Now that Johna was 12 and the twins were almost 11, it was time to consider the prospects around us. I was the head of a house of knights. I had not legitimate sons to carry the name forward. Because I was the founder, I had the full right to decide which children were legitimate and which were not. Seeing as Celosia was the only mistress I had taken, it made sense all 3 of our kids would be legitimized. They would always be seen as bastards though in the eyes of society. Nothing could change that. Johna was therefore my legitimate heir. Any man who married her would eventually inherit all that would go to her when I died through marriage. The same would be true for any man who married Holly or Molly. The twins would get less than Johna would on my death, but it would be way more than any of my sons. Having sons in law to help carry on the legacy and name of my house would be nice. It would only be possible if they married men without a noble house. I would be fine with them marrying a commoner if he was a gutsy fighter or mage. Being in love was a huge bonus too.
If they had a noble house, that would be a bit of a problem. My grandchildren through my daughters would not be Rhombuses. They would belong to the fathers house. It was not so bad. I had my 3 sons for a reason. This was the reason. With them legitimized from birth and recognized as mine by Anthony and the Swifthunts, all of their children would be part of my house. They were hybrid children. I hoped that they would be able to have children. It was a fact of this world that there were half elves and even half orcs. They could have children. I was not too concerned for my children because of that. It would be something to look out for. I was a knight that was well known in the county. Even in the capitol, there was tales of what I had done. Maiming a noble, saving a colorless bishop and the champion's mother, and slaughtering all of those bandits were all feats that I took great pride in. That meant absolutely nothing. I had no magic. Having witches of note in the family would be good. Johna would be the first. The entrance exam was a huge success. She was literate and could cast.
Overshadowed by some of the nobles, it did not look like she did much. Still, all she had to do was cast 2 spells and be able to pass a written exam of 10 questions. They did not want to waste time on children that could not live in a school environment. You needed to be able to read and write in order to take notes and understand what was written down for students. You also had to be able to actually cast magic in this magic academy. If you could not do both, there really was no reason for you to be in their halls taking up space. I could understand it. I was invited to stay the week to help her move in and make sure she had what she needed. I had money from both of the saunas on top of the gold I still had left over. I slipped her a couple gold bars as I heard gold was good for magic. I got to walk the halls with her. Once their opening ceremony was over, it was time for us parents and guardians to leave. She looked nervous to lose me. "I believe in you. Never be ashamed to ask for help. You can do it all if you try. I love you Johna." I said before kissing her forehead. "I love you too."
