The next few days were a little tedious for James. His sisters and servants hovered over him constantly and they didn't even let the maids near him.
It was anounced five days after James's revenge, Duchess Diana took her own life.
He was a little relieved to hear this news at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it didn't make sense.
High ranking noble deaths are a huge deal and most nobles have to attend a funeral at the capital to pay their respects.
The Troth estate declined to have this honor and instead wanted the family to mourn in private.
'Except there is no family left to mourn her…'
The whole ordeal smelt fishy and James didn't have enough information to know what was really going on.
He shook his head and started reading the book in front of him.
His knowledge about the world was severely lacking and James didn't have anything else to occupy his time.
He thought about just lazing about and fulfilling the quota, but he didn't want to be a total bum.
Plus, even though he had struck that deal with the shop owner back in Blackwell, the thought of being intimate made him uneasy.
'I'm glad Emily is so understanding.. she hasn't pushed me once to do anything.'
The book was pretty interesting and went into great detail of how the witch cult almost took over the world.
When he had played the game, James never understood why it's title was Fractured World. His ignorance was cleared away as he read. The witch cult had deployed a divide and conquer tatic throughout every country on this continent, with their main force being stationed in Minthra.
The kingdom of beastkin across the Black Sea, Ravenstar, had fallen to their designs first. Then the Orc Empire, Duskmoor, to the north. The Elven kingdom to the west and the unclaimed dessert lands to the south were the few lands remaining that fought against the cultist.
But thanks to their plan almost succeeding, each country had basically sealed their borders to others, fracturing alliances and treaty's alike.
Their wasn't a mention of how things had turned out on other continents and James figured that the witch cults influence hadn't spread that far. He was unsure however because the name Fractured World implied something greater.
It seems that Minthra was supposed to be the first domino to fall in their thirst for world domination, but the Beastkins wild nature and Orcs lust of power had taken them out first.
Then James read up on the current political climate from a fairly recently published article that Madeline gave him.
The Orc Empire and Beastkin had rebuilt themselves somewhat in the last 1000 years.
Tensions with the Orc Empire were worse than ever currently. Apparently, his aunt had started declining trade talks when Orc bandits started attacking Minthran caravans.
These trade deals between Minthra and Duskmoor were vital to keeping the slim thread of peace we've had between the two countries for the past 250 years.
The northern lands were highly unsuitable to cultivate crops, so the Orcs had always been prone to raiding southward. Minor scuffles had broken out since the current trade deal started, but peace still managed to be upheld.
Now that his aunt was refusing to negotiate with them, a full blown war was bubbling as tensions grew.
His aunt had stated that trade would only resume when the Orcs stopped their criminals from passing through the border.
She seemed to care about the safety of her people which gained the trust of many citizens. Those who saw the big picture however, knew that Queen Anastasia was provoking war for a relatively small matter.
Their were rumors that the reason Orcish outlaws had grown so bold was because the Empress of Duskmoor had been assassinated. Nothing could be confirmed as information pertaining to this matter was highly controlled.
Then the article somewhat glossed over the Elves and Beastkin, saying that our peace with the two nations remained.
Near the end, it stated something interesting. Apparently there was movement in the Unclaimed Lands near the southern border.
People wearing unidentified crests of allegiance had been spotted repeatedly, scouting from within the territory of the Unclaimed Lands.
Justine was with him and had answered his multitude of questions that he had when reading. She then gave him a story about the land to the south when James asked if it had always been unoccupied.
"It is wildly believed by historians that there used to be a kingdom in the Unclaimed Lands before Minthra was even founded. Most of those same historians think that the people of that kingdom actually founded Minthra after suffering a major crisis.
This possibility is also just dismissed as a myth by a lot of people. Our kingdom has sent a couple expeditions into the Unclaimed Land, but they never found any ruins after traveling for three whole months.
More god fearing folk tend to believe that the Terrormaw swallowed seven of their cities in seven days, hence why most people call it a myth."
James was very intrigued by this tale.
"What is the Terrormaw? Doesn't sound to friendly.."
Justine let out a small laugh and explained.
"The Terrormaw has many names, but the story I'm referring to is about the Cruel God of Hunger. It's said that the southern kingdom used to worship the Terrormaw as a god until one day, they had offended it. The food was scarce one year for their offering and that had outraged the beast. It satiated it's anger by gorging itself upon their cities. Swallowing them whole."
"Wow that's pretty crazy… what do you think? Do you believe that the Terrormaw exists or do you think that there was never even a kingdom to the south?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment before responding.
"I'd say that while I don't exactly believe that the beast exists, I do think a catastrophe wiped out an existing kingdom there."
James was getting ready to ask another question, when a knock came from the door.
"Come in."
Madeline entered looking worn out. As the oldest, she had been delegated to overseeing the estate. While their mother was still the Duchess and ruled the territory, someone had to step up to manage things around here.
She had an easy time at first, until she went over the expenses with the treasurer. Their family was by no means broke, but Lady Mallory seemed to waste money as if it was a hobby.
Thankfully the treasurer had been trying to persuade Mallory for many years to change her spending habits and already had a plan on how to fix it for Madeline. The problem was that it required an insane amount of paperwork.
Madeline walked over to him and gave him two letters before collapsing on his bed.
"Good afternoon to you too.."
James chuckled at his exhausted sister and started reading one at random.
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Dear James, my beloved.
I would like to formally invite you to join me at the Summer Festival in two weeks. I eagerly await your response.
With love, Violet.
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It was short and sweet and James immediately penned a letter back with his agreement. He handed it to Justine so she could send it off.
James's eyes went a little wide in surprise at the next letter. He had pretty much forgotten about his registration for school.
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Cromwell Academy: Notice
Prince James Cromwell, it has come to our attention that you have not registered for our academy yet. Registration ends in one week from today.
Please inform us if you have already registered with a different academy or your status will designated as delinquent.
With regards, Cromwell Academy registration committee.
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"What the heck does 'delinquent' status mean?"
Madeline waved her hand and indicated that Justine should respond.
"Master, this is the status they give to males who try not to attend school. If you are determined to be delinquent, then even Queen Anastasia couldn't help you.
You'll be tracked down and forced to attend by academy staff. During the the school year with a delinquent status, your movement is carefully watched and you have much less freedom."
"What the? They can do that?"
Justine nodded gravely.
"The academy is a useful tool to make connections and learn for everyone. But, one of the main purposes is to have nobles interact with the low male population to get on a quota. This was decided to be the best strategy to keep noble bloodlines from disappearing."
James face palmed as he sighed.
'There's always gotta be a catch in this stupid isekai of mine…'