Dominic had no idea that Thorvald had gone down such a route with his thinking, and instead decided to focus on the tasks at hand. There would be an early morning strategy meeting, and before that, he would have to come up with a full education plan for both sons and daughters.
Doing it by the Cygnia Royal Etiquette book would be dry and dusty, possibly trauma inducing, as they had both shared the same tutor.
So, Dominic pulled the early life training from his own youth, then realized that a lot of it was actually tailored to Dragonkin.
No, that was a selling point.
Dominic dutifully wrote out the lesson plans from his own toddlerhood, with the magical languages included in the basic learning as a child when they were easiest to master. Then magical skills training starting at five, when the first magical abilities were likely to start appearing.
He modified all the lessons that he didn’t like, in favour of versions that were more fun and more memorable.
If he remembered them now, they had to be good.
Of course, he didn’t forget all the discipline and mental focus activities that were essential to any young magic user.
Then, he went over them again, using what he remembered of the girls in the Manor, as well as the Princesses of Cygnia’s stories. Between them, he thought that he had a fairly workable lesson plan.
Then, Pops came out to the main room with coffee, and Dominic realized that he had been at it all night, and it was time for him to work again.
"This will be a long day." He sighed, accepting the coffee gratefully.
Pops chuckled. "Just remember this. Having a good wife makes everything about your life better. But better and easier aren’t the same thing. Get used to sleepless nights now because you’ll need to be in practice to keep everything running smoothly when children come along."
The maids brought breakfast, along with the notice for Dominic to attend the Princess’ suite before the strategy meeting.
Dominic made sure that the outfit he had on was suitable both for meeting the Princess as an Advisor and as a potential partner.
Mostly, he just picked his best robes and spent a few minutes polishing his armour and his horns before styling his hair.
"Did you get your assignment finished? It’s the talk of the Royal Guards this morning. Everyone else thinks that they have until dinner, but the Princess plans to surprise them by demanding them at lunch." The Guard asked.
Dominic nodded. "I ended up spending all night working on the plan, but I’ve got a good one. Even if they have the Lady Camilla as their Governess, there is a good chance they will enjoy their studies with this curriculum."
The Royal Guard chuckled and made a positive gesture to one of the Palace Guards they passed, so the man could pass the gossip along.
Dominic waited as the Guard knocked at the door, and then entered when the maid motioned for him.
Princess Alexis was still in her dressing gown with wet hair, but she held out her hand as soon as Dominic entered.
"Let’s see what you’ve got. If it’s good, I might give you a few hours after the meeting to fix it." She insisted.
Dominic smiled and handed her the folder.
"I think that it’s a good one already."
The Princess skimmed through it as the maid fixed her hair.
"What is all this about magic training and mental focus classes starting at a young age?" She asked.
"Did you think that any child we had would be anything but a powerful magic user? They might not have an offensive innate skill, but at the very least, you could expect them to be a Techno Wizard, or a budding young Mage.
Adorable little blonde heads running around trying to hex each other with sticks as wands is not out of the question. As I recall, there are Techno Witches among your older sisters."
Princess Alexis smiled then shook her head. "What makes you so sure that I want kids?"
Dominic shrugged. "Kids are troublesome, but I’m told that the process of acquiring them is worth all the headache. Though, the way His Majesty is going, we could just bring over a few young members of this generation when they are born."
Alexis rolled her eyes at him and handed him notes for the day.
"Go sit in the other room while I get dressed. Have all that information memorized before we go. They’re unlikely to ask us any questions, but be prepared to remind me of anything that I might have forgotten." She insisted.
Dominic sat down in the waiting room and used the arm of a comfortable chair to read, and found himself staring at the first page’s title.
The first parts were just Royal legalese about the time and date of the arrangements, the Nobles involved, which Dominic tried to commit to memory, and then it got into the actual details.
{In exchange for returning the remainder of Dagos’ border to its previous extents, and for reparations due after the unprovoked hostilities, Cygnia requires that the Stansia Province be turned over to Cygnia unconditionally and in its current state as of the signing of the armistice.}
There were details of battles from the entirety of the war listed after that, with casualties and major Noble deaths listed.
There were not only numerous big names, but many extended families suffering casualties. That would be crippling for Dagos, with so many of their established leaders dead during the war.
Most of it appeared to be bad luck, but some of it was actually targeted action.
The Second Prince had not been idle during the war, and Dominic noted at least five major Nobles or their heirs who were assassinated by him before the King of Dagos was killed.
Then he got to the numbers for the battle at Burton.
One Duke, eight barons, five of the Duke’s sons, and over seventy thousand other confirmed casualties. A large force retreated from the siege during the battle, either deserting or ordered to retreat.
So, the numbers weren’t as high as what Dominic had seen on the battlefield, but still staggering.
And that didn’t even count the wounded who retreated.