areas of the castle, only to show up saying that he found a chicken in one of the castle's many walls, just as how Alucard did before Crina restored the castle. He also began to wonder what Crina's family would think of Trevor and Sypha. More than likely, Trevor would've been considered annoying with his attitude and Sypha would be overcurious and happy about many things, in short, the two would cause the family a lot of headaches. He gave a chuckle to himself as he thought of the antics those two would cause, when he smelled the bread in the oven.

"I think it's ready now" he said to himself as he put down the wine and walked to the oven. Opening it up he took a whiff of the bread before taking it out to set on the counter and then from the counter to a set of racks for cooling. Then, taking a metal skewer from one of the drawers, poked the bread to the middle and pulled it out to look for bread pieces to determine if it was cooked all the way through. Sure enough the skewer came out clean and Alucard smiled, deciding to let the bread cool before he could cut into it. Figuring that the soup was cool enough now, he went to the pot, stirred the soup a little, grabbing a small bowl and filling it with a bit of the soup. After a few blows he took a small sip, the heavy flavors of the red meat and red wine mixed with the roasted vegetables danced on his tongue while the spices offered small explosions of flavor throughout his mouth. Just one sip of the soup and already he felt a shock through his body, indicating that this was a recipe that had been experimented on time and time again after many attempts and many years. He smiled as he tasted the soup, but his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a banging on the door from the front hall. Placing the pot lid on the pot of soup, he then made his way to the entrance hall. Once he got to the door, he watched it open on its own, only for a figure to fall backwards and fall flat on their back with a grunt. Alucard got closer and realized that it was Crina at the door with her hair up in a braided bun. He bent over a bit to look at her and gave her a joking smile.

"Nice of you to drop in, Crina" he said with a slightly teasing tone.

Crina however, gave him a frown, "Yes, but it's only now that you have noticed me. I was waiting out here for a half hour and knocked several times during that. I figured you were on a hunt until I saw the smoke coming from the kitchen chimney. It wasn't until I hit my hand against the door and turned it blue that you heard me" she said as she got up, showed the large bruise on her hand, and rubbed her back a bit. She then looked at him with a deadpanned gaze, "You really need a better doorbell" she said.

Alucard felt bad that he didn't hear her, but he nodded, "I'll look into that. May need your help though" he said.

Crina nodded but then her nose picked up on something, "Something smells good….beef stew?" she said.

Alucard smiled, "Close. Beef Burgundy. Your mother's recipe" he said proudly.

Crina's eyes widened, "Oh right, she did give you that recipe. I forgot about that" she said. And it was in that moment that her stomach growled at the smell of food hitting her nose again.

Alucard chuckled lightly, "Well, in exchange for making you wait for so long, how about lunch on the house?" he offered.

Crina nodded, "Yes please" she said with a smile, looking forward to his stew.

"Besides, you fed me more than once, so it's only fair that I work to even that balance, isn't it?" Alucard said with a slightly embarrassed smile and a scratching of the back of his neck.

He then gave a bow toward the kitchen to which Crina nodded and walked ahead a bit, but not too far for Alucard to be behind.

_*v*v*v*v*v*v*v*v*v*_

After a while, Crina fell back in the chair and gave a sigh after two bowls of soup and a few pieces of bread. Alucard wiped the sauce from his mouth and he too, gave a sigh, from a good meal.

"So, how was it?" he asked Crina, silently waiting with anxious excitement to hear her thoughts.

Crina pondered it a little bit but she then smiled, "It definitely was delicious, but apparently my mother forgot to tell you about an ingredient that she added later on. She would give the dish a small amount of a certain spice to give it that small kick. Your dish lacked that, but overall, 9.5 out of 10" she said with two thumbs up.

Alucard felt a little sad that it wasn't a full 10, but he was happy nonetheless.

"I'm glad it meets to your family's standards at least" he said.

Crina nodded, "And the bread was wonderful. You'd make a good baker" she said.

Alucard smiled, "Thank you. Now, since you were waiting for a half hour to see me, what's the purpose of your visit?" he asked, wondering what she was doing over here. Not that he didn't mind as he enjoyed the company, but more often than not, Crina came over for a reason.

Crina was about to take a sip of wine when Alucard asked her that. "Oh right, I forgot about that. Are you free to come over early tomorrow?" she asked.

Alucard nodded, "Of course, why?" he asked.

