The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 704: Tasty Beverages

Breakfast had just finished, and they were about to leave when a young Nobleman came up to Dominic, with a look that said he was much more nervous about this inquiry than the usual business deal would require.

"Duke Dominic, before you leave, I have a dilemma that I am hoping that you can help with." The man began.

"You see, I am quite taken with the young Miss of the Skipton River Barony, and I was hoping that you could put in a good word for me.

As I understand it, she is staying at your Manor as a Lady in Waiting, and I was hoping to be in contact with her in the future."

Dominic smiled. The "Young Miss of Skipton River Barony" that he was referring to was Amie in disguise, and the young Lord’s hopes of obtaining her hand in marriage seemed quite slim.

"I don’t know that she will continue to remain with us, she only came as the Lady in Waiting so that she had an excuse to attend.

However, I will pass your request along with a recommendation.

You seem like a good enough sort, and a dainty young Baron’s daughter would suit you just fine."

The young man laughed, and Dominic patted him on the shoulder, encouraging him before sending him away. Eventually, he would either come to find out that all the Nobles from Skipton River were presumed dead, or he would show up in Wistover hoping to find her again.

Only, she wouldn’t exist because Amie would have transformed back.

But that was an issue that could be sorted out later, instead of breaking a young man’s heart at breakfast.

Besides, who knew if Amie felt the same way. She could be aiming to stay as the Baron’s daughter and marry some young Noble to live out a quiet life. It was an extreme stretch, given her personality, but not impossible.

As they said, "love is blind".

Their procession left not long after the meal had ended, and the trucks were already waiting outside, with a whole crowd of onlookers. Even on their way out, the vehicles were still attracting onlookers.

At least now, everyone knew where they came from, so Dominic didn’t have to make it too obvious for the Nobles.

Instead, they could just drive to the edge of town, where the portal platform was, and head back home. They could have done it in the Palace compound, they had the capability.

But driving through the city first would make it easier on the mages, and it would give the Noble district residents who didn’t rate a personal invite to the King’s birthday a chance to marvel in the engineering of the Wistover Auto Company.

The name was temporary, as they were working on a better name, and currently only used a symbol for the vehicles, a large W on the front.

Naming everything after the city didn’t seem right. But his name was Wilfred Wilkes, and he really didn’t want to name the cars anything involving Wilf. It just didn’t roll off the tongue the way that he was sure a name should.

Dominic took his place in the lead vehicle with Ella driving again, as she didn’t trust any of the others to drive while she was in the back.

He wasn’t making a show of himself, but he was well-dressed, as required for a Duke at the Royal breakfast.

And that was enough to attract attention, even without the convoy.

"It looks like we might be able to get more customers faster than anticipated. Did you need anything while we’re here? I can have someone hop down and go fetch it for you?"

The Royal Guard winked, then handed him a small velvet pouch.

"Nope, what I need, we can get when we get back to the Manor. I still need to have barrels made. But this is for you."

"A gift for me? That’s too kind."

Ella laughed as Dominic opened the bag and found a [Create Ale] spell gem.

"It took me half the night to find someone in town that had one. Apparently, they’re contraband, prohibited by the consensus of the Tavern Keepers. Nobody wants to anger them and have a bunch of goons sent to their door to smash up a magitech shop.

Making magical ale messes with everyone’s business, you see.

But I found someone who still knew the spell and got a gem so that we can make a private stock for the Manor, until we can get a reliable flow of the stuff from the local breweries.

I’m sure that there will be at least a few established now that we have the crops ready to come out of the fields."

"That’s a given. Hell, we’ve got a half dozen Barons who picked lands based on how good the vineyards are. So, we’re not going to be short on local wines. It might take a bit for them to age and be ready, but I’m sure that we can get the first batches bottled in only a few months.

That reminds me, we need to check on the factory when we get back.

I don’t know if they’ve prepped wine bottles, when they’ve been so focused on mason jars for canning."

Ella nodded. "And I need to go to the cooper and get barrels made. He has been making a bit of everything, but the stills will want much smaller kegs, and I need a large enough ale cask to keep the manor stocked."

Dominic frowned. "Wait, isn’t there already one? A large wooden cask in the basement, holds about a thousand gallons, not attached to the water supply. I’m reasonably certain that was intended for alcohol."

She shrugged. "Yeah, it was. But that was used for wine for generations, you’ll never get that seasoning out of the wood, so just clean it up and use it for the intended purpose. You’ve got the magic for it, and I’m sure nobody will mind that your large batch house wine isn’t the usual swill."

Normally, that vat would be the wine that wasn’t good enough to be bottled. The lowest quality "House Wine" that was for the servants and the residents when they didn’t have guests.

But the Manor didn’t make their own wine anymore, so Dominic could fill it with the magically created version.