The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 614: Elanor Arrives

Liz, the scullery maid who was normally in the kitchen cleaning brought them snacks a few seconds later. She must have been dispatched before Dominic even let Elanor into his office, as she was too quick to have been summoned afterward.

“Liz, thank you. How are things going downstairs?”

The junior maid gave him a faint smile. “As well as can be expected. We’ve had to replace a few staff members, not all of the extras that we hired for the event worked out. But Beth doesn’t allow any nonsense, and it’s still a good place to work.”

“That is wonderful news. The right coworkers are essential to keeping things running smoothly, and the kitchen is the most important part of the house.”

“I’m certain that Dave would agree.

We’re certainly one of the busiest, though the housekeepers are not slacking at all with so many Royal guests on site. Even if they brought their own staff with them, there is still a lot of cleaning and maintenance work for us to do.

Now, I simply must get back to work. We’re shorthanded after the weddings, and we’ve got an influx of Royal Guests.”

Princess Elanor laughed as the maid scurried away.

Clearly the girl had no idea who she was, and had gotten used to all sorts of random women being around the house who were not anyone important enough for her to hold back in her conversation with Dominic.

“Your people sound fun. There aren’t a lot of the Palace staff that are so easygoing, but even your Manor Guards know how to make life interesting.”

Dominic laughed, remembering that Dave had simply picked her up to avoid having to deal with her attempts to sneak past him.

“We have collected a pretty good bunch of people, for certain.

But is there a particular reason that you escaped from your brothers’ attention? I know how they are about protecting their little sisters, so it can’t have been easy to get away without anyone seeing you.”

Elanor held up the amulet around her neck. “It’s a protection spell from my First Brother, but it’s also a tracking spell. It’s not that they’ve let me escape, but that they know where I am, and they don’t know that my assigned bodyguards aren’t with me.”

The veiled maid smirked behind her face covering, and Dominic saw her eyes dart to the hallway.

The youngest Princesses’ guards must be in the hall, making themselves unobtrusive, as the office was small, and Dave was on guard at the door. With the troll there, her security was assured.

Plus, the door was open.

“Well, we can always have a snack before lunch and catch up. How have your classes been going? I heard that you’ve finally been able to return to school instead of being cooped up at home.”

Princess Elanor nodded eagerly. “Not only that, but they’ve also given us permission to go outside of the city for training again.

You have no idea how awful it was to be stuck inside the Palace for an entire war.

I couldn’t even go out and hunt Goblins to train my skills because everyone was too worried about spies and traitors. So, I just sat with the Tutors and learned theory instead of actually doing anything.”

“Sounds awful.”

The Princess giggled, reminding Dominic of just how young she was. Despite being trained her whole life for responsibility, she was still barely fourteen years old.

She had a few years of basic schooling left in front of her before being thrown directly into the political waters of an arranged marriage.

There might be a lot of competition for Noble husbands, but that hardly applied to a Princess of the direct lineage, and even less to her father’s clear favourite.

“It really was.

But it’s good to be here. I haven’t gotten to see my sister yet, but the Castellan led us around the property before taking me to my father, and I can see that she put a lot of work into the design.”

“Oh, why do you say it was her and not me?”

“Do you have the sort of military training that tells you to build earthworks behind the wall, so that the first five metres of height are impervious to ramming attacks and cannon fire? Or perhaps a hidden mastery of crop dynamics to build a sustainable agriculture system within the grounds.”

“Hey, that one was actually Dave and our Garden Witch, working with Chef Beth.”

“Still, it’s incredible.

I’ve been learning so many things from the Royal Paladins since the twins both got married. Oh, what a scandal that was, with Thorvald stealing a marriage arrangement.

But they seem to be getting along well.

Hopefully, the King of Keria will allow Thorvald to come to the tournament, so I can see Josephine again. It’s been too long since any of my sisters got to come back to the Palace and visit.”

Dominic nodded and placed a few of the small sweets on a plate for her.

“Such is the sacrifice of being married. At least for a Princess.

I don’t think that Alexis is too upset about having to move to Wistover, though. She’s been settling in quite well, and she’s making a whole new group of friends.” Dominic joked.

“Oh? I didn’t know that there were other Noble ladies living in the Manor.”

“Well, there have been some, as we just finished hosting a Debutante event. But I actually meant that she has started training new Paladins for the Duchy.”

“OH! Real friends. That is wonderful. Do you think that I could get to meet one of them before I have to leave? Are there girls in her new Paladin Order?”

“Indeed there are. And I’m certain you can meet them later, just ask your sister when you two are in private.”

Princess Elanor was practically vibrating with excitement, while the Veiled Maid was doing her best not to laugh. One of the “Paladins” that the young Princess was looking for was standing right beside her, wearing servant clothing.

It was the perfect disguise, the Maid realized.

Even though they had been worried that they were carrying themselves like trained soldiers, that confident stride and trained reflexes were only making everyone think that they were elite Royal Staff members.