While we ate our lunch the conversations at the table varied rather wildly. Karin, my girlfriends and I were mostly talking about the rather uneventful events at school with Viktor and Aileen rather interested to hear about high-school gossip. It looked like they found it rather fun to follow along with some of the relationship drama that happened, maybe because it was very much something they never experienced themselves and for them it’s mainly something they had only seen in movies. It was mostly Em and Ria discussing these gossips however, with Karin and I just listening in on the sidelines as well. Luckily Em and Ria were the most sweet of pees so it was always kept rather wholesome without any kind of bashing. It quickly fell into the rhythm of Ria and Em talking about a couple and then Aileen asking questions about said relationship.

  As for the others around the table, they were mainly discussing business and work related events but from the kind of snippets that I actively listened to, those discussions actually weirdly aligned with some things that happened in a school environment too, although obviously in some cases, a bit more mature.

  Even though we had these two different conversations going in between different parts of the table, mostly talking through each other, the conversations were still very easy to understand. Nine to ten people is still manageable for a good vibe while not becoming too rowdy.

  In any case, I kept listening to the gossip until I overheard the conversation between Alessia and Ilse switch to education too, perhaps inspired by the conversation at our side of the table.

  “So, Alessia, I heard that you will educate Aurora, right?”

  Alessia nodded. “I will. She will still need to learn a lot of things before I can let her take over my mantle completely. She’s already learning quite a lot about formal etiquette though.”

  “We saw.” Ilse chuckled and looked at me.

  “It’s harder to put into actual practice…” I defended myself.

  “Well, you can only get better when you practice it.” Ilse smiled and then looked back at Alessia. “But what other things will she learn in the near future?”

  “One of the things that I was going to let her pay closer attention to sooner rather than later is the full, or at least a fuller history of our order. Aside from that, getting to know the different needs of a castle this size and a start to learning personnel management.”

  “That sounds heavy…” I commented with a small huff.

  “It’s okay.” Alessia was quick to reassure me. “It sounds more difficult than it actually is. We will also do it step by step just like the lesson yesterday.”

  “If you say so.” It still sounded rather intimidating though, but both Em and Ria put a hand on my thigh to give me some physical support as well. So I was starting to feel a bit better about it.

  “What about business?” Paul asked. “Are you going to teach her that too?”

  “Probably a bit down the line.” Alessia nodded.

  “If it’s okay with you, and with Aurora too of course, is it okay that my wife and I teach her a thing or two about that then? That way you don’t need to do everything?”

  Alessia smiled and nodded. “Be my guest, if you want to do so I won’t stop you.” She then looked over to me.

  “You two are going to give me business lessons?” I frowned. “I mean… I’m not against it…”

  “Dad often has to make presentations for new managers in his company. I have seen a couple of his slides when he asked for help with PowerPoint, they are quite easy to understand.” Em replied.

  “And I know a thing or two about business too.” Ilse smiled. “Of course we won’t ram the knowledge into you. See it a bit like getting driving lessons from your parents. A very low barrier of entry.”

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  “I think it’s a good idea too, Rora.” Ria replied. “That way you don’t need to continuously come to this place for lessons either.”

  “Hah,” Alessia laughed. “I hadn’t even thought about that yet. That’s a pretty good point too, Corelia.”

  “That’s true.” I looked at my adoptive mother. “Not that I don’t like being here of course, but going to Em’s place is a lot easier than coming here.”

  Alessia smiled. “Well, at least you don’t have it too bad. Some of our fun group of vampires and vampiresses need to come from a lot farther than you. Viktor technically also doesn’t live closeby.”

  “Oh.” I looked at Viktor and thought for a second. “Have you ever told me where you live?”

  “Nein.” Viktor shook his head. “Out of personal safety reasons I didn’t tell you. I wouldn’t like to be hit with a baseball bat while I’m listening to the opera on the radio.”

  “Baseball bat?” Paul asked, tilting his head slightly.

  “Have you been threatening the man with a baseball bat, Aurora?” Ilse asked.

  “He completely deserved it.” I replied, crossing my arms.

  “She isn’t wrong.” Aileen laughed and agreed with me instantly.

  Viktor nodded along. “Yes… It’s not untrue.”

  “So where do you live, Viktor? In Saxony?” Em asked intrigued by the turn in the conversation.

  Viktor lifted his finger and smiled. “I used to, I actually do still have real estate there, but that’s not where my main residence is. I actually moved to West-Pommeren.”

  “That’s indeed rather far away…” I commented. “Why did you move there?”

  “To be closer to the sea mainly.” He replied. “I moved there after the Berlin wall fell. It’s not too busy either.”

  “It’s a pretty nice house he has there actually.” Aileen smiled. “When you are ever in the neighborhood you should definitely go and check it out.”

  “Always welcome.” Vik smiled. “In any case, lately I have been with Alex a lot so it’s not like I’m too far away from this place.”

  “Epiphania, Alex and Aileen live the closest to the chateau.” Alessia continued.

  “Well, you should also add a ‘technically’ there, Alessia.” Aileen commented. “Phania is pretty much always on the move.”

  Alessia nodded. “It's true that she doesn’t exactly like staying at the same spot for a very long time. She lives a bit like a nomad.”

  “Which makes her very useful for information gathering.” Viktor said.

  “That’s also true.” Alessia agreed.

  “But everyone is based in Europe?” Ilse asked, joining in on the conversation. “There’s no vampires outside of our continent.”

  “Oh, there definitely are. We are just the European conclave. There’s a conclave in the Americas, a couple in Asia as well and there’s one in Africa too. Most of them also count more members than ours.”

  “Because of the war?” I asked.

  “The others lost members too, you can rest assured of that, but yes, our conclave was hit hardest by a long shot.”

  “Would you like to tell us more about that time period by the way, Alessia?” Em’s mom asked. “I’ve heard it mentioned before but if you don’t mind retelling the story in more detail…”

  “I definitely don’t mind.” Alessia nodded politely. “But that might be a story to tell this evening in front of the hearth with a nice cup of coffee or tea. Let’s not get into dark places yet.”

  “I fully agree with that.” Viktor replied.

  “Okay, on a lighter note then.” Em laughed awkwardly. “When is the next time you will visit one of the other conclaves, Alessia?”

  “Good question Emma, glad that you asked.”

  “Cheesy.” I chuckled.

  “Shush, daughter of mine.” Alessia was having trouble holding her laughter herself after saying that line. “I will discuss this with Aurora later on, as my heir she will be traveling with me of course and I would like to extend the same invitation to you and Corelia. However, for the time being, I’d rather keep that a secret. Not because it’s very secretive, but see it as a little hidden present from me.”

  “Oooh.” I looked over to Ria who was now biting her lips really really badly. She was visibly excited about it and was trying her very best not to just bury Alessia in an inquisitive avalanche.

  “Surely as her parents you will tell us, right?” Ilse smiled.

  “I will, but like I said, I’d rather keep it a secret from you too at the moment. There’s one person at this table who I believe will not stop bothering you if I disclose the secret to you right now.” Alessia looked directly at Ria. It was no surprise at all who she was talking about to begin with.

  Ria just started laughing at this. “I’m so excited to know now. Why did you tell me about this now? I’m not going to be able to sleep at all.” She giggled.

  “Yeah, now you’ve done something, Alessia.” Em sighed followed soon after with a giggle. “Then again, I’m the one who asked in the first place.”

  -Yeah, Em, you brought this all on us. Hehe.-

  “Don’t worry, I have tricks I can use to make her fall asleep. But you can trust me that it will be worth the wait.”