Disclaimer: Hellsing and its characters belong to none other than Kouta Hirano.

Author's Note: Welp. Another busy month. So sorry for the late update and thank you to those who reviewed! I'm truly blessed. Now this one is a huge leap into the future. A lot has happened before this story and they made Arthur more lenient towards Alucard (which I'll reveal in the upcoming chapters). Also, concerning Arthur's illness, I'm prolonging his life a little because I've grown fond of him and I want to give him a chance to see Integra grow up.

Integra's Age: 14

Chapter 9: Pretty Little Dutch Girl

People were truly amusing, Arthur observed.

Since Integra had started growing into a beautiful young lady, it was expected for young men to flock her. She was attractive, talented, brave, and intelligent. But she was also proud, opinionated and bold. Most knights of the Round Table protested of a girl being so vulgar and outspoken but Arthur couldn't be more proud. He saw that she could take care of herself and that she had more sense of responsibilities and independence than their lot combined.

Currently they were in another gala held by the Round Table in an effort to help their pups catch Integra's heart, which failed majestically since no one counted Alucard tagging along, the vampire loyally trailing after her. The old bat had his presence curled menacingly around her as they stood on the sidelines against the wall and every young man that tried to come close got an eyeful of red eyes and sharp fangs.

Arthur was mingling with some nobles and a couple of the heads of the Round Table when one of them spoke up. "Arthur, your daughter has grown beautifully in the last few years," Sir Borrough commented. "She is as lovely as her late mother."

The blonde haired man smirked. He knew where this is heading. "Indeed."

"How old is she, again?"

"Fourteen."

They kept praising Integra with sweet nothings—besides Penwood, who gave the crowd a half-exasperated and half-worried stare; Irons had gone off to grab a drink to avoid this kind of talk. They knew about the Round Table's plan and had offered Arthur a permission not to come to avoid this kind of thing. But Arthur had just winked at them and said that he's not afraid of some measly men who think their sons can get his daughter's heart.

Finally, one of them said what they wanted to say from the beginning.

"But that horrid creature next to her," one of the nobles sneered.

"Indeed! Look at her," another man gestured, annoyance written all over his face. "She clearly wants to enjoy the party but it keeps preventing her. Like a loyal rabid dog, biting anyone who wants to get close."

Arthur laughed. "Loyal rabid dog! That's a good one!"

"This is no laughing matter, Arthur!" Another one admonished. "That thing is a horrible and dangerous creature. I still can't understand how you could let such monster get close to your daughter."

"He's right. That vampire is a hindrance."

Arthur laughed harder and wiped a stray tear from his eyes. Wait until Alucard heard what these people had to say about him. He'd have a blast!

His laughter died eventually, leaving only stray chuckles. The others were staring at him like he'd lost his head but Arthur just stroked his hair back before staring at the crowd with a solemn expression and a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Look closely at my daughter."

At his words, all heads turned to look at the young Hellsing and found her staring impassively at the ball while calmly sipping wine as the vampire loomed menacingly beside her. They turned back to look at Arthur in question.

"Do you see a damsel in distress that wishes she could get away from the monster's clutch," here he took a sip of his wine. "Or a young lady who's enjoying her time?"

They all turned just in time to see Alucard scaring away another young man. What they missed earlier was the clear laughter in Integra's eyes and the small quirk of her lips that she hid behind her glass, betraying the mirth she felt. Their jaws dropped.

"Listen here and listen well," Arthur started. "She's enjoying herself, relishing this game they're playing. The vampire may tend to be too dependent on my daughter, but she likes to show him off. Now, I want you gentlemen to ponder over this: What kind of person do you think she is if she has the great and horrible Dracula wrapped around her little finger?"

Arthur grinned widely and excused himself afterwards, asking Penwood to join him, which the man accepted readily. Both of them left the deathly quiet crowd and started laughing when they were far enough.

End Note: I'm fond of the plot but I'm not sure if I like how I wrote this. I'm probably going to edit this in the future. Anyway, apologies for any grammatical errors or misspellings, and prompts would be great since I'm starting to run out of ideas. -sweatdrop-