“We of the House Ven’Thyl humbly kneel to you, our King, and solemnly swear our unquestioned and undying loyalty to you and your divine bloodline!” They all declared, cheering and rejoicing with each other. I actually found their genuine happiness to be extremely infectious, filling me with a sense of joy from all their ecstatic and cheerful expressions; but at the same time feeling a sense of guilt from the illusion that I know I am. Shortly after they made their declaration, everyone except for Odelia began to freak out in an already familiar way. Odelia and I both recognized what was happening, and I let her explain to them what it was.

“It is nothing to be alarmed about.” She told them, “It is simply the effect Lord Eyes has on people who swear their servitude towards him, and it is proof that he is truly the one we have been searching for...The Heir and King to the Elves!” Calming, they all looked up to me from their knelt positions, and I could see their eyes filled with such awe and admiration for me.

“Oh no, four more Odelias.” I thought, wondering what I should say to them. Clearing my throat, I said “Again, my name's Eyes, so please just call me that, okay? Meaning no over the top titles like calling me King, alright?”

Odelia stood up and clarified to them, “What Lord Eyes means to say, is do not let the Elven people and the other Kingdoms know of his existence, for he claims he is not yet ready to ascend to his rightful place as King.”

“That’s not what I—” I got cut off by Aelthar aggressively standing up to Odelia’s face.

“O’de, why didn’t you tell us sooner!” He shouted in Elvish. “You let me look like a fool, flirting and being shirtless in front of our King!” Blaming her.

“If you looked like a fool, Ael, that’s all on you. Don’t blame me for your own foolishness.” Odelia replied, smugly chuckling at Aelthar.

“You should’ve at least told everyone else, O’de!” Shurtyrr added, inserting himself into their conversation. “Our King probably thinks less of us after we didn’t even recognize who he was when we first met!”

“Oh, boohoo. You’re an illegal smuggler, Shur, how much less could he think of you?” Odelia responded, not backing down from Shurtyrr’s point.

“You even let me embarrassingly call him one of Ael’s ‘friends’ earlier, O’de!” Amariina angrily jumped in. “How am I supposed to live down the fact that I thought our King was a Roots’ whore?”

“I doubt you will.” Odelia wickedly laughed at Amariina. “Now out of the four of us, who do you think will be his favourite?” She asked the others, “The sexual and corrupt Guard Captain? Maybe the illegal smuggler? Or how about the one who thought he was a Roots’ whore? But personally, I think it’ll be his perfectly normal and loving archery teacher.” With her laughing at all of them this time, Aelthar, Shurtyrr, and Amariina began shouting an earful at her; but Odelia didn’t back down and shouted back at the rest of them—starting a huge, loud, and petty fight amongst themselves.

“What the hell did I get myself into?” I asked myself, trying to ignore the four of them. Turning my attention to Verana—still kneeling down before me—I immediately noticed the tears falling down the side of her face, so I knelt down and asked “What’s wrong, Verana?”

Trying to suck the tears back up, Verana said “Forgive, my King, I should not have let you seen me in such a state, and cause you to worry about an old woman like myself.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” I assured her. “But why are you crying?”

“Do not worry, my King, these are not tears of sadness, but instead tears of joy.” Wiping the tears from her eyes, Verana explained “It has been almost a whole millennia since the disappearance of the Great King Ven’Thyl, and in all that time, House Ven’Thyl has never been able to find any of his descendants, the only rightful Heirs to all Elves—that was until today.” The others finally stopped arguing to listen to Verana speak, “I have been in House Ven’Thyl since the day I was born, as my mother and her father before her were members too, and it has been 597 long years since my birth—299 of which I was the Head of the House.”

“You don’t look a day over 60.” Complimenting her while thinking, “She really must be significant if she’s lived this long.”

Verana smiled and continued, “I am unsure how much longer I will live, and I always thought I knew who I had planned to replace me when I am gone, but today has changed everything...” She paused to take a moment to look at each of the other members, and stood up to say to them “I have said all this to say that I am officially relinquishing my title as the Head of House Ven’Thyl to another, naming you as my one and only true successor, my King.” The moment Verana finished speaking, I was hit by a barrage of new notifications before I could even process what she just said.

