An unsaid understanding between the trio and Dominic was established, and in a few weeks, it was time for Fatalite and the Evanair family to leave for their new territory.
Ciel looked at Dominic, who had a few escort knights by her side.
She finally looked like a properly acknowledged heir.
But…
"Will you really be ok without Cedric?"
Dominic smiled.
"I'm the crown prince, and I'm restricted to the capital. By my side, Cedric won't be able to grow. It's best if he follows you guys around the continent for a few years before we have to leave."
Ciel tilted his head. His mana senses roamed around freely, transmitting the scene in front of him to his mind.
"That'll be more convincing if you let go of his hand."
Cedric smiled brightly, raising up their clasped hands.
"We're not leaving yet, so it's fine. Don't worry, Dominic, don't I still have Ignis? I'll send you letters through him every week, and then we'll go to Ouroborus together. It's just three years. I'll be back in a flash! I'll also visit every few months too!"
Dominic felt Cedric's warmth pass through to her hands and smiled.
"I know."
Cedric's head was abruptly ruffled.
"Son, if you only talk to our crown prince, your parents will be sad."
Duchess Norama sighed, supporting her husband's words.
"You'll be visiting her every month, what about us? I knew this wasn't a good idea. Cedric's only ten years old this year!"
"Didn't you marry me when you were 16?"
'Wow really?'
Ciel's head lifted up, his mana senses staring at the young looking couple. Erin also paused.
Even in their world, the legal age to marry was 18.
Seeing their interest, the duchess smacked her husband's shoulder.
"That was a feudal tradition that should have disappeared a long time ago! Don't corrupt the children's minds!"
From the carriage, Jadiel smiled and bent down to Lanae's height, whispering as he lifted a piece of their luggage into the vehicle.
"As if Ciel could get more corrupted."
Lanae raised an eyebrow.
"Corrupted or not, my children are the best."
"I know! I was just saying something to make conversation! You've only spoken ten sentences to me today!"
This guy, ever since they had gotten a marriage certificate, had become clingier.
Amused, Lanae raised a hand, lightly smacking his shoulder.
"Continue packing."
The Norama couple continued their conversation.
"Sigh, what can we do about it? Our dukedom is just an empty title. We don't have a strong enough knight force to protect our son if he's targeted."
Dominic blinked.
'This scheming couple.'
In fact, the Norama household was one of the houses that had risen steadily throughout generations by staying neutral and loyal, portraying itself as harmless. It wasn't until this generation did they break that tradition because of Dominic and her mother.
This had allowed them to survive, but it had also made their actual power and influence lower than marquis's. They had survived by being mediocre, but now Cedric emerged as a dual system, with clear allegiance to the first female crown prince in Anatol.
Those aiming for change were always targeted.
Cedric noticed her changing emotions, patting her hand comfortingly, but Dominic sighed, giving him a smile before addressing his parents.
"We'll discuss redistribution of the militia before you two leave for the Norama territory."
Duchess Norama flipped open her fan, covering her smile.
"We thank your highness."
They couldn't protect their son right now, but this had to change. It was tumultuous now, but Dominic would become an excellent queen if she continued persevering down her path. As time went on, more people would flock to her side—not to mention the newly promoted Evanair dukedom who already had a considerable amount of power. As parents, they couldn't rely on their son to support their status using his blood and tears. Since their facade of neutrality had been shed, it was best to develop as best as they could to live up to the Dukedom's name.
It was only a matter of time before the oath bound Athne household and the other nobles completely submitted to Dominic. Before that they had to cement their positions.
Jadiel and Lanae, who had finished packing up all the luggage and the rest of Fatalite into the carriages, approached, each picking up one of their sons.
"We'll be going now."
Dominic nodded, letting go of Cedric's hand.
"Safe travels."
"Of course."
Jadiel held Ciel in his arms, preparing to leave.
"Ah wait."
The duchess bent down, staring at Cedric's face, as if she wanted to imprint it in her mind.
"Cedric, we'll be installing a teleport formation in our estate as soon as possible, don't just visit our crown prince, alright?"
Cedric's cheeks were smushed in her hands, and he nodded obediently.
"Off coursh, mother!"
"And don't forget to send letters every week. Ignis has been getting fatter lately, sending two letters every week will get him back in shape."
Cawk!
Next to them, a fat pigeon squawked in dissatisfaction. Ignored immediately, it squawked again before flying back to the top of the carriage.
Ciel glanced at Ignis, before head turned to Erin.
'If brother shrank a little, couldn't he…'
Erin expressionlessly reached over and turned his head back.
"No."
Boredom was making Ciel come up with weird ideas again.
Dominic looked at the family of three, the duchess continued talking, and the duke hovered above her uncertainly, waiting for her to finish—it seemed that he also had quite a lot to say to his son.
"Would you mind waiting a few minutes?"
"Sure, I expected something like this would happen anyway."
Holding Ciel with one arm, Jadiel scratched his head.
Looking at his demeanor, Dominic narrowed her eyes.
"Don't forget, you're a duke now. Don't forget to look at the list of people I gave you. I know you'll recruit for Fatalite from eves, but remember to hire some instructors from my list. Your entire family should learn aristocratic manners and rules, hire reliable servants and knights. The territory I gave you should be empty of inhabitants, so feel free to take in more eves or refugees. If you need lessons on governing a territory, there are also people for that in my list—"
Though her words were directed towards Jadiel, Ciel felt like his ears would burst.
"Alright, alright. How come I didn't see your naggy nature before! It'll be fine. My dad's contacted several eve communities in poor conditions willing to migrate. Fatalite has enough funds for a territory, and we know several eves willing to help us."
'Looking' at Dominic's furrowed eyebrows, he smiled.
"So don't worry. We'll all be fine. Just wait for our good news."
***
Looking at the fading silhouettes of Dominic and the couple beside her, Ciel stroked the plush rabbit doll.
"Dad, when's our little uncle moving in?"
With Jadiel's new position and influence, the little cheetah eve Jadiel had dropped off at the eve village could finally be reunited with his brother.
Watching Lanae braid Ciel's hair, Jadiel absentmindedly replied.
"Kierra is leading the entire village over and they'll be there before us."
/What about the staff?/
Ciel shrugged.
He really did go to the black market to fulfill his promise to Michael. If he made the poor priest wait a bit longer, the man would have exploded from anxiety. Since he didn't have a need to go to the church anymore, the priest had promised him three favors from the church. As part of the contract, they had exchanged a pair of joker cards, Michael's was imbued with Ciel's mana signature, and the one in Ciel's hand was imbued with the church's holy seal.
If they ever met, the cards would resonate with each other—and plus the fact that this was one of the few mana contracts he had signed, Ciel was reassured that this one wouldn't try to renege on his debts.
This world was really great, contracts would actually make sure the other would repay what they owed.
Unlike his previous world, he had to go from door to door to make sure no one had run away.
He was a bit sad to leave such a convenient black market behind. Not to mention the fact that he had to take a potion every week to maintain his black hair.
He glanced at his parental figures surreptitiously. His new dad had mottled yellow and black hair, his mother had greyish white hair, if anyone not in the know asked, he could say his mother's printer ran out of ink after giving birth to his big brother.
So, maybe it was time to stop drugging his hair roots?