The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 514: Increasing Imbalance

"My Lord, you really should come to the landing area. I don’t know if this can be properly explained without seeing it for yourself. Every small village near the Dagos border sent us every eligible woman, including some who are clearly widows with children.

Who they brought with them, by the way.

I don’t know where we’re putting them, how we’re meant to deal with this, or where we’re supposed to find enough men for them to compete over." The city guard complained.

"How is our ratio right now?"

"More than two Noble daughters to every nobleman. Three Noble blooded servants and common women to every common man. Probably worse now with the new arrivals, as I’m not the greatest at math."

"Are you counting all the boys from Biverlow Academy and The Capital Academy? They are all sons of Nobles, and a lot of them arrived just the last few days."

"Yes, My Lord. I counted them. I even counted the men of the Duskblade Sect to bring their numbers up. Should we send out a request for more men?" He asked.

Dominic sighed, and Prince Fahad patted the man on the shoulder.

"Where are you from, Guardsman?" He asked.

"Just outside Causter, Highness. Here in Stansia Province."

"Then you might not have realized.

There are no sons to send.

Cygnia lost a hundred thousand young men during the war with Dagos. Mostly during the first invasion, and the early monster attacks. Most of the young Noblemen got married as soon as things were stable because every Noble Family lost at least one or two sons.

There are some who adopted a cousin into the main family after they lost all the direct heirs with an aging Noble.

The situation is worse than most are willing to admit, and that’s why the ladies are so desperate to find a husband that they’re willing to fly thousands of kilometres to come to a dating event."

Trionne nodded. "It’s worse in Amer, as they’ve got the curse of daughters. West Keria isn’t much better, but that’s mostly their own doing. A few decades back, there was a big push to build alliances, and the Nobles started using potions to have daughters.

An investment to build alliances.

Only, everyone did it, and now they’ve got far more girls than sons, and the war has depleted their options. The only alliances they can make are to the northeastern nations, which have much smaller industrial bases."

From the door, the Royal Guard cleared his throat. "Don’t forget that Stansia Province is mostly unoccupied, and Wistover Duchy alone is large enough for every one of those ladies to settle on a new farmstead with her husband if she finds one.

Without any inheritance coming to them, it’s their only option at being more than a secondary branch member living in the back of someone else’s estate."

Dominic nodded. "Thanks for the reminder. Alright, I will go see the situation and get the majority of them settled into the warehouses and new builds. The daughters of titled Nobles can come into the new housing that is going up today in the Manor grounds.

I will discuss with the Duchess what we’re going to do to balance the numbers so we don’t have too many disappointed guests."

Prince Fahad poured himself another drink. "If you don’t mind, we will borrow your office for a little while. We have a few things to discuss with the Advisor from Shersdonia."

"Of course. Don’t forget to activate the soundproofing if you’re doing business."

Dominic left the Manor, and briefly wondered if he should make himself something to improve travel time. The town was getting bigger, but taking a carriage or truck was too cumbersome.

Perhaps a motorized bicycle?

That would save him a lot of time, and he wouldn’t have to stick to the established roads when he was going to visit the farmers and hunters. It could fit between the trees, so it could get to almost all the houses in the area.

He would have to work on something once things calmed down a little bit.

At the airship docks, hundreds of young women were milling about, waiting for instructions on where to go. The city guards had a plan, but they were waiting for confirmation before they started moving anyone.

"Ah, Your Grace, thank you for coming in person.

Ladies, this is Duke Dominic Wavemates. He is the host for this event, and he will have all the official details. No need to take our word for anything." The guard in charge of the area announced, and Dominic saw that he was very close to frustrated tears just from trying to sort the ladies out.

"Alright ladies, we already have hundreds of Noblewomen in town, as well as hundreds of suitors. Arriving after the event has started probably won’t hurt your chances, with so many Noblemen gathered.

However, it does affect your housing options outside the event.

We have housing being built inside the Manor compound for daughters of Titled Nobles. For secondary branch, untitled Noble lineages, war widows of untitled Nobles and others, we have group housing here in town.

Raise your hand if you did not get the notice to bring bedding and travel essentials."

Dozens of hands went up, and Dominic sighed.

"Alright, if you need supplies, please move to the side, so we can arrange them for you.

If you are the daughter of a baron or greater title, or the widow of one, please step to the other side."

Dominic waited a few minutes to see how the numbers evened out.

There were close to thirty with no supplies, but Dominic could arrange to have them bunk with commoners, who had supplies, and would accept coin for housing.

There were only twenty directly from a titled family of Baron or higher. That was far fewer than expected, but it would help with the housing situation in the Manor.

But that left well over four hundred women in the main group, and that was pushing the limits of a single warehouse, even if they were sharing tents for a modicum of privacy.

Then, Dominic noticed more airships inbound from the northwest.

Those would almost certainly be ladies from Axbridge.

Just exactly what they didn’t need right now.

Dominic made a quick note requesting that anyone with noble blooded sons send them to assist with the imbalance here, and passed it to the guard who had come to get him.

"Have one of the airship captains broadcast this. That Axbridge convoy is probably all women."