By the time Sariah had recovered from her extreme shock they had already reached the Ducal plateau.
Unlike the lower parts of the noble city that were open to travel the Ducal plateau had a wall around it acting as the second to last defense line for the royal family.
Beyond the wall was a large open space separated into six sections from east to west. Each section was a home for the Ducal family's and their defensive forces.
The Ulv family's mansion was on the right side of the Royal gate that led into the royal castle. The mansion's land was split into two parts with half close to the ducal wall and half nestled against the royal wall.
Naturally instead of looking like a proper mansion both sides of the Ulv family mansion were closer in appearance to a castle with tall spires at the four corners.
There were training grounds surrounding the castles along with storehouses, blacksmiths, tanners, and various other buildings that would be needed in case of a siege.
It was unlikely to happen but in case an enemy army did manage to get that close to the castle the spires would let them see over the Ducal wall to attack them, but they weren't tall enough to see over the royal castle's outer wall.
This gave the royals their privacy while allowing the Ulv family to protect their section of the ducal wall.
Across from them was Duke Merrallis's estate on the left side of the royal gate. His family had served as the king's right-hand man even longer than the Beklaednings had been a part of the kingdom.
His estate had a similar appearance with the Ulv Estate but recently it had taken on a more relaxed look as the current Duke Merrallis rarely left the capital and enjoyed the luxuries his current station brought him.
He was currently serving as the King's chancellor.
In order to reach the other duke's estates, you would have to pass through either the Merrallis estate or the Ulv estate.
This had caused some contention between the dukes as nobody liked travelling through another person's yard to reach their own house.
However, nobody had found a better way to set up the plateau as it would require rebuilding the entire Ducal plateau, which most of the dukes just didn't think was a worthwhile endeavor since they didn't live here most of the year.
The carriage turned to the left entering the west side of the ducal plateau and passed by two massive statues of wolves on the hunt.
"Those statues are golems, aren't they?" Sariah asked.
"Yes, they're a defensive measure that can detect anybody trying to sneak past the ducal plateau and can be activated to fight if need be. But the maintenance on them is annoyingly expensive," Chronos replied.
Just as she was going to ask something else the carriage turned into the Ulv estates driveway and came to a stop. Getting out of the carriage they were greeted by a similar view to the Grayhall house.
Maids and butlers lined both sides of the entryway bowing in greeting as the Head Butler Garfield welcomed them.
"Welcome home Young Master and guests."
"Hello Garfield. We'll need three rooms. One for myself, one for priestess Lyla, and one for Gregory and his wife."
"We aren't married yet!"
Chronos and Lyla gave her smug grins as she blushed after realizing that she had basically agreed to marry Gregory.
Head Butler Garfield's eyes narrowed, "I see. Then if you follow me, I'll guide you to your rooms."
Turning to leave he heard a muffled 'ouch' as Sariah kicked Chronos in the shin when she walked past him.
Knowing Gregory's position, he decided to send a message to the Madam later that evening.
***
Over the next three days Chronos met with nobility seeking to gain influence with Duke Ulv's family, addressed concerns of management within the capital, and sent letters to the necessary parties that he would be involved with during his stay in the capital.
These necessary parties included the Royal Forge, the Archivists Tower, the Tri-Goddess Temple, and a secret letter to the King informing him of what Chronos had seen and done before arriving at the capital.
Mostly he was requesting meetings so that he could get answers to various problems.
Other than that, he also received several letters from other nobles and merchants requesting meetings to discuss the ongoing war to the east and the battles in the north.
Chronos could practically smell the greed coming from those letters.
He was certain that whoever came to visit would be seeking deals to provide supplies for his family fighting the giant black beasts in the north and the army defending the eastern border
Unfortunately, during the middle of all of this he had to say goodbye to Lyla when a High Priest came to pick her up on the second day. He'd have to find a way to reconnect with her soon, it was more boring than usual when she wasn't around.
Despite his suddenly busy, and boring, schedule he still found time to hold combat training every morning. The results of which were shocking to him.
His bloodline power was growing at a much faster rate than before, and it was even dragging his aura up with it. But it also worried him that he might be growing too fast.
There was a good reason why most people didn't try to break through to the fourth rank until they were in their 40's or 50's.
The physical body simply couldn't take that much power flowing through them at once. They needed to take a decade or two adapting their body to their current power before moving on.
And since his body contained both space and void power he assumed he would need even longer.
But there wasn't much he could do about it, short of crippling his growth. Even when he sat still, he felt his bloodline and aura subtly advancing whether he wanted them to or not.
The only silver lining was that he could feel his bloodline reaching a hard limit that he couldn't surpass so easily. Assuming that this was the next level for his bloodline Chronos decided not to push things too far and let his growth happen naturally.
Now on the third day Chronos was reviewing the supply documents for a planned shipment home when Head Butler Garfield knocked on his study door.
Knock, Knock. "Enter."
"Young Master, there is a letter from the King addressed to you," He offered a letter on a silver platter.
Chronos frowned, he had never liked how formal Garfield was but after spending most of his life being formal no one could get him to stop being formal.
Taking the letter Chronos read it then said, "Prepare my carriage for this afternoon. I'll be meeting with the Royal Court today."
"So, His Majesty has finally decided to call for you. Shall I prepare an escort as well in case the senior members try something?"
"Prepare one for the carriage but I doubt they'll try anything against me. If they did, the King would hold them responsible for delaying court proceedings."
"Understood Young Master."
Head Butler Garfield bowed as he backed out of the room. Chronos turned back to the stacks of documents he'd have to finish before he left.