Chapter 3: Mother?
THE MONTH OF NOEL DAY 11, YEAR 681 OF THE SECOND HOLY CALENDAR
When Dominic left the Acropolis, he found the patriarch of House Neivul, Marquis Alexander John Neivul, the husband of his future baptismal mother. Alexander was a tall man with dark brown hair and sharp green eyes. Like most of the nobility, he was handsome, with a lean, muscular physique. After collecting Jane, they left the palace. He found that a long time had passed as it was already morning. Just to make sure he hadn't been Rip Van Winkled, he asked what date it was and discovered it was the 11th. Weeks in this world lasted 7 days, and months generally lasted 30 to 31, except for the month of Sia, which lasted 40. Days also lasted for 24 hours, and hours lasted for 60 minutes. Dominic could only assume that his reincarnated brethren had something to do with that.
They then climbed into a carriage bearing the symbol of House Neivul, a silver shield on a green background. The carriage then traveled down one of the main thoroughfares in the Citadel. Dominic had never been outside the detached Palace, but he had seen maps of the Citadel and Lepetra, the capital of the Kingdom of Black. They soon exited the Citadel, giving Dominic his first look at the outside world. The few rows of mansions there were all gated, so Dominic could only see their roofs on the tops of the buildings. On the short carriage ride, Dominic didn't speak to Alexander outside of greeting him. Oliver had been an introvert, and although Dominic had been given training in social etiquette and conversation, he wasn't in the mood for a conversation right now.
He was still tired and hungry and felt emotionally drained from his conversation with Veronica. The fact that she knew his childhood nickname shocked him most of all, although, in retrospect, it shouldn't have. Knowing someone's childhood nickname would have been considered a creepy stalker tendency in his previous life. However, it made sense from Veronica's perspective. After all, he was one of the heirs to her throne, so it was natural that she'd keep an eye on him. However, that now led to concern about why she let him know she was watching him.
Dominic continuously used internal detection on himself, looking at his mana core. Previously, his Mana just sat in its core, not doing anything or moving, remaining completely stagnant. But now, it was moving inside of his core. Although it was slow, it was still moving. His mind kept drifting to it as he checked it repeatedly. After you got your tooth pulled, naturally, your tongue sought out the hole in your mouth.
With such concerns on his mind, he didn't really feel like talking to a random stranger, but finally, he had to bring himself to do it. “Lord Neivul, I would like to ask about Lady Neivul.”
Alexander's slightly intimidating expression cracked when he gave Dominic a gentle smile. “You don't have to worry about it too much, Your Highness. My wife eagerly awaits your arrival and is prepared to welcome you. And please don't stand on ceremony too much. Just call me Alexander.”
Dominic sighed internally at this answer. Alexander was treating him like a child, which made sense since he was a child, but not giving him a straight answer didn't alleviate his concerns. “Lord Neivul,” Jane started in a rebuking tone, “Lord Dominic has not yet been adopted by Her Majesty; therefore, please refrain from calling him your Highness.”
Alexander slapped his forehead in a slightly exaggerated gesture. “I completely forgot. Please forgive me, Lord Dominic.” He peered out at Dominic's reaction from the gaps between his fingers and Dominic's sigh, this time unable to completely mask his exasperation. But before he could continue asking questions, the carriage arrived at a gate with the Neivul Crest on it.
Their Carriage turned into a small driveway before two guards opened the gates. The lack of security somewhat shocked Dominic as they had to pass two Vigilant knights just to leave the Citadel, who had gone so far as to get inside the carriage and check its contents. Dominic looked at the estate of one of the Marques families of the Kingdom. Although it was a lot smaller than he had initially expected, the house was larger than that of the detached palace, and there were clearly several side buildings and a large front garden, although most of it was covered in snow. The building was constructed of the same black stone as everything else but he used the form of White stone for the pillars and had a number of gargoyles and other decorations adorning the walls.
The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the property's main house, and the driver opened the door a few seconds later.
