Feyra jumped up a little and looked at the person who had come.
The woman in front of her wore a long green dress that had short arms. She had taken off her jacket because of the heat. Her hair was brown and in an updo while the front parts hanging to the side were making slight curls. Her bangs were combed to the right side leaving a small gap on the left and a hat adorned her head that sat slightly more on the right side.
"It would be an honour. My apologies I was in my thoughts so I didn't notice someone coming.", Feyra said as the woman sat down and took off her hat.
"No need to worry. Have you ever been here? You seem a little peculiar. And also a little sad?", the woman asked before she also ordered a glass of water and the Alliance's specialty.
"Oh no it's my first visit in the Capital and also the first one in the Alliance.", Feyra said smiling again.
The woman looked at her curious and smiled back. "Then it must feel a little overwhelming in the Capital. The city is basically a labyrinth. I hope you haven't gotten lost too often."
Feyra inwardly didn't know what to answer. She had gotten lost many times and was happy she had a map or else she may have never even found the place for trying to get a permit.
"Still you haven't spoken about what makes you sad. Please tell me. It's better to talk about it than keeping it inside.", the woman said looking at Feyra with shining eyes telling her to just tell her.
"Well... I wanted to get into the government district but... I needed a permit. So I tried getting a permit but then I needed more permits and then I needed a birth certificate which I don't have.", she said in a short form of the events that have happened.
"Oh my. Getting a permit here is truly not easy. Though that also answers my question about your age. You truly are far older then. I was already wondering who this peculiar traveler may be."
The woman took a sip of her water before remembering something and accidentally spilling a bit of it on her dress.
"No need to worry. It'll dry again. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Frieda. I work in the archive in the government district."
Feyra was stunned hearing where Frieda worked and almost choked on her water while drinking.
"You work in the archive? That's where I wanted to go! Oh... My name is Feyra.", she said scratching her head a little embarrassed by how she must've acted just now.
"Wonderful. I can get you into the government district without a permit and then you could tell us more. I wonder though... What do you want from the archive?"
"I'm sure you know about the reopened case from 721 years ago. I have information on it and I also wanted to know if you have any information on Princess Loreen. I'm trying to find out the truth about this too.", Feyra answered honestly feeling like there was light at the end of the tunnel again.
Frieda listened carefully until Feyra had mentioned the name of the princess.
Wait... Someone knows her name? Wouldn't that mean..., Frieda thought while eating a bit of the salad she had ordered too.
"Are you potentially... How should I ask that? I know this is sensitive information but... Are you...", she couldn't properly ask the question knowing the value of these information.
"I was the Princess' friend.", Feyra answered simply to ease the situation. Frieda also nodded in understanding. The information they would speak about was best to be hidden for the time being. Nothing had been confirmed and Frieda also couldn't be sure if Feyra was indeed that person she thought she was.
"Let's speak of anything further in the government buildings regarding this matter. For now we can enjoy the food.", Frieda said hinting at the plates the waiter carried.
On the plate was beef with various plants and a bit of salad and potatoes.
"It's nothing extraordinary but the seasoning perfectly combines the various nations and regions we have here in the Alliance.", Frieda explained cutting off a piece of the savory meat and putting it in her mouth.
Her expression immediately formed into a smile telling everyone how good the food was.
Feyra also tasted a piece of the meat and was stunned by how well the seasonings blended together and made for a unique taste. One could truly describe it as a dish of multiple nations.
The normal salt and pepper is common across the whole Alliance but then there are also herbs that grow more in mountainous areas while in the salad there are some plants that grow near the sea. I'm not sure which other seasonings have been used but from what I know is that a lot of them are only found in one specific place.
Feyra ate the meat slowly trying to figure out all the seasonings that had been used. She was unsure which ones they were so she only took some guesses before giving up and just eating the dish.
Frieda had already finished her plate and seemed quite interested in Feyra. "Are you always eating that slow?"
"No. I just try to taste out which seasoning has been used.", she answered before finally eating the last piece of the salad.
"So the food tastes great? That's nice to hear. I come here quite often. It's quiet and peaceful. Given it's a little hidden you often have only a few people around here.", Frieda said smiling.
Feyra nodded in response eating the last bites of her meal.
"Do you have anything to let me write on?", Frieda asked taking out a feather from her jacket. The feather was only something one could put over a pen to make it look like one was writing with a feather.
