Alex's morning began with the now-familiar sequence of actions. The first thing he did upon waking was head to the bathroom, where he found Integra, who had already finished washing up. Meeting Alex's usual morning gaze, Integra stepped aside slightly to let him pass.
Alex quickly kissed Integra on the cheek and began washing his face. By the time Alex had finished, Integra had already changed into her usual clothes. Even though she and Alex had to attend a formal ceremony and event organized by order of the Queen of England that day, it didn't mean Integra wouldn't do her work.
After Alex left the bathroom, he and Integra headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Entering the kitchen, Alex first put the kettle on the stove to brew tea, and only then began preparing breakfast.
Despite having been in London for nearly three weeks, Alex had fully realized how often the English drink tea. Even Integra, during her short breaks from work, always found time to drink at least one cup of tea.
While preparing breakfast, Alex clearly understood that Walter had taken on many responsibilities in Hellsing overall. Walter handled not only work matters but also cooking and brewing tea for Integra. That was why finding a replacement for someone like Walter would be quite difficult.
At the same time, Alex understood that after Walter's betrayal, Integra clearly wouldn't want to discuss the issue of hiring new staff. Perhaps in the future Integra would be able to forgive Walter, but that would take time. And Walter himself was not currently in a state to return to work at Hellsing. At the moment, Walter was acting as a butler for four gremlins and accompanying them to other worlds.
Lost in his thoughts, Alex brewed the tea and placed the freshly brewed teapot in front of Integra. Integra herself was busy reading the newspaper at that moment, even though she had received a phone from Alex and had full access to all the news from around the world.
Pouring tea into Integra's cup, Alex thought that at this moment he looked like a housewife. Chuckling lightly at such thoughts, Alex couldn't help but shake his head.
"If you think about it, I even cook at home…" Alex said, stroking his chin.
"What are you muttering about?" Integra asked, lowering the newspaper and looking at Alex.
"I was just thinking that even in the Bunker I was responsible for the food… I hope they're eating normally there without me," Alex said, stopping stroking his chin and looking down at Integra.
"Are you waiting for praise?" Integra asked, turning the page of the newspaper.
"It was just thinking out loud. It's not hard for me to cook something," Alex said, shrugging lightly.
"Then finish preparing breakfast and sit down to eat," Integra said without looking up.
Alex just rolled his eyes at Integra and returned to cooking. At that moment, Alex's shadow slightly distorted, and Alessa emerged from it, looking as if she had just woken up. Appearing from Alex's shadow, Alessa sleepily rubbed her eyes, clutching her creepy rabbit Robbie to her chest.
Rubbing her eyes from drowsiness, Alessa looked up at Alex and yawned lightly. With a slight smile on his face, Alex picked up his daughter and sat her at the table. Sitting at the table and waiting for her breakfast, Alessa tried to wake up and nodded her head slightly whenever her eyes closed and she struggled to open them. Sleeping in the Red City was no different for Alessa than sleeping in a coffin, but like her father, she found it difficult to wake up in the mornings.
Integra lowered the newspaper and glanced at Alessa, who was rubbing her eyes, still trying not to fall asleep. Seeing Alessa like this, Integra couldn't help but think that perhaps it was a family trait of Alex's family — having difficulty waking up. By this time, Alex had finished preparing breakfast and placed plates of food in front of Alessa and Integra.
Alessa moved her creepy rabbit Robbie to the neighboring chair and began eating her breakfast. Integra neatly folded the newspaper and placed it aside, then started her breakfast. The last to appear in the kitchen was Seras, who entered with a wide, radiant smile on her face, humming a light melody.
But Seras quickly stopped when Integra and Alessa's gazes turned toward her — they simply wanted to have breakfast in silence at that moment. Seeing this, Seras quietly cleared her throat into her fist and, without losing her smile, sat down at the table. When Alex placed a plate of breakfast in front of Seras.
