The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 751: Making Friends With

The Nobles led the way inside, with Dominic and Amie behind them.

The appearance of the Wistover Guards were a curious sight to the residents of the castle, wearing a uniform that nobody else recognized, except for the badge, as they had all been briefed on the Noble houses that might be showing up for the event.

The staff bowed politely as they passed, and the Nobles led Dominic into a back room, where the younger generation had gathered for the more intimate portion of the Mayor’s son’s party.

The guests were definitely not the same generation as the titled Nobles, except for Dominic, and even he was a few years older than the rest were. With his youthful face, he did look like he would fit in with them, though.

"Damn, who’s the lucky man who landed a girl like that?" One of the guests asked, which made most of the boys chuckle.

"Duke Dominic Wavemates. But this isn’t my wife, it’s her Lady’s Maid, here in her stead to offer the Mayor’s son the Princess’s congratulations."

The whole room fell silent until Amie laughed. "Well, that’s one way to change the mood of the room. Good morning everyone. I am Amie, the daughter of the Baron of Skipton River. The Princess has asked me to give you this gift on her behalf, as she was unfortunately unable to visit today."

The boys smiled. "Not at all, Miss. Please, do come join us, we were just about to toast to the birthday boy."

Amie smiled gently at them, an expression carefully calculated to make a young man’s heart melt.

That was when Dominic knew the boys were going to have a rough morning tomorrow.

Everyone was too tense, nervous that they would say the wrong thing in front of a Duke and get themselves censured or ruin their families with a slip of the tongue.

Dominic’s reputation wasn’t the best, even among those who were on his side.

He had nearly forgotten how most people reacted to his presence, either with polite distance, awkward silences, or outright avoidance.

This group had a mixture of all three.

Fortunately, he had Amie here to distract them until they relaxed.

The boys were drinking a fortified mulled wine, and Dominic could smell the healthy dose of rum that had been added to it along with the spices. They clearly thought that they were being slick, as nobody with a normal human set of senses would notice the difference.

The Mayor smiled. "How about we let the younger generation get to know each other? Lord Dominic, we will catch up with you again at dinner, yes?"

Dominic nodded. "Indeed. If it’s not too much trouble, I will ask you to prepare rooms for my team to remain overnight."

"Of course, Your Grace, will you be remaining through tomorrow evening? We are holding a larger combined event for everyone who couldn’t make it today.

Much more accessible, if you catch my meaning."

Dominic nodded. He meant that the commoners with money were invited. So, they would have local businessmen, the Merchant’s Guild, and many others in attendance tomorrow night.

That was the part of the event that was the most important to building allies and making friends, so he really shouldn’t miss it.

"Yes, I will plan to leave late tomorrow night. I can return home by portal, so there is no need to prepare for a second evening."

The Mayor nodded. "It’s no trouble either way. Should you indulge heavily at the party, there will be a room ready for you and your security team."

"I appreciate it."

Then the older Nobles departed, and Dominic saw that Amie had completely skipped the wine this time, and was simply pouring goblets full of Rum for the boys.

They hadn’t realized yet, but she was cleansing herself with magic, so she wouldn’t get drunk.

However, they were unlikely to last more than an hour at this rate.

Amie picked up her cup and raised it to the young Noblemen, then downed it in one long gulp that left the young men staring in absolute awe.

"Bottoms up, gentlemen. Fear not, I’ve brought the good stuff with me." Dominic informed them.

The young men shared a loot that said "What have we gotten ourselves into." However, they were currently one drink behind the cute blonde girl, and that was simply unacceptable.

Dominic brought out a wine flask full of level five red wine, and Amie chuckled. The rum was likely to give the boys less of a hangover than that stuff was.

However, it was doing a number of them.

They weren’t used to drinking something that harsh, and there was a lot of coughing and teasing of each other going on. They wanted to look good in front of the Baron’s daughter, and they were already a bit tipsy when Dominic and Amie arrived.

The drink had the desired effect, Dominic decided.

Five minutes later, the quiet gathering had gotten much more lively, and all the drunks were much too excited about telling stories of their gallantry in training, or in the defence of the city, for the older ones, to try to actually hit on her.

And that was when the ladies arrived.

It was a birthday party, after all. And most of these men were either married or betrothed. So, their wives and betrothed fiancées had arrived to make sure that they didn’t get into too much trouble.

Only to find that they were playing an excessively dangerous game of darts, while drinking wine out of shatterproof metal goblets.

"Ladies, welcome. The birthday celebrant is a bit busy at the moment, be we will welcome you to the party.

I am Dominic Wavemates, Duke of Wistover, and this is Amie, the only daughter of Skipton River Barony. Now, shall we pour some wine? I brought a fine Wistover vintage."

The ladies laughed while discretely looking around for the Princess.

"My lovely wife couldn’t make it today. So, she sent a representative on her behalf. It’s not easy for her to get away when I’m also away, as we’ve got a little one at home."

The ladies lit up at the prospect of talking about babies, and heirs, and the future of their estates.

The boys would find that dreadfully dull when sober.

But right now, they were just happy to see more guests at the party, even if it was their own wives come to keep them under control.

"Did you have to get them so drunk?" One of the ladies whispered to Dominic.

"Yes, in fact, we did. You see, they’re going to have vague memories of fine wine, an excellent party, and little else. Tomorrow, they will wake with a hangover, and be much less energetic about causing trouble at the open party.

Trust me, it’s a time tested method. We call it the pre-party."