"Since I plan on taking you to the Gateway in two days, Yohei plans on coming over to the house tomorrow and explaining what will happen as you go through the acceptance process. He also wants to give you one last chance to back out. This is a big thing, especially to one such as yourself who has been alone for a long time and has only recently discovered that there more dhampirs like yourself. It can be overwhelming and if you don't feel like you're ready, then we can see about it another time" she explained.

Alucard raised an eyebrow, "Do you not think I'm ready?" he asked, feeling that she didn't trust him.

"No, it's not that. Its just considering that the only people you have interacted with in the past month has been myself, my father, my mother, my Grandfather, Alister, Yohei and, temporarily Simon, that's only seven people. Technically speaking you're considered one of those rare isolation cases where you were forced away from society because of your heritage. I just don't want you to get overwhelmed at the process of seeing over 12,000 people all at once, especially with this population not being the normal sort of crowd who doesn't judge you the moment you open your mouth and show your fangs" she said, pointing out her concerns.

Alucard paused at that, not thinking about the possibility of meeting so many people, let alone meeting people who are just like him. And she was right, he had been isolated for many years from society, despite having a happy childhood. He then recalled when he first met Trevor and Sypha, how Trevor was quick to judge him and seeing him as what he was instead of who he was. If he were to go out into a normal village, he would've been kicked out and possibly killed by the inquisition if they took him down in a fight. But here, maybe he wouldn't have to be on guard as much, or maybe he would be due to the lack of interaction he had over the years. Was he really ready? Was he prepared to take that big of a step? His mind pondered these thoughts for a while, his eyes giving off a worried glance the more he thinks about it.

"Alucard?" Crina asked, not receiving a response from the man. She tried calling his name a few times until finally she got his attention. "Are you ok? You look really worried" she said, complete concern showing on ever part of her face.

"Hm? Oh no, no, it's not that. It's just that I have indeed been looking forward to seeing the Gateway, but when you put it like this, at the thought of someone who has been completely isolated only to show up in a busy and stressful environment, it actually does sound scary to face" he said. "However…the more I think about it, the more it sounds like I may be better off in an environment that is considered more positive toward people like me, compared to a village or city that would be extremely judgmental of people such as myself. Almost to the point where they would feel that the best way to be rid of me would be to kill me…" he said, as he recalled what his mother told him growing up. He then looked at Crina, "As frightening as it is, I still have my heart set on seeing this place" he said with a reassuring smile.

Crina's worry faded as she saw the smile on his face, sensing his calmness and his desire to see the Gateway. She then looked down and smiled, "Alright then. With that in mind, we should also talk about preparations" she said. Crina then stood up, "Stand up for me, please" she said.

Alucard raised an eyebrow but he followed her orders. He then saw her walking around him, looking him up and down.

"Is this your only outfit?" she asked him.

"It's what I usually wear, but yes" he said, watching her look at him.

"Hmmmm….this isn't going to work…" she mumbled to herself.

"What do you mean?" Alucard asked.

"Don't suppose you or your father had more….formal wear, do you?" Crina asked, coming to a stop in front of him, "Because in order to meet the chief, you need to have a good first impression. After that, you're fine with your usual outfit as long as you are not meeting with the chief, to which you would need to be formal" she explained.

Alucard thought hard about his father's wardrobe, but he wasn't sure if there was anything that would be considered formal.

"I may need to look through his old wardrobes to see what would be acceptable. Since you would have a better idea, would you mind helping me?" Alucard asked.

Crina smiled and nodded, "Of course. Don't even need to ask" she said.

Alucard nodded and after putting the pot of soup and bread away, he walked with her to his father's old rooms.

_*v*v*v*v*v*v*v*v*v*_

After a few tries, the pair came up empty handed with outfits that were either too big for Alucard to wear or ones that weren't formal enough to show to the chief.

The young dhampir was feeling a little down that nothing was working so far, but he figured that there were more places in the castle that had to have some clothes that could work. Of course he may have to take up Crina's earlier offer of using some of her eldest brother's outfits, but he didn't give up.

After a while, the pair soon came across a room that had many furniture pieces covered by sheets.

Alucard cocked an eyebrow as he looked around, "That's odd, I don't remember this room…" he said. He then went to one of the pieces covered by a cloth, only to see a beautifully elaborated ornate chair that was fit for a duke, one that Alucard recognized after a few minutes. "This is…no, this can't be" he said to himself as he went to the other coverings and pulled them off, slowly revealing a room that he now recognized from his childhood. Slowly the room started to come to life, or in Alucard's case, come back to life as the ornate pieces were illuminated by the light coming from the window. As nostalgia filled his heart and mind looking over at all the furniture, he felt a tear come to his eye as he smiled.

