Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 31- Aftermath

Warning! Spicy chapter. 

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~2 months later ~

Many things happened after the Emperor died.

First, several territories collapsed in the wake of the uprising. What was initially a small group of outraged low-borns quickly turned into an entire movement once news of the Emperor's death had spread. 

To keep the enemy Archdukes in line, Greer volunteered his own soldiers to join with Nicholas's forces and made short work in subjugating them. Some of the Emperor's old followers were too stubborn to accept the change and rather than facing their punishment, chose to end their lives. This made it easy for Nicholas to appoint his own people in their stead. 

Duchess Elizabeth Bennet, whom Luke met at the party a while back, got promoted when the Archduke of Steamworks was overthrown. Even though the two of them had only met once, Luke was thrilled to hear the news.

Then Maximilia was promoted to Lieutenant to help protect the Drummond borders once Nicholas's forces got thinned out. Luke rarely saw her after that, but according to Archibald, she was doing fine.

There was still a lot of unrest in the Capitol. Many of the older generations refused to acknowledge Nicholas as their new ruler, despite how poorly the old Emperor had treated them. The Vampire didn't mind though and he demonstrated this by immediately obliterating what was left of the castle, erasing centuries of history along with it. He then began issuing new regulations, starting with the tax rate on blood and building new healthcare facilities for the starving citizens.

It hadn't been very long since he came to power, but already things were looking up. The initial shock of the uprising was dying down and people were coming to terms with what had happened. This provided their first opportunity for leisure time, and Nicholas took advantage of it by properly announcing their engagement. 

Unfortunately they were unable to make the event as grand as they wanted to due to the tumultuous era, but Luke was fine with that. They instead agreed on a small ceremony with a select few of their closest friends. Not having many acquaintances, Luke decided to invite Archibald, who accepted the invitation with the utmost awkwardness, unaccustomed to being a guest instead of a servant. 

The party happened in Drummond since Nicholas felt that the mansion was much safer than any of his other properties. The Vampire also insisted that the party be peppermint themed, since it was reminiscent to how they first met. They then stood at the head of the ballroom, welcoming their friends as violins played. Archibald fiddled with his hands off to the side, shooting glances towards the kitchen and not knowing what to do with himself. 

"Poor thing." Elizabeth murmured when she noticed the estranged servant. 

Luke felt a little bad for putting the man in such an uncomfortable position. Had he known, he would have just let Archibald serve the guests like he was used to. However Elizabeth had other ideas as she winked back at Luke. "Don't you worry. I can fix him right up."

Luke hesitantly watched as the woman trotted over to Archibald in her puffy lime green dress and invited him to dance. It was comical the way the servant sputtered, then accepted. Luke almost expected him to trip over his own feet, but as it turns out, the man was an excellent dancer and quickly fell into rhythm with the music. 

It was at that point he spotted a familiar redhead by the buffet. He couldn't believe it at first, but then the woman turned around, revealing herself to be none other than Maximilia. 

He had sent her an invitation despite expecting her to reject the offer and was pleasantly surprised to find that she showed up. What's more, she was dressed in a gorgeous blue and white dress with a flowery hat. Having only ever seen her in armor or men's cloths, he could have sworn this was a completely different person. But then she noticed him staring from across the room and waved in acknowledgement.