The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 586: Human Nature
Chapter 586: Human Nature
Dominic returned to the house when he was certain that Dave knew what all to report to him, then paused when he heard a woman shouting angrily and the sound of slapping.
That sounded entertaining.
He went back outside, and around the side of the house, wondering who had messed up enough to get slapped and shouted at, only to find that it was not a woman and man fighting, but two of the debutantes.
One was standing over the other, clearly the aggressor in this situation.
“Bitch, you need to learn your place. You think that you can take him from me?” One of the women was ranting in a hushed tone that wasn’t meant to carry.
Unfortunately for her, both Dave and Dominic had excellent hearing.
“I swear, I didn’t do anything. It’s not my fault that he keeps rejecting your advances. Just let me go, and I will stay away from him.” The other girl pleaded.
Dominic saw the glint of metal in the standing woman’s hand, and quickly put an [Area Barrier] over the kneeling woman.
“Alright ladies, break it up.
I let you have your argument, but you know that fighting with weapons is limited to actual duels. Now, if you don’t want to be sent home, I suggest that you behave properly, and accept that if a suitor says no more than once, they likely mean it.” He warned.
The woman’s look went from panic to anger, then she stomped away without a word, leaving Dominic to help the other woman to her feet.
The debutante’s dress was torn in multiple places, and muddy from the ground, which never really dried these days with the constant rain showers.
“Let’s get you somewhere to change before it causes a scene. Come in the side door here, and there are rooms in the basement level, including a shower.
Do you have a dress in your storage item?”
The woman shook her head. “I’m down to my last clean one. The small confrontations always seem to target my clothing, so everything is either damaged or stained.”
There were tears in her eyes, and she clearly wanted nothing more than to just go home at this point. But Dominic had a plan.
“Dave, follow us downstairs if you fit. You can remove the stains and fix her dresses while she showers off the mud. You have the mending magic, right?”
Dave nodded. “Yep, clothes are easy to fix. No stains, no problem. I would never have clean clothes if I couldn’t remove stains.”
Once they were in the basement, with Dave crammed into the narrow hallways outside the servants’ quarters, the young woman handed Dave a stack of dresses, and then retreated into the shower.
“What about the last one?” The troll asked.
“You can do it after. If it’s the last one she picked, it’s either special, or her least favourite. So, there is no rush to fix it right away. Do the ones that she wears most often first.” Dominic guessed.
“Is that how the Princess does it?”
Dominic shrugged. “I have no idea. The maids bring her clothes according to some secret instructions that us mere menfolk aren’t privy to.”
Dave rumbled with laughter as he began to cast nature magic on the dresses.
“The faceless women are mysterious, for sure. They know all sorts of stuff, and the little mage is teaching them new stuff all the time.”
That must mean Amie.
She was always around the house, keeping watch on Dominic, now that they didn’t have much time to be working in the forge. But her role as assistant was long gone.
She was very clearly his bodyguard now.
The dresses were cleaned in only a few minutes, but the woman still wasn’t coming out of the shower.
“Do you think that we should call for one of the ladies?” Dominic asked.
“Probably. Princess will blind you for looking at other women if you walk in there to see if she’s alright.”
“Good point. See if we can find one who heals.”
Dave smiled and then made a rumbling sound that travelled through the stone.
“They will send the Ella guard. She’s a Paladin, she can heal if the girl is broken, and she can give her the clean dresses.” Dave announced proudly.
“That’s a handy trick. Do the others hear you through the stone?”
Dave nodded. “Yep. It’s how we talk to each other in the mountains, but it works good in a stone house with stone walls all around it.”
A few seconds later, Ella walked in with a confused look.
“The Trolls said to come to you in the staff shower.”
Dominic laughed, and handed her the stack of clean dresses. “There is a bullied young lady in there in need of clothing. If you can find out what is going on, please do.
It might be easier for you to settle the situation, but if you want to do something more permanent, come to me, and I will follow your suggestions for the resolution.”
Ella patted him on the shoulder. “Relax, I have experience dealing with this. I take it that Dave had to mend and clean stains from everything that she owns?”
Dave nodded. “There is one more dress, she wore it into the room. I will fix it when it comes out.”
“Did either of you think to ask what man she was fighting over?”
The two men looked a bit embarrassed, and Ella sighed. “Never mind. I will find out. I suspect that I already know the answer, based on who just stormed into the back yard.”
“Yeah, that should be the one. She was attacking this one in the side yard and pulled a knife. I will deal with that later, I thought it was better to see to this one first.” Dominic explained.
“I will rejoice the day that all of the debutantes have either been married or moved on. This insanity has gone on too long.”
From the top of the stairs an amused chuckle caught their attention.
Prince Alex came down to join them, closing the door to the side mud room behind him.
“So that’s where you were. I came to inform you that you’ve got more headaches on the way, actually.
Not like this event, the Royals are suggesting that we should hold a Royal Jousting tournament in Wistover to mark the finalization of the talks between the nations.
So, good luck with that. Now, I am going to go find my sister and see where she hides the good liquor.”
