Two months later, at the Loran family's mansion.
On a spring night, Stella was sitting by the window in her room.
The room was quiet, and the air was slightly humid, as it usually is on spring nights.
She slowly opened the window and stood looking outside.
The garden trees were still, their leaves gently moving with the breeze. The full moon was bright and clear in the sky.
There was no sound except a soft rustle and the distant bark of a dog that soon went quiet.
For a few minutes, she stood motionless, her mind blank, just looking at the moon. Then she sighed and said,
"The sky is so beautiful tonight."
Back in the city of Big Bridge, the sky was usually hard to see clearly. But here, it was peaceful, clear, and free from the city's chaos.
"I wonder what they're doing now. How are they?"
These thoughts brought her mind back to her family.
"I hope my father has fully recovered. If so, he will be able to calm her and take care of Jean too."
She sighed, remembering all that had happened since her arrival.
"The most important thing now is to focus on my close and important goals. That's better than worrying all the time."
Rising from the window, she walked to the small cupboard at the edge of the room.
It had been set aside for books she found interesting or that might contain useful information about the continent. Her phone and a few simple items she brought with her on the trip were also hidden behind the stacked books.
Everything was placed carefully.
"I really should return some of these to the library. I'm glad Liam values reading."
Picking two books at random, she lay on the bed with the oil lamp beside her. After flipping through one for a few minutes, she tossed it aside.
"Oh, I've read one like this before. Same information repeated again. The author must have just rewritten the same book. How annoying!"
Finding historical sources was the hardest part for her. There were few of them, and most had the same content, the only difference being style and cover.
"The internet was really something amazing," she sighed, thinking of how easy it had been to gather information before.
Taking the second book, its cover worn and blue, without a clear title, she tried to read it but couldn't.
"Huh? What language is this?"
Placing the lamp on the table, she sat down to try again, but the letters were hard to make out.
"Well then, let's see what's written anyway."
The pages were in bad shape, though not worse than the cover.
"I don't remember seeing this one in the collection I took. I think I grabbed it by accident because it was smaller than the others."
Carefully, she turned the pages.
The first six had nothing, not even a title or author name.
Then, on the seventh page, a short introduction appeared, though the writing was small and hard to understand.
Still, she continued flipping through the pages.
On the tenth page, she found a map.
Her eyes widened in shock, it was a map of the world, like the one from her homeland.
This time, the writing was larger and clearer, allowing her to read it.
It was well-drawn.
On the southern continent, the words, "South Side" were written in bold. On the other, "North Side."
The two poles were labeled "South Ice" and "North Ice."
"I haven't seen any maps since I arrived. Finally, something useful!"
Her eyes lit up as she examined the pages, looking for any sentence or word she could understand.
One page mentioned a nobleman from a well known family who had discovered a new, wide land full of islands.
"Oh, so he's talking about our continent here! Back in school and on the news, we were always taught that we are the original people of this region and that we never migrated!"
But the text in front of her said the opposite.
A man had migrated from the north to an empty land in the south.
His family was famous back then. He went there with some friends by accident after getting lost at sea.
The man's name was Morwen Seren Whitemore, later known as "The Saint."
The name rang a bell, but she couldn't recall where she'd heard it before.
Still, that detail faded in importance compared to what was now in her hands.
His family had strong influence in the continent at the time, they were the actual rulers.
After his return, he told them about the journey and asked for help to explore more with a larger expedition.
But the head of the Whitemore family refused strongly, claiming it might threaten their rule.
He even ordered that no one else be told about the discovery.
Unwilling to accept this decision, the young noble rebelled with support from other noble families.
His rebellion was crushed, and they even considered executing him.
This led to a civil war between those who opposed and supported the ruler, it lasted for many years.
In the end, Morwen and his supporters surrendered and were arrested.
Everyone expected an execution, but the new ruler, his cousin, chose instead to exile them.
However, a new war started after the ruler was assassinated by the same cousin he had spared.
As a result, the continent fell into war again.
Morwen, declared a traitor, was banished to the southern continent along with his supporters.
They became enemies of the northern continent.
Later, the ruling system changed. The continent was divided into four regions with four main cities.
Each city was ruled in turn by generations of the strongest families.
Though the book had only a few pages, for Stella, it was rich in information despite being hard to read.
"This is exactly what I was looking for, thank goodness I took it with me."
She closed the book and returned it to the cupboard with the others.
"I should take this book with me, it's a good source…"
But the excitement quickly faded.
"This book tells everything... Why were we lied to all these years?"
Sleep didn't come easily that night.
She turned in bed for hours, her mind spinning, until a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
She quickly got up and approached the door. "Who is it?"
A familiar voice answered, "Alina, can you open the door?"
It was Carla.
Stella opened it, asking, "Carla? What brings you here at this time?"
Carla's face was slightly twisted as she replied softly, "Alina, can I sleep with you here tonight?"
Stella looked puzzled. "But why? Don't you sleep with the others in your designated room?"
"Umm… A snake got into the room!" Carla answered nervously.
Then it made sense, Carla couldn't return, even after the snake was caught, because it had been on her bed.
"Ah… Okay, fine, just for tonight. But this is really unpleasant."
That night, both girls shared the same bed, which made it hard for Stella to sleep.
"I don't think even the people here know this story. I remember asking Helena and her mother, but they never gave full answers.
They only said that big families rule, as if I were just an ignorant village girl from the cold north.
Only a few must know the truth, even the Loran family seems unaware of the full details.
But what matters is… now I know why those masked people were so hostile that day."
Every time she remembered that moment, a shiver ran down her spine, mixed with sadness.
"I hope I find more details in the coming days."