The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 553: Safe Shoes

The main hall of the Manor was quickly transformed into a luxurious wedding venue, and the deeper the staff dug through the storage rooms, the more decorations they found to suit the festivities.

There was a ton of it in the storage item in the hidden basement level, where it appeared that the former residents had held their formal events.

That wasn’t what Dominic was going to do. They were keeping that area hidden and off limits to most, with only advisor Trionne and the Royals aware that it even existed.

That seemed like the best way to keep it from becoming an issue, or a status symbol for access, when he was trying to treat all the Barons equally.

"What do you think about adding red carpet to the aisle? It’s not a customary decoration for weddings, but I think that it would be a great addition to the colour scheme, and it would add a level of safety." Alexis suggested.

"Safety?"

"The polished stone floors are actually quite slippery when you’re wearing brand-new heels with varnished leather soles."

Dominic patted her on the shoulder. "I take it that ladies don’t scuff their shoes before wearing them?"

"The soles are too thin. It’s not like a good pair of boots, that you are going to wear over and over. Ladies shoes only get worn a few times, then discarded or handed off to someone else, who will appreciate them being in good shape." She explained.

"I see. Yeah, never thought of that. Alright, we have the red carpet, we also have gold and white. Take your pick and I will get it rolled out.

How long do we have?"

"One hour left before the first arrivals get seated."

Not a lot of time, but enough to finish decorating.

"Pick the gold, I think. Red is common for events, but gold feels more luxurious with the white dress." Julio offered.

It also matched the colour of Dominic’s eyes, as well as the Dragon King’s so it had long been tradition in Wavemates. Not that Dominic would remember that.

Dominic ran off to the basement and got the carpet, then rolled it out down the aisle, just in time for the first of the Barons to arrive and pick seats for the festivities.

"Are we missing anyone?" Dominic asked.

"Baron Keith is doing weddings for the untitled men at the Adventurer’s Guild hall now. They started as soon as they got the word that we were beginning here. So, he won’t make it.

Everyone else should be here in a few minutes." Julio explained.

"Well, I imagine that most of them want to either get home or get settled. I don’t blame them for being in a hurry to get this over with."

The Castellan laughed. "You do know that it usually takes three to six months between the Debutante event and the actual wedding, right? Even if she moves in with her husband to be, they will only be married right away if the season is perfect and both families are nearby."

"That sounds like a torture program. Just waiting a few days for my bride was bad enough, and we hadn’t even formally set a wedding date until the day of the wedding."

Julio smiled as Dominic relayed his experience. He had heard a lot about the Dragonkin’s wedding, including the roar at the end of the aisle that had half the ladies of the Cygnia Royal court rushing off to the bookstore in the morning.

"I’m not sure that your wedding with the Princess is the right model to follow for all future weddings, even if you enjoyed it. Many other nations have different procedures and traditions." Julio noted.

"Well, I guess we just do what we can. The carpet looks good, the rest of the decor is set, and we’ve added the parts that the Amerton Court recommended for a minor Royal.

We will leave all of it up, except the Royalty-specific items.

That’s not going to be an issue, will it? I never did read the whole book on Noble weddings." Dominic asked.

"There are seventeen books in total, Your Grace."

"See, I knew that there was a reason I didn’t read them. But I suppose that this will work for everyone with a title. We can change it up a bit once we get through all of them.

But I get the feeling that it’s going to be more important that we start getting them to their new homes as soon as possible. Those updates you keep giving me about the movement of the refugees, and how they’re avoiding the other cities while coming this way, has me concerned."

Julio nodded. "That has me concerned as well. There are countless rumours about the nature of the storms, and about Wistover, going around.

They may think that this is the only safe spot, or that they need to eliminate it to make everywhere safe again. Both are a possibility, and we won’t know which one they’re thinking until we actually speak with some of them.

The airships have been giving updates, and they’re not moving particularly fast, as they’re mostly on foot at this point.

But we’ve still only got a few days before they are within the borders of the Duchy."

Dominic sighed. "Perhaps I should take a team and ride out to meet them. At the very least, we would find out what their intentions are."

It went without saying that such a plan was insanely dangerous, especially only a few days after an ambush had tried to blow up both him and the Second Prince.

It also wouldn’t go over well with Alexis if he ran away from his duties again.

"Well, we can only do so much. If they come to us, we will get them on their way to proper homes. If they start settling within the Duchy, then the Barons can sort them out.

I doubt that squatters in a Noble Manor are going to be too well received, but you know that at least a few will try to move into the biggest and fanciest home they see."

Julio laughed. "One hundred percent, yes. And then they will kick up a fuss about being evicted from the Baron or Lord Knight’s Manor because it wasn’t occupied when they arrived."