Since Dominic was not yet officially royalty, his treatment was closer to that of a son of a Duke, as Valerius, despite being Veronica's bastard, was treated as a Duke due to his status as royalty. Even if a Duke outranks a Marquess, a son lacks his father's power, so Alexander outranked Dominic. As a result, Dominic politely allowed him to get out of the carriage first.
Jane got out of the carriage first before offering Dominic her hand. He was too small to get out on his own, so he accepted her help despite his pride. He stepped down onto the step attached to the carriage, where three figures had come out to greet them. The first was a woman with black hair and blue eyes. She gave off a noble and dignified air, but Dominic could tell she was powerful and determined. She wore a dark green dress with limited gold lace embroidery and jewelry, which gave a modest impression. She was Eliana Neivul, the first wife of Alexander.
The two other figures stood half a step behind her. They both wore Knights's uniforms when off-duty: a black button-up with golden buttons, the badge of their house on one shoulder and the badge of the Kingdom on the other. Apprentice Knights who had yet to be knighted wore black cloaks, and those granted Knighthood wore red cloaks. They both have the same dark hair and green eyes as Alexander.
All three of them had slightly stunned expressions, which Dominic was used to by then. Golden eyes were obvious demarcates of royalty once he set foot on the ground. He took a few steps forward, approaching Eliana. He pressed one fist to his heart and another to his tailbone before he bent his back, bowing to her. “It's an honor to meet you. My name is Dominic Black.” Afterward, he raised his head and attempted a smile.
This caused a relieved expression to cross all of their faces. “It's a Pleasure to meet you, Dominic. I am Eliana Neivul.” She lifted her green dress and a curtsy that combined elegance and dignity. She gestures to her left. “This is my daughter Maria Neivul. She currently works as a knight for the first division.”
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Maria looked to be about 18. She was muscular and thin, looking a bit like a woman who frequented the gym. Maria gave a knight salute to a noble, pressing her fist against her chest before extending it outward as if offering a fist bump. “It's an honor to meet you, Lord Dominic.”
“Likewise, I hope we can have a long and fruitful relationship.”
She then extended her hand to the right. “This is my son, by extension, Alfred. He's the Knight Apprentice now, But I'm confident he will have a long and successful career.”
Alfred also extended the same greeting as his sister to Dominic, and he responded similarly. By extension, he was a son or daughter, with the polite way of putting a child by a different mother, as this world permitted polygamy. Dominic was more or less aware of the familial situation of House Neivul.
Not wanting to stand out in the cold for too long, the group adjourned inside the house. The group moved into the house's entrance hall, which was important religiously as it was the demarcator between the protection of one god and the protection of the patron of the house. “Thank you for your hospitality and for coming out to greet me, Lady Neivul.” Dominic needed to extend his thanks because even if she was the wife of a Marquess and he was treated as the son of a Duke, she outranked him, although he outranked her children. Extended gratitude for favors done by those higher than you was important.
Eliana just blinked before smiling. “You don't need to be so polite. I'll soon be your baptismal mother. So please just call me mother, and I'll call you Dominic.”
Mother? At her insistence, he didn't even call Luce mother; instead, he just called her Lady Luce. However, remembering what she said about treating Eliana like herself, he obeyed. “M-mother?” Dominic said falteringly. He realized that he sounded like a weak little boy and internally scolded himself.
But Eliana smiled warmly at him. “So I assume I can just call you Dominic without honorifics?” Dominic hesitantly nodded.
After they warmed up, Eliana led him and the group to the receiving room. These rooms were found in most noble houses, where guests met with them and enjoyed cups of tea and snacks. “I took the liberty of having a light meal prepared for you because you'd probably be hungry after you're Awakening,” Eliana said.
Dominic was always embarrassed to admit hunger or exhaustion because of his body, fearing that people would just think he was a child complaining. The fact that Eliana had gone ahead and made food was a welcome relief. “Thank you, mother, I am quite hungry.”
