Warning: AU, Pseudo-Historical Romance, PG-13, Ran/Ken.

Disclaimer: Weiss belongs to Takehito Koyasu and Project Weiss.

Our Own Secret Kingdom

Epilogue Two: 1735

Ran stood before the mirror in his room and fussed with his cravat and the lacy cuffs of his new shirt, which could be seen hanging below the cuffs of his new coat. It was a soft dove gray with a subtle design sewn in silver threads and he'd be lying if he said he didn't think it was beautiful.

Admiring his new clothes caused him to once again reflect on the events that unleashing Ken on the King had caused. The next time Yohji took Ken aside and advised him to be perfectly honest and utterly himself they'd be better prepared for the results. For his part the Duke had snorted derisively and marched off to the Palace without an ounce of trepidation. Ran suspected that Ken had been relieved to finally be rid of all the pretense.

Well, as Yohji had said, Ken could be persuasive and pig headed and alarmingly direct. Not to mention charming, apparently. The results were that Crawford had all the assurances that his position was safe that he could have asked for, and Ran found himself in his current predicament.

He looked at his reflection and smiled, still not entirely certain that he wasn't dreaming.

A knock at the door announced Yohji, who stepped into the room.

"Are you ready?" his Cousin asked.

"As I'll ever be," he answered.

The Prince grinned.

"Ken and Omi are downstairs already," he said. "Your mother sent me to hurry you. Everyone else is ready and waiting."

Ran took a deep breath and turned from the mirror.

"Let's go," he said.

Ken met him at the foot of the stairs. He looked handsome in his new suit, the same cut and colors as Ran's, and beamed at the Earl.

"Ready?" the Duke asked taking the Earl's hand.

"Ready," Ran replied with a smile.

Yohji took up position on Ran's left, and Omi on Ken's right as they walked out of the house. In the courtyard Elinor and Aya joined them, along with the Grand Duke and Duchess, as well as the Count and Countess Shadwell. Asuka and the Aunties stopped playing and started following as the group descended the hill on the side of the manor. As they crossed the backyard and passed into the gardens Mrs. Hudson, Molly, Rosie, Old Shoop, Young Bob, Old Bob, Sam, Lizzie, Rachel, and Ariadne carrying Ren fell in line behind them.

The large group passed through the orchard, under the apple trees which were covered in blossoms and buzzing with bees. As they neared the ruins of the old church a large crowd of friends and neighbors from the village and across the estate greeted them.

When they came to the stained glass window and Vicar Hastings, who stood before it, they stopped and everyone with them fell silent.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God, and by the royal decree of his Majesty, King John, to witness the joining in holy matrimony of these two men," Vicar Hastings began.

Ran exchanged a smile with Ken as his young lover squeezed his hand. He still couldn't quite believe that they were there, together, getting married. Or that Ren was theirs' and the manor and estate were set to be his one day.

The Earl took in the beautiful spring day, surrounded by their friends and family, Omi relaxed and smiling, Yohji and Aya each holding one of Little Asuka's hands, and he felt his life stretching out before him. A long, happy life full of joy, and Ken. A life he never would've dreamed for himself and he felt a deep abiding satisfaction.

The End

Author's Note: Well, there you have it. The final in the 18th Century series. I've been working on it off and on (mostly off) since August of 2007. Long before "Downton Abby". I was inspired by a book about an 18th Century family based on their letters and the journals that they kept. It was called "The Parkers at Saltram" by Ronald Fletcher, and after reading it the very first image in the story, that of Aya returning from the tennis courts with her braids swinging came into my head and I couldn't get rid of it. Even the TV show based on their life was part of the Parkers story. I thought at first that the "Present Day" part of the story would be an additional story after the last one was written, but then I got the idea of combining them. For the most part I think it's worked out.

What I don't have in this story is very much action or excitement, and I am sorry for that, but neither part seemed to lend itself to that. Oh, well.

It was always my intention to marry Caroline off to Crawford. There's a character in "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen named Caroline Crawford. She's nothing like this Caroline, but I couldn't resist. Ren turned out to be a surprise, as was her death, but how else would they have had an heir? Entailed estates return to the Crown if there's no male blood relative from the direct line for them to pass onto, so ending the entailment was the only way. I'm not sure whether in reality that's even possible.

And as I promised long ago, I used the Aunties actual names. The only one mentioned by name in this story is Nanami, which is Tot. I fully intend to go and edit the copies of the first three stories I have on my computer, but I don't know whether I'll bother to update the ffnet versions. They need a lot of editing. Ha-ha-ha!

Okay, I hope you enjoyed it. Comment if you want to, otherwise, here's hoping you have Very Happy Holidays!

Take care.

Love, HeatherR