"The seed of a SilverBirch tree" Althea mused as she picked up the tea cup. "I must admit that is not what I expected."

Sipping at the cup gave her time, time to consider the request. The seeds could be said to be widespread, any person in Diery could just walk into the massive forest surrounding it and take a seed. The only problem was that the tree was hard to grow, perhaps one of ten seeds would become a full tree.

So why were the Aer going to such lengths to ask her for one? A fool could tell that they had ulterior motives.

"The seed is readily available in the Deadre market." Althea commented. "The Aer could simply source one from there."

"Yes, we could." the Aer replied. "But I fear the Countess underestimates the difficulty of traveling on the street with these."

The Aer tilted her head, probably to emphasize her antlers. Althea just hummed in reply. The probability that the Aer did not have a single illusion artifact was nearly zero. This was little more than a blatant excuse.

"And we prefer to sourcing the best quality products that we can." the Aer commented. "The Diery family should have preserved several specimens of SilverBirch seeds from the familiars of previous family heads, yes? I hope the Countess would part with one."

"And why does your esteemed species wish to acquire this seed?" she asked.

The atmosphere seemed to grow swords as she met the Aer's eyes. A silent contest of wills as the two of them stared at each other. And then Lady Aer broke the contest.

"I fear I cannot reveal that." she said, picking up the teacup. "But I can assure that it is for our personal consumption, it will not affect anyone outside Aerhome."

Althea picked up a biscuit, chewing it as she considered. The Aer could easily get the seeds of SilverBirch, rejecting them had little benefit. There were records of seeds from familiars of previous Druids, they did have special properties.

But these properties were not very important. The seeds had more mana depending on how powerful the parent tree was, and were more likely to germinate. That was it. The Diery family had not discovered a single divergent property in the trees throughout the nine thousand years they'd had SilverBirch trees as their primary familiars.That was odd to begin with. A familiar was rare, but every head of the family had one for millenia.

Going back to the problem at hand, giving the seed may be the prudent action. There was little that she would lose, and much she could gain.

"And what would you offer in return?" she asked.

"The seed does not merit giving any of the items mentioned before, but I am sure we can come to an agreement." the Aer answered, sipping her tea again. "The market value of a SilverBirch seed is ten silver. Perhaps the price of one gold would satisfy the Countess?"

A gold, huh? That was more than fair. But she did not want it. The county did not really lack gold right now, and the Aer could give so much more. Now, what should she ask? Lady Aer would probably not give information on any foreign power for a mere seed, nor any kind of crucial information.

What was a piece of information that wasn't very important, but was something she wanted?

The ships…too significant. The harvest? The county already knew enough about it. Hmm. Wait, she knew what she wanted.

"I have a retainer, Vanessa." she said. "I wonder if you could tell me where her parents are. And their names, if you could."

Lady Aer lowered her head, looking at the tea as she considered. Or perhaps she was communicating with her people. Althea wasn't sure.

And then mana curled through the Aer's antlers, collecting at the tip and then spreading out with a blast. The feeling was like she had just seen a rocket blast off, sitting close enough to feel the force of the take-off. Althea hadn't actually seen a rocket take off in real life, but this was what she would imagine it feeling like.

The mana stopped her heart for a second, leaving her reeling as it came back with the same force. Thankfully, the Aer was distracted as she tried to follow the little puke that had emerged into her mouth, her heart beating wildly against her chest as she tried to calm herself.

The moment passed as Althea regained her decorum, acting as if the last few moments hadn't happened. The Aer's eyes were still glazed, glowing a bright blue as she stared at something Althea couldn't see.

The glow slowly faded as the Aer returned her attention to Althea.

"I must say, Countess, you have a way of asking for more than I am willing to give." Lady Aer commented.

"Are the Aer refusing the deal, then?" Althea asked.

Lady Aer thought for a moment, and then replied. "Not quite. Add in two more seeds, and I think we will have a deal."

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Althea considered. Three seeds or one seed, it didn't make much of a difference. And it seemed like Vanessa's circumstances were interesting.

"Then, Lady Aer, we have a deal." she replied.

A bright smile spread across the lady's face as she replied. "An envoy will collect the seeds from the Diery palace in a few days, Countess. As for the information."

The Aer waved her hand as the air to her left turned hazy, and then changed to show a different image. Oh, so they couldn't buy a seed from the Deadre market, but they could cast an illusion like this.

The image of a black haired, black eyed woman dressed in a dark purple ball gown appeared.

"This is the former Duchess Hirania Zerolian." the Aer said. "The current Duke's third wife."

Althea looked at the woman, trying to see if she looked like Vanessa. Could Vanessa be related to the Duke? The Marshal did mention that the Zerolian bloodline tended to be black space mages, but still. This was a bit too coincidental.

