The World Dragon's Heir

Prince Russel cast a glare toward the kitchen, and Dominic heard Beth faintly laughing.

The cook loved to mess with the Prince, but for a formal dinner, all the portions should be identical, unless a specific request was made.

And that was how they came out.

Mostly.

Beth had made a form of lemon trifle with layered pastry like a Danish. They were lovely, but Dominic couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the cook had arranged blueberries to make a smiley face on the Prince's portion.

The Prince smirked, then shook his head when he saw it.

"When I was little, the lemon was too sour, so I asked for berries to make it sweeter. Now, she treats me like a child all the time." He muttered.

Alexis smiled. "It reminds us not to get an enlarged ego. Besides, don't you still prefer either berries or a berry jam on your lemon trifle?"

Russel shrugged as he cut a bite with one of the blueberries.

"I can't say that she's wrong, but she could space them evenly."

Dominic reached into his storage and took out a small handful of Dragonberries to make a circle on top of his dessert.

"The cook might be on to something." He informed the Prince with a shrug as he tasted the combination.

Dragonberries were also a somewhat sour fruit, but not in the same way as lemons, and the two flavours clashed in a most pleasing way.

"You keep berries on you and don't share?" Prince Russel asked.

"They're Dragonberries. I would share, but that wouldn't end well for anyone else in the room." He explained.

The Prince blinked slowly. "Right, those are native to the area. I forgot about that. My Nanny used to use them in tea when I was sick, so I would sleep through the night."

Alexis nodded. "They're often used as a sleeping medicine, but apparently they have many medicinal uses. The witches on the edge of town collected most of them that were growing wild to make potions and medicine this year."

"You have a Coven as well? Wistover really is blessed. Getting good witch brewed medicines is a real pain. My territory is right along the West Keria border, and they have plenty of mages, but very few witches, other than Techno Witches."

Dominic winked at him. "I'm working on recruiting all the magic users I can find. Wistover might be small, but we could be a real powerhouse of magitech production."

"I wish you the best of luck expanding the city. But I should retire early, as I am leading the men out first thing in the morning. Please have the staff send ingredients for breakfast to the barracks before dawn." Prince Russel announced.

"Certainly. The kitchen will ensure that they're properly fed before they leave."

It might be the last decent meal that they had in some time, as the men of the reserve regiments were rarely skilled in cooking, and when they were drafted, the King didn't draft any women for the support roles, only soldiers.

So, a bunch of young men who went from their mother's to their wife's cooking suddenly had to learn to fend for themselves, while relying on the skills of the few bachelors in the group.

After so long on deployment, they would have certainly learned some skills so that they could make the basic army rations a bit more palatable. But that wasn't anywhere near the level of meal that they would get from a Ducal Manor's kitchen staff.

Once the Prince was off to bed, the rest of the group slowly split off, except for Pops and Mead, who remained in the house.

"I am taking the day off to meet the Apprentice's family and sign the formal contract, then show her around town. They just arrived a day ago, so she hasn't had a chance to get situated yet." He explained.

"That's a wonderful plan. The rooms on the first floor are made up for guests. Mead can stay there, and your room should be just as you left it." Dominic agreed.

Mead smiled at him. "You keep a room for your Master at the Manor?"

Dominic winked at her. "Do you know how much an old Dwarf can drink? Social drinks can be an all-night affair, and I can't be sending him home in the middle of the night."

Pops shrugged. "It's not that the town is unsafe, but it's a long walk in the dark."

The town did have magitech lights, but only the one in the town square by the fountain was normally left on, so that anyone who urgently needed water could access the public water pump.

When the town got more populated, Dominic intended to put in a few more lights that would be on all night.

However, the practice wasn't a popular one on most of the continent. The consensus was that they were 'thief lights'. Just enough illumination for those with bad intentions to make their way around, but not enough to easily identify them, even if someone was up far past when they should normally have gone to bed.

It was seen as a better option to turn all the lights out, and let the guard dogs deal with security, as they didn't need any extra light.

The bigger cities tended to have either gas lights or Magitech lights on most streets, as they operated all night. But smaller towns and villages were usually completely dark after the last businesses and taverns closed and shut their front porch lights off.

Mead shrugged. "I won't object to staying here for the night. I've never slept in a Nobleman's house before. Just think of it, how many Apprentices get to sleep in the same house as a real, genuine Princess?"

Pops patted her on the shoulder. "You've got a point. Now, let's show you to your room, we'll be up at first light so we can walk over and see your mother at work. It is Cygnia tradition that an Apprentice's parents sign off on the work contract so that they can't claim their child was kidnapped when they move to their new workplace."