I stood at the front of the estate along with the servants and the rest of the family. It was exactly like when we waited to greet my mother. Thankfully we had much better information on the arrival time of the King and his family.
There was a huge procession of magical carriages and guards coming along the main road towards the estate. It wasn’t just the King’s family, but their attendants, servants, and other people that attended to them.
Unlike my mother who just had her Squires, the King had a full entourage of people. I was more impressed by my mother running towards the estate and striding forward on foot than all this pageantry.
The most decorated carriage came forward and stopped in front of the red carpet that had been rolled out. All the servants knelt while I bowed along with the rest of my family, including my father.
“Announcing, King Maximillian Terander the Eighteenth of the nation of Terander. Queen Vermillion Terander nee Heronscape. First Prince Maximillian Terander the Nineteenth heir to the throne. First Princess Jasmine Terander,” a herald called out incredibly loudly and forcing me to pay attention to the royalty who had just arrived. Clearly the herald had used some skills. My mother should have a herald, but she would probably think it a waste of time and effort that could be spent on better things.
“Your grace,” my father said as the King strode forward with his family.
“Rise, rise everyone. We will soon be family Duke Burnstock. It is good that we can meet like this for such an auspicious occasion,” he said. As everyone straightened up or got up from their kneeling position.
“Thank you, your grace. Your wife is as radiant as ever. I am almost suspecting a high level beauty skill or two,” my father complimented the Queen.
“Just taking care of myself and some recent stats,” the Queen demurred.
“And this must be your heir, greetings young man,” my father greeted the Prince with a smile.
“Your estate is quite lovely,” he said and the Duke smiled at that. He loved making sure the estate was always looking at its best. You would never be able to tell that a battle happened recently or my mother had rampaged about.
“Thank you, I do try my best. And this must be my future daughter in law. You are as lovely as your mother. I hope you and my son will get along,” my father said.
“Of course, Duke Burnstock. I look forward to getting to know Dereck,” she said. After that came the King’s four other children who were all quite young ranging in age from 14 to 7.
My father then went on to introduce his two sons and his first wife with the King saying kind words to each of them. Then it was my turn.
“This is my son Justin from my second wife, the Supreme Warlady Elena Burnstock,” my father introduced me.
“Greetings, your grace, it is a privilege and an honor to meet you,” I said with a slight bow.
“Oh, the legendary child. You are always welcome in my court and nation young Justin. I hope you feel that Terander is as much of your home as it is mine,” he replied.
“From what I have seen it is lovely. And I am honored you would extend such an invitation,” I replied remembering my etiquette. The King might be slightly interested in me, but he was far more interested in making sure my mother, the Supreme Warlady, kept her home in his nation.
While the children of legends had a higher chance of becoming a legend, it wasn’t a guarantee. The path to such heights was long and difficult, while my mother was a sure bet. Especially after wiping out the royalty of the neighboring nation of Crownsmith.
“My head butler will show you to your accommodations where you can rest before dinner, your grace,” my father said, and the King nodded.
“Thank you. It is good to not be traveling anymore. Come,” he said. His family and servants followed after him into the mansion. While the royal entourage went into the mansion, there was still one last person left to greet. A carriage with a burning tree on a yellow background, the symbol of the Burnstock family, pulled up in front of the red carpet.
An older man slowly exited his enchanted carriage. I could see the resemblance between my grandfather and father. The same sharp lines, the same angular nose. I had inherited more of my mother’s slightly rounder features and wider eyes.
“Son,” my grandfather said while looking at my father.
“Father,” the current Duke replied. The silence built up over a minute before my father spoke again. “Your grandkids.” My father gestured at the three of us and my grandfather let out a rude snort.
“Always scrambling about, never planning ahead. I should have never handed over the Duchy to you,” my grandfather said, tearing away any pretense of civility.
“Then you are welcome to leave,” my father countered.
“And let you mess up this wedding as well? Not a chance.” My grandfather walked in front of Dereck and looked him up and down. Dereck bowed his head. “No spine, weak like your father.” He then moved in front of Greg and looked him over who didn’t look away. “Learn to be humble, you are only the fourth son.”
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Now I knew why my grandfather was never invited back to the estate from the capital. He then stopped in front of me. “Where is your mother, boy?” he asked me.
“It is not for you to ask about the whereabouts of my mother, the Supreme Warlady Elena. She can come and go as she wishes,” I countered.
“Oh, she can. Just kill her way through every problem, no thought just kill, kill, kill,” he said sarcastically.
“When she returns, I am sure she would enjoy listening to you,” I replied with a smile, and he let out another scoff.
“She knows what I think and I am not afraid of saying it to her face either, unlike these other weak willed people. Killing is fine the dungeon. But up here, in society, there are rules, order, structure. Something she tramples all over,” he replied.
“The weak complain, the strong strive for greatness,” I countered.
“Don’t quote System Scripture to me boy. When your father was nothing but a squirt in my-“
“That! Is! Enough!” my father declared and stepped forward. My grandfather turned to face him. “You can either shut up and be polite, or you can leave you miserable old man. I only agreed to your presence out of familial responsibility, but you can go back to your retirement and the King’s Court if you are only going to cause discord and chaos,” my father said while staring intently at my grandfather.