"It's Edmund's old room" he said, looking around at the empty walls that used to be filled with books and paintings, now only holding the bare tiles of the castle walls.

Crina's eyes widened at the sight of her Grandfather's room in Castle Dracula. She had often wondered what his room was like and now she had the chance, despite it being stripped to the bare minimum save for the furniture and a few broken knick-knacks on the floor, she walked over to the last covered item and revealed a dresser set in Oak, the same wood as the rest of the furniture. Opening the doors, all was empty until she saw a crack in the back of one of the larger parts. Pulling at the wood, she revealed a false back where an assortment of coats and cloaks hung, all which she was sure her Grandfather used to wear when he was the Master Librarian. Looking among the many robes of royal purple, red, blue and gold, she soon found a mundane looking item in the far back. Pulling it out, she immediately recognized it due to the buttons which held the Hunyadi family crest, more specifically her line of the Jackdaw instead of the Royal family's Raven. It was a long black frock jacket with delicate gold trimming along the edges of the coat, the sleeves, the neckline and more while white lace ruffles covered the large open sleeves and the detailed triple layered cravat. She also saw a simple gold ribbon in the jacket pocket, one that she recognized from a very precious painting within her household. It was her Grandfather's wedding coat, one that she heard him say that he lost to time, but still recalled it in his once vivid memory. Despite it being hidden in the darkest parts of the closet and covered in dust, the black coat still looked as fresh as the day her Grandfather wore it for his wedding day.

"This…this will do" she said, getting a little teary-eyed at the sight of something her Grandfather thought was long gone. She dried her tears and looked to Alucard and then to the jacket. "Lets see if this fits" she said.

Alucard looked at the frock coat and then to his own body. "Hmm, alright. But I think it needs to be dusted a little. Here, let me see it" he said, holding out his hand.

Once Crina gave him the jacket, he grabbed it with both hands by the shoulders and started to shake it like he would a bed sheet, the layers of dust flying off the stiff and sturdy suit and filling the lingering sunlight with dancing particles, making it as though it was snowing in the room. After that, the young dhampir started to put the suit on, leaving the cravat on the table. Once on, he buttoned up the vest of the jacket set and fluffed the laced covered wrist sleeves, pulling his hair out from the back. It felt weird with his regular shirt on, but regardless he turned to look at Crina, feeling his breath hitch a little bit at the stiffness of the jacket.

"It's a bit stiff, but it seems to fit well" he said.

Crina looked him over, taking in to consideration that his regular boots and pants seemed to work well with this outfit. She then realized that this outfit made him look regal, and not just that but extremely handsome as well. She had to hold in her blush a little bit, but she found it to look nice on him either way. She then nodded and smiled.

"This will work for the first impression. You'll need to change your hair though, as it's kinda distracting from the suit. Have you ever had it up before? Just in something like a simple low ponytail?" she asked.

Alucard thought about it, but then shook his head, "I always thought I looked too much like my mother if I had my hair back. But, I suppose it would work" he said.

Crina nodded, "Alright, then this outfit will work. I'll take the coat with me to wash it up and get it ready for Monday" she said.

Alucard slipped the jacket and vest off, then straightening his own shirt over his pants, trying to get the wrinkles out. However, he wondered about something else.

"Do I need to prepare an offering to give to the chief?" he asked.

Crina raised and eyebrow but then she gave him a stern look and shook her head. "No, no need, especially since you'll be presented to both the Chief and the main council of the Gateway" she said.

"The council?" Alucard asked.

Crina nodded, motioning to walk with him as they talked, "Yohei will explain more, but basically, you'll be meeting the Chief and the Council to determine if you are allowed to enter the Gateway. The Chief will look through your memories and from her the memories will be played before the members of the Council and from there they will decide if you are safe to enter or not. If you are, then you will be exposed to all that the Gateway has to offer. If not, then your memories during that time will be erased and you will be taken back to the house" she explained. She thought that she had finished before something else popped into her head. "By the way, you'll want to put this in the back of your head for the time being. If it comes down to where you are accepted in to the Gateway, which I have a feeling you will, you might want to consider a form of trade to take part in" she said.

Alucard raised an eyebrow, "Trade? As in what you do?" he asked.

Crina nodded, "While passage to the Gateway is allowed by those who are accepted, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. In exchange for passing the test, you have to find a way to give back to the Gateway and help both the kingdom and its people in some way. Like how my father gathers knowledge or how I gather items. There are many ways to be involved in helping the Gateway. Those who are soldiers or fighters in some form end up joining the castle guard, the brotherhood and the inner military. Those who are good at crafting items such as blacksmiths and tailors, for example, can make connections with traders who focus on said materials. And so on and so forth, does that make sense?" she asked.

