The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 473

Chapter 473: Crowded House
The next morning, it was not the morning sunlight, but the sound of giggling voices that pulled Dominic awake.

“We are going to need a larger house again. This is getting ridiculous.” Alexis complained.

“And I’m afraid that it’s not going to end quickly, either.” Dominic agreed.

“You can deal with the arrivals for the day, I will deal with the guests. Much to my annoyance, I have trained for this all my life, and I don’t trust them not to try to pull a stunt that would shame you into accepting one of them as a concubine.

Even an unwanted concubine lives a decent life in a Ducal manor, since it would ruin the Duke’s reputation to let them be seen as abused.

You might be good at killing monsters, but you’re too soft-hearted to deal with ladies of the courts.”

“I have mortars?”

After a half second of confusion, Alexis burst into laughter. “That’s precisely my point. You’re hopeless, you adorable idiot. Fortunately, you’re good at everything but scheming, now let’s get this day started.”

For Dominic, that meant a quick bite to eat as he listened to Julio panicking about the sudden influx of supplies needed, and the radio messages about incoming airships.

Most of the Noblemen weren’t coming by portal, they were in airships from the major cities, or coming by truck. But one of the messages had Dominic’s immediate attention.

[With the change in the military situation, the Natural Son’s Regiment has been redeployed to the Capital, with discharge from active service pending review.]

If Dominic was right, those were going to be many of his new Barons, and with the change in the dating situation, they would also likely be a large portion of his bachelors from the Cygnia delegation.

Surely, they wouldn’t expect a thousand men to find brides at the dating event. However, it would not be out of the question for at least the officers to be sent.

Which reminded him of another issue.

“How are we even vetting who shows up for this? Like, are we just taking in any Nobleman who comes to the gates? Or are there supposed to be invitation cards sent out?

How does that work when we weren’t the ones who organized it?” He asked, hoping that Julio’s experience with the Merchant’s Guild would give him the answer.

“They will arrive with a referral from either their parents or the King.

Going by standard protocol, the ladies will come from many nations, and the men will be the locals.

Especially after the war, there is an imbalance of single women over single men, and while that can be sorted out easily enough, it does leave countless families struggling to find a good match for their daughters.

That’s why they’re travelling. No Nobleman, especially a higher ranking one, will accept that his oldest daughter doesn’t marry into a title.

So, that leaves these younger daughters in a bit of a pinch.

No woman wants to be the mistress or concubine, someone’s dirty secret or side piece. No matter how legitimate their title sounds.

But there were more women than men to start with, and there have been major wars in nearly every country on the continent this generation. So, while we might not be in as bad of shape as Amer, Cygnia still has nearly two daughters to every surviving son over twenty.

There are also all the widows.

This might be a debutante event, but many of the chaperones are war widows, and they will be looking for a placement.

It might be a wedding, it might be a job as a Nanny or Head Maid, depending on their status. But a dead man’s income is worth less than his promises, and a Noble estate passes to the next titleholder, not the widow.”

There was a death benefit, Dominic knew. And if the house didn’t pass out of the family, the widow was still a member of the new Noble’s kin, so she was unlikely to be tossed out of the house.

But that didn’t mean that she would be happy staying, or that the death benefit would last long, if her husband had been a struggling Baron or Knight.

“Alright, so we’ve got a hundred or so eligible young women, and an unknown number more coming. Then we’ve got the Natural Sons’ Regiment likely headed our way after they get awards from the King.

I would imagine we will also get many sons from other families, as we’ve got so many Royal Family members here.

Well, extended family members, anyhow.”

Julio nodded. “There are only two here who hold the title of Princess, and those are Princess Min of Amerton, and Princess Poppy.

If Princess Min wanted to start her own harem, she would have to marry out of the extended Royal Family entirely instead of bringing a husband in, and her father would have her head on a pike at the castle gates for even suggesting that she end his lineage like that.

Princess Poppy is a bit of a wildcard. She’s still unwed, but there are rumours that her favourite member of the Royal Guards is Miss Ella.”

Dominic chuckled. “And here I thought that she was a brocon. I guess there is no need to find a man who reminds her enough of Fahad that he is not a huge disappointment.”

Julio smiled and shook his head. “In the eyes of that Princess, no man will ever measure up to her elder brother.”

Dominic didn’t think that Poppy had come here for the marriage event anyhow. She had come here because Alexis and Fahad were here, and it was the perfect opportunity to socialize.

Though, wasn’t Fahad also an option? He already had wives, Dominic knew that. But as the Crown Prince, there would likely be at least a few women looking to become one of his women. The status when he became King would be a huge improvement from nearly anything else they could hope for, unless they found a proper love match and not a political arrangement.