Chapter 105 – Princess and a Duchess
*** Princess Elora, next morning ***
"Isda, have you scheduled the meeting with Duchess Fluvis?" I ask.
"Yes, you'll need to be in a carriage after lunch. The Duchess asked for it to be in the garden between the sea and fertility temples. A spot is already reserved for you two," Isda informs me, placing a new stack of requests on my desk. "These are the ones I think may be worth something, but how much effort we put in is up to you. I've handed off the reject request to Sedriresa to comb through as well."
"Thank you for that. But why did you schedule the meeting for today?" I ask, pulling the stack over.
"As I said in the letter, she wanted to do it before she got too big. That didn't happen, but I wanted to show us trying. She is the only Duchess backing us right now. Even if she wasn't pregnant, we can't be waiting too long to meet with her."
"She can't be that big," I say. She should be four months or so. I guess some girls do get big that fast.
"Yes. Yes, she is. There was a lunch in the capital that we both went to. The questions were when is she due, not if she was pregnant. She carries them well, but there is no question about her status there," she informs me. "Oh, and they were already talking about how you went out personally to kill the Griffins. Not sure if they were just trying to suck up to me or if they truly cared. But I will happily take the word spreading. Some of the bordering Nobles have also noticed a slight increase in trade. Their land is connected by the roads I sponsored with the guild, so we are seeing some success with our plans. Hopefully, they will find out about that soon as well. We just need to keep the trade higher so they know it will be a lasting effect of your rule. Then back to pregnancies, your eldest sister has a member of her harem pregnant. At least a few of the girls said that. Your mother was asking about your seed. I told her we would be picking them up soon. She'll likely come asking again soon, but by all accounts, Alzi will be giving birth any day now. So, nothing to worry about there, just a small annoyance."
"Anything else, dear?" I ask her.
"No, the third and fourth drawer have all the assignments I sent out. The finances are looking good," Isda says. "But the nobles around are asking if our seed will be doing the normal duties of man soon."
"Asking before we even have it," I say with a soft chuckle. After food, kids are the most important thing for nobles.
"Yes, I wasn't sure how to respond when we don't have Alzi yet," she says, slowly extracting herself from the chair to leave me with the paperwork.
"Alzi will do it, but we'll give her a month or so to get settled," I call out to her as she leaves. I can't have all my maids pregnant, and I'm not ready for more of my wives to get pregnant, so the surrounding nobles and merchants will have to be Alzi's sexual relief sometimes.
With Isda gone all that is left to do is to sort through the request she gave me.
....
"Are you finished your Highness?" Sedriresa asks me, wiping my clean face with a napkin.
"Yes, why are you so bold all of a sudden?" I ask, swatting her hand away.
"To give you the ability to relax. You're getting so tense, and you need an outlet for that stress. Let your maids take care of you until you're ready for Alzi to do it," she says, hiding the napkin somewhere. "Now, we need to get going. It's not proper to leave a pregnant woman waiting."
"She won't be waiting," I say, getting out of my chair. "We should be ahead of schedule."
"We are, and I plan to keep it that way and let the Duchess ramble if she pleases," she informs me.
I had lunch in my office, hoping to finish the last of Isda's requests. I still have one left I can go over in the carriage if Sedriresa lets me. The maids have become quite skilled at distracting me during our trips.
She pulls out my chair so I can stand up, and a new pair of shoes appears. Damn heels, the Duchess is pregnant. I doubt she'll be wearing heels, so mine shouldn't matter that much.
"Put them on. You have a status to uphold. Your dress is fine, but you need the proper footwear," the maid says with a stern look. I can only sigh at the rules. We just have to have this meeting in public.
With my new shoes on, I make a show of grabbing the last request, steeling myself to demand some peace in the carriage so I can get through it.
"Don't worry, your Highness, I'll let you finish your work," she says, opening the door for me. "But I make no promises about what happens after."
"I'm about to meet the Duchess; I can't look like I just left a brothel," I grumble.
"I would never make it look like that, Your Highness. It would look like you just fucked your maids," she comforts, leading me through the halls to the front of the manor.
Once again, she opened the door for me to a single carriage and a few guards. Another one of my maids held the carriage open for me. She follows us in; both maids sit across from me as I start to look at the last request. The carriage shakes a little as we start towards the capital. It was a few-hour journey, more than enough time to get through this paper, but I think I'll take my time.
...
