Chapter 207: Make Them Wait
The next morning came far too early. They were far from finished with each other when the maids knocked at the door and let them know that breakfast was ready, and the airship would be leaving in two hours to return them to the Capital.
"Do you think that we can make them wait an extra day?" Alexis pondered as she lay across Dominic’s chest, idly running her fingers over his skin.
Her husband now.
But still, duty came first.
"Alright, we will be up shortly." Alexis replied, then rolled over, intending to get up out of bed and take a desperately needed bath.
Only, her legs wouldn’t support her.
She was sore in places she hadn’t known that she could be sore, and Dominic didn’t look much better as he stretched out aching muscles. He turned to pick up his shirt, and Alexis noticed the crisscross of fingernail tracks across his back and sides.
Who was supposed to be the dragonkin here?
She considered using a healing spell to patch them both up, but couldn’t bring herself to so easily erase the physical memory of their wedding night.
"You’re going to need to use that healing spell. If not, you won’t make it to the bath." Dominic whispered in her ear.
"And you?"
Dominic shrugged. "It will heal by evening. I am durable that way."
Alexis reluctantly healed herself, then wrapped a clean dressing gown around her body to head to the bath.
Dominic casually pulled a pair of silk pants up to his waist and followed her out to the main room to use the other bath. Breakfast was already served, sitting under trays, and Dominic casually purified it as he passed by.
The hot water of the shower was just what he needed, and the soft Sorcerer’s Robes were gentle against his damaged skin as he joined the Princess for breakfast.
"I am going to need to adjust the schedule for rebuilding the estate, I think." Dominic announced, startling the Princess, who was lost in thoughts of the night before.
"Because it’s Wistover? You know, it might not be the Manor House that you grew up in, right? The estate is named after the Wistoverke River, and there are many abandoned estate manors along that section of river." Alexis reminded him.
"That as well. Though, I suspect that it will be the Earl’s estate at Wistover. The others are hardly suitable to be sending a Princess to live in.
But I realized just now that I did not budget in nearly enough time for marital duties. I was thinking with the mind of a bachelor." Dominic replied.
"Do not say that to my father." Alexis admonished.
"The man has ten daughters and how many sons? Plus the children of his mistresses, who aren’t counted among the lineage." Dominic reminded her.
"That’s different. The Royal Lineage needs to be continued."
"And I now understand why he is so enthusiastic about the process. But I can’t say that I share his thoughts on concubines and mistresses. Just one Princess is enough." Dominic agreed.
The door opened, and the Crown Prince walked in.
"On that note, good morning. I just came to pass along a message before you depart.
The King will hold a Noble Title Passing Ceremony when you get back, though the title itself was official the moment that the Royal Edict was signed.
Next, the army was camped at your new estate for some time. They have cleaned the area, and the buried all the victims that they could find, both in the village and the estate.
Finally, if the Sorcerer has time on the trip back, the Royal Engineers would like design plans for the mortars and launchers, so they can equip more troops.
Do you have enough mana cores to get your primary spells to level ten? The King will request that you do that as soon as possible." Claudius insisted.
Dominic nodded. "I will be able to increase the level to at least nine before we get back. I will admit that I haven’t focused much on making mana gems, but I have some cores, and regular use should have brought me somewhere into the middle of the eighth level already."
Prince Claudius smiled. "Excellent work. You’ve come a long way in a very short time. Perhaps you will be able to handle the new level of responsibilities placed upon you."
Alexis frowned. "Why does it sound like we’re being set up for something even more complex and political than working behind enemy lines or helping negotiate an armistice?"
Claudius patted her on the shoulder with a smile. "Because, dear sister, you are.
You didn’t think that it would be easy to win over the natives of an occupied territory and convince them to come live in the wilderness under the dominion of a King who’s not their own, and a Noble with no reputation that none of them have ever met, did you?"
Alexis sighed. "When you put it that way, it sounds much more annoying than simply convincing people to move from the cities to rural farmland.
That alone is difficult.
But, we will find the people that we need. One way or another. If needed, we can rely on the reputation of the order and the new Duke’s abilities with Magitech to convince the first few to come.
Then we will send them back to town to sell their first harvest, and they can spread the word for us."
The Crown Prince gave her an indulgent smile. If the Princess asked, she would surely get assistance from their father to recruit for the estate. But knowing her, she would want to do as much as she could herself before she would admit defeat and request help.
"That’s all that I came to tell you. Enjoy your breakfast, and don’t miss the airship. They’re already delaying their departure for the pair of you. Everything else is already loaded and ready to go.
If you want to keep the wedding garments, I can have them laundered and saved to be sent with the next supply run." Claudius announced.
"Please do. It might not be the sentimental memory that it is for many others, but I think that it will be a good memory for us to have when things get difficult in the future." Dominic insisted.
Hopefully, he hadn’t damaged the robes too badly when he removed them from her body. He remembered cutting the corset strings, as they couldn’t just tie her robes with a sash like his for easy access. But he wasn’t certain whether any of the actual robe layers were damaged.
Or where they had all gone.