The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 482: Not His Date

Dominic had miscalculated one small factor in Amie’s plight.

While she was standing next to him as a guard, many of the guest, both debutantes and suitors, were drinking fairly heavily. The fact that she was clearly a bodyguard was escaping them, and within the hour, Dominic could already hear the rumours that she was some minor Noble’s daughter angling to become the Duke’s Mistress.

They were even joking about how long she would live after Alexis caught her.

It was not improving her mood.

Fortunately, the fact that Dominic was mostly ignoring her presence unless she was relevant to a conversation was keeping the rumours that they were together at bay, and Alexis did eventually make her way to his side.

"Enjoying your outing?" Dominic joked, seeing the slightly frazzled state of her hair that said she’d spent a lot of time in the sun, and the hair products could not keep up.

"Absolutely stunning, Darling." She replied in a sweet tone that had many of the debutantes sighing.

It was the fantasy life. A Princess, married to a wealthy Duke who not only pampered her and clearly cared for her, but didn’t take a mistress, and didn’t press her into household duties.

Oh, how wrong they were. He definitely pressed her into far more household duties than he took care of himself, just not the cooking and cleaning that the wife of a common man would do.

He also made her deal with the Royals while he hid and worked.

That had to count for something.

"I am going to step inside and oversee the dating conversations. Are you fine here in the sun?" Alexis whispered after a few more guests had made their greetings.

"I am. Go ahead and I will stay out here where they can see me. It keeps them in line. But if you see Prince Fahad, send him out here, so I know that he’s still alive."

Alexis laughed as she walked away.

Poppy had been hanging off her brother for half the morning, until Prince Fahad had kindly reminded her that this was a dating event, and if she was to have any hope of finding a husband, she had to stop making all the eligible men think that she was involved with the Crown Prince of Axbridge.

Nobody else present was willing to try to compare to that.

But most of them also didn’t know that Poppy was the Crown Prince’s sister, only that she was a Princess of somewhere. It was only after he forced her to socialize with others that they realized what the situation was.

However, her mission was clear. Her marriage was second to finding another good wife for her brother. Someone that she liked, and who wouldn’t try to keep her away from him.

"Well, Your Grace. How is your first major social event? You’ve thrown yourself into the deep end on this one, but it seems to have worked out marvellously so far." Fahad laughed as he finally reached the spot where Dominic had been cornered by the crowd.

"It’s just getting started. We don’t even have the majority of the bachelors here yet, since everyone only splurged on the mages to send their daughters here." Dominic replied.

The Prince smiled. "Of course. It’s far more important that she finds the right husband than that their sons get married right this instant.

But you should have a load of soldiers arriving soon, will you not?"

"Word travels fast."

"I was speaking with Alora earlier. That girl is an odd one. Even for a Techno Witch."

Could it be that his version of what was normal was just becoming progressively more warped the longer that he lived in Wistover?

He had thought she was relatively normal, though high energy.

The mood of the visitors changed when Prince Fahad was present, Dominic noticed. The majority of the ladies didn’t view him as a potential target, and those who did were quickly reminded that his wife could and would kill them for trying.

But the Prince was next in line to the throne, and even the slimmest chance that he might take a fancy to one of the debutantes was enough to have them on perfect behaviour, highlighting every bit of manners that their Governess had taught them.

It was actually rather annoying.

"We should do a masquerade ball for the final day of the event. Give everyone who hasn’t partnered up a chance to meet without that immediate judgement and first impressions." Dominic suggested.

"Oh, that’s not a bad idea. Most of the debutantes should have at least one or two masks with them, as masquerades are so popular. But if the men don’t we can arrange them quickly enough." Fahad agreed.

With transmutation magic, they could turn out a hundred new masks for the men in a few hours one morning, That wasn’t a big deal. It was the fancy masks that the ladies preferred which had to be made in advance.

But having the men faceless only solved half the problem. The ladies would still likely recognize them all from previous days.

Hopefully that would be enough for them to at least reconsider some of their choices.

They were not destined to have time to dwell on that, though. A large portal opened at the gates of the Manor, and bugles sounded, heralding the arrival of someone important.

Or multiple someones, as Dominic quickly learned.

A Royal Herald stepped through, and paused while the crowd rushed out of the garden to see what all the commotion was about.

"Presenting the heroes of the Natural Sons Regiment. By decree of the King, forty new Barons have been named, and three hundred titled Knights have been elevated." The herald proclaimed, then stepped aside to let the Regiment enter the Manor.

Of the thousand men that Dominic remembered, the three hundred and forty who had received titles appeared to be the entirety of what remained of the Regiment.

Every man showed signs of hard battle, the slightly haunted eyes that no amount of hair product or fancy clothing could hide. But they walked with pride, and they began to smile as they realized Dominic had come to greet them in person.

Now, the real party cold start.