Chapter 199 That Level Of Deception Won’t Work Against Me (1)
The day of the ceremony arrived and the city was more crowded than ever. Lords, ladies, counts and countesses from all of the cities and kingdoms, no matter how small or big were in attendance.
But despite what they wanted others to believe, they weren’t there to congratulate Ashton or anything. The only reason they were there was so that the Overlord did not think one of them was involved with the assassination attempt.
After all, with Camilla and the assassins dead, there was no way to point out who was the traitor in their midst. And no one wanted to get on the Overlord’s wrong side.
That being said, a few of them were interested in just who was the werewolf who not only managed to save Kai but also singlehandedly eliminated 13 Vampires. One of such representatives was Avalina who was ordered to attend the ceremony as well just because she was familiar with the Lycanian customs.
Other than that, she was also someone very important to the Overlord. Not because there were feelings involved, but because Avalina and her research were an important asset to all of the vampires.
The Transylvanian throne room still looked like something that a castle room would have a couple of millenniums ago. Apart from a few things, nothing had been changed. The ceiling was supported by a hundred marble columns, said to have an important human leader buried alive inside them.
Lustrous braziers made off of the remains of a variety of night creatures, half encompassed each of the hundred marble columns light up most of the throne hall and allow shadows to play and dance where light couldn’t reach.
Countless paintings of angels and cherubs on the oblique ceiling could be found dancing in the flickering light while memorials and marble icons look down upon the slate floor of the impressive hall.
A cardinal rug ran in a circle around the room, dividing the throne room into two parts, all the way from the main entrance. Banners from all of the vampiric kingdoms were scattered all over the walls, with the exception of a single banner that didn’t belong to any vampiric kingdoms.
It was the banner of Lycania, that hung behind the throne along with the banner made by the Overlord himself. Between each banner sat a small alter full of candles, they’ve all been lit and in turn illuminate the wall paintings of divine beings below them.
Those waiting to see their royal highness could do so in the abundance of extravagant and comfortable birch benches, all of which are perfectly aligned in rows. At the moment, almost all of them had been occupied by people from different social statuses and lineage.
Those of higher standing can instead take seat in the opulent mezzanines overlooking the entire hall. While the few humans that were in attendance chose to stand all the way back, out of their own volition.
Everything was set and done. The only thing remaining was the presence of the Overlord and the man of the hour. The werewolf who stopped a bloody war from breaking out all by himself. .
While some of the vampires praised the werewolf, there were some who openly disagreed with whatever the overlord was doing. Showing his gratitude to someone who saved his nephew’s life was alright, but announcing a kingdom-wide celebration for it was a bit too much for them to stomach.
But what they didn’t admit was the major reason behind their thinking. Had a vampire saved Kai, none of them would have ever even thought about saying such a thing. But as it was a werewolf, a species most of them looked down upon, they could not agree to such an extravagant treatment of the man.
“What even is the Overlord thinking? The dog might have saved his nephew from certain death but this is too much!”
“Shh! Someone will hear you!”
“Oh, come on. As if most of us aren’t thinking the same thing.”
Avalina heard a useless conversation and shook her head. She herself wasn’t in total agreement with whatever was going through the Overlord’s head, considering how her research might inevitably lead to a war with the werewolves. But she could understand where he was coming from.
However, before she could throw any more food into her thoughts, the massive doors leading to the room were thrown open once again. Four silhouettes could be seen walking through. Everyone immediately went to their knees, paying respect to the one and only, Alucard, their overlord and his two daughters, Irina and Verina along with Kai.
Both the sisters had greyish hair, a characteristic of their father’s bloodline. While the petite Irina wore her hair long, Verina was the complete opposite in every department. From her thick shoulder-length hair to her attention-seeking mature figure.
As for Alucard, he didn’t look his age. In fact, his daughters seemed to have been ageing faster than he was as he still looked like someone in his late twenties. He didn’t like to wear fancy clothes but he had made an exception for the ceremony.
He had dawned on his notorious black light armour which could take any form he wanted to. It was the same armour he was worn while massacring over a million humans who killed his mother who desired peace with the humans, during the war a century ago.
Maybe it was supposed to be a statement of power, or maybe he just liked the armour’s tuxedo form. No one will ever know.
Not a single syllable came out of anyone’s mouth as the descendants of Dracula assumed their respective thrones.
“Please rise. You are my guests here and shouldn’t treat us as if we are any different from you.” Irina urged everyone to remain seated.
No one was immune to her captivating smile and did as they were told while Alucard scanned the crowd. He could see the disagreement in the eyes of most of them, but it was something he had expected to happen.
Half of the reason for organising the ceremony was to make people like them realise their mistake of thinking the werewolves were weak and could be trampled at any time. All while not guiding their vision to forcefully align with his.
After a couple of moments, he nodded and the gates were opened once again. This time the person they all had been waiting for walked through the doors, with the royal knight walking right behind him.
“Is that a kid?”
“There’s no way someone of his age killed 13 vampires.”
“Something doesn’t match up…”
As soon as they got a glimpse of Ashton, all of them immediately began whispering amongst themselves. However, it was Avalina whose eyes refused to believe what they were seeing.
“My… Son?”