Chapter 3: Shadow Council

River met his brother Felix right outside the headquarters of Shadow Council. Their father had called an emergency meeting considering the huge trouble Kaito had created for all of them.

"Are you alright?" Felix asked as he came to stand next to River. Even though the two of them were brothers, other than their Ice-blue eyes, there was nothing similar between the two of them, neither in appearance nor in character.

Unlike River's dark brown hair, Felix had long platinum hair with dark strands - a symbol of his right to the throne of the Shadow Realm. The crown headband with the bright blue stone was sitting beautifully between his forehead, stating his status as the Crown Prince of the Shadow Realm.

While River was wearing an all-black outfit, Felix had chosen white for the day. The latter was a fan of pastel colors which was a huge contrast to River's dark color preferences.

While River's skin was tanned and he had a muscular body, Felix had milky skin and a lean well-built physique that only added beauty to his already ethereal looks.

"As good as I can be," River answered his brother's question and received a light pat on his shoulder from the latter. "Let's go and see what father has to say."

Felix and River headed inside the building and went straight toward the meeting room. Several Councilmen stood up to greet them as the two of them entered the meeting room and made their way to take their seats on the right side of their father where two empty seats were waiting for them.

The only people who kept sitting other than their father were - Mr. Takashi, Kaito's father, and the head of the Vampires, Mrs. Winters, Felix's soon-to-be Mother-in-Law, and the Head of the Witch Clan, and the last person who also belonged to the Elite bloodline was once again missing from the meeting - Xander, the last Dark Fae alive.

Felix's eyes landed on the empty seat and it took every ounce of his self-control to keep his expressions neutral. He was aware that his father wouldn't appreciate it if he ended up creating a scene again regarding Xander in front of the entire Shadow Council. The last time something like that happened, the consequences were too drastic for both him and Xander.

"Where's Kaito?" The King asked as he pointed his attention at Mr. Takashi.

"He's still with her at the warehouse. I have assigned a team to guard them for the time being." River replied to his father's question when Mr. Takashi turned his attention to him. The Vampire Leader knew that Kaito was in River's custody.

"Those mere guards won't be able to hold Kaito back." Mr. Takashi responded with a shake of his head but the look of frustration on his face was directed towards his son instead of anyone else.

"True. But I don't think he would try to create too many troubles for himself in a single day." River commented and noticed the nods that his statement received from Mr. Takashi and others.

"So what are we going to do now?" Vivian, the Luna of the Werewolf Clan, questioned and her attention was focused on River, meaning the question was directed at him. "The plan was to bring the Light Princess here to break off your soulmate bond with her as soon as possible and then send her back to her realm. What now?"

"Now, we have an even bigger problem waiting for us. Her unexpected bond with His Highness was already troublesome but now Kaito..." Mr. Takashi trailed off as he once again shook his head in frustration just by thinking about his son.

"We were planning to get the initial matter of River and Princess Roselyn's soulmate bond taken care of without alerting anyone from the Light Realm. But at this point, we have to contact them regarding this issue. Her disappearance won't go unnoticed for too long." King Vespertine spoke as he looked at his second son.

"Both these cases are quite different. While River and the Princess share a soulmate bond, the bond Kaito has initiated is a blood-mate bond. Besides, the latter is at the initial stage and there are chances that it won't even succeed considering she's a light fae. But even that can be concluded only after a month or so. In the meantime, we can't sever the soulmate bond between River and her either. It can prove dangerous for her life and the Light Realm won't appreciate that at all." Felix put forward his thoughts and noticed the several nods that he received, including his father's.

"So what now?" Mr. Takashi asked, the Vampire seemed more worried about his own son than anyone or anything else which was quite understandable considering Kaito had broken one of the most important rules of the Shadow Realm - biting someone from the Light Realm.

"This is the first time something like this has happened, let alone the part of River and the Princess being soulmates which can never be possible. We can't tell what's going to happen next. That's why we will have to keep the Princess under observation, and the same goes for Kaito too considering he has drunk her blood." Felix spoke again and once again the Councilmen seemed to agree with his statement.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, even though a halfling, she's still a Light Fae Royal, we can't just keep her in custody here. The Light Realm won't like the idea." Mrs. Winters spoke and she had a point.

"That's true. We can't keep her locked up but she can't be left without supervision. That's why I have an idea but we will need to have a meeting with the Light Fae Royals to get to an agreement. I'm sure they will want to solve this problem just as eagerly as us." Felix added and watched his father arching his eyebrows in question.

"What are you planning to do, my son?"

Felix took a deep breath before he dropped the bomb, "The Academy."