Quest Completed

The Head Of House Ven’Thyl and the bonus Hidden Quest has been completed:

Greatly build up your standing within the House, earnestly gain the respect of the majority of the current members, and convince them to nominate and support you as the next Head of House Ven’Thyl.

Somehow earn Verana’s impossible trust to become her only choice as her true successor to the House of Ven’Thyl.

Rewards: Gain the reluctant acceptance of the other current members who voted against you, and the ownership of all the House’s property for becoming ‘The Head Of House Ven’Thyl’. Hidden Rewards: Gain the full acceptance and obedience of all other current members of House Ven’Thyl, and the respect of individuals who still hold the House in high regard.

“Another Quest I didn't know about, but most of the rewards are kind of redundant since they’ll already listen to me.” I thought to myself, already reading another notification.

You have gained the Title: [A Member Of House Ven’Thyl]. A Member Of House Ven’Thyl: Officially accepted as a member and part of House Ven’Thyl, you proudly take up and inherit the House’s name to yours. Joining another House, Family, or Clan will remove this Title if you cannot persuade your multiple allegiances. Your Name has now been changed from ‘Eyes Thalion’ to ‘Eyes Thalion Ven’Thyl’.

“Wow, it just completely forced a name change on me. I didn’t even get a choice to say no.” Thinking, “This is gonna annoyingly bring so many Players’ attention to me later.” as I read the next title.

You have gained the Title: [The Head Of House Ven’Thyl]. The Head Of House Ven’Thyl: Though known officially as an unofficial Elven House, the previous Heads of House Ven’Thyl have always been held in the highest regards as potentially one of the most powerful individuals the Elven Kingdom has to offer, and you carrying on their legacy will be no different. +100 to All Stats.

“What the fuck, +100 to all stats?!” I exclaimed in my head, completely surprised by the title’s amazing bonus. “I don’t think the System accounted for the crown’s effects correctly, cause I’m pretty sure this title shouldn’t be something a Lv.24 should have if the Head of the House is potentially one of the strongest in the Kingdom. I’d probably guess that you're supposed to get this title around Lv.80 or something, considering Odelia and Aelthar were probably the next in line to be the successors.”

“Is there something wrong with what Verana said, my Lord?” Odelia asked, noticing me thinking hard.

“Not at all, I was just thinking.” I replied, trying to read some of the other notifications.

Your Homestead has gained the Feature: [Multiple Estate] Your Homestead has gained the Settings Feature: [Divided Estate] Your Homestead has gained the Settings Feature: [Estate Restrictions]

“Well I hope you know that I fully support Verana’s choice of making you the next Head of the House, and that you should not worry that Aelthar and I are upset for not being chosen, right Ael?” Odelia nudged Aelthar to respond.

“I agree completely with Verana’s choice, my Lord.” Aelthar stated wholeheartedly. “And I know Shur and Ama feel the same.” As both Shurtyrr and Amariina nodded their heads vigorously.

“Okay, okay, I understand how you guys feel, but just let me think for a second, alright?” They all nodded and knelt quietly, so I tried to figure out what these notifications meant.

Multi Estate: Having obtained a second place to call your own, isolated from the first, you(Owner) and the Residents can now specify which Estate to teleport to when using the 'Return Home' Skill. You can only ever own a maximum of 3 Estates at a time, but can merge Estates together when the lands overlap.

“Wait, this is broken! But I think it’s almost impossible to merge this place with Castle Creedmor considering how far away they both are from each other.”

Divided Estate: Land within your Homestead is all equal, but there is only so much power that can go around, giving you(Owner) the choice of how the Homestead’s Perks should be shared between Estates. Estate Restrictions: You(Owner) can now selectively specify which Residents are allowed to enter in which Estate, also limiting their ‘Return Home’ choice.

“I don’t exactly get what this all means, but I guess I should check out the Menu.” Opening the Homestead Menu.