Looking at Alex so closely, Seras's cheeks turned slightly red from the memories of what had happened the previous evening. On one hand, she was very glad that her relationship with Alex had reached the final stage; on the other hand, she felt a little embarrassed to look him in the eyes because everything had once again happened under the influence of her blood thirst, when her emotions had taken over again.
Lowering her head, Seras began eating the breakfast Alex had placed in front of her, but a satisfied smile remained on her face that she couldn't hide. After setting breakfast in front of everyone, Alex calmly sat down at the table and began to eat. Thinking a little during breakfast, Alex remembered that he hadn't checked the news for the last few days.
Taking his phone out of his pocket, Alex wanted to see what he had missed. Slowly scrolling his finger across the phone screen, Alex noticed that nothing major had happened in the world at all. Not seeing anything interesting besides ordinary news, Alex put the phone aside.
"Well, the world is still standing, and for now that's enough," Alex said, returning to his breakfast.
"Why did you suddenly bring that up?" Seras asked, looking up at Alex.
"None of the Major's plans succeeded… How should I put it — in the few days since Millennium's destruction, nothing has happened. If there are no global problems, it means the world is standing. Isn't that obvious?" Alex said in a lazy tone, continuing to eat his breakfast.
"Except for the fact that that pig left behind a few problems," Integra said, looking up at Alex.
"You're talking about those who succumbed to the temptation of immortal life? There aren't many of them… I don't want to praise the Major, but he was very smart… For a human. And he knew perfectly well how to sell the product he owned. A promise here, a promise there, a couple of people turned into vampires for demonstration, and that's it. All those idiots thirsty for immortality were on his short leash," Alex said, tapping his finger on the table.
"We'll need to deal with that…" Integra said, stopping eating.
"No need. I've already taken care of everything," Alex said with a light smile on his face.
Integra and Seras looked at Alex, waiting for him to continue. Alex sighed and began explaining that someone had stolen all the documents from the Doctor's laboratory, whom he had used as a living weapon. And among those documents was the Doctor's diary, in which he had recorded the names of everyone who had gone through the process of becoming artificial vampires.
Integra smiled contemptuously when she heard that some high-ranking members of the Vatican had also become vampires. Seras nodded, remembering the folder with documents that Alex had given to Anderson, and understood everything. After Alex explained everything, Integra saw no reason to continue delving into the topic.
"At four o'clock in the afternoon you should already be ready. Alessa, that applies to you too," Integra said, standing up from the table after finishing her breakfast.
"Understood, Mama Integra," Alessa said, nodding slightly.
Alex simply gave a thumbs-up, showing that he would be ready on time. Integra nodded one last time and headed to her office, forgetting that Alex's clone was still busy working with documents. Alex himself continued eating his breakfast, forgetting that he would have to endure today.
Alex had already come to terms with the fact that he would have to interact with the so-called elite of English society, and therefore he chose the simplest option — to simply enjoy it. Even if in the end he would be the center of attention.
The only thing that made Alex sigh was that he could have avoided all of this by simply killing all members of Millennium at once or by not leaving any witnesses who had seen everything that had happened in London. But what brought a smile to Alex's face was that after returning to America he would be able to brag to Dean and Sam about the fact that he had become a knight.
After finishing breakfast, Alex used magic to wash all the dishes and began thinking about the simplest way to pass the time. Tapping his finger on the table, Alex thought that the simplest way to pass the time was to watch something. Having decided on his choice, Alex looked at Seras and suggested watching a movie. The moment Alex's words sounded, a light blush appeared on Seras's face.
After all, memories of yesterday's movie watching — which they never actually watched — flashed through her mind again. Seeing that Seras was thinking about the wrong thing, Alex grabbed Seras by the nose, reminding her that they were simply going to watch a movie to pass the time. Seras smiled embarrassedly, realizing that her imagination had run wild again.
