Issei bowed his head, averting his eyes to give his mistress privacy in her grief.
“I’ll find him,” he said in a low voice.
The relationship between Hatsuyuki and her adopted son was something that Issei had never properly understood. There was more between them than simply what was between sire and childe, and Issei knew that it was in part his own jealousy that had kept him from defining or acknowledging it, however he tried to suppress the emotion.
Nevertheless, he did not feel vindicated now that his loyalty had proven stronger. He could not understand why Hoshiro had turned away from them. His brother had many faults, and Issei admitted to himself that he was critical and likely overly harsh in his judgment of Hoshiro, but even he could not have imagined this outcome. The loyalty of Hatsuyuki’s eldest childe was the one thing that Issei would have sworn could never be shaken. But whatever Hoshiro’s reasons were, it was Issei’s responsibility to redress the offence of his sempai, and he would not shirk it, no matter if his mistress could not forgive him. It was all the comfort he could offer and he knew it was inadequate.