The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 498: Causes Changes

Dominic and Julio were both still laughing as Dominic stepped out onto the balcony of his office overlooking the garden.

A few Nobles looked up, but Dominic placed his fingers to his lips and whistled to get everyone’s attention, a sound that echoed over music, conversation, and left Julio cursing as his ears rang.

"Warn a man before you do that," he whispered, then backed away to let Dominic speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Continental Nobility, my apologies for interrupting your afternoon activities.

I have news for you all. Starting now, I will be accepting applications to schedule formal weddings. The paperwork can be done in advance, and the wedding ceremony itself scheduled for any available spot if you prefer.

All Noble weddings organized at this event may be blessed under the authority of the Duchy if that is your wish.

Furthermore, in light of the disasters to the north, I would like to make one thing clear. The ladies formerly of Dagos are guests of the Duchy, and in the absence of news on their birth families, they shall be treated as temporary wards of the Duchy.

If they are married during this event, they will marry not as foreign Nobles, but as resident guests of the Wistover extended holdings, with their birth family’s lineage as proof of Noble blood.

Though Wistover is not a finishing school, I will take the role of ensuring that the guests at this event are all treated fairly when it comes time to wed.

There will be no forced marriages or unwanted secondary status arrangements.

If anyone attempts to force such an arrangement, the Duchy will stand on their behalf. I appreciate your efforts to ensure that despite the interruptions and adverse conditions, this remains a respectable source of marital arrangements."

The crowd clapped politely as Dominic finished, and after a moment, he raised his hand to gather their attention.

"That said, we are expecting even more guests, and further extensions on the timeline. Cygnia’s territories from the Cleowey region and the far northeast, as well as many more Noble blooded youth from Lympsbury are on their way here for the event, intending to escape the border region’s poor weather this season.

I am told that there are debutantes from the eastern border regions of Axbridge on their way here as well, though that remains to be confirmed, as they may stop at Witheton first and remain there."

What Dominic didn’t mention was that Kinewen, the former capital of Wavemates, with a population of nearly two million, was also undergoing extreme weather, and it sat along a major river, which had already breached its banks.

A large part of the city had been evacuated already, with more coming.

While it was over eight hundred kilometres away, if you flew directly there, there was still a chance that many of the old Noble Families would send their children to safety here.

Dominic could hear the radio in his office as he spoke, and half the chatter was about superstitions, curses and redemption. The rest was about the weather itself, and the efforts to escape it.

The only spot that was mutually deemed to be a safe zone was Wistover or regions to the south of Cygnia City. Everything closer to Dagos, including the northern regions of West Keria, and the entire nation of Chip, were planning evacuations.

Those regions certainly wouldn’t be coming here, but the news of their panic caused others to panic in a chain reaction, and that only reinforced the superstitions, especially among those who had Dagos Noble lineage married into their families.

"Your Grace, does that mean the event will be extended?" One of the ladies asked hopefully.

"Indeed. The event is likely to last at least three more weeks at this rate, though we will be making some changes in the housing arrangements. Those camped outside the city will be reorganized to either stay in newly built housing or with common families.

The rains are going to make it untenable to maintain dignity in such camps outside the city for an extended time.

Our apologies to the soldiers of Axbridge and Mitfield, who are obligated to return to their units between events. We will assist as much as possible to improve the camps if any structures still need to be prepared for the rains.

Additional changing tents, so that travelling clothes may be exchanged for party wear after arrival, will be added this afternoon."

That was good news for everyone who wasn’t staying in the Manor, but the city had stone streets, so even when it was raining, they only arrived with wet shoes, not muddy to the ankles like they would in many other towns.

Or with unmentionable filth on their feet, like some of the towns that still had masses of horses travelling dirt streets.

There was a reason Nobles always travelled by carriage.

Now that he mentioned it, the Manor itself was going to need some renovations to hold such an event during the rainy season. They didn’t have enough space inside the ballrooms for so many to be comfortable, which is why they were spread to the gardens, with the meetings taking place inside for privacy.

But that didn’t work when it was raining. He was going to have to find a way to get awnings erected over the garden, so they could continue to use the space, without everyone getting soaked.

Umbrellas and parasols as a fashion accessory only helped so much.

They could likely make a copper awning to go over the entire garden, but he would have to talk to the engineers about the structure, so it didn’t fly away in the wind.

Expanding the house in the middle of a party wasn’t feasible, and the commoners were using the Adventurer’s Guild Hall’s event centre.

Most of it. The officers and Nobles were still monopolizing the gambling den in the basement.

It was surprising how fast everyone seemed to have learned about that after the Regiment arrived. They were tempering their gambling, as they needed money to rebuild a life here. But not so much that the place would ever be empty.