“Where Dvergarder - the Duchy taking on their old title for their first patriarch, which translated to ‘one who guards against the dwarves’ - shields the Kingdom of Posuin’s south and Jonkver its east, the Duchy of Algenverr to the north-east covered the stretch of land that bordered the swamplands between Posuin and the plains inhabited by the orcs and defended against possible incursions from that direction.

While relations with the orcs were finicky for a while after the first failed crusade led by the Holy Kingdom a century ago, over time it had normalized, and a few trading outposts were established in the more hospitable regions of the swamplands, which brought prosperity to Algenverr. Rumor has it that they had a go-between to facilitate the relations somehow, though for many the details remained a mystery, and the Duchy remained tight-lipped about it.” - Adisinna Olesun, Court Scrivener for the Kingdom of Posuin, circa 323 VA.

“Sir Rodolfo, have you seen Miss deVreys-'' the question died out in Pedro’s throat as he slipped past the tent’s opening and saw just who was inside the veteran Knight-Captain’s tent. The elderly knight himself was stirred awake by the young heir’s words, and as he stirred, he inadvertently woke Graciela up, who was sleeping with his arm as a pillow.

Aideen was already awake, and happened to be brewing a pot of coffee by the side of the tent on a small, portable enchanted stove - something she brought with her from the Lichdom, as such things were still unheard of in Alcidea - and only raised her head at the intrusion of the young ducal heir. She was not wearing even a shred of clothing and gave Pedro an eyeful as she stood up with a smile with the pot of coffee and three mugs in her hands.

“Uh… umm… I’ll see myself out,” said the young heir to the duchy with a slight blush on his face. It took no genius to realize what must have taken place in the tent last night, just from the sight of its obviously naked occupants even if two of them were covered by the blanket. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

The three occupants of the tent looked at the swaying flap of the tent as the young ducal heir bowed out, then to each other for a moment, before they collapsed into the throes of laughter, loud enough for Pedro to hear outside the tent.

After a while, Rodolfo came out, fully dressed and with a strong scent of coffee covering up whatever smells he might have smelled like otherwise. He gave a polite bow to Pedro and offered him a mug of the hot beverage. “Sorry about that,” he said quietly, though he failed to keep the corners of his lips from twitching up.

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“Nevermind, it’s my own fault for barging in unannounced,” admitted the young ducal heir as he sipped on the coffee. The drink was not unknown in Alcidea, though it was more a luxury for the upper class, imported as it was from the southern continent. He perked up at the drink’s strong fragrance despite how it was strong and bitter, made without milk and sugar like how he was used to drinking it. “So… you’re together with Miss deVreys?”

“Only casually, and only for the time being,” replied the old knight with a happy smile on his face as he sipped on his own cup of coffee. Normally such drinks would be above his paygrade, but Aideen had quite a bit with her and had treated him to it every morning in the past week. “We both know that we’ll part ways after Algenverr and are just… killing time and finding some comfort while we could, I guess.”

“I don’t really get it, but I guess I’ve only been with Amara and nobody else,” mentioned Pedro as he named his wife, who was back at Dvergarder with their two sons. “I’m not as free to… gallivant around as a widower like you are.”

“It has some benefits, even if I do miss the old lady from time to time,” said the old knight with a sigh. Aideen and Graciela came out of the tent dressed in simple tunics around then, and greeted Pedro before they walked towards the river they camped beside, likely to take a wash after the last night’s activities. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to be this popular in my old age, but I’ll take it.”

“Most of us would call you a lucky bastard, Sir Rodolfo,” added Pedro with a chuckle of his own.

They waited by the tent until the women returned, refreshed and wearing fresh clothing. Graciela excused herself as she went into the tent to wear her armor, while Aideen went straight to Pedro and asked him openly. “Looking for me, young Duke?”

“Ah, yes, apologies for the earlier intrusion,” said Pedro with a slight bashful smile. “My cousin would like to meet you, so I went out to look for you but couldn’t find you anywhere until… well… you know what happened after that.”

“Oh, the one from Algenverr? Right, you did mention that she’d catch up with us by this morning,” said Aideen as understanding dawned on her. “In case you need me again in the near future, you could probably find me in his or her tents if I’m not in mine. Lead the way.”

“Okay.”

Pedro led Aideen to a large, rather heavily decorated tent that looked like it’d probably take an hour to set up or dismantle. It was larger and more ostentatious than the simpler tents Pedro and his siblings had slept in. Inside the tent, seated in front of a table having her breakfast together with Sandra and Solenia was Clarissa Nunez of Algenverr, Pedro’s counterpart and cousin, and the heir to the current Duchess of Algenverr.

The olive-skinned woman was noticeably younger than the heir to Dvergarder, probably even younger than Solenia by a bit. She gracefully invited Aideen to sit on the table, across from her, and they ate breakfast in relative silence for a while. Only after a couple servants came in to clean up the plates did Clarissa look at her and solemnly welcomed her with some serious words.

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss deVreys. My cousins had spoken much about you,” said the young woman as she gave a polite bow. “I have been informed of your desire to check out the swamplands, but I’m afraid it might take some time to process that… unless you’d be willing to give us a hand with some… current issues.”