Homestead

[Settings]

Owner: Eyes Thalion Level: 1 Estates: [Castle Creedmor], [House Ven’Thyl] Perks: [Aura Of Allurement], [Barrier Of Protection] [All] Residents[Invite]: Drune Stoneheart, Goblex, Gryphon Helvi’Ett, Hestyat Creedmor, Mako Nomura, Odelia Ven’Thyl [All] Guests[Add/Requests]: None [All] Intruders: None

I noticed nothing change much about the Menu, except for the new Estate category; and that I could choose to see which Residents, Guest, and Intruders were in which Estate. Though I did notice when I clicked each Estate that I had the options to Merge and Relinquish them. I didn’t bother testing them seeing how I could already guess what they did, and just moved on to the Settings.

Settings

Homestead Access: [Closed]

Targeted Allurement: [All(No Bonus)]

Divided Estate: [50%(Equally)]

Guest’s Maximum Time Access: [24 Hours]

Barrier Notifications: [On]

Request Notifications: [On]

Request Access: [Everyone]

Request Ban List[Add]: None

Estate Restrictions[Add]: None

Playing with the Divided Estate settings a little, I learned that I could spefically choose how much any one Estate could be affected by each Perk, but noted that I could only ever give 90% of any Perks’ power, leaving the remaining 10% to the other Estate—ultimately I decided to keep it at the default 50% for now. I didn’t really have much to do with the Estate Restrictions setting since I trusted pretty much every Resident I had, but out of respect for House Ven’Thyl, I decided to restrict anyone who wasn’t part of the House for now.

Estate Restrictions[Add]: [Drune Stoneheart], [Goblex], [Gryphon Helvi’Ett], [Hestyat Creedmor], [Mako Nomura]

Then finally looking at all the members still quietly waiting for me to be done thinking, I gave them a brief explanation of what was gonna happen, what was gonna appear in front of them, and what they could do with the Return Home Skill; and right after sent all of them an invitation to be a Resident. While they were surprised and read the invitation, I told Odelia “I restricted Drune, Gryphon, and Mako from teleporting here out of respect for House Ven’Thyl, but I can remove their restrictions if you want?”

“No, that is completely fine, Lord Eyes.” Odelia said, unbothered by the fact. “I already have the convenience of Gryph teleporting me back to the TCs, and that is already way more than I could ever ask for.”

“The TCs? But there’s a teleportation circle here,” I pointed out, “why would you teleport there?”

“Well...I am not allowed to.” Odelia whispered, giving a subtle glance to Verana. “She only gives us permission to use the House’s TC if you can both remember the True Runes and use the Teleportation Skill—which only Ama and herself can do.”

“Tell you what, as my first action as the new Head of the House, I give you full permission to use the teleportation circle here." I whispered back, "But only if the reason is related to Drune, and if you make Gryphon promise to keep the runes a secret, okay?”

“Lord Eyes, you are too kind.” Odelia smiled brightly, “Thank you.” appreciating my offer.

Verana Ven’Thyl has accepted your Invitation, and has become a Resident of your Homestead. Aelthar Ven’Thyl has accepted your Invitation, and has become a Resident of your Homestead. Shurtyrr Ven’Thyl has accepted your Invitation, and has become a Resident of your Homestead. Amariina Ven’Thyl has accepted your Invitation, and has become a Resident of your Homestead.

They all accepted as expected, but what wasn’t expected was another new notification popping up.

Congratulations, you(Owner) and the Residents have fulfilled the Requirement to Level Up your Homestead! The Homestead is now Level 2 and gains the [Natural Thriving Growth] Perk.

“What the hell happened? And what Requirement did we fulfill to Level Up the Homestead?” Still wondering as I read the new Perk.

Natural Thriving Growth[On/Off]: Gradually expanding the lands of your Homestead, nature and the environments within begin to develop and grow in richness. The lands’ expansion, development, and growth multiply per experienced Homestead Level.

