WILOW-Ch.423: A Week in Dorne
Planky Town, Dorne
POV of Domeric Bolton
A week later.
Domeric walked in the busy streets of Planky Town and looked at a stall filled with local fruits.
"Did Arianne come to your room last night as well?" Sarella asked him, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
From the first night she arrived at his room, and Domeric put her out the door, Arianne kept coming to his door every night.
Domeric ignored her instead of opening the door, but what surprised him most was that news of this had spread to others.
Did Arianne not care at all about the rumors that would spread about her?
"How would you know such a thing?" he asked as he paid for the fruits with a gold dragon.
The shopkeeper's eyes widened in surprise. "My… my lord. This is too much."
"That is perfectly alright, my friend." He said with a smile and cast a compulsion charm on the man, making him accept without protest.
The man's already weak willpower gave way, and he thanked him a few dozen times as he pocketed the gold dragon.
"The fruits you bought don't even cost a single silver." Sarella said, "Are you showing off your wealth to me?"
"Is it working?" he asked with a smirk.
Sarella blushed, and he shook his head in amusement. "No. I was not showing off."
And she looked disappointed now.
"Must be nice to be so rich." She said, and he chuckled.
"You didn't answer my question." He said, "How did you know about Arianne visiting my room? Are you some stalker?"
"You wish." Sarella scoffed.
Then she sighed, "No. It was just that Arianne had not stopped grumbling about getting into your pants since you came here. I think she plans to buy and feed you some aphrodisiac in the near future. Be careful with what you eat. And remember. You didn't hear anything from me."
"Of course. Though I don't understand why you would help me over your cousin."
"Because you're a decent guy and Arianne is being too immature this time." She said, "Plus, forcing someone who's already committed is… wrong."
Using a surface legilimency probe told him what he already knew.
Sarella didn't want Arianne to seduce him because she liked him herself. She was just too shy and inexperienced in such matters to take any step herself.
He almost sighed.
How come he didn't get any girls in Hogwarts despite trying, but now that he wasn't trying, girls were falling for him left and right?
Well... that wasn't entirely accurate. It could be said that in his last life, he wasn't very lucky with girls at Hogwarts, but in another life, he had been in a relationship with Luna at Hogwarts.
Perhaps the girls he showed interest in during his previous life weren't the right ones. At least Ginerva definitely wasn't the right one.
He nodded to Sarella and didn't say anything.
They spent the rest of their time in the market in silence, only speaking when buying something interesting.
He didn't know what to say to her, as he didn't see her that way and didn't want to give her any hope, while she remained silent because she was too shy to instigate any conversation that didn't revolve around her.
Thankfully, their awkward outing was cut short when a guard arrived and told them that Oberyn Martell had returned from exile and wanted to speak with him.
Oberyn Martell had finally arrived, which meant Domeric's time to leave Dorne was drawing near.
Domeric had already spent more time in Dorne than he had initially planned.
His army, along with those of the Vale, Riverlands, and the North, was now on its way to King's Landing. Therefore, he had little to do at the moment. But wasting time in Dorne like this wasn't exactly to his liking.
The initial few days of relief were pleasant, but he had no intention of prolonging it.
Besides, he didn't have much to occupy himself with during this time.
After his conversations with Luna, Domeric gave her one of the magical cores he had made, along with a suitable wand for her that he had bought from the system.
This allowed Luna to cast spells again, like a normal witch.
However, while Luna was happy about this, her joy wasn't as great as Domeric had anticipated. Instead of being overjoyed, Luna asked him if there was a way for her to communicate with Ygritte.
When Domeric asked why she wanted this, she told him to trust her.
Upon this, Domeric gave her one of the communication mirrors, and since that day, Luna hasn't come to him again to speak privately.
He tried to subtly gauge what Ygritte was talking about with Luna during their conversations, but Ygritte always brushed him off, saying it was just a girl's issue.
And Domeric couldn't press the matter further. Because of the strange situation he was in, instead of going to Dreadfort at night, he was talking to her through the mirror.
Therefore, he didn't think he was in a position to demand anything at the moment.
So, while waiting for Oberyn, he spent his time wandering around. And today, Sarella followed him to Planky Town. To show him the surroundings, she said.
During these wanderings, he was mostly thinking about his future meeting with Doran and Oberyn.
He was confident they would accept the independent kingdom he offered them. In return, Domeric would secure their allegiance to the Empire.
But Domeric would demand something else from Dorne during the negotiations: a betrothal agreement, secretly made in the past with the approval of Doran and Oberyn, involving Princess Arianne.
If Dorne were to offer its allegiance, it had to do so wholeheartedly, and that wasn't entirely possible while the agreement existed.
As Emperor, he could order the agreement to be delivered to him and then burn it, but that would be the same as what King Robert had done to him.
Domeric had no intention of breaking the betrothal agreement by force. This would only cause him to lose prestige among his subjects and damage his relations with Dorne.
Fortunately, Domeric had something he could use as leverage. And he didn't think Doran and Oberyn would refuse.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.424: A Spar with Oberyn Martell
Ch.425: Agreement
Ch.426: Leaving Dorne