CHAPTER 5 - THE LAST GIFTS PART 1

After the long gift-giving session, an emotionally drained royal family and Nick sat down for dinner. It was a simple affair filled with talk, jokes, and laughter. There was one particularly tense moment when Matthew was being teased by Mary for having to share his girlfriend with 3 other guys, but Nick assumed that was a joke...at least until Matthew stood and defended her angrily. In that brief moment, Nick could have sworn he saw something in Matthew's aura. Very faint, but there all the same.

'hmm...Mind control? A suggestion? Something isn't right there. I will need to look into this daughter of a Baron later.' Nick thought.

To be honest, he really didn't care if some lower noble was using subtle magic to improve their lot in life. Such was the way of the court and there are many who are specifically trained to spot that kind of interference. Her bubble would be popped eventually even without his intervention. But messing with the royal family, his family, was different. Nick would free his brother from whatever control the girl had over him and if Matthew still wants to be with her, then that is on him to figure out. Subtly waving a few fingers as he went for his wine glass, a powerful dispel was cast and Matthew suddenly was free of the hold.

"...And she may be surrounded by a few friends, but that doesn't mean she likes them as much as...as..." Matthew blinked mid tirade. He opened his mouth and closed it several times before sitting down. "What you say bears consideration Prophet Mary...I will think on it... Ultimately, she will pick me. Of that I am sure." Matthew then stares hard down at his plate.

The rest of the table looks at Matthew in shock at his abrupt change, then they all turn their heads to Nick, whose eyes were closed as he chewed slowly enjoying his perfectly cooked steak. *Ahem* A throat was cleared to garner his attention, and Nick opened his eyes to see Mary still looking at him while the rest went back to eating quietly. She stared at him, looked at Matthew, then back at him again. Nick felt like teasing his older sister some and shook his head and scrunched his eyebrows slightly in mock confusion. Mary repeated the gestures and Nick repeated his confusion. This happened a total of 3 times before Mary caught on and sent Nick a death glare. Nick shrugged and went back to his steak.

"Alright," the king says finishing his meal, "we need to discuss next steps. Nick, what do you want to do now that you are back?"

Nick looked down at his gone-too-soon steak with a frown before looking back up at his father. "Tomorrow I will need to give a few official gifts to the nation in court and fully announce my return as well as my intent to not seek the throne, then I will need to make my last gift delivery. Finally, I will be relaxing until the start of High Academy where I plan to enroll and find the love of my life," Nick said all of this as if it was a forgone conclusion that it would happen exactly as he said.

"Ah...I see." King Remington said worriedly, "But if you are not in line for the throne, and since you have not been given a title and are already of age, you will be treated as a commoner...you understand that, right?"

"I am hoping that my gifts to the kingdom tomorrow as well as the demonstration of my strength I plan to do will be enough for me to earn a title of Baron. If even rich merchants can do it by donating enough gold, then I don't see why I can't. After that, I will buy a suitable house for my station and stay there until school starts." Nick says offhandedly as he flags down the nearest butler to ask for another serving of steak.

"A Baron?" Mother Regina says in mild outrage, "Sweetheart, your father can do better than a Baron for his oldest son."

"Well...." the king starts but is interrupted.

"I should say so! Regardless of your being gone for 6 years, you are still our son and a prince! ...Not to mention that you are probably the single strongest person in the kingdom, if your story is to beleived." Mother Heather says nodding several times. "You can make him a Duke, right dear?"

"I-I..." The King Starts but the sound of a small sniff interrupts him again.

"Brother is going to leave again?" Lilly says with tears about to fall in her eyes.

"No way Angel!" Nick says and pats her head with a smile, "Depending on my title, I will be either a couple of miles or a couple of hundred feet of the palace. If I am lower nobility, then I will come several times a week. If I am a Marquis or a Duke, then I will be within walking distance of you and I can come to see you every day before school starts."

