( Max's POV )
As Max returned to Dombivli, there was something inherently different about him which the other vampires instantly noticed.
Although nobody had any knowledge as to where the Vampire King had gone off to a few hours after waking up, they assumed that he had business with the supreme lord and had gone off to perform some secret mission.
Uptil now, no-one even remotely suspected that Max might have became a tier8 monarch as it had not even been a full year and a half since he became tier7 and such speed of progress was entirely unheard of.
After his evolution to Cosmic Vampire, he exuded a pressure unlike a primordial vampire and just being in his presence made the modern vampires working at the palace tremble as they could not understand the reason behind their fear.
[ Cosmic Vampire ( Transcendent ) :- a new race that is stronger than its original bloodline of primordial vampires.
—-> Racial Trait : Sixth Sense. You can sense danger before it strikes.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt—---> Racial Trait : Vampire Monarch. All vampires will feel powerless before you and will be compelled to follow your words.
—---> Racial Trait : Muscle memory. You can remember any sequence of moves in the precise order after only performing it once ]
His racial trait ' Vampire Monarch' was so strong that by just being in his vicinity the mortal vampires felt a stifling pressure, whereas even Asiva who was a god and his wife felt a weird sense of reverence and fear when she was around him.
Uptil now, not even Asiva knew that Max had tiered upto tier8 and when Max finally broke the news even she was completely dumbfounded by this turn of events.
It was common knowledge that becoming a monarch was akin to ascending the heavens, however, Max accomplished it like it was nothing much.
From start to finish he was only gone two weeks, yet he returned incomparably more powerful than ever.
" Tell me about the affairs of the kingdom, call a meeting of the ministers" Max eventually said as he turned his focus from briefing Asiva about his exploits to learning about how the fallout of his actions played out.
Half an hour later, a full blown council of ministers meeting was called and the affairs of the state were discussed in great depth.
Max was glad to know that almost all the previous lord's resigned and that good sense prevailed, which meant that they had effectively atoned for their actions and were willing to make amends.
For these clans, Max had no intentions to hold their past against them and in the future he was willing to let them rise and support them as necessary.
For the clans that had decided to revolt, Max was informed that DarkSorrow had taken care of them and that the ruling clans had been eliminated in full with their territories being forcefully taken under the crown.
The decision to impart the territories to new ruling clans or to continue governing them under the crown was now upto Max to decide, however, the rebellion had been successfully squashed and the message was sent loud and clear across the vampire society that insubordination would not be tolerated under the new king.
" I have no interest in governing these territories. For the lord's who participated in the final war with us, give them each a planet based on contribution and let them reap the benefits of loyalty.
For the people of these planets who might resent us for the forceful takeover, introduce welfare schemes and whitewash our image.
Introduce a systematic education system that brainwashes them in favour of the new king and marks the rebellion of their rulers as something evil and disgusting" Max said as he took preventive measures against seeds of dissatisfaction being planted against the crown.
Such resentment was what slowly grew into rebellion if not treated and Max did not wish to make those mistakes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe people were not at fault and did not deserve to suffer for the actions of their ruling clans.
Since the perpetrators of the rebellion had been punished, the rest were not to be blamed.
Next, apart from the topic regarding the rebels, the important job that Max had to oversee was the loot and additional planets that were annexed by Dracula from the Kingdom of Life, as Beniogre demanded it back in full, however, a stalemate had been reached in negotiations since Max was absent.
Whether the territories and loot were to be returned in full? Whether the vampires were to gain an advantage for killing Dracula? These were matters that only Max could decide as his ministers could only provide counselling over the matter.
Beniogre was a tough nut to crack, as not only was she Sebastian's wife, but she was also a well respected monarch.
If Max pushed her too hard, then there was bound to be problems, however, he was not keen on handing back the loot and territories for free either.
It was the vampires that had suffered more losses because of Dracula and needed the loot he had accumulated as compensation.
If not for him, Beniogre did not have the strength nor the skills to bring Dracula down herself and for that she ought to be thankful to Max.
Although Max did intend to give back all the wrongfully captured planets back to the kingdom of life, the fact of the matter was that these planets were now home to enormous primordial vampire populations and the stigma around primordial vampires was significant.
Most primordial vampires were still young adults or teenagers who had not fully bloomed into men with goals or dreams and if Max used this opportunity to mould them into vampire society, he could still inculcate them into his fold without having to change their beliefs.
Unfortunately it was easier said than done, as not only was he unsure of how to appeal the inculcation of the primordial vampires to the rest of vampire council, but he was also unsure of if there would be demands for their extinction once more.