This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Setting aside the scroll, Chiyoko pressed her chin into her palm, wagging the quill in her hand. Across the room from her, the scholar glanced up from his writing.
“Have you tired yourself, my lady?”
Brows furrowed, she blankly stared up towards the large, stained window. “It is just frustrating to read… All of it.”
The scholar raised a brow.
“How the great empire so feverishly cling onto beliefs with no sound foundation.”
“Ah, yes,” the scholar straightened back, becoming conversational. “Such should be expected, with how strongly they believe in their God.”
“What makes them think they will find something special in the north pole?” she palmed the stack of leather-covered books in front of her. “There’s nothing here saying that.”
“As far as I can discern, it is simply what the dynasty believes must be there,” the scholar replied. “Their prayers have been answered as much.”
Chiyoko sighed. “I will never come to understand the West Continent.”
The scholar chuckled. “If you replace their God with our Enlightenment Journey, then perhaps it shall aid you in understanding their motives.”
Hearing him speak of the Journey, she audibly scoffed.
“They are still people, after all, searching for meaning in life. Treating them as savages will do no favors.”
“No, I know that,” Chiyoko impatiently dismissed. “I know that very well from how the high elders treat their own people that rejected the path to Enlightenment.”
Raising her head from her palm and drawing herself back, she gazed at all the different parchments laid out on the desk before her.
“All this obsession over an artifact,” she mused to herself. “How strangely powerful a single item can be to lead multiple kingdoms to war over the centuries.”
Seeing her say no more, the scholar returned his attention to his transcribing.
“The empire and its frenzied princess can go north all they want,” Chiyoko thought. “They will find nothing there.”
Setting her quill to the side, she reached for a wrapped-up scroll, vibrantly lined with red and teal colored felt, holding it under her face.
“The north star celestial and its so-called ‘treasured artifact’ weapon… They reside within me.”