"That settles it," Mother Regina says, "You will have to make him at least a Marquis so he can some see Lilly and us every day." There is an air of finality to the statement as if it has already been announced.

Sweating buckets, the king of the nation stares at the expectant looks of his wives and sighs. "What gifts will you be giving Nick? That will make the choice much easier. Also, what demonstration of power were you thinking of?"

"Nothing half as special as I gave you lot," Nick says with half of the new steak he was brought in his mouth. He swallows, apologizes for his behavior, then continues, "Sorry, I haven't eaten something this good in a while. Anyway, I will be donating 1 billion gold to the kingdom's coffers, as well as a slew of other magical weapons and equipment from Common to Unique quality that can be given out for outstanding service, hundreds of ancient and lost art pieces, thousands of pounds of raw metals, cut and uncut gems, and bolts of cloth from Common threads to bolts of Demon Spider Silk. Like I said, nothing much."

If the room could die, it would have based on how quiet it became. "Forget giving you a Duke title, I may have to give you my crown straight off..." The king says, putting his head in his hands.

"Oh! And Mary, I am giving your church as well as the 2 other churches in the capital holy swords to make holy paladins of their order as well as a donation of 1 million gold each." Nick says and stuffs the rest of the steak he had on his plate in his mouth. Making sure to swallow it all and clean his face with a silk napkin, he continues, "I plan on making a ton of other donations to orphanages, hospitals, bathhouses, and other needed establishments across the kingdom that may be hurting for money, but I will be doing those anonymously."

"Aren't you afraid of destabilizing the economy, dear?" A concerned Mother Heater asks

"Nah. The other Guardians are just as rich as me and are probably doing the same. We talked about what we would do with the billions of gold we had and we agreed that if we all do this at about the same time, then it should even itself out. Probably. I will admit that we have a bit of an advantage in terms of items, though. None of them really collected the items as I did. They called me a hoarder, but look at me now!" Nick says with a boisterous laugh.

"Well...I-I guess...Yes....Yes, there shouldn't be an issue with giving you a high nobility title. What about the show of strength?" King Remington asks, more than a little worry in his voice.

"I will be stating before everyone in court that I am the strongest in the kingdom. I will allow anyone and everyone to challenge me to a duel, send challengers at another time, or even send groups of people for official duels. I will, of course, accept any challenges there and then as well. If anyone can beat me, regardless of the number of people they sent, they will each receive 1 million gold. I will also announce that I will be holding a grand tournament in a year's time, hosted and paid by me. Anyone is allowed to enter, no matter the station, and I will take the top 16 on as personal knights for myself and my, hopefully soon to be, family. They will each receive 10 times the pay as normal personal knights and be provided a place to live for them and their family on my estate...once I get one."

"So...to be clear, you knew I was going to give you a Ducal title, didn't you?" The flabbergasted king said exasperatedly.

"I knew I could earn either that or Marquis, yes. But if I look good, you look good as my father and so does the kingdom at large, so it should all work out in the end. No one will be able to say anything about you giving me a title after all I am donating. Some may speak badly about me buying the position, but I hope the open duel invitation and tournament announcement will be enough to put most of them at ease."

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"An interesting plan, Brother," Mary mused. "With your donations, you will have the backing of 3 churches for sure."

"So, who is this last gift for?" Brother Michael asks, joining in on the conversation.

Nick was playing his hands through Lilly's hair after pulling her onto his lap, much to her enjoyment. She sat leaning her head on his chest, nearly asleep. He had used a spell to clean them before he even thought about touching the angel. Can't have tainted hands touch a true creation of God, now can we?

"The Barnes family," Nick says after a few seconds of bliss.

The clanking of glass being hit on the table made him lookup. Everyone had an uncomfortable look on their faces. "What?' Nick hedged, "I broke the engagement with them, and I want to give them something to make sure our families remain close."'

Now everyone was glaring at Matthew... 'Don't tell me...'

