The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 645: Family Dinners

Dinner that evening was in a much more relaxed mood than it had been in what felt like forever.

No more debutantes and their suitors, no influx of Nobles and Royals, just family.

The fact that the “family” dinner included the King of Cygnia almost felt like it was normal and anticlimactic, when Dominic knew for certain that even most of the Dukes would rarely host the King more than once every three or four years.

He simply didn’t have time to personally tour the nation himself, he sent his sons to that part of the role of maintaining order and loyalty to the Royal Family.

With his age advancing and Prince Claudius getting closer to taking over the throne, it made perfect sense to send him instead. He needed to have the loyalty of the Nobles and wealthy families when he ascended, or Cygnia would be sent into turmoil with the number of people who would silently try to undermine stability to get a bit more for themselves.

“So, Father. How do you like what we’ve done with the place? You should have seen it when we first arrived. Nothing like it is now.”

The King smiled. “You forget that I was here before it was abandoned. I can imagine what it looked like when you arrived, going by the military reports.”

“Right, I forget that this place was somewhat famous before it was ours.”

The King laughed. “I wouldn’t call it that. It was a good meeting place when you needed to talk discretely to the Dragon King, though. The Earl was happy to arrange meetings, even if it was just through the viewing mirror in the basement.

I don’t see that there anymore, so perhaps it was damaged or deliberately destroyed to prevent it falling into others’ hands.”

Dominic thought about what was in the storage item in the basement.

There was nothing that would be called a viewing mirror. There wasn’t anything of the sort on the bodies either. So either it was destroyed, still hidden, or it was somewhere else in the house, and he hadn’t realized that it was magical.

Prince Axel smiled at his sister. “If you want a new one, I can make it for you. Perhaps I should have it connected directly to our dearest Claudius, so he can talk to his favourite sister anytime?”

Claudius looked secretly excited for that.

Alexis smiled at her fellow book lover. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I know you meant it as a joke, but sending these messages by magical tablets or messengers is a real pain. If I could just talk to him through a linked mirror, it would be much easier once Father retires and passes the throne down.”

The King looked wounded. “Yet, you didn’t ask for one to me?”

“You have how many children older than I am? If we all kept requesting your presence for in-person meetings, you would never get anything done.” Alexis joked.

The King sighed. “You’re not wrong about that. But I can’t really complain, since it’s a self-inflicted issue.”

Alexis nodded. “I will keep it in mind in the future. Three or four heirs to Wistover should be more than enough.”

Dominic nodded in agreement. One wasn’t much security, plus he would definitely want to keep on a younger sibling for them. He always did think that it would be fun to have a little sister.

Though, if he would have turned out like Claudius, perhaps it wasn’t worth the stress.

Alex did seem to be fairly well-adjusted about the whole situation, though. So, it might not be an inherent issue with sisters and simply a Claudius peculiarity.

“If nobody requires my presence in the Throne Room, I will be remaining here for a few more days, hopefully enough to see the tournament through to the end.

It will be good for morale, both for the newly elevated Nobles, and for the people of Wistover to see that their King does care enough to stay and see them, to interact with the common people and such.”

Alexis smiled at her father. “This about Beth’s cooking, isn’t it?”

“I will admit that we have missed having her around the castle. Her successor is quite skilled, but it’s not quite the same.”

In the kitchen, Beth smiled fondly toward the dining room.

Her successor was her younger cousin, and they’d been working together for nearly fifteen years in the Royal Kitchens, after the girl was widowed young and chose to take a Palace position instead of remarrying.

Her husband, like so many others, had pooled money with his family, and the Matriarch had assigned money to each family in what only the woman herself could claim was an impartial manner.

But after the accident, Beth’s cousin had been a widowed daughter-in-law, and the Matriarch didn’t see any need for her to remain in a whole house all alone. That could be assigned to another young member of the family, and Beth could move into one of the spare rooms in the main house.

Technically, she would have been more than a servant, but the duties of a widow and a senior servant in the family were mostly semantics, with the widow having more authority.

If she had actually gotten along with the family, that would have been fine. An easier life than most housewives got.

But she did not.

So, she left, and now she was considered one of the finest patissier in the entire Kingdom.

One of the best. But according to the King, that title still went to Chef Beth.

“While I do feel a tiny bit bad about stealing away Miss Beth, we are glad to have her here in the Duchy, and you are welcome to visit as often as needed to get your fill of her cooking.” Dominic offered.

The King laughed. “Well, with the transportation array that has been built at the Duskblade Sect’s Academy, that might be possible. It is powerful enough that even the average court mage can reach from Cygnia City to Wistover.”

Average for a court mage meant a Master Mage, bordering on an Archmage, somewhere between level twenty and twenty-five with the [Portal] spell memorized.

The Duskblade Sect also had a number of mages in that range, and a few, like Amie, who were simply extremely adept with the portal spell.

So, he could also get home, without bringing a powerful Advisor.