Later that afternoon, after I'd finished with the day's appointments, I visited the royal library. Its shelves were filled with the collected knowledge of Magnolia's scholars. Unfortunately, that knowledge was woefully limited when it came to the world beyond our borders.

  After half an hour of searching through the stacks, I found myself surrounded by piles of ancient tomes with titles like 'A Comprehensive History of the Eastern Alliances' and 'Classical Legends of Rhienfeill.' Fascinating in their own right, but there was nothing of the people and culture as they existed today. I wanted to live in these places through the pages, to feel what it was like to walk their streets and breathe their air.

  I spread out a yellowing map of the eastern territories, finding the narrow passage of the Neck that connected the mainland to the eastern peninsula. The old text described it as 'a treacherous corridor beset by lawlessness and natural perils alike.' I turned to a volume of collected tales from the region.

  The stories were fascinating, if somewhat fanciful. One described a notorious band of brigands who used trained wyverns to spot travelers from above, then swoop down to isolate their prey before the human bandits closed in. Another told of miners who disappeared into mountain caverns, only to return weeks later, babbling about cities of crystal hidden beneath the stone.

  I flipped to a chapter about the crystal mines themselves, learning how the rugged mountains north of the Neck contained some of the richest veins of natural charge crystal in the known world, including veins of kesmite. The text described how miners would extract the unstable material, processing it on-site into stable M-cut master crystals before transporting them to the Rhienfeilli States.

  "So that's where they all come from." I mumbled, thinking of the countless crystals that powered the palace's heating systems, lights, and kitchen appliances. We didn't have any natural crystal sources in Magnolia. We had facilities to condense them out of the ambient mana flow, but I always was curious how the places we imported from got so many.

  I was so absorbed in an account of crystal refinement techniques that I didn't notice someone approaching until a shadow fell across my page.

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  "I thought I might find you here." Ariella said, leaning over my shoulder to peer at the open book. "More fascinating than your new toys already?"

  I looked up, blinking as my eyes adjusted. "Ari! Did you know that most of our charge crystals come from mines in the Neck? The miners have to wear special suits because the mana is so dense it can overcome and infect them! And animals that wander into the mines grow huge and go mad!"

  Ariella picked up one of the books and flipped through it carelessly. "Riveting." she said, her tone suggesting the opposite. She sat on the edge of the table, deliberately closing the book I'd been reading. "Wouldn't you rather discuss something more... immediate?"

  I reopened the book. "Listen to this: 'The journey through the Neck remains perilous despite centuries of attempts to tame the route. Wild wyverns nest in the higher cliffs, while bandit gangs control many of the lower passages. Yet the beauty and resources of the eastern peninsula ensure a steady stream of travelers willing to brave these dangers.'"

  "Liv... why fill your head with stories about some dusty mountain pass?"

  "Don't you ever wonder what's out there?" I asked, gesturing toward the window and the world beyond. "Ambassador Bellamy has seen so much of it!"

  "Ambassador Bellamy," Ariella said, pronouncing his name with exaggerated formality, "is prone to embellishment. You've met the type before; I doubt half his stories are true."

  I shrugged and fell back in my chair, kicking my legs in front of me. "Maybe. But they're still more interesting than discussing which color gown I should wear tomorrow."

  Ariella drummed her fingers on the table. "Reading about places isn't the same as experiencing them, you know. These books can only give you shadows of reality - like trying to understand what swimming feels like by watching fish in a pond."

  "Well, unless you're hiding a plane in your chambers, reading is the closest I'm likely to get." I replied, trying to keep the bitterness from my voice.

  "You're trapped in fantasies, Liv, while real pleasures are right here, waiting for you."

  I looked up at her. "What did you have in mind?" I asked.

  She took my hand, her fingers warm against mine. "I have an idea. Meet me outside your chambers tonight, after the palace quiets down."

  "For what purpose?"

  "Let's just say there are wonders to be found within these walls that even your books haven't revealed."

  As she disappeared through the door, I turned back to my books, but the words on the pages no longer held my attention. With a sigh, I closed the book on the Neck's crystal mines and began gathering the scattered volumes. They would still be here tomorrow.