"That will be rather difficult to do," Mother Regina said coldly still glaring at her son, "As Matthew is the second prince of our house to break an engagement with her. Though unlike you, he decided to do it publicly and humiliated her. He even tried to get her banished, all because she was stopping him from flirting with this Baron's daughter while he had a fiancé. We stopped the banishment, obviously, and apologized publicly, but the relationship has never been the same. Court has been...tense as of late."

Matthew looks at all the glares with shock, as if the immensity of what he had done had only now hit him. His cheeks flushed and he grits his teeth in self-loathing. "I'm sorry...I have brought shame to our family..." He offers weakly, much to the surprise of the others.

'Well....Shit.' Nick thinks. 'Not sure I can shamelessly buy my way out of this mess...but I'll be damned if I don't try!'

* * *

The next day at court, Nick did all he said he would. Huge pallets had to be assembled to hold the wealth and items he had donated. Among the gifts, Nick had given several spatial storage items, treasures themselves, to help with the smaller things but even with these, the piles of goods needed over 100 servants and knights to carry. Nick offered to personally guard and protect the wealth as it was transported after court finished up. He planned on giving the treasure room a serious makeover in protection magics anyway.

The nobles around the room were shocked into silence and no one even registered when Nick made his announcement about the duels he would accept and the tournament he planned to hold. Perhaps he should have started with that? Either way, when King Remington II had announced his new title, Duke Caspian, Protector of the Capital City, the nobles awakened from their stupor.

Why Caspian? Simple, only those in line to the throne could have the royal name, Remington. He would have his last name legally changed to Caspian, Nick's third name, after the ceremony to promote him to a Duke in the coming days.

An explosion of outraged shouts and open criticism followed this announcement, but King Remmington used his new item set to compel the crowd to quiet and calm to the court once again. After several minutes the room quieted so he could speak. It took a while as some in the room had resistances to this type of compulsion and the King had not issued a command which would have forced them and showed his new abilities. You always need a hidden card, after all.

He reminded everyone about Nick's proclamation of being the strongest. Nick offered again to accept any duels and told the nobles of his tournament coming up in a year's time. This caused the stir he had hoped for originally. 'Yup. Should have said this first.' He spent the next 30 minutes dueling more than a few noble family knights or mages, but after beating them all with a casual wave of his hand and never moving or drawing his weapon, they, at last, seemed slightly mollified. Some felt humiliated by Nick and were sure to plan for revenge in the future, but he welcomed all the challenges and made sure to compliment each of the opponents he faced as well as to gift them an item he had in storage to limit any animosity aimed towards him.

'Who said money can't buy happiness.' Nick thinks as he pats the back of a giddy mage girl of about 14, who was practically hopping in happiness. Her father, a Count and friend of the family, had been sent her down for the duel once he saw it was safe and specifically so she could lose and get an item from Nick. Nick obliged and whispered in the girl's ear, "Cheeky, but I like your family's moxie. This one is significantly more valuable than the others were. Treat it well."

The duels finally came to an end with the promise of many more to come, and King Remington continued his reasonings on the Ducal title. He announced that they needed a new Duke & Protector of the Capital City as the last one had died in a war 3 years ago and was never replaced.

'Convenient.' Nick had thought with a sagely nod. He knew that this position was usually reserved for a retiring top general to reward his long years of service, but he also knew that his father hated this tradition. Under King Remington II, generals received Baronies at the most, and their family had to earn their way up the old fashioned way. Thus, Nick's promotion was a rather sizable change in the King's policy, and no one was fooled and saw clearly the obvious favoritism being shown, but after such prowess and gifts, no one could really argue too much without losing face.

Even so, there were still over an hour of polite objections and politicking, but, eventually, the King won out. Nick would be a Duke. Nick giving up his right to the throne played a huge part in the ultimate acceptance of the nobles. The court adjourned and Nick followed the procession of guards and servants to the treasure room then spent another hour beefing the protections up. For everyone else, it seemed he sat down in the room, put up a magical protection sphere, and sat in the lotus position quietly muttering and waving his hands like a looney for an hour.