Alucard took this information in and nodded, "Yes, that does make sense and it does sound fair. In exchange for safety, you have to give back to pay your debt. I'll have to think about that. But do you have any suggestions?" he asked.

Crina pondered for a moment, the look on her face showing her sense of deep thought. But then she sighed, "While there are many options, I'll have to think about things specifically related to you" she said. "For now, I gotta get going. I have a few things I need to prepare for the Gateway anyway and they're not going to get done themselves, you know?" she asked.

Alucard nodded, "I understand. It does seem like you have a lot to work with since we gathered those items from the lake" he said.

Crina nodded as they made their way to the main castle doors. She then started to exit them and turned to Alucard once she was at the bottom of the steps.

"Come to the house before 9, as Yohei will show up by then to explain the entrance process. Mother will cook breakfast for you if you come over early enough" Crina said as she looked at him. "Don't oversleep now, understand?" she said with a slightly stern look.

Alucard caught her look and smiled, but then his look changed to feign shock. "Me? Never!" he said, his mouth creeping up into a smile.

Crina's strict face started to break with a smile of her own as the two of them then burst into laughter. The two of them locked eyes and shared a warm gaze for a few moments before realizing they were staring again and both turned away, blushing but smiling at the same time, their hearts beating in their chests but not loud enough for them to hear each others beats.

Crina then sighed, "Alright. Remember, before 9 o'clock and don't oversleep. I'll come and get you before 7:30 if you aren't up and moving by then" she said.

Alucard nodded, "Understood. I'll make sure to be up. I'll try to sleep earlier than usual" he said.

Crina nodded and then mounted Gabi before turning to Alucard. "Also, one last thing" she said, catching the dhampir's attention. "Add some curry powder, two teaspoons to the soup to make it have some kick, if you got any. If not, I'll give you some tomorrow" she said. She then clicked her heels against Gabi and rode off with the words "Don't forget!" lingering in the air.

Alucard watched her go and gave her a wave before heading into the castle, smiling while shaking his head. "That woman is something. And that's why I love her" he said to himself out loud. He paused as he realized what he just said, but he then smiled, becoming a bit more accepting of that idea. He didn't put himself fully into the idea, but he was still liking it little by little. He then thought about what she said about the soup. "Hmmm…curry powder huh? I think Father had some of that in the spice cabinet….I'll have to see…." His voice trailing off as the doors closed behind him with an echoing thud.

Notes:

Alrighty! Next chapter up! Sorry it's late. I needed a break after a long hard few weeks. But I'm better now and I got this chapter up and moving. So now, we're getting in to alucard preparing to go to the Gateway, the temple of miracles. Finally he'll have the chance to see more of his own kind and humans that accept vampires, dhampirs, demons and more. What can we expect from this insane wonderland? What form of trade will Alucard choose? Will the two of them confess soon? Stay tuned to see.

Now for some fun facts:
-Beef Burgundy is a dish that originated in France. While it was first documented in the 19th century, the dish is considered traditional. With that I figured that maybe it was originally created much earlier than that time. And with Alucard being a wine person, I figure that a dish that contained wine as an ingredient would be a great dish for him to cook.
-I don't think that Castlevania has a doorbell, so it would be hard for Alucard to be anywhere in the castle and be able to hear the knocking on the door. Yes, I know that Dracula opened the door for Lisa, but who knows where he could've been when she was there. He might have just been passing by the door when he heard the knocking. I think the kitchen would be closer to the door than say Alucard's new bedroom, but still, especially if all that noise in the kitchen is going on, it would be hard to hear distant echoes.
-The jacket that was Edmund's wedding suit is based off an 18th century frock jacket. More specifically, this one image/cache/catalog/product/Frock-Coat(6)_ I figured that while Alucard's SOTN outfit would've worked, his outfit in the series is already based off it, so I think that's kinda out of the question. As for finding an outfit, since Dracula is at least a foot or so taller than his son, I'm sure that most of his outfits are bigger than his son as well, hence why most wouldn't fit. Besides, despite him being a gentleman at times, I don't see him as being big on vanity, do you?

I think that's everything. Sorry for not updating without telling you guys I took a break. But please bear with me as I will try from here on out to update as much as I can on a regular schedule. Look forward to next Sunday or so! Stay safe and clean everyone and see you again soon! Bye-bye!