The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 481: Too Popular

The moment that Alora was gone off with Geoff, more of the Debutantes and the suitors chasing them came to pay their respects to the host.

Dominic was not an easy man to corner, he tended to escape from the Manor entirely before anyone knew that he was awake. Som this was their chance to make a good impression.

"Your Grace, wonderful event planning, and I must say that this Manor is a true marvel. Was it always like this? Or was it expanded when you returned to take it over?" One of the men, a slender fellow with thick glasses that were clearly magical goggles for some sort of precision work, asked.

"It was upgraded. The original Manor house remains, but we added all the villas with their courtyards, renovated the garden, and added an additional wing onto the main house.

Plus the fortifications, as the original design was an open Manor, with a reinforced lower wall for security."

"Yes, I had noticed that on the way in. A masterpiece of historical architecture. I don’t suppose that it would be possible to get a tour of the house at some point? The gentlemen of the Sheriff’s office placed me in this most wonderful apartment with a few other gents, but they’re not at all interested in the study of historical buildings."

Behind him, a man a few years older, with a remarkably similar face sighed. Their father had sent both of them to look for wives, but if he couldn’t keep his brother from ogling the architecture, he was going to catch hell when they got home.

"Does your family work in architecture?" One of the ladies asked politely, clearly not interested in their resident nerd, but not wanting to ruin the Duke’s impression of her.

His recommendation would go a long way toward impressing a suitor.

"Unfortunately, no. Father is a Colonel in the army, and my Uncle is Count Herthamia."

The man said it as if such things were not worth pursuing. At least not when there were historical buildings around.

But the ladies did take note. His entire family was fabulously wealthy, thanks to the County’s income from the city of Herthamia. While he was a younger son of a side branch, he might have a good job thanks to his family’s holdings.

Certainly not a total loss, if he could be trained. But not on the first tier list of available options. Not for the Noble Ladies who were at the Garden party, anyhow.

But what they didn’t know was that he was not any more interested in them than they were in him. He had seen an Elf girl earlier, dancing in the garden. If he could find her again, he might be able to find out if she was also here for the event, or if she was a resident of the Manor.

Elf ears were an absolutely essential requirement for his future wife. If she didn’t have them, he would happily pay for a magical alteration to gain them.

"I will see to it that you get a chance to tour the house before the event is over. We are far too busy for tours today, but there will be some events inside as the evening progresses." Dominic announced.

"Oh?" One of the girls asked, gracefully sliding through the crowd to reach his side.

"Yes, I am told that some of the guests have been moving at a confident pace, so starting this evening we will host a more intimate seated meeting for those with potential partners. Overseen by the Manor Staff and resident Royals, to prevent scandal, of course." Dominic explained.

That was wonderful news. A full formal dinner would be difficult for the Manor, it was more practical to hold dinner outside. But it got loud with so many people gathered, and a quiet room to sit and talk would be a welcome change.

The crowd constantly shifted, until Dominic found himself standing next to Amie, who was in a simple red and black gown, looking very much like she was planning to hurt someone.

"What’s this? My apprentice is making her debut without asking me for a dress? I could have ordered something suitably elegant, if you had asked."

"I’m not a debutante. The Sect Elders informed me that Sect Robes are not appropriate attire for the event, and they made me change before I came to represent the Duskblade Sect as part of your security detail."

Dominic smirked at her. "Did you tell them that security normally wears weapons and armour, not party dresses?"

"I did. They didn’t budge, so here I am.

They also didn’t think that Dave was suitable to be a bodyguard in the crowd. Something about a risk of unrelated casualties. So, they’re all on the wall for the day, now that you’re back in the house."

Dominic nodded. "I see that the Royal Guard is shadowing the Princess as well. They do get their armour, though."

Amie glared at him "You’re enjoying this too much. Do you know how long it’s been since someone made me wear a party dress?"

"Didn’t you used to do honey trap missions?"

"That’s different. That’s battle attire, This is just uncomfortably breezy for no good reason. I can deal with the discomfort if there is at least a purpose to it."

Dominic smiled, and one of the nearby men chuckled at her complaints.

Just by her tone alone, it was clear that they were good friends. But Dominic had called her his apprentice, and she addressed him without his title. So, most assumed that she was a Sorcerer of some sort, and just didn’t show any nonhuman traits.

Mostly, she was just irreverent, and routinely disregarded any form of titles. But they might not be wrong about her being a sorcerer. Dominic was certain that she was not entirely human.

But even in a simple dress, she looked like she belonged here. All he had to do was convince her to smile, so that she didn’t scare off the people who were coming to talk to him.