After this was a quick lunch with the family full of congratulations, a trip with Mary to the churches for his donations (Nick felt more than a few God's eyes on him afterwards), a trip to the city hall for many other miscellaneous and 'anonymous' donations, and lastly a trip around the market in his magically enhanced carriage getting everything he needed to renovate, staff, and protect his new mansion property.

Just before dinner, he was lead on a tour of the property by his butler, Steven Mart. The old butler of the house was available, so Nick made sure to snatch him up as well as the maid staff still around. People who knew the place already were preferred in Nick's eyes. Not to mention his offer to double their pay, provide housing for them and their families, pay their medical expenses, offer paid vacations, and to pay for their children's education had some even coming out of retirement to rejoin the staff.

The mansion was enormous and gaudy as hell, but Nick knew he needed to keep up appearances regardless of him not caring much for it. It had miles of land around the property and plenty of room for expansions for his tournament winners and staff as well as their families. He was planning on redesigning it from practically the ground up, so he was not super interested in the history or artwork it held. With a normal carriage, it would be about 2 hours from the Castle, but with his magical flying carriage, it was only 15 minutes. Nick made sure to park Lord Gargerond's ship, The Indomitable recently changed to The Dominatble, above the mansion for quick access if he needed it. It was invisible, so no one would notice either way.

Nick returned to the castle to have dinner with his family and told more stories of his adventures as well as listened in on all the praise he had received already. Apparently, no one bought the whole 'anonymous' donation thing, and everyone was praising Nick for saving failing businesses and helping public works and infrastructure. Nick made sure to send plenty of hidden spying and intelligence spells along with his gold and had already identified several corrupt politicians, illegal enterprises, and abusers of his goodwill. He would wait until he stopped receiving new information, then wipe them all out in one night. More would fill the void, he knew, but he would be able to control them better if he could show he was capable of resetting the board at any time, so to speak.

Finally, the long day came to a close, and Nick washed up and went to bed in his old room. He experienced a wave of nostalgia as he saw it was nearly exactly as he remembered it. He basked in this feeling for a while, poking around at things he used to think was important, before flopping unceremoniously on the bed. He reached into the spatial ring he had transferred his most valuable possessions into and pulled out 2 small boxes. He stared at them and hoped beyond hope that these would be enough. He owed it to them, to her. Especially now.

* * *

Nick stepped out of his magical horseless carriage in front of the Ducal house of Barnes. He decided to do this without warning. Sure it was rude, but he figured he had a better chance of catching them and not having to force a highly political meeting. He covers his face to shade his eyes from the glare of the morning sun and looks towards the entrance of the mansion. It is a beautiful place with lush gardens, marble walls & pillars, huge windows, and drapes in the family's house colors: Icey blue and silver.

Nick makes his way to the door, but just as he is about to knock, it slams open and smacks into his face. Nick can dodge a sword strike that could rend the world in two, but, so it seems, doors swung open by women are his weakness.

"Try to banish me? Ha! I didn't spend 15 years earning relationship points with the queens to get kicked out that easily, bub. Why are all the princes of this kingdom so god damn stupid. This wasn't how it was in the game. Sure, Matthew was always a douche, but where the hell is Nick! I thought I beat this stupid villain route when I managed to get engaged to him, but NoooOooOooo he had to up and disappear! Why the fuck do I have to suffer so much...I just want to be happy too... *Sigh* I need more wine..."

Scarlett Lola Barnes paused her tirade and turned her ice blue eyes down the stairs of her mansion's entrance patio. Lying face up in the dirt, limbs spread wide and with a dazed look in his eyes, was Nick. His nose and forehead were red and his nice princely attire was ripped in more than a few places from the fall down the stairs.

"Ow.' Nick stated.

"Shit....' Scarlett whimpered.