“Trade unions are for the workers. To protect their interests from their employers. Pick another name,” said the clerk at the help desk. She looked bored and not really helpful.

“Oh, I see,” said Crassus. “How about the Forest of Fireflies Merchant Union?”

“Sound good to me. Write it on each paper and sign at the bottom,” said the clerk, and she went back to reading her book.

Crassus wrote the new name over the former and watched as the mana-soaked paper updated. These could be useful for his lesson plans. If only their production wasn’t a closely kept secret.

Five hours later and Crassus was done. He handed the thick stack of paper to the clerk, and she smiled at him. Esmer took his hand in hers, and they went outside and headed to the teleport.

“How would you like to spend the night at the inn? Just the two of us. A nice dinner in a room with candles. Soft music playing in the background?” Asked Crassus the question he had been meaning to ask the whole day.

“Who is going to tuck in the children? Theanore will want her bedtime story. And Marinus always wants a hug before bedtime. Not to mention how Archibald and Mary will whine and stay up if they don’t get their goodnight kiss on the foreheads,” said Esmer.

Then she nudged Crassus.

“But I understand what you are trying to do. Maybe someday, when the children are grown, we can have time for each other. You have a life-extending ring. We have time.”

Crassus sighed, but the sight of Esmer’s dazzling smile made him smile. She was a good mother, and grandmother, he supposed. The girls adored her, and the boys searched for her approval.

“Nearly one year has passed since Theanore came to me.” Said Crassus. “Three more months and it is her birthday.”

“Is it? I think I created her in July,” said Esmer. Thinking back on it, she had wanted a companion. Nymphs were pure creatures and not normally dungeon mobs. But Esmer had wanted someone to remind her she was not evil for defending herself. And so, a nymph had been born. And then stolen.

“When I couldn’t find Theanore, I feared my dungeon killed her,” said Esmer, thinking back on the fruitless couple of months she spent delving in her dungeon looking for her nymph. “I thought myself so vile that nothing good could live with me.”

“You are not, vile, I mean,” said Crassus, and he squeezed her hand to comfort her. “And if Theanore was not stolen, she would have never come in my life. I would still be Crassus the traveling merchant, who stares at families with longing and gives them discounts just to see a child smile.”

“You did that? I take it many people took advantage of that and brought their children along for the shopping?” Asked Esmer with a slightly upturned lip.

“They did. But I am not angry at them. It was a fair exchange. And the discounts were not so big that I had no food on my table,” said Crassus with a shrug.

Back then, before Theanore, he had been a lonely man. He had entertained the thought of taking a wife and trying to be happy. He really had. But then one thought always stopped him.

It would be a childless marriage. The woman next to him would grow to hate him, even if he warns her beforehand of what the doctors had said about him. He felt it would be better not to be stuck in such a Hell.

But now it was different. He had children and even a grandchild. Esmer knew of what will never be, and she was happy to share the responsibility of raising Theanore with him. She was happy to be his family, even without a marriage.

“We should do something special about her birthday,” said Esmer, bringing back the topic to its former point. “Cake and presents goes without saying. She keeps talking about a fair and a book. Care to enlighten me?”

“Oh, that? When she wrote her first book, there was a fair to fund it. With a Ferris Wheel and swings and all kinds of games. She inspected them all, Marinus by her side,” said Crassus, smiling as he remembered that time.

“They are inseparable, aren’t they? Why did Marinus decide that he loves her?” Asked Esmer. There were so many things she did not know about her daughter. But this was the biggest mystery of all.

“Well, it all started when Marinus trespassed in the pool cavern and ate a silver longtail, or so I’m told,” lowered his voice, Crassus, so he could better tell the story.

“I take it she wasn’t thrilled about it. She loves all things in her grotto,” said Esmer. She imagined Theanore crying over a fish and resolved to box in Marinus’ ears if it was indeed the case when she came back.

“She was not happy, but then he told her he was homeless. You know how Theanore is. She felt for him and tried to feed him nettle soup. Burned her hand while doing so, too.”

“Stung, you mean,” corrected Esmer, amused.

“Yes, yes. She had him rationing the fish before he started the aquafarm. One longtail per day. And that one shared with Theanore. The boy snacked on oysters all the time, trying to stay well-fed. He tried to be sneaky about it, too.”

Esmer let out a giggle at the idea that Marinus was sneaky, and they stopped before the teleport. Then something caught her eye. It was a doll shop that was still open. There was a bright porcelain doll in a pink, frilly dress that was the size of a baby.

“Do you think she would like this?” Asked Esmer, pointing at the doll.

“And there are toy soldiers for the boys too. And maybe Mary. I think she wants to become a typical dungeon core,” said Crassus, worry sipping into his voice.

“Nothing wrong with defending oneself,” said Esmer, as she led Crassus to the shop. “I hope the doll sings. For such a price tag, it better.”

And they entered the shop and were greeted by a cheery dwarven woman. After the purchase, they took the doll and three toy soldiers and stepped into the teleporter. Appearing home seconds later.