"Ahhhh....that boring coot Cyrus, meeting felt like it lasted hours! Like I enjoying hearing his pretentious self complain about his spoiled son when I can be at home with my beautiful Nafula!" bemoaned a tired Derek.
Derek Moonspeaker is duke of the Lunaria province of Aldenburg.
This province is home to many agricultural farms, its main duties are maintaining produce supply to the citizens of the country, as this domain possesses the most rich and fertile soil, its also the largest province with the most humble population.
There are 5 provinces in total, the other 4 are Frosnia, a mountainous region, Umbravale, a dense woodland, Crysalia, a highland with many mines, and finally Solstrum, the heart that connects the other provinces in the center, and the most populous.
He casually walks past various farms, and as he does, he is warmly greeted by those who work under him.
"Ah! Good-day my lord its nice to see your back!"
Derek suddenly heard a youth's voice and turned to the grape vineyards as a short lemon-blond elf man approached him.
He smiled and greeted the young farmer, "Ah Milton! How are you today? Might I ask how is your mother fairing? Is her hip recovering?"
"She is fairing much better! Thank you so much for covering our medical expenses my lord!" Milton blushed humbly, "I promise to make sure these grape fields produce the best wine!"
"That reassuring to hear, but I must be on my way, its been a long day." Derek smiled and humbly waved goodbye as walked away, but as he did, Milton called out one more time.
"Ah my lord! If you see lady Fara do tell her thank you! She was helping us prune and harvest ripe grapes! We sent some home as a gift!" the young elf blushed as he tipped his head.
Derek gently nodded and continued walking as the boy resumed his work.
He quietly thought to himself ("My adorable Fara is truly the gem of this land, so many nobles have sent her marriage proposals, but I believe my daughter is one to pursue whose interests align with her own. Farming and botany are her greatest passions in life. I hope a young man who harbors the same interest will be her groom.")
As he walks by he passes the Moonspeaker chateau, yet he doesn't actually occupy it. Instead he offers the use of the manor to his hardest working farmers that use it for residential housing as long as they maintain it.
Many elves of light and dark complexions notice their beloved duke casually strolling along and kindly yell and wave to get his attention.
Possibly, out of all the dukes, Derek Moonspeaker is the most loved by his people. He makes sure his citizens have a roof over their heads, simple pleasures, and full bellies.
He waves to them as he continues to walk towards a lovely cottage in the distance with a massive garden beside it as is overlooks the valley with an ocean view in the distance.
"PAPA!!!!" Suddenly Derek hears a familiar voice and is caught off guard by a beautiful young woman running towards him from the home.
A gorgeous elf girl with pure white hair, wrapped into 2 unkempt braids, and a much darker complexion than her father's, but she has his striking green eyes. She wears a frilled beige romper reflecting her free spirited, noble life.
The large spectacle elf open his arms and his daughter jumped as he swung her around.
"How are you my child? Milton told me to give you his thanks for your help earlier." He smiled while rubbing her head.
Fara pouted a bit, "That boy, I don't understand why he does not just approach me and say it! I help him and he pushed an enormous bag of muscadines in my face and runs away before I can say thank you! He's is hard to read, but other than that how was your meeting father? I heard it was rather urgent since it concerned archduke Magnus."
He rubbed his head and replied "Its...a very odd situation Fara..."
But before he could explain, he heard the voice he had been craving for all day.
"Derek my love, are you home finally?" a woman's voice called from the home.
The large elf turned his head and met the violet eyes of his pulchritudinous wife Nafula.
Unlike her daughter or husband, she possesses lion ears and a long tail, and her magnificent white hair trailed and flowed freely. It sharply contrasted with her mahogany skin and her green midi dress that could barely contain her very ample bosom.
She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his beautiful, chestnut hair, and passionately kissed her husband as he coiled his arms around her.
There tongue danced around the other, causing the young Fara to shyly look away in slight embarrassment of her parents intimacy.
They immediately noticed their child's slight chagrin and humorously stopped.
"Anyways papa, me and mama were just checking on the pumpkin-beef stew, and I made notted butter bread, then for dessert we made your favorite apricot pudding!" Fara gloated.
The warmth of his family is what always made Derek eager return to his cozy home, rather than share a cold room with stiff dukes.
"Well what are we waiting for then?" he smiled brightly.
As they walked in Derek did feel a pinch on his buttocks, making him blush as he turned to his wife who gave him a certain wink that relayed a message, which he returned with a devious smile.
The family sat around their simple, yet elegant dining room as Derek shared with his wife and daughter what was discussed during the 5 duke meeting.
Fara was quite shocked. "What!? Magnus had some special blue horn deva girl he kept in secret? And someone else married her?"
"Not quite Fara." Derek took a hearty of bite of his stew. "Mmmmm...The girl in question is part of a nearly extinct tribe of blue horns called Min-ari, apparently she has bright red hair, and the color red is a sign of strength in the Sunstriker family. But sadly, some highborn baron, trying to imitate the dukes, nearly killed a captain to claim a woman as his wife and to hide her infidelity. And the place they chose to attempt the murder is a secluded forest overseen by the royal family, and now the Min-ari girl is gone. Today's meeting was to confirm Adan's meddling, so he was swiftly tried and will be hanged tomorrow and his broad will be exiled."
Rather indifferent to the melancholia of the Sunstriker family, the Moonspeaker family showed more interest in the forbidden romance that apparently transpired between the forest elf and the red hair deva.
"WOW!!! That sounds sooo romantic! When the captain was nearly killed he must have met that blue horn girl who saved him and they fell in love!" Fara blushed as she pictured it in her mind.
Both of her parents chuckled at her innocent interpretation.
"Actually Fara I believe you met this man before." Her mother Nafula chimed in. "Remember when you were assisting with crop distribution by collecting ledgers from the Lustrodos army? You told me you met a handsome, older man named Firion."
"Oh! I remember! Wait...he was the person that Adan tried to kill!?" she shouted.
Derek was wiping his mouth as he listen to his daughter.
"Yes, it was indeed that man. Its quite sad he was treated so horribly given his service all these centuries, especially with the tragedies that befell the forest elves and their homeland. But unfortunately we may have to track him and his wife down, as I theorize they may try to cross the Junai plateau and cross into Eurelca." His expression became more stern.
Fara put down her spoon. "Papa, you and mama are not gonna turn them in are you?" Fara looked worried.
But then her mother and father glanced at each other, and her mother gave her husband a wink again which he returned with a warmer smile.
"Do not fret my daughter. Me and your mother know how to handle this. But we have to check a few things out first." He said with a playful grin as he rubbed her head in reassurance.
"Are you sure?" she said while pouting her face again.
Her mother then poked her nose.
"Trust your parents my baby." Her mother cooed to her.
She always felt reassurance from the both of them and nodded her with a small smile.
"Whelp I finished my delicious stew! Now where is that pudding at?" Derek asked.
They all shared a lighthearted family chuckled.
But then Derek whispered to Nafula. "I think I would like some milk later~!"
Making her blush with an erotic smile.