Alessa, having finished her breakfast, tidied herself up with the help of her father, who once again tied her two pigtails. And when Alex suggested to Seras that they watch a movie, Alessa decided that her father and mama weren't actually going to watch any movie. So by this time she had already left the kitchen and headed to her mother Integra's office, since it was quiet enough there and no one would disturb her from what she was doing.
Entering Seras's room in the basement, Alex stretched lightly and immediately fell face-first onto the bed, stretching out a little to relax. Rolling onto his back, Alex smiled and patted the spot next to him, inviting Seras to lie down beside him. In Seras's head, scenes of what had happened on this bed the previous evening flashed once again.
Trying to suppress the remnants of embarrassment, Seras sat on the edge of the bed and began slowly taking off her shoes to collect her thoughts and not think about the spicy scenes from yesterday evening. After removing her shoes, Seras took a deep breath and, suppressing the remnants of embarrassment, carefully climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Alex. Alex quickly turned on a random movie just to pass the time.
But soon Alex and Seras were talking about various everyday things that had nothing to do with anything important. Seras decided to tell a few funny stories from the police academy where she had trained. Alex also told stories and even showed some funny moments that had happened to him in different worlds. Alex and Seras continued talking and laughing, simply ignoring the movie, which sounded only as background noise.
"You should have seen their faces when I accidentally fell into their dugout," Alex said, chuckling lightly.
"Well, I can understand them. They were almost killed by a creepy clown as children, and then you walk around everywhere looking like a creepy kid… You did that on purpose to scare them, didn't you?" Seras said, looking at Alex with clear amusement in her eyes.
"How did you know?… I mean, why would you think that? I was just pretending to be an innocent child," Alex said, putting on a fake look of surprise.
"An innocent child? Are you sure about that? Where have you seen an innocent child riding around the city on a skateboard with a sledgehammer in his backpack and telling everyone he's hunting a creepy clown?" Seras said, giving Alex a blank look.
Alex gave Seras a dry look and lightly tickled her leg, for which he received a heel kick to the nose. Seras looked apologetically at Alex for once again kicking him in the face. Alex just rolled his eyes, showing that it was fine.
But Seras still felt uncomfortable that she had kicked Alex in the nose again and began gently rubbing his nose with her hand, showing her care. Alex smiled slightly at such a gesture from Seras and decided to answer her question, from which he had been distracted by the kick.
"Well… It's different. And anyway, that clown was creepy. I had every right to beat him with a sledgehammer," Alex said, making a serious face while Seras rubbed his nose with her hand.
"As you say… But I didn't even suspect that such a creature could exist in this world… But the way to defeat that creature is even more absurd," Seras said, leaning back, stretching her legs and placing them on Alex's lap.
"For you it seems absurd. But in reality, everything is very simple. You just don't understand," Alex said, tapping his finger on Seras's leg, which was resting on his lap.
Hearing Alex's words, Seras nodded slightly. She really thought that even if some events and things looked absurd, it didn't mean they were impossible. Seras couldn't help but think about what was happening in her own life. After all, her life had changed drastically, and it had happened in a very short time.
Alex looked at Seras, who had suddenly fallen silent with a very thoughtful expression. Seras's gaze was fixed on Alex's fingers, which were simply walking along her legs, but all her thoughts at that moment were in a completely different place.
"Perhaps… All of this is new to me. Just two months ago I was still a police officer. Then I became a vampire," Seras said, lightly moving her legs to sit more comfortably.
"As a certain wise turtle would say: coincidences are not coincidences," Alex said with a light smile on his face.
"Perhaps it was all just a coincidence. I think. But then I was almost killed by an evil priest who is now apparently on your side," Seras said with a strained smile on her face.
"Ahem… I hope you're not too angry with Anderson. I just feel like a bastard right now," Alex said, clearing his throat dryly into his fist.
Seras thought about Alex's words and what she currently thought about Anderson. And she realized that she wasn't angry with him for almost killing her in the past. After all, in his eyes back then she had been a monster that needed to be killed. And even now in his eyes she was a monster, but now he didn't want to kill her.