"The Duchess had a rare Darkness element, leading to her marriage to the Duke despite being a commoner." the Aer said. "The Duchess quickly gave birth to the Duke's first and most talented son, just a hundred and seven years ago."

A hundred and seven years ago…the woman couldn't be alive, right?

"The birth was not easy, and the Duchess spent three years in her bed, recovering. The Duke was quite pleased with his wife then, going so far as to use lifespan extending herbs on her. But it was not meant to last."

The image showed the same woman, lying on a bed, looking pale as she rubbed the head of a little boy. There were maids around her, carrying dishes of food and herbs.

"The Duchess was a commoner, she had not cultivated for most of her life, and the birth seemed to have robbed her of what little talent she had left." the Aer said. "The Duke's interest waned as she remained stuck at the second stage of Apprentice, and soon she only had her son with her."

The image changed, the maids fading away one by one, until only the son remained.

"And then, when the son was seven years old, the moment came. A doctor revealed that the Duchess had suffered ureteral damage. The Duchess could not give birth anymore."

The image changed, to that of the Duke screaming at the woman, and making her sign some papers.

"The Duke divorced her by the end of the day, changing the law to allow divorce only for that day. The day became known as the day of broken marriages, as people across the duchy took advantage of the changed law."

The image changed, to that of couples rushing to a building, sheets of paper in their hand. And then it changed again. A picture of the boy crying, struggling as he was held back by guards.

The woman waved at him, tears drawing lines across her face as she was led away by guards. The clothes had been replaced by rags, and the lack of luggage showed that she likely did not take anything with her.

"The Duke had her thrown out on the street, quite literally." the Aer said. "The boy would not stop crying, and asking for his mother. A fact that irritated the Duke greatly. So he sealed the boy's memories of his mother."

The image changed to that of a Fae hovering over a boy, using magic on his head, as the Duke observed.

"But the story of the boy is not part of the deal." the Aer said. "The story of the Duchess is. The Duchess, now reduced to Baroness, attempted to find refuge with her former friends. But she was turned away."

"Wait, the Duchess was still a Baroness? Wasn't she a commoner?" Althea asked.

"Yes, but the Duke gave her the title when they married. And for some reason, let her keep it even after they divorced." the Aer said. "The Baroness escaped to the Bern march, attempting to find her old home. Of course, she did not succeed. The village had been lost to a beast horde long ago. But she found something else."

An image appeared of the same woman, looking haggard and bleeding, was being taken care of by a man.

"The Baroness found herself in the refuge of a widower with a son, the younger brother of a childhood friend of hers. The two spent the rest of their time together, eventually falling in love."

The image changed to show the Baroness, looking a bit older, holding a child in her arms as an old man stood beside her.

"The Baroness, aging slower due to the anti-aging spell on her, gave birth at the ripe age of one hundred and two. " Lady Aer's lips twitched into something like a smile.

"How the man managed to remain fertile at the age of ninety is a mystery to even me, but I suspect he ingested some herb. There was a period in their life that they ate random herbs from the forest when the crops were burnt by a wandering beast."

The image changed, to the woman laying, as if dead, with the old man crying over her.

"The birth was too much for the Baroness, who had somehow managed to carry the child to term. The old man died of grief soon after. The child, the one you call Vanessa, was taken care of by her brother and his own adult children. But soon she was stolen by the Fae caravan."

The images stopped as Lady Aer turned to her, looking morose.

"The farm once again fell under the threat of beasts, and they did not survive." Lady Aer said. "I fear that Viscountess Vanessa is an orphan."

Althea sighed. Why the Aer had gone so far as to give such a thorough answer, she did not know. Perhaps it was just normal operating procedure. Just telling her Vanessa's ancestry would have sufficed. But she appreciated it. There was quite a bit of information in it.

"Is it possible to tell me what happened to the boy? The Duke's first son?" Althea asked.

"I can." Lady Aer said. "But it will cost you."

"Oh, I see." Althea said, suddenly embarrassed. Of course, getting information from the Aer would cost.

"I must take leave now that our business is done." Lady Aer said. "But please, enjoy dinner. I did invite you to one."

A portal appeared behind the lady, not the normal portal human space mages make, but a rotating circle of many colors. A sight to behold, really. The Aer floated into it, and then they were suddenly alone.

"I thought the Duchess Ferna died long ago." the Steward stated. "The Duchess hasn't been seen for a very long time. I am somewhat glad that she had a happy ending of sorts."

Althea perked up. So the Steward recognized the woman. "What about her child? The one with the Duke?"

"I am not aware of where he is now, Countess. If he is the Duke's eldest son, then the only time I have heard of him was when he led the Northern Continent's team to the Human Cup. As I remember it, they almost made it to the second round.

Althea considered, looking at the food set before. "Well…it will take us a while to get back to Deadre. And we have to eat sometime. And sleep. Perhaps resting a bit would be prudent. I cleared my schedule for tomorrow anyway."