The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 597: The King’s Announcement

It wasn’t long before Dominic had all the protective statues delivered and everyone was beginning to gather in the central courtyard to hear what the King of Cygnia had to say.

The fact that he had made it a public announcement was enough to get everyone’s interest. But that he had made it a public announcement when all the other Kings were present was even more telling.

“Everyone, welcome. Thank you all for coming today, I know that many of you are not here for politics or a Royal Announcement, but for the chance to find your life partners at the debutante event.

But that only makes it more important that you hear today’s news.

By Royal Decree, as of today, the Duke and Duchess of Wistover will be given the title and role of Governor and Governess of Stansia Province.

Upon their capable shoulders we place the duty of maintaining order within the Province, and settling the disputes between our loyal subjects, and enforcing the Royal Will.”

The King paused as everyone present gasped in shock.

That was a huge promotion for the Duke, a position that would normally have gone to either the Crown Prince, or one of the other Royal Heirs who was close to the succession.

Princess Alexis was far down the list of heirs, the ninth child.

However, it didn’t need to be said that this wasn’t actually about promoting the Princess in a bid for Royal power. It was about placing the Dragonkin Duke into a role where the residents of Stansia Province who were still loyal to the Wavemates Family wouldn’t rise up against the Cygnian Nobility.

In one simple declaration, he had ensured that the only way the Province would be a threat in the future was if the Duke turned rebel against the crown.

That seemed unlikely to happen, given the circumstances, but it would also help ensure that the Duke stayed loyal, and didn’t push for further powers and lands.

So much of Stansia Province was still uninhabited that the other Kings were certain that Cygnia was planning to assign more lands to the younger sons of their most loyal Nobles.

The Duchy only had Barons under them, but it was still mostly empty, and there were no affiliated Counties under it, only the Baronies. That lack of middle Nobility made the other Royals nervous.

Speculation was uncertainty, and uncertainty meant a power vacuum.

Until the land was assigned to someone, none of them would be able to rest well.

But they also needed to sort out what was going on with the Kinewen Province situation. They couldn’t just let the entire population move to Stansia. A million-person relocation would be a logistical nightmare, and it would leave the land in Kinewen Province nearly worthless.

Nobody wanted to claim the ruins of a lost civilization. They wanted the massive capital city with all its techno magic and ancient culture.

And that was what had caused the whole issue earlier that day.

For a moment, nobody knew what to say. The King had just dropped a bombshell on them, without any sort of prior warning.

Certainly, there were no other Dukes in Stansia Province, but each of the three major cities had an Earl from an established family, and dozens of other Nobles under them.

The old Dagos Nobility had been entirely replaced after the war, but not with new appointees as Dominic was.

They had all come from known loyal families.

But now, the Dragonkin Duke had been appointed as the Governor of the Province, overseeing them all.

Unfortunately for them, the King didn’t appear inclined to take questions. He had made his announcement, and now he was conferring with the two Princes about how many advisors and staff they needed to bring to Wistover to handle the administrative portion of the duties.

As well as the advisors that Dominic would need to adjust to the position.

Dominic suspected that the names they were throwing about were actually a calculated misdirection intended to make the other Kings nervous. They all seemed to be Generals and other war heroes from the last war with Dagos, as well as a few retired sorts who had fought and made their name in previous conflicts.

None of the ones that they were mentioning now were the sort of Nobles that were well known for brown nosing or being pushovers.

In most situations, that would be taken as a sign of weakness on the part of the Noble that they were supporting. However, Dominic was ’The Butcher of Wistover’, he didn’t need someone with a stern will to prop up his reputation.

If anything, he could likely use a skilled statesman to help him deal with the other Nobles who were going to have their feathers ruffled by his appointment as Governor.

They had the lineage and history to be considered for the position, but this announcement felt so sudden that they may not have been considered at all.

Then, Prince Alex brought up a name that nobody had expected.

“Why don’t you leave my sixth brother here until the matter is settled? He is fully trained in negotiation, he knows all the Nobles of Stansia Province, and he doesn’t have a defined set of duties in the Capital.

Prince Russell would be an excellent option as head advisor to the Governorship.” She offered.

The Sixth Prince looked startled. Clearly, she hadn’t mentioned this in advance.

While it was true that his duties often took him far from the capital, it wasn’t like he didn’t have work to do. If he stayed here as advisor to the Governorship, who was going to take on his gopher duties, running errands all over the nation for the King?

The younger Princes were far from ready, and the only other Royal who didn’t have an assigned task as Princess Elanor, who was still a few years too young, and likely to end up married outside the Kingdom.

There simply wasn’t anyone who was perfectly suited to his current task.

Surely, they wouldn’t leave him to be bullied by his little sister?