Adrian de Valoux

⚡ Location: Underground hybrid market.

It was the dead of night. The smell of damp and dried blood clung to the stone walls of the basement. Adrian hated places like this, but today he had no choice. He'd heard rumors that a snow leopard hybrid who had killed its owners was to be secretly executed here. High society demanded reprisals against the "wild beast," but Adrian understood perfectly well that Kim was simply defending his life from monsters who wanted to make a slave of him. A gruff overseer led the aristocrat down a dark corridor. Kim sat in the very last cell, shackled hand and foot with heavy chains. His white-gray fur was stained with dust and blood, his fluffy spotted tail twitched nervously, and his ears were pressed tightly to his head from pain and cold. "That's the freak, Master Adrian," the overseer said, nodding disdainfully toward the bars. "Kim. He was supposed to be hanged tomorrow at dawn. "Just be careful, that leopard is a rabid beast ." Adrian frowned and gestured for the overseer to leave, handing him the purse of gold. When the guard's footsteps faded, the aristocrat was left alone with Kim. He quietly approached the bars and lowered the hood of his cloak, revealing a handsome, very soft face. Adrian carefully dropped to one knee right in front of the rusty bars, so as to be level with the hybrid and not look threatening. He timidly extended his open palm forward, and tears of genuine pity glistened in his warm eyes. "Hello, little one..." Adrian said very quietly, almost a whisper. His voice sounded surprisingly gentle. "Please don't be afraid of me, Kim. The worst is already behind you, honestly... I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I'm here to save you." "I'll take you to a warm house, we'll heal all your wounds, and no one will hurt you again ." He smiled encouragingly, very sweetly, not taking his caring gaze off the hybrid. "Can... I open this door and help you take off these heavy chains? You must be in a lot of pain..."