Servienne (LGBT)

27-Aftermath

    The days following the attack on the McCander mansion in Nerlapet, the kingdoms had been thrown into an uproar. The Representative of Mareid and the Prime Minister and the royal family of Nashali had returned to their respective homes while the Alksberian aristocracy and royal family, those that had been recovered, remained at the Heimen royal palace. King Erwin had been willing to allow refuge for the Synfilians as well, but after having a private meeting with Prince Aaron still recovering from shock, he mysteriously rejected them, giving them what they needed to safely reside in the capital elsewhere away from the castle while an investigation took place. Erwin was in no better state than his son, but as a king, he was expected to hold himself together unwaveringly. Still, many looked upon him with pity and awe, shocked by how functioning he could be after watching his own brother being executed in front of him.

  Ivor's funeral came, a grey and sullen event full of tears and shock and sorrow. Prince Aaron remained silent through the whole event, sticking close by his valet Noll before retreating back to his room afterward, alone and without Noll.

  A month passed that way, forlorn and quiet, before the investigation ended and the Synfilian aristocracy was released back to their countries without resistance, and the Alksberians were helped back home. All-in-all, there had been over one-hundred and fifty-four casualties including staff and every single attendant of the three-fifty or so guests and the staff was in some way injured physically, and most certainly mentally. Aaron's birthday had come and gone with no celebration, the prince now eighteen but with no smiles to accompany the occasion. Gertrude knew well enough that there was nothing she could do for her precious nephew. Nothing could rescue any of them from the grief.

  A knock came to his door, but as had become common, Aaron didn't answer at all. Noll came in, closing the door behind him and walking over to the bed where Aaron laid on his side, staring off and out the window absently. Noll sighed, reaching over and running a hand through Aaron's hair. "It's getting easier to breathe and to wake up in the morning to the sun," Aaron murmured softly, looking up at Noll who nodded. "I know. It works that way. Take it one day at a time like you have been, Aaron." Taking the prince's face in his hands, Noll kissed him gently, running his thumb across Aaron's cheek before drawing away, pressing their foreheads together. "How did Eugenia seem before she left for home?" Aaron asked, clearly trying to distract himself. "Better. She's slowly recovering from her broken hip, but the shoulder puncture is going to scar heavily. Emotionally? She lost cousins and an aunt. It's going to take her time too," Noll said, but the prince merely looked away again. "And Finch?"

  "He's going to recover, but after what he saw, they say he's still mentally unstable. He might not be the same person you knew. Not really. But Alexander Freedman, Alec, he's been comforting Finchum while they both recover from their injuries," Noll reported, stroking Aaron's hair soothingly as he did so. "I just thank the gods that Luther's carriage was late. If I lost him like... like..." Like his uncle, Ivor. Aaron couldn't get the words out, his throat constricting. "Aaron, you don't have to say it. Don't. Just," Noll brought Aaron's head to his shoulder, kissing his hair as Aaron buried his face into the crook of Noll's neck. They stayed like that for a long while.

  Another month passed, the world delving into the late summer season by then. Reality became less grey. People had moved on. A memorial had been constructed in the wake of the attack in the gardens of where the McCander mansion once stood, and the only surviving member of the family, Duchess Isabella McCander, used her fortune to rebuild her family's home, converting it into a homeless shelter. The aristocracy had seen it as noble, but they knew it was also to hide her guilt that her family's event had caused so much death. You could not simply tell her to not feel guilty. She would feel it regardless. So, her friends consoled her, but that was the end of it. What else was there to do for her? What else was there to do for any of them? None of the nations had faced an attack on the noblesse to this degree before. It was unheard of. Everyone was on edge.