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A merchant stumbles on a grotto, lost. He eats his last apple. The merchant plants the seeds the next day to provide food for future lost travelers. 

And so, the nymph Theanore is born.

She would grow from a tiny seed to a splendid apple tree. She would meet many friends. Theanore will try her hand at being a merchant like her father. And she will get to know her lifetime companion, the merman Marinus.

But as every farmer can tell you, apple trees live only for about 150 years and so, with her tree dried up, so will Theanore die.

 But before that, she will live.

The Apple Grotto Nymph (Dungeon Core Fairy Tale)

"Crassus, don't you think that Esmer looks lovely today?" Marinus asked as he was eating his rice.

"Yes, sure," Crassus said, not even looking up.

Theanore looked between her parents and then at Marinus. She didn't understand what was going on.

"Mommy looks pretty every day, Mari! What a silly question you are asking," Theanore said, and Esmer petted her hair.

"Why, thank you, Thea! But men are not very observant. Go back to eating now."

"We are observant. I am just thinking about a question that one of my students asked me," Crassus said, again not looking up from his meal.

"And what was it?" Esmer asked, amused at the slightly annoyed look Marinus was giving Crassus.

"Well, Ariadne asked: how does a market recover if the goods have not been introduced to it in quite some time. I said with advertising, but she said that it was too costly. And, I suppose, it is."

Chapter 89: Crassus and Esmer?