Geralt raised his eyebrows at the revelation that the girl was Illyana. He was surprised, but now the expression made much more sense. He had hardly noticed a twitch in the young woman after she had refused to shake hands. Although, he was sure she had dark hair...but, ah, this made sense. She was not a gypsy at all, her whole outfit, her hair, the makeup, it was all a ruse. He should have known when he detected no hint of a Romani accent in her speech. He wondered if the entirety of her act was just as fake...but, no, Lucien would never employ a regular human for a job in his Circus, it just didn't make sense. 

The comment about the tall redheaded male figure made Geralt's heart leap with anticipation. So, there was more to this story that Lucien was not comfortable sharing just yet...this intrigued him greatly, especially considering the stern tone the ringleader had taken on when he said it. He couldn't blame him if this was personal, the two had only just met, but Geralt burned with so many desires for the Frenchman that he was having a hard time keeping track of them all.

He was about to speak again, but held his tongue when Lucien continued. He listened well, nodding here and there, and tilting his head in the posture of someone interested. He sipped his wine down to its last dregs, then nodded one final time before answering, [color=crimson]"Oh, I completely understand, and no offence taken. I do apologize for my...proximity, let's say, with Miss Cora. She is just a dish...and I must admit, I do have a hard time controlling myself around beautiful things..."[/color] he said, finishing off his wine and giving Lucien a sly glance. He set his glass down on the desk, then held up a hand, his heels together and his back straight, [color=crimson]"Right hand to the Lord, I promise to watch myself around your performers."[/color] He relaxed, then chuckled, [color=crimson]"Well, my co-performers, I should say."[/color]

Lucien's protective instinct was not surprising to Geralt, in fact, he had expected such a comment to come at him at one time or another. He did not think it would be this soon, of course, but Cora had been a special case. Despite her age, he was sure she still had some learning to do about the world around her. She and Akane exuded and innocence that was, well, interesting, to say the least. If Lucien's warning did anything, it also informed Geralt that Cora was in fact the weakest of his troupe, and the most prone to manipulation. This was good news, in his opinion, and fueled his ego as well, as his guess had been correct about their little Siren.