The table of the receiving room had several platters of food prepared, and just like Eliana, they were light and not a full-course meal. There were cookies, fruit, and toast with a topping of choice of either honey, jam or butter. The group sat down with Dominic and Eliana on one sofa, Alexander sitting at the head of the table, and other sofas were Maria and Alfred. Dominic had intentionally gone to the sofa on the far side of the room, as it was customary for men and women to sit on different sofas unless they were married. However, Eliana had directly followed him to the sofa on the far side of the room, and no one else looked surprised or bothered by the seating arrangement. Dominic briefly wondered if he remembered sofa etiquette seating wrong, and although there was a lot of social etiquette to memorize, he was pretty sure he hadn't.
Jane also moved to stand behind him to the left rather than sitting down. He knew that she must be hungry because she'd waited for him at the door of the Acropolis for several hours. “Is it all right with you if my attendant eats with us?” He asked Eliana.
“This isn't a highly formal occasion, so of course it is.”
“Jane, please sit down and eat.”
“No, thank you, Lord Dominic.”
“Jane, please sit down and eat.”
She looked like she was about to refuse again, but then Eliana intervened. “I've already said it was fine, Lady Jane.” Jane finally sat down and started to eat.
Dominic ignored the cookies on the table, and in his experience in this world, sweets were incredibly sweet. For example, the cookies in this world version of sugar cookies. They had about twice as much sugar as the sugar cookies from his world, and we were also a small pile of sugar for their toppings. That followed with everything in this world as they dumped sugar in whatever they possibly could, so he avoided the jam and smeared his toast with a layer of honey.
Everyone else who was happily eating their diabetes cookies looked at him curiously as if he'd grown a second head, particularly Eliana. After taking a bite of his honey toast, he noticed that Eliana and Maria were looking at him with warm gazes, and Jane and Alfred stared at him with complicated expressions on their face. Once he finished chewing and swallowing his food, he looked at Eliana. He asked, “Did I make a mistake?” Dominic was most concerned that he'd made an etiquette mistake as there were so many rules and restrictions, and this would be the first time he had actually used them outside of practice.
“No, you're perfectly fine,” Eliana said smilingly, patting his head. It was something that Luce did often, but it still left him with a slightly complicated feeling about being treated like a child.
The meal continued without further interruption as the group made polite small talk. Eliana led the conversation, ensuring everyone played an equal role. She talked about Alfred's knight training, possibly trying to get Dominic to admire him. Dominic was interested in this topic, but not because he was interested in becoming a knight captain who led his men on fearless charges, as Eliana seemed to think. Instead, he was fundamentally interested in this world's magic, something that didn't exist on his own.
They also discussed the upcoming winter festival. From Dominic's understanding, the winter festival was similar to Christmas or the holiday season. They celebrated several holidays, including the Winter Solstice, which was held on the 25th, and, in the Kingdom of Black, the birthday of Noel and the Foundation day of the Kingdom. All of these holidays kicked off what was known as the winter socializing season, during which Nobles from all over the kingdom would gather to socialize and hold parties and banquets. The reason for this festival in winter was partially because the farming season was over, so the most pressing matters for the commoners and the nobles were over.
It was also held in other kingdoms, making it a frequent time for diplomats to visit each other for negotiations. The Kingdom of Blacks had sent honorary diplomats to their friendly nation, the Kingdom of Cestia. The two nations had a close relationship since Veronica ascended to the throne, as they had natural trade interests. So they sent courtesy delegations to each other every year. This year, they were expecting the arrival of one of the Dukes of Cestia. They had never received such a high-ranking diplomat before, which had resulted in sparking several rumors, which was a particular topic of discussion around the table, thanks to Eliana.
Once Dominic finished his honey and toast, he moved on to toast with jam, and just as he'd been expecting, it tasted like sugar concentrate with grapes. After a while, Dominic's exhaustion really started catching up with them. Eliana, ever observant, quickly put a halt to proceedings and escorted him personally to a guest bedroom. Once again, this embarrassed him for being treated like a child. Dominic, emotionally and physically drained, quickly fell asleep.