"So Flynn finally did something he could not weasel out of, huh, it was about time." Florence commented as she sipped her tea. Isaac and Lenna had just given her a very abridged version of the downfall of the Thronsen family. "But what came of the imposter?"

"Time handled the CSC island. If the imposter was there, well, I cannot imagine a world where anyone beats or escapes the flow of time." Isaac replied with a smirk. "But enough about Vespera, why does Saetwixia smell so bad? Where is all of the magic that a modern city should have?"

Florence frowned. "It is…" She began. "We are," She began again. "The people of Saetwixia are stuck in their ways. Magic is something that is rarely openly embraced here. Things that people do not understand scare them and magic is one such thing. You would be hard pressed to find any aspiring wizards here. The little magic that is used is always to help foreigners deal with the filth of the city. The few clerics that stay here are always overwhelmed with sick people no matter what I do. It is just the way of things here. The people have not changed, no matter who rules over them, and I doubt that they will any time soon."

"But… it's magic." Isaac mumbled in confusion. "Isn't half of the point of magic to make people's lives easier?"

"Many would agree with you, though few of them could be found here." Florence replied. "Like I said, things that people do not understand scare them."

"So, all of your wealth?" Lenna cut into their conversation. "How are you trying to help the children that grow up in the gutters that are little more than open air sewers?"

Florence winced. She took another sip of her tea and then sighed. "I have found out, mostly from my predecessor, that helping them only makes it worse in the end. No matter how much money is thrown at the housing problem, without the means to expand the city itself, because the locals refuse to allow outsiders and mages to build the walls, it will only continue to get worse. If we let them go, if we let the poorest among them fend for themselves, they will eventually leave their… 'open air sewers'." The Marchioness explained. "It hurts me to see them, the children, that grow up in such places. But if they are not as uncomfortable as possible, they will not leave and they will instead only serve to continue to compound the problem. The city truly needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, but the locals would rather die or live in squalor with their pride than accept a better future."

"Sometimes you sound like you are an outsider, but other times you sound like a native. Which is it?" Isaac wondered.

Florence laughed self-deprecatingly. "Both. I used to be an outsider, but now, the smell barely bothers me anymore. That simple fact makes me almost as much of a native as the farmers you no doubt saw this morning." She took another sip from her tea and then the maid refilled it as she continued: "I married into the Constantine family. I was originally a cousin to Granduke Sasston. My mother was an elf, though she died in childbirth. She denied her own resurrection and left my father to raise me." Florence had a look that was hard to place at first. It took Isaac a moment to realize what it truly meant. Even if Florence had moved past her mother abandoning her, she still had not truly forgiven the woman. "Because of my heritage," Florence continued through Isaac's musings. "I have outlived my husband and our only child, our daughter, has been married off. Now it is just me, I must look after the city that my husband both loved and hated in equal measure. Hopefully the Victoria's will choose a good replacement for me when I die."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Not when you retire?" Lenna wondered. "I thought that all nobles in Altia retired as they reached their later years of life."

"No one who wants to rule over this city should be allowed to do so. Anyone who volunteers for this position is only chasing gold and a higher noble title. Marquess of Saetwixia may sound good to the ear, and look good on parchment, but it smells horrid." Florence explained with a sad smile. "There were plenty of suitors that came for our only daughter, and thus our titles, only to turn away after a week or so. We made them live in a suite in the best inn in the city, free of charge of course, for the entire time that they courted our daughter. None stayed."

"In the brilliant noontime sun, a woman without a son, wonders who will someday run, the city all nobles shun." Isaac spoke almost unconsciously as he looked over the beautiful scenery forged of stained glass all around them. The city was in the perfect location to thrive to an incredible degree. It was the halfway point between the base of the Altian Mountain Range and Port Vespera. Untold tons of goods traveled through the city, on their way to the capital nestled most of the way up the mountains. Tradition, stubbornness, and ignorance held it down more than any of the residents would ever know. It was not a city like Sapphirestone where adventurers would come to settle down due to the beautiful views alone, no, Saetwixia was a place that only the ignorant or overly prideful would refuse to leave.

—

The rest of Isaac and Lenna's visit with Marchioness Florence Constantine went by calmly and pleasantly. The pair were even invited to stay for lunch while supplies were gathered for them. Florence actually paid for the supplies herself, not that they even made a dent in her literal piles of platinum that she must've had in her vault, but it was a nice gesture. She even had the servants purchase an entire crate of healing potions. They were only the cheap, low grade ones because the only alchemist in the city wasn't very good with magical potions and was more of a medicine maker.

Once they had finished lunch, and their new supplies were packed up, the pair bid Marchioness Florence goodbye. "Thank you for stopping by." She told the pair honestly. "Visits like these are why I instructed the Guard to send people like you to me. Most adventurers, electrum tier or lower, only go back and forth with the caravans. People like you have real stories to tell."

"Of course." Lenna replied. "Depending on which way we return home, we might stop in again."

"Please do." Florence said with a smile. "And next time, not just the Lord of Darkness and his Lady of Hellfire are welcome, but the Dark Lord in his shadow is as well. I am sure that there are plenty of stories and details that you do not wish to speak of, but I am curious about them nonetheless."

"Maybe next time." Isaac told her with a nod. "Be well, Florence."

"That is, at times, all that one can hope for. I pray that your travels are at least as enjoyable as your company." Florence told them both and then handed Lenna one last thing. "Please, before you take this, promise me that, in the event that a similar situation occurs, you will be better than my mother."

Lenna's brows furrowed as she took the small wooden box. She carefully opened it. Inside was a small elegant crystal bottle with a ruby red liquid inside. Lenna held it up to her nose and sniffed as she looked for any clue as to what it was. Her eyes went wide as she realized. Lenna looked up from the bottle to meet the younger woman's eyes. "This, this is too much." Lenna told her. "A thousand gold for healing potions and food is one thing, one of these potions is worth everything to some, and nothing to everyone else."

"It is of no use to me now." Florence said with a sad smile. "And my daughter has enough human blood that getting pregnant is as easy as breathing. I have seven grandchildren and only one child. You will get the most use out of it, I hope." She added with a wink.

Lenna's face colored a bit as she closed the lid on the box. "I will. Thank you, Florence, for your hospitality and your kindness. And I promise that I would never leave my mate or our children alone in this world of struggles. I swore to protect him and his, and I will do so until the day I am no longer able." Lenna expressed with a nod of certainty.

"I am sure we will meet again, it is not like age is going to take either of us anytime soon." Florence joked. "See you later, whenever later may be." She finished with a curtsy. With that final goodbye, Isaac and Lenna made their way through the rest of the city until they reached the eastern gate. Saetwixia had been an experience that they would not soon forget, and not just because the smell refused to leave their clothes.

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