The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 701: The Crown Princess

That was how the rest of Dominic’s afternoon went, with a bit of small talk, and then a question about something that the Duchy produced.

It was a simple and mindless routine, which let him simply take notes and prepare a mental calculation of what they were going to need to get the Duchy’s production rates up to where they needed to be to meet the current demand.

Realistically, they probably didn’t have enough trained people to keep up, but Dominic was fairly sure that they could expand by a fair bit before they ran out of people.

They just had to find all the ones who were hiding their skills.

So many of the residents of Wistover had been living under Dagos rule for a decade that they had gotten used to hiding their magical abilities from anyone in authority, and that wouldn’t be an easy habit to break.

They would have taken jobs that were easier with a bit of magic, but didn’t actually require it, as was the custom for mages within the nation.

But now Dominic was going to need them to step up into higher paying jobs that actively used their magical skills. It likely wouldn’t be too difficult, considering the pay difference. But those who were actually enjoying their new trades would be better left where they were.

There was an artistry to the manufacturing, and you simply couldn’t force people to do it if they didn’t want to. You would end up with an inferior product that just barely passed a layman’s inspection and had no durability.

After all, if it worked when it left the factory, they did their job, right?

Those thoughts got him through the majority of the greetings that dominated the party, and he only stopped his idle musing to distract from the tedium of the event when the band started.

That was his queue.

"Would you care to dance, my love?" He asked, extending his hand to Alexis.

"You? You can dance?"

"I will have you know that I memorized all four Chapters on the footwork of Cygnian Royal dances since we arrived in Wistover. It was part of the required reading that you gave me."

Alexis laughed, and took his hand to move to the stone courtyard that would be used as the dance floor.

Thorvald and Josephine joined them on the way to the floor, and Dominic heard half the crowd groan. It was almost guaranteed that the ladies were going to pull the "You have the wrong twin" prank on them if they didn’t feel like being bothered, so they couldn’t try for a dance with the Princesses.

It was a shame, they were more likely to be able to put in a good word for them than any of the other guests at the event.

"You know, your dresses aren’t even all that similar." Dominic noted as they spun out onto the dance floor, and the ladies swapped partners in a jolly swinging dance.

"That doesn’t matter when the target is one of the Noblemen who’ve been staring at our tits all night. It’s like they forget that if they looked a little further down, they’d find a sword."

Thorvald snickered, and Josephine smacked him on the back of the head.

"You’re how old, and you still laugh at sword related innuendos?" She asked.

"It will never get old. Getting older is mandatory, getting more mature is optional."

The song changed after a few minutes and the ladies swapped partners again, which put Dominic back with Alexis, as the previous dance had put him with Josephine when it ended.

The show they made of returning to their husbands felt deliberate, and Dominic could tell that half the men were trying to figure out which was which again.

"This is ridiculous, I can’t believe that they can’t tell you apart.

If they get any less observant, we’re going to have to get Elanor a name tag."

After the song changed again, Dominic found himself moved between partners again, and he was dancing with an unfamiliar woman, who was giving him a knowing smile.

"I’m sorry, I don’t believe that we’ve been formally introduced."

The young woman laughed softly, a practiced sound that told Dominic that she had grown up with these sorts of social events.

"I am Claudius’ wife. We’ve been at dinner together at least once, though I don’t believe that we’ve been formally introduced."

"Ah, now it makes perfect sense. Greetings, Princess. How are you enjoying the party?"

"I quite enjoy these events. It’s a wonderful excuse to get out of the apartments and come see all the people. These days, it seems that my life is completely overwhelmed with screaming toddlers.

Though, I am told that will soon be your life as well."

Dominic laughed. "That is possible. Though I do hope that our children take after their mother’s temperament because if they’re more like me the nanny might quit on the spot."

"In that case, I am afraid that you might simply be doomed. You see, the Princess was every bit as rambunctious a child as one could possibly be within the Palace with constant supervision."

"Well, then we will be in trouble together. At least I have a little time before they’re old enough to be walking and talking.

Until then, I can just enjoy the hope that they might be model citizens."

"Well, there is always hope. The Third Prince’s boys are perfectly well-behaved, studious and well-mannered. It took most of us a few years to accept it. You see, given the track record of the Royals, we had simply assumed that they were putting on a front to get their restrictions lifted, but they’re more like the Second Prince than anyone.

More interested in books than swords or sports."

"And here everyone is surprised that I can even read, while my lovely wife loves to spend her evenings with a good book."

The Princess laughed. "Oh, I know all about it. Being the wife of the Crown Prince, I get a bit more freedom than most of the other ladies in the Palace, and I have often helped the twins obtain more titles for their reading library."

"So, it is your fault? One day, we must speak about the things that you’ve helped her read."