Updates from James (Part 1)

We returned home the next day early in the morning. Luckily, I was able to get just enough sleep this time around on the carriage since it was my second time taking a long trip and I had gotten a little used to it.

James was waiting outside the manor to greet us. Once we were out of the carriage, he bowed and said, "Welcome home, my Lord and my Lady."

I waved my hand, "James! Long time no see!"

Becca nodded her head with a smile, "Good morning, James."

Seeing our good mood, James remarked, "I'm glad to see that you two had a good time on your trip."

I chuckled lightly, "yes, there was a lot of good moments on our trip, but now that we are back, we need to buckle down and get to work. I hope you were able to finish up writing the laws while we were gone."

James grumbled, "I have most of it completed, but I came upon a problem…come on, let's head to the office and I'll explain it there."

Concerned, I turned to look at Becca to see what she thought. She just shrugged her shoulders and followed behind James. I was hoping to have the two laws all hammered out, so we could focus on getting people's support right away. However, it looks like we have an unforeseen problem.

Once we were seated in my office, James started to explain the issue. "All the basics of the noble women having multiple husbands or concubines law has already been ironed out, but there is one major situation that could occur which I was not able to find an adequate solution…the problem concerns the birth of an heir and how to 100% confirm the father of a child…"

I tilted my head, "there is not a test for that?"

James responded, "there is a very simple test where you can see the magic types that a child's parents have, but that is far too basic to be concrete. If the main husband is a water mage and the wife has a water mage concubine, then there is no way to know the difference."

"Why hasn't the lack of an accurate paternity test been a problem before?! I feel like it would be a big deal with all the concubines that nobles sleep with!"

Becca was the one to reply this time. "The one thing we do have is a super effective birth control that will make it so that you will never have a child if you don't want one. Because of this, concubines hardly ever have children. I'm sure the thing James is worried about happening is a noble wife purposely trying to get her true loves child into the role of heir by tricking the main husband. Before, it was unheard of to hear talks about a noble wife cheating on her husband because they were kept under lock and key, plus the penalty would be instant death for her."

"How effective is this birth control? It must break from time to time…"

"It's actually an alchemy potion like the stamina potion, so it is 100% effective."

"Oh, I see. Alchemy is pretty convenient, do you think we can go to our team of alchemists and ask them to create a new potion that will 100% reveal the parents of a child?"

James put his hand on his chin as he thought about the possibility. "There was very little need for an accurate paternity test before, so it was never a focus of the alchemy team. I will go over to ask them if it is possible."

"Set up a meeting for me to go instead. I have been curious about the alchemy team for a while now. I want to see what their potential is."

James nodded, "okay, I will set up a meeting as soon as possible."

I sighed, "I hope this will solve our problem swiftly…I don't want to scrap this law just because of the legistics. What about the other law? Did that go smoothly?"

"Yes, I have writen out all the consequences for assaulting someone and I was also able to start setting up the mage squad that will police this law."

"That's great! Thanks for all the hard work, James."

"It's my job to be as much help as possible. No need to thank me. Now that the talk about laws is wrapped up, there are a few more things I need to fill you in on about the Duchy."

Before we continued, I turned to Becca, "Hey Becca, do you want to stay and continue listening to the general Duchy things or do you have something else you want to do today? I can just stay behind and listen to all this less important stuff, if you want."

Becca replied without a second thought, "of course I want to stay and listen. I want to be knowledgeable about the Duchy and business, so I can help you when needed. My Father never let me join in and help with the family business, but I hope you will be different and trust me to be competent."

I patted Becca's hand, "of course I believe in your ability and want you to help me out when you can. I only asked because you might not be able to practice your magic today if you joined us since our talk could take a while. I just wanted to make sure to see what you want to prioritize today."

Becca nodded her head in understanding.

"I'll start training especially hard when the Royal mage exam is soon. Right now we still have a few weeks before the exam. I need to stay here and absorb as much as possible because eventually there will be a time where you are feeling sick or maybe you have to lead a war again and I'll have to take charge for a while. I need to be prepared to be a proper Duchess."

I flinched at her earnest words. "I hope I don't have to go off to lead a war anytime soon. Honestly, I would prefer if there was no wars for the rest of our lifetimes…"

James worried, "one can dream…but you need to be ready to jump into action my Lord. You are the strongest person in the Kingdom and very important to the safety of our people…"

I smiled grimly, "I know…but that doesn't mean I won't be reluctant… Unless of course the danger is directly effecting Becca and the rest of my family, then I would be the first to jump in to protect them."