Chapter 196 Invitation

A month had passed since the attack on Kai. At first, tensions between the two species got high as soon as the information was somehow leaked to the public. Numerous parents blamed the vampires for the death of their children while some even went as far as branding Jonathan as their murderer.

Judging from Jonathan's previous actions on such matters, one would have expected him to immediately silence anyone who raised their voice against him. But surprisingly, he did not do anything to them. Whatever harsh words they pushed on him, he took them on without rebuking them even once.

"They are acting out of grief. It's understandable. If I were to lose a child of mine, I would be distraught as well."

That's all he said whenever someone asked him about it. As for Kai, as soon as he was cleared for travelling through portals, he was escorted back to Transylvania, the kingdom of the Overlord of Vampires and Kai's only 'living' relative.

Jonathan sent a shit load of gifts to the Overlord along with Kai. It was his chance to get closer to one of the strongest and most influential rulers of the world and he wasn't going to waste that opportunity no matter what.

Also, after what Ashton told Kai back in the dungeon, it seemed like the boy had developed some kind of feelings for Ashton. No, it wasn't loved or anything for those thinking that, it was more of comradeship than anything else.

For the first time in his life, Kai felt like someone saw him for who he was and did not want to get close to him, in order to get close to his uncle. For that reason, even though Ashton did not want to have anything to do with him, in the two days Kai lived in Deja, he kept following Ashton like his shadow.

Even though Ashton wasn't going to admit it... ever, Kai's persistent behaviour grew a bit on him. They also got a couple of chances to spar with each other, and it went without saying, Ashton kicked Kai's butt over and over again, till the day he left Lycania.

In the meantime, things were definitely looking up for Ashton. Upon consideration of his miraculous and astonishing deeds, he was promoted yet again and was officially a baron with his own small town to govern.

Jonathan wanted to give him a lot more than that, considering he had stopped a horrific one-sided war from starting. But Ashton declined. He was content with the little area he had received as a gift. The city of Vassia was right between Maddencreek and the enclosure he used to live in.

With the control of a city under his name, Ashton was set to put some of his plans into action. But before any of his plans could even begin, there was a lot he needed to do. Ashton chose Vassia because of its strategic importance in the bigger scheme of things.

The city was surrounded by mines filled with rich materials, most of which would now come under his jurisdiction. Along with it, there was an ample number of labourers he could get in the form of humans from the enclosure.

These materials would be needed by him for when Baiter would start the production of his weapons along with a plethora of different things. But he would take care of it when the time was appropriate.

As for the director, she was back to taking care of the academy and slowly things were returning back to normal for everyone. Well, it depended on what was 'normal'. After the stunt Camilla pulled off, the vampiric academy and the werewolf academy got merged together.

In other words, now there was one single academy and one director to oversee its operation. But it also meant... the werewolves and vampires were both now learning and living under the same roof.

However, for the time being, both of them were following their usual schedules so there were little to no conflicts amongst them for now.

Transylvania, Lycania and the rest of the werewolf kingdoms had also pitched in to create a place where both Vampires and Werewolves could study together. That being said, they would either have to make an underground establishment or would have to find a way to stop the sun from entering the campus.

But despite all of this, there was an even weirder thing going on... an issue that Ashton and Jonathan and his ministers were busy handling amongst themselves.

"I would strongly recommend that we accept the invitation." The minister of foreign affairs calmly voiced his opinion, "It would only help make the diplomatic relationship with Transylvania better. We might even commercially gain from it."

"Not to mention, having allies as strong as the Overlord would make the other kingdoms think twice before crossing us." The defence minister chimed in.

"But your highness, it's the vampires we are talking about! Some of them even dared to go against their overlord to spark a feud between us, what's stopping them from doing it again?" Yet another minister placed her views on the table.

While the ministers were busy debating amongst themselves, Ashton and Jonathan were silently observing them. The two of them had already made their decision and whatever was happening now was a mere formality.

But what was the topic of debate? It wasn't anything special, just an invitation signed by the 'Overlord' himself, inviting Ashton to Transylvania, so that they could officially bestow some rewards on him for saving Kai and putting his life on the line for doing so.

To be honest, Ashton thought it was a pain. But the more he thought about it, the more positives popped up in front of him. It would be a waste if he didn't accept the invitation. But that didn't mean Jonathan was onboard with the plan.

,m The moment Ashton informed him about his decision, Jonathan got protective over him as usual. But after talking for a while, Ashton was able to convince Jonathan to see the bigger picture and manipulated him into thinking the vampires might even willingly help them take care of the swamps.

As soon as the topic of swamps came up, Jonathan was in on his plan. Little did he know Ashton had something else in his mind.