And after getting to know Anderson better and understanding what kind of person he was, Seras couldn't continue blaming him or being afraid of what had already happened. Seras believed that a person like Anderson, who was ready to sacrifice himself to hunt monsters just to protect children, deserved respect, not fear.
"No. I'm not angry with him. I can understand the reason why he did it… Where was I?" Seras said, shaking her head with a smile on her face.
"Judging by the events, then the attack on Hellsing…" Alex said, tilting his head slightly to the side and looking at Seras.
"Right. And after all that, vampires and ghouls attacked the manor, which had become my new home. And then I completely fell in love with a man who turned out to be not just a demon, but the first demon." Seras said with a slight note of embarrassment in her voice.
"I'll ask you to be precise. I am the Demon King, by the way," Alex said in a playfully arrogant tone, raising his index finger.
Seras stared at Alex with a blank look as he tried to act arrogant. Smiling slightly, Seras raised her leg and kicked Alex in the chest with her heel to show her position. And before she could push Alex, he grabbed her leg and began tickling it. Seras began to squirm to escape Alex's grasp and laughed loudly, rolling around on the bed.
Trying to break free, Seras grabbed a pillow and began hitting Alex on the head with it so he would let her go. A few moments later, Alex released Seras's leg and once again made an arrogant face, showing that he was waiting for her to say it correctly. Seeing Alex's face, Seras laughed once again.
"Hahaha… Oh, I'm sorry, Demon King. Does that satisfy you?" Seras said, rolling her eyes slightly with a smile on her face.
"Yes. You may continue, wife. I permit it," Alex said, waving his hand in a regal manner, causing Seras to laugh.
"You're such an idiot. But I still love you…" Seras said, running her finger across Alex's palm.
"I love myself too. After all, I'm such a cutie," Alex said, placing his hands on his cheeks and making a cute face.
"You ruined it, idiot. And I forgot to say the most important thing. In addition to all these events, only a few days have passed since I became your Apostle. It's somehow hard to believe that all this happened to me in just two months," Seras said, smiling slightly and intertwining her fingers with Alex's, squeezing his hand.
"Indeed, two months is a very short time. That's what makes life interesting, don't you think? You never know what will happen in the next moment, what will happen tomorrow. Life is beautiful because it is full of surprises and oddities. Of course, there are bad things in life, but there are also plenty of good ones. As Boo-chan would say, sometimes to live you just need to go with the flow. But no one forbids you from looking around. Sometimes a simple glance is enough to see something amazing," Alex said with a light smile on his face, squeezing Seras's hand.
"Boo-chan? Who is that? You mentioned this name once before, but you never said who this Boo-chan is. Is he your friend?" Seras asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"It's Buddha. And before you ask if it's that Buddha — yes, it's that very Buddha. Though the stories about him and how he behaves in everyday life are two different things," Alex said, chuckling lightly.
Seras looked at Alex in surprise, clearly showing that she wanted to hear more. Alex smiled and took out his phone from his pocket and showed her a couple of his photos with Buddha so Seras could see for herself what Buddha actually looked like. Seeing the photo, Seras was strongly surprised by Buddha's appearance.
Alex told her a couple of funny facts about Buddha, including his lazy character and love for sweets. While Alex continued telling various funny stories, time quickly approached the appointed hour. Alex and Seras lay on the bed and continued talking.
Seras rested her head on Alex's stomach and looked at him with a smile. These last hours spent with Alex had shown her to be very pleasant, and she even thought that spending time like this was better than going on dates to some places if they could just sit at home and talk about various things.
"Papa, it's time to go. We're ready," Alessa's voice sounded from the doorway.
Alex and Seras turned their heads and saw Alessa, who was wearing an elegant dark red and black Victorian-style children's dress that simultaneously highlighted Alessa's gloomy appearance and emphasized her unique origin.