“You got your spine from me boy, but you inherited your weak understanding of the world from your mother’s family. Fine. You are the Duke and I am nothing but a cranky old man who doesn’t know anything. Just an idiot and a clown. Perhaps I shall dress up as one. Now have a servant show me to my room,” he declared.
My father waved a servant over and my grandfather was escorted away. “Was he always this bad?” I asked Dereck who shook his head.
“He got a lot worse once father took your mother as his second wife. It just isn’t done. The only reason the marriage was approved was because of her status,” Dereck quietly said back.
I didn’t realize taking a second wife was such a big deal. I knew inheritance and bloodlines were important to nobles, but I didn’t realize a second wife trampled on that concept so much. Even with all the learning I had done, there were still some things that weren’t written down in books that I still had to learn.
“I am sorry my children, but you will have to endure your grandfather during this time. Once the wedding is over he can be sent away,” my father said.
“He won’t make a scandal at the wedding?” Dereck asked.
“There was a reason he waited until the King and his family had gone inside. He values tradition and following the rules. He won’t ever make a scene when others are present,” my father said. That didn’t count the servants or guards who had been discretely watching in. To my grandfather they were nothing but the help.
“Was marrying my mother such a big deal?” I asked, trying to get more information on why he was so upset. My siblings and other servants left as my father gestured for me to walk with him around the estate. The guards followed at a distance.
“Despite the public agreement with your mother regarding inheritance rights, it caused quite a stir. Taking a second wife is heavily frowned upon. A mistress or two can be ignored, but a second wife creates a lot of legal headaches. Your grandfather wanted us to build up the military to secure the boarder, but that would have just led to increasing escalations. Not just with Crownsmith but with the Kingdom of Terander,” my father explained.
“So, when your mother began inquiring regarding a husband, I stepped forward. The cost was far less than an outright war, even with your conception. But it creates a tense political dynamic. He had friends in the Crownsmith nobility that she wiped out. Normally fights between nobles are skirmishes so their people can build up levels,” my father continued to explain the history regarding him and my mother.
“Marrying your mother, threw these carefully maneuvered plans into disarray. He has never been happy since he was forced to pass on the title of Duke to me. He wanted to remain in charge for as long as possible. Doing things his way. But it would have caused a huge scandal with the nobility and I threatened to walk away after my children were born unless he passed over the title,” my father explained.
The rift was much deeper than I realized. “Don’t worry Justin. He is nothing but an old man, who gets financial support from our family for being the prior Duke. He will be watched and if he causes any more problems, I will have him removed.”
“I am surprised mother, didn’t get upset with him,” I replied.
“He has kept away from her. He knows that she would kill him without hesitation,” my father said. I let out a sigh. I hadn’t been expecting to be dragged into the center of the family drama.
“Isn’t the King supposed to protect the other nobility, his vassals?” I asked.
“Ah, that is much more complicated. It is highly likely that Crownsmith had tacit support to form bandit groups and make trouble at the border. Nothing that can be proved, but the King’s of Terander have long wanted to break this Duchy apart. We used to be a separate Kingdom but came together long ago. While I could have raised an army in response or asked the King to intervene, both options would have come with hidden strings attached to them that I wished to avoid,” my father explained.
“But that is foolish of the King to let you be put in a position like that,” I replied.
“My son, welcome to the world of politics. No less cutthroat than the dungeon, but the dangers are much more hidden. Your mother thinks the same as well. But for adventurers things are simple. Kill monsters, get stronger. But for nobles, it is more about social positioning and maneuvering. Marrying your mother and having you was a way out of a tough situation for me even if it did create a scandal among the nobility. I love you, but that is just the reality of the situation,” my father explained.
I still wasn’t entirely sure why my grandfather was upset. Apparently, my father’s remarrying was a scandal, but my grandfather couldn’t object. He was also unhappy having from having to step down from his position. Why couldn’t everyone just get along?
It was naïve of me to think that, but it just seemed pointless to get upset about such things. Everything was running smoothly and there were no issues with my father’s marriage. It wasn’t like I was trying to or planned to usurp my brother. Once he was named Duke in a couple of years, his position would be secured.
If my mother wanted me to inherit, she would have just acted and told people how it was going to be. She was not one to suffer challenges or debates easily. Healer Castelle only got away with that since he was arguing for my health. He was still using Stabilize Soul on me to ensure my health.
I didn’t think I had gained any more skills, but with everything happening, I wasn’t so sure. Once I got System Sense, a tier three skill, I would be able to have a better sense of these things. I just couldn’t get the skill right now.
The more I thought about it, the more reckless it was to let me be without getting me a level to improve my Mind stat. But my mother seemed quite reckless in her pursuit of power. It made sense. If one could become a supreme legend by playing it safe, everyone would be a supreme legend and the title would mean nothing.
For every success like my mother, there were countless failures forgotten down in the dungeon.