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For his part, though, Prince David did not mind staying here in the slightest. Thus far, several months into his ambassadorship, the castle’s ominous reputation had still not touched him one bit, nor did he ever expect it to. In the first place, he did not buy into such superstitions, but even if he did, there was no reason to think they would apply to foreign visitors.

Plus, the food here was spectacular.

If anything, it was hard to pull himself away from this place. That was one of the reasons why he’d been trying to hold his meetings at various restaurants in town: to force himself to leave. To not stay cooped up in the lap of luxury.

Also, there was just... something about Livingston. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Food aside, he simply found this place very comfortable. He wasn’t sure why. He slept soundly at night, felt a great peace in the extravagant gardens, and quite enjoyed the beautiful sunsets from the top floors. Thankfully, the sky-bending towers of downtown Andeyal did not entirely wall those off. In fact, he felt they might’ve been enhancing them with their shimmering windows.

As he stepped out of the vehicle, David noticed the young Victor gawking at the magnificent building in front of them. “First time here?” said the Prince.

“Y-yes... it’s, um... much more intimidating in person...”

“Think so?” David took a moment to share in the view, in the tall, black-lined windows with sharp, pointed apexes, almost like spikes. The walls had a repeating pattern of gray-on-darker-gray stones, and the steep rooftops with long eaves created some rather heavy shadows, even during the middle of the day like this. “What’s so intimidating about it?”

The young man turned to him. “Is that a joke? Just look at it.”

David did so. And then shrugged. “I think it looks quite majestic.”

Victor blinked. “W-well, yes, it does, b-but...”

More vehicles were arriving behind them, stopping curbside in order to drop passengers off. David was now at a point where he could recognize some of the faces coming and going, but only some. Livingston was always abuzz with activity, and keeping track of so many different people was no easy thing.

His own car drove off to go find a parking spot, but he knew the driver would not be leaving him alone for long. That was his bodyguard, Vito, and David had come to realize that even when the fellow wasn’t immediately present, he was still watching.