In her hands she held her creepy rabbit Robbie, who was dressed in a black three-piece suit with barely noticeable drops of blood on the collar of his white shirt. Alex and Seras stood up from the bed and took a better look at Alessa's appearance. Alex couldn't help himself and began taking photos of Alessa with a wide smile on his face. After all, he thought his little princess looked very cute in such an outfit.
Seras also couldn't help herself and carefully examined Alessa's dress. In particular, Seras liked the small black bow on Alessa's head, which looked like rabbit ears. Like Alex, Seras couldn't stop admiring Alessa's cute appearance. Alessa herself stood with a blank expression on her face, allowing her father to take dozens of photos.
"Papa, that's enough. Mama Integra is already ready and said to go straight to the car. So change and let's go," Alessa said, giving her father a cold look.
"Just a couple more photos… Okay, okay, don't look at me like your Mama Wednesday… I'll change now," Alex said with a light smile, putting his phone back in his pocket under his daughter's cold gaze.
Alex lightly tugged the hem of his T-shirt, and his outfit instantly changed. Now he was wearing a long elegant dark blue trench coat with a high collar. Under the coat he wore a strict black fitted vest, a black shirt, and classic black trousers with black shoes.
Alex thought that Vergil's clothes would be perfect for such an aristocratic event. And now Alex looked like a gloomy aristocrat going to a social party with his daughter and wife. Seras was strongly impressed by how Alex looked in such clothing.
She couldn't believe that the entire atmosphere around Alex would change just by him changing his clothes. But what made Seras's heart skip a beat was when Alex casually brushed his hair back in such a way that a few strands fell onto his forehead.
"Well, what do you think, Seras?" Alex asked with a light smile on his face.
"This… This is just… Wow… You look like a completely different person," Seras said, lightly fanning her face with her hand from the excess of emotions.
Alex smiled slightly and leaned toward Seras, quickly kissing her on the lips. During the kiss, Seras tried to stay on her feet. After all, the change in Alex's style of clothing had caused such an excess of feelings in her that it was even difficult for her to collect her thoughts. Stopping the kiss with Seras, Alex straightened up and poked her in the nose with his finger with a light smile on his face.
Before Alex and Alessa left, Seras carefully hugged them so as not to wrinkle their clothes and told them to have fun. To which Alex and Alessa simultaneously rolled their eyes, showing that such parties were never fun. Seras just smiled at their synchronization and waved goodbye. Alex held Alessa's hand as they left the basement to leave the manor. Stepping outside, Alex saw Integra standing by the car, smoking a thin cigar.
Integra was wearing her usual dark green pantsuit, a strict jacket, a white shirt, and a neat red neckerchief with a silver cross-shaped accessory over it. The only change in Integra's outfit were the medals attached to her coat and a knight's order and saber on her belt. Integra also examined Alex's appearance, evaluating him with her gaze.
"Will this do? Or should I change?" Alex asked, stopping in front of Integra.
"No. What you're wearing now is perfect. No unnecessary elegance and it emphasizes your status," Integra said calmly, looking into Alex's eyes.
Alex smiled and opened the car door to help Integra and Alessa get inside. Walking around the car, Alex also got in and looked at Ugo, who was acting as the driver. Nodding to Ugo, he started the engine, and the car moved forward.
It was about an hour's drive to Windsor Castle, and during that time Integra managed to explain in detail how everything would proceed, what he would need to do, and how to behave. Alex calmly listened to Integra, occasionally nodding and memorizing some details. On the other hand, Alex felt some contradictions regarding the upcoming event.
"We won't stay long. Everything that will happen is just formalities. Such events don't happen often," Integra said, looking at Alex, who had sunk into thought.
"I understand. The only thing that makes me happy is that there won't be many people," Alex said, shaking his head slightly.
"I agree with you. I've never liked such events. But as a representative of an ancient family and part of the aristocratic community of England, I need to attend such places. It's a formality before the Crown," Integra said, exhaling lightly and looking out the window.