It did end up taking me the entire ride to finish the paper. At first, I was just taking my time, but Sedriresa started giving me a strange look. A look that seemed to show a desire to pounce on me and lick my face or something. It's quite unnerving.
With the extra worry, I couldn't go through the request quickly, which allowed me to take the entire ride naturally.
At our destination, Sedriresa opened the door for me, the Duchess already sitting on a bench waiting for me.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Duchess," I say, walking over to her, my maids following at a small distance.
"Oh, no worry. I went out for lunch and finished early, so I decided to enjoy the garden a bit before we met up," the Duchess says, her maid standing off to the side. "Are you ready, or would you like to sit with me? It is a bit before Isda scheduled our talk."
"We can start now. See if we have some time after to check in on a temple instead. My travels have kept me away longer than I would like," I say.
"Very well. Petunia, please?" the Duchess says, holding out a hand. The petite maid comes, grabs the hand, and helps the visibly pregnant elemental up.
I see what Isda meant. There was no question Fluvis was pregnant. The only real questions are how many and when you are due. Her light blue dress reached her ankles in a small attempt to keep nobles from looking at her flat shoes—not that anyone would be willing to judge. I'm surprised she wishes to walk around the garden at all in her condition.
Surprise or not, she heads into the garden, following the wandering stone path. Her small maids provide support at her side. Her slow waddle lets me catch her quickly in the maze of colors.
A small stream flows from the side of the Sea temple to the fertility temple. Green is everywhere despite the fall season. The trees are the only plant showing the time of year, the rest make it seem like late spring. Plenty of mana fills the air to keep the plants healthy, a common trick for a garden and yet another example of nobles pushing silly signs of power and wealth.
"I heard about your little trip. It pleases me to see you uphold your promise so quickly. Though it did ruin my plan of not being heavily pregnant when we have our meeting," Fluvis says with a small sigh, a hand rubbing her swollen belly. "Four kids, I didn't have much of a chance not to be big when we met. In some ways, I should be happy your mother had her little party. Everyone must know who gave her that cute kid. Bold to show to the nation she had a kid with a brothel girl, and I don't think she's going to be happy when you marry that girl. I don't think I told you, but I had plans to take her for myself, but the Mistress wouldn't sell her to me."
"I didn't know that," I say. "Well, you will be marrying Alzi in the end."
"No, no. Mother is being stubborn. She wasn't happy about this meeting taking so long to happen, looking for silly reasons to walk back my agreement. I can't trust her to keep the house backing you, so I'll have to keep my position for at least a while. I think Alzi has given me some exceptional kids. When I rest, I feel them playing with my mana a bit. It may be best for me to stay the Duchess long term so my kids can take the title easier. The navy is the power of the Queendom. I think these bundles of joy may be able to expand that power even more," she says, her eyes focused on her belly, ignoring the beauty that surrounds us.
"That is bittersweet, I guess. I would love to have women as strong as you and your wives in my harem. But a strong navy is important, as you say. Thank you for trying and putting the nation first. I know you wish to settle down a bit. I'll see what I can do to give you that."
"Don't worry. I've handled it for a while now. A few more decades won't hurt me. I'll be moving back to the seaside once Alzi gives birth. I've been in the capital too long as it is, but I'm nervous about the kids and couldn't get myself to leave."
"I understand. It has been nice having you so close. It is only a few days' ride if I need you for something. I appreciate the warning and wish you the best in raising the kids. I heard Alzi's last pregnancy had a large number," I say. We turn again and come to a small shelter. The stream runs behind it. A patch of purple flowers lines the circular structure.
"Yes, the priestess informed me it would be twelve kids for sixteen total with what I'm carrying. A lot, but it does make it so I don't have to worry about getting pregnant again. I'm sure my wives will want some of their own eventually, but Petunia here is looking to have some kids. If Alzi needs an outlet, just ask, and I'll tie this one up and ship her to you for a night or two."
"I'll keep that in mind. Alzi must have quite the sex drive after a decade in a brothel with those classes and such a strong affinity."
"Yes, yes, she does. Be kind to the girl. She deserves to be loved. There is too much pain for a girl with that much promise. I hope you'll let her choose her next class," she says, making her way to a bench. Petunia pulls out a glass of water and some snacks for her Lady.
"I fully plan to love her and let her choose her path," I say.
"Good. Good. Do you have anything you want to discuss with me? I think I've said all I need to say."
"Yes a few questions about some sea routes..."