"I have a notebook.", Feyra said taking out her notebook and opening an empty page before giving it to Frieda. She started writing something before checking it again and giving the notebook back to Feyra.
"I have written you a permission to get into the government district when you come visit the archive. How does tomorrow in the afternoon sound to you?", she asked.
Feyra was thinking for a while before nodding and agreeing. "Sounds good to me. Should I just show this page to the receptionist at the counter?"
"Yes. They'll know who signed it and let you through. Oh and about this meal... I'll pay it."
Feyra was a little surprised but thanked Frieda before they paid and went their separate ways.
I got a lot of free time still... But I guess resting and learning a bit on politics is the best idea.
Feyra went back to the inn she was staying in and took the book she had bought on politics. First she looked at the Kingdom to try and see what was written about it but, not much to her surprise, there was barely anything.
Then she flipped to the Alliance and was hit by various diagrams showing how politics worked and how the ones in power were controlled by others in power.
Through that Feyra also learned that the people working in the archive are often from the Capital rather than from any nation. It was to avoid favouritism towards one nation and also trying to prevent corruption forming in this important faction.
So the archive and the people who make the permits are all born and raised in the Capital. Meaning that only the Court is made up of people who come from different nations as representatives. Not only that... The mayor of the Capital is the representative of the Capital and the one who usually leads these gatherings.
Feyra looked further being glad she understood the gatherings at least and how most things were handled.
However, she didn't quite understand the point about distribution of materials for help or the taxes. She knew that even in the kingdom there were taxes but most of them were ridiculously high that the farmers often suffered under the king.
In the time Loreen's father had been king the taxes were relatively low in that time but both Feyra and Loreen had learned of the taxes of the previous kings who made them high to prevent the farmers from endangering the throne.
Loreen, Feyra as well as Loreen's father, the king, had found this ridiculous. The king of this time had never been afraid of the farmers and even often told Loreen that if she wasn't inhumane to her people they wouldn't want to throw her off the throne.
Once he even told Feyra that he hadn't agreed to the way his father had handled politics to the point that he had to get his father out of the way to ascend the throne earlier and give his daughter a good life.
Feyra remembered how well it had been in the Kingdom at that time. Sometimes there were some weather phenomena that didn't help the people but for such times the king would often adjust the taxes and lower them.
Some winters had also been cold when the snow from the Northern State came down.
Feyra was wondering if she could also find something about the Northern State in this book.
Out of all the countries and continents existing, the Northern State was rather peculiar. Most of its area was covered in snow all year round which already made it a little peculiar. However, the most peculiar was that it was run by a tyrant. Barely any information existed on how he ruled the country and many also said something didn't sit quite right with them when they spoke about the Northern State.
It had almost become a rule in the Kingdom to not speak about it as most people felt a shiver run down their spine just thinking about this place.
"There is nothing on the Northern State to be found. Not in this book or anywhere else. Perhaps at some point in my travels I can also visit them. I truly wonder about this country... It was so near the Kingdom but it always seemed so far.", she said while hanging over the book before turning the pages to look at a different country.
The one she was looking at couldn't be considered a country though but rather a continent. It was none other than the Empire.
"The Empire has four people of power. Three of them are governors. One watches over the east, one over the West and one over the North. It's the same as Loreen had explained it to me.
"As for the middle... That is under the Emperor who also watches over the three Governors. This system has been implemented around the time of my birth. The south however... The south is being overlooked by the Governor of the East and the Governor of the West together. There isn't anyone extra for this area."
Feyra remembered all the details and confirmed them with this book. It was a good thing she had bought it given she now was able to understand the political landscape a bit better.
If I already got such a book I should also try to look for a world map... I still have no idea which other continents and countries exist outside the ones I know. I know of the Empire, the Kingdom, the Northern State and now of the Alliance. Yet I still don't know anything about some other countries...
Feyra lay on her bed counting on her fingers the countries she knew about. It was a little sad given Loreen had already visited more countries than her, but even then she had never spoken of other areas than the ones Feyra had mentioned.
Even the Princess wasn't allowed to go to the Northern State even when the king tried to understand them a bit better and wanted to have some ties to them.
Now all of that was in the past and the only one remaining to remember it all was Feyra. She soon drifted off to sleep without even noticing that she had left the light on.
Just what will the next day bring for me?