Alex nodded understandingly and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. The car smoothly continued driving down the road, and after some time Windsor Castle became visible on the horizon. Opening his eyes, Alex leaned forward slightly and immediately noticed all the preparations, including the royal guard that was guarding the castle.
The car smoothly approached and stopped in front of the guards, who began the usual inspection. Integra opened the window slightly so she could be seen. And when the guard saw Integra, he immediately turned his head, giving the order to let the car through. The car drove onto the castle grounds and stopped at the entrance so they could get out.
"Ugo, you can go home. We'll return on our own," Alex said before getting out of the car.
Ugo nodded, showing he understood. Alex got out of the car and opened the doors, extending his hand to help Integra and Alessa get out. Once out of the car, Integra calmly took Alex's arm, showing her position toward him.
Alex, Integra, and Alessa walked along a special carpet path, on both sides of which stood guards who saluted. Alex glanced around lightly, examining everything. He hadn't expected everything to be on such a grand scale, considering the secrecy of the event. Entering the castle, a representative of the Queen was already waiting for them inside, expecting their arrival.
"Sir Hellsing, Sir Voldigoad, please follow me. I am here to escort you to the hall," the representative said with a slight bow.
Integra nodded in response to the gesture. The man elegantly gestured with his hand, inviting Alex, Integra, and Alessa to follow him. Walking through the halls of the castle, Alex wasn't particularly impressed by what he saw and only evaluated the interior and how everything was decorated. Reaching the hall, the man opened the double doors and invited Integra, Alex, and Alessa to enter.
And the moment they entered, all eyes turned toward them, and everyone reacted differently to the appearance of Alex, Integra, and Alessa. Whispering immediately began among those present, especially from those who were seeing Alex for the first time. Alex also examined those present, and in his eyes everyone looked as if they had come to a military parade. Military uniforms, medals, trophy sabers, and luxurious suits.
Even though Integra had said there wouldn't be many people, there were quite a few people in the hall who had also come with their families. Looking around, Alex saw the members of the Round Table, among whom stood Penwood. And the moment Penwood saw Alex, a grateful smile appeared on his face. Alex responded with a polite nod and a smile on his face.
Alex, Integra, and Alessa approached the Round Table members. As they approached, Alex began politely greeting and shaking hands as was appropriate in this situation, exchanging polite phrases. After finishing greeting those present, Integra introduced Alessa, but for now said nothing about wanting to appoint Alessa as heir.
Alex and Alessa stood next to Integra while she engaged in the usual polite conversations. Alex himself was thinking at that moment about how he wished it would all start and end as quickly as possible. But he understood that some time still needed to pass before the ceremony began. Even just standing next to Integra, Alex was already attracting quite a lot of attention.
After all, Integra was known as the Iron Lady of Hellsing and for not letting anyone get close to her. Alex, however, paid no attention to this, and when people approached him, he politely responded to greetings and handshakes, exchanging formal phrases. At such moments, Alex felt that time was dragging painfully slowly.
New people continued to arrive in the hall, and the hall gradually filled with people. And seeing the hall gradually filling up, Alex almost complained that Integra had deceived him by saying there wouldn't be many people at such an event. And unfortunately for him, being Integra's husband, he attracted quite a lot of attention, and almost every second person wanted to approach, greet him, and exchange a few words.
And Alex understood that this was only the beginning of the event, and no one was going to talk much yet — all the conversations would begin at the banquet after the awards. Alex understood that he wasn't the only one receiving an award that day, but other people present in the hall would also receive their awards for protecting their homeland from the enemy.
To be continued...
(Initially, I wanted to quickly wrap up this whole celebration, but I decided there was no point in skipping around some details. Well, you get the idea. I'll try to wrap it all up in one chapter, without getting too bogged down in all this aristocratic nonsense. So if I forgot something, I forgot it. Time to eat. Peace, love, and hugs.)
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