The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 486: Capital Chaperone

If the two Princesses were working together, they would definitely get something arranged that was much more grand than anything that Dominic could have come up with.

So, he focused on the practical matters of the Duchy with the Natural Sons, who he quickly learned all intended to move here.

None of them had much of anything to return to at home, and they didn’t want to take over the mismanaged territories of a traitor Baron if there were even any left.

Most of them had been taken by branches of the original family anyhow.

It might have been the strangest debutante event in Cygnia history, with so many Noblemen up for grabs and women from so many locations, all gathered in a city that wasn’t the capital.

But more than that, there was also fresh land up for consideration.

If they could impress the Duke, they could move directly into a new Manor house, on newly acquired territory, which wouldn’t cause any grief with the extended family, and wouldn’t displace any of their other siblings from an inheritance.

There wasn’t anything better to ask for, not from either side of the arrangement.

Dominic sipped at a drink as he watched the debutantes work their magic on the returning soldiers of the Natural Sons’ Regiment, and wondered if he should remind the men that they had to do a bit of the thinking with their larger head.

The little one would only lead them into trouble.

Dave gave him regular updates, both about the people he had caught sneaking off together, and the distinct lack of other threats to be found around the Manor.

The adventurers had gone out during the day to make sure that the farms and other areas around the city were clear of monsters and other threats, so there wasn’t much to see except more locals.

Those weren’t a threat, even if they were sometimes interesting characters.

The only truly interesting update that Dominic got all evening was that Baron Billy Bob was hand feeding chocolate to one of the maids who had come with the debutantes.

Possibly a bit of a questionable call now that he was a Titled Baron, but given his nature, it was hardly surprising that he had gone for some mild mannered maid instead of an ambitious Noble woman.

The man’s entire plan for the future involved watching children and his Barony grow. A wife with business ambitions would just make more work for him.

Logically, that would make him a lousy choice for Baron, and possibly for husband, as he had little ambition to do more than was necessary to get the Barony growing.

However, Dominic suspected that it wouldn’t matter. He was close enough to the city that he was going to end up with extra residents, and money flowing into his coffers as Wistover expanded.

Dominic retired to his room late in the evening, once he was certain that everyone had been settled back to their designated locations, and there were no more surprise visitors on their way.

His quiet night was doomed to end far too early, and there was simply no way around it.

Not long after dawn, the first of the day’s airships arrived. They were carrying more suitors for the ladies, these ones from the capital.

"Lord Dominic, a pleasure to meet you." A heavyset man in a plain steel mask greeted him as the airship landed.

"Likewise, Mister?"

"Baron Fall, of the Capital Region. I believe that you’ve met my son."

Dominic frowned as he tried to remember. "Oh right, the Colonel. Is he doing well? It has been some time since I saw him last."

"Still on duty in Dagos, unfortunately, but in good health and spirits. I heard that you were holding a proper shindig here and thought that I would come chaperone for the boys of the Capital.

We’ve got a full camp setup, if you can just point the way."

Dominic nodded. "There are some rooms left, but it will do them good to rough it for a few days. You can set up in the open field nearest the Manor. There are other camps set there already, so just pick a clear spot and talk to the gate guards about firewood.

We’ve got plenty cut, or we have magitech fireplaces for sale. They’ve been a fairly popular option for making a cooking pit."

The Baron chuckled. "I will let them know that it’s an option if they want to shell out the money. They’re not likely to be needing to renovate a house, unlike many of the young men who are planning to move here to Wistover with their wives. So, a magitech fireplace would only be useful to them in the long term if they didn’t have one in their family home."

"Ah, more Noble ladies for the Capital. I can see how the locals would be a bit miffed that their sons almost missed out on the dating event of the year. We’ve got quite a few eligible young ladies here.

Enough that they’re sharing rooms, and we’ve had to move all the servants to the old barracks building, as the ladies are sleeping in the staff quarters of the Manor."

Baron Fall patted Dominic on the shoulder. "You went all out to make sure that the two groups are separated didn’t you? Good work, Your Grace.

Most Nobles just assign them rooms by Rank, and then you end up with a dozen rumours and scandals a day about who was sneaking out of whose room in the morning."

Dominic rolled his eyes. "If we hadn’t managed to work a method to get all the ladies crammed into the Manor compound, we would have had to put them into the city, in apartment blocks.

We have even worked on a protocol to keep unwanted visitors from sneaking into their rooms."

The Baron laughed. "Well, you’ve gone and jinxed it now. Guaranteed there will be more debutantes coming within the day."