[The horse gets fed from a bucket of gold. This horse is probably the most sacred thing to ever enter the castle. The Best Horse. And there's zero doubt that Vlad likes the horse more than everyone else who isn't immediate family, he's made it pretty obvious. (And watching the court get upset about a horse is the height of comedy.)

But leave it to his mother to call Alucard out on exactly where he's at emotionally right now. It's easier to hold things at arm's length right now. Not only because they are in a new place, but because this can all still go so sour, and then where shall the three of them be?]

I...I'd like that. [It's safe. Because if something happens, he's there.

But there's something else, and his mother has already called him out on staying just outside of the human world. There's another reason for it, one that's less concerned with his mother's well being.]

How long, do you imagine, it will take for others to notice that I have not aged at the rate men do?