"Gentlemen, wele to Wistover. They told me you were ing, so I prepared a little something for you." Dominic joked as he reached the front ranks of the Regiment.
General Merlot stepped forward from the lines and shook Dominic’s hand.
"I believe that we are still missing two members of the Regiment." He noted.
"Princess Alexis is inside, supervising a dating event for prospective matches, and Billy Bob is... ah, there he is. Baron Willian Robert, e wele your brothers home." Dominic called.
The Baron had been called away from the Regiment early, because he had lost all his brothers, and had inherited a title. But he was still an eligible young Nobleman, of sorts.
Dominic honestly couldn’t remember his marital status, but he didn’t recall the Baron arriving with a full family the way that Baron Keith had. If his memory was right, Billy Bob had just brought some staff and moners he had hired.
"General, you look like you’ve been through it. It’s good to see you again." Billy Bob greeted the older man.
"Oh, we did. That monster invasion was no joke, even with the mortars. But that’s a topic for another night. Congratulations on making Baron."
"Same to you"
The General laughed. "It seems everyone forgets that I was not a young man anymore. Look at me now, a Baron, off to build an estate when I should be retiring."
Dominic patted the old General on the shoulder. "Fear not, we have Barony Manors pletely intact and plete with furniture. All you need to do is clean them and a bit of repair work.
Plus, we’ve got all sorts of new arrivals looking for work, so you don’t need to go far to get staff.
Who knows, you might even manage to borrow one of these untitled couples to help you out. The way things are going, I suspect that some of them aren’t going to want to leave."
Not with forty new Barons who all arrived alone, and all those Knights.
The title of Knight was convenient, as their children would have status for an extra generation. But more important to most lower Nobles was the stipend that came with it.
Life on the farm was hard, but when the King send you money every year, it was a little easier. Plus, a Knight had the rights to a double plot under a Baron.
That wasn’t something that was strictly enforced in Wistover, where land was still plentiful, and steam tractor could help with the work. But none of the new arrivals knew that.
"No need to stand on ceremony. I’ve seen the lot of you covered in mud and shaking off mortar blasts. e, socialize, meet this year’s finest batch of debutantes, and then we will talk in the morning." Dominic explained.
"The Adventurer’s Guild has prepared a dorm for you all, so that you can room together until you have time to look for private acmodations." Alexis added.
"You say that as if it’s a foregone conclusion that we’re staying." General Merlot joked.
"I know you’re not going anywhere. Besides, you were awarded a Barony, and where else would it be?"
All the empty Baronies that had been vacated after traitor Barons were purged had already been reassigned as war honours, so the Duchy of Wistover, or the wild lands along the border really were the only options.
With everything that had happened, the wild lands were basically untenable. There were too many monsters, bandits and other threats lurking about to be refurbishing a Barony Manor in the middle of nowhere.
And that’s assuming that there was one to renovate. Much of the region had never been populated.
With Dominic’s tacit approval, and the Princess stepping aside, a horde of well wishers descended upon the new Barons of the Natural Sons’ Regiment. It no longer mattered that they did’t inherit anything, it didn’t matter if their mother was a mistress and not a wife.
They had made their own names, gained their own Titles, and now that they were back from the war, they could start to rebuild their lives.
They had been given regimental dress uniforms for the ceremony in the Capital, and there were few debutantes who could resist a man in uniform. At least, that was the consensus among the other Noblemen who had been briefly forgotten in the rush to meet the new arrivals who had caused such a stir today.
Alora and her friends were telling everyone that they met about the honours about to be heaped upon the Regiment, and sharing all the rumours about the great deeds that they had managed.
At first, it had seemed innocent enough, but after seeing how everyone was reacting to them, he was beginning to suspect that they had been sent by the Royal Family for just this reason.
It might have been the youngest Princess who contacted them, but it was unlikely to have been entirely her idea, unless the instructions were added later, when she asked permission to send them out of the Academy.
General Merlot remained at Dominic’s side as the arrival turned into an impromptu party in the front drive instead of the garden.
He wasn’t looking for a wife, he had already been there, done that, left flowers at her grave.
But he was not about to miss his beloved Regiment’s first chance to get their hands on a woman in the better part of three months. That was the sort of entertainment that you couldn’t pay to see,
"You know, there was a time when I thought the Nobles were actually as uptight as all the rules say that they’re supposed to be." Dominic noted in an idle tone as the party began to spread through the entire Manor pound, with a few budding couples sneaking off to the trees behind the hay field, like nobody noticed.
"That’s a horrible thing to believe. It’ll ruin your entire outlook on the Nobility when you find out the reality."
"Just wait until they realize Dave can smell arousal, and that the trolls have been ordered not to let them go all the way." Dominic joked.
"See, that is pure evil. Leaving a gentleman with unfulfilled needs."
"But still funny. You know, putting heavy plate on Mountain Trolls has to be one of the best ideas I’ve had since I got here."
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