Even though it seemed like a pretty good Perk, I decided to turn it Off for now as there was no way to control the Perk’s automatic expansion, and I didn’t want to worry about dealing with any possible problems it could bring. My stomach then audibly growled—having not eaten anything since morning—and Verana immediately offered to cook me dinner. Having already skipped the dinner she cooked earlier, I couldn’t say no and accepted her offer, and we all walked back up the floors.

After finishing all the food Verana quickly cooked up for me, I said “Thank you for the delicious food, and I’m sorry for making you work so hard, Verana.”

“You are welcome, my King, but there is no need to apologize.” Verana replied, dismissing my apology. “I will—No, we will always be at your service.” The other members sitting around the large dining table nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, but you don’t have to be.” I told them, “Like Odelia said earlier, I don’t want others to know I’m the ‘Heir to the Elves’, so if you have to call me whatever over the top title you choose, only do so in complete privacy—and that includes gestures like kneeling to me.”

“Umm...may I speak, my Lord?” Shurtyrr raised his hand and I gestured for him to go ahead. “You may already be known..." And we all looked at Shurtyrr to elaborate, "There have been some interesting rumours going around the bl—market the last few days.” Catching himself for Amariina’s sake, “The rumours were all basically about multiple sightings of a Descendant of Ven'Thyl appearing in a human town called Asheton.”

“Wow, words travel fast. Those rumours must’ve come from the elves who saw me wearing the uncovered crown.” Thinking “I wish I knew being the elven royalty was actually important earlier, I could’ve stayed hidden more.”

“What?!” Aelthar exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table. “Why are you just bringing this up now?!”

“Think for a second, Ael. That is the town Drune is currently in, remember?” Shurtyrr reminded him, “I thought I would wait for O’de to come back and tell us if the rumours were true or not, and how true they were.” Smiling towards me.

“Thanks for letting me know, Shur, it was my fault for exposing myself.” He bowed his head accepting my thank you. “Anyway, continuing from what I was saying; Odelia said it was because I said I’m ready to be King, but in truth it's because I don’t want to be King.” Odelia sighed in disappointment, while the others were utterly shocked and asked why; but when Verana started to speak, they all listened.

“Your choice is your choice, my King. I completely respect it, and will gladly continue to serve you regardless if you ascend to the throne or not. But if you could, could you at least tell us why that is your choice?” Verana inquired endearingly.

“They might just keep bothering me if I don’t tell them some semblance of the truth.” Giving in, I said “The reason is simple...it’s because I’m not the rightful Heir to the Elves...I’m not the next in line for the throne.” They all loudly gasped in shock and disbelief of the revelation—even Odelia was taken completely by surprise.

Amariina spoke first, and asked “Are you saying there’s another Heir somewhere, and that they’re next in line ahead of you, Lord Eyes?”

“To be more precise, I believe there’s at least two of them.” I divulged.

“At least two?!” Aelthar repeated, then asking Odelia “Did you know about this?”

“Of course not, how could I hide such a fact?” Odelia denied, still flustered by the news. “After all, Lord Eyes is the only descendant we’ve ever found in 999 years of searching, and in all honesty, he really just found me.”

“There’s no way she could’ve known, Ael, we barely even believed there was one descendant left, let alone three or more of them.” Shurtyrr rationalized.

“May we ask where the other descendants are, Lord Eyes?” Verana kindly asked, changing how she addressed me.

“That’s the problem, I don’t know where they are, and that’s what I was trying to look for in the library—clues about their whereabouts.” I told them honestly, but their faces looked so disheartened to learn that the rightful Heir to the Elves was still missing. Trying to lift them up a little, I said “Even though I technically don’t know where they are, I do know that they’re somewhat safe somewhere, and that you’ll just have to believe me on that.” Remembering that there wasn’t a time limit or failure option in their Quest, meaning they probably aren’t gonna die anytime soon. “So I assure you, when we do find them wherever they are, they will happily ascend to their rightful place on the throne—bringing with them the prosperous change you all expect for the betterment of the Elven people and our great Kingdom!” Their faces brightened at the glorious thought, and I left them to discuss with each other as I picked a random room on the 1st floor to crash in.