I snorted “I doubt I’d be surprised by that.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Try me.”

“Then we should start with the history of Seirei Vohinthaslan.”

“I’m literally almost dead from boredom.”

He flicked my forehead.

It didn’t hurt much but I still said, “Ow!” and rubbed it.

He rolled his eyes.

“It is a vast country spanning at least 25 earths, and with thousands of smaller country bubbles under its control.”

“If it’s so large why don’t they call themselves an empire?”

“Because in the Realm Under the Hill, even this much is not enough to call a country an ‘empire.’”

“Oh.”

“Fortunately, we are not anywhere near an empire, so let’s return to Seirei Vohinthaslan who has a long and sordid history. All of which, we’ll skip...”

“What? I thought you wanted to surprise me?”

“... Until we get to the current era.”

I glared.

“Where we find this massive country has issues controlling its populace. It also has issues controlling the Queen Ruler’s massive amount of heirs and her hundred consorts.”

“Wait. So the Queen is the leader of the country. She has a bunch of husbands and tons of children? How does that even work?”

He shrugged. “She’s been alive for well over 25,000 years and remains unaged.”

“No, I mean...” I trailed off as I realized how inappropriate that question was. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Probably for the best.” He cleared his throat. “So, within the past few hundred years, the heirs, who help rule the various sections of this massive country have been too harsh on the people under their rule which causes the people to nearly uprise and try to fight against their rulers.

“Usually these near uprisings are quelled by the swift death of those responsible for it, but when things get out of hand and the people look like they are about to revolt, the queen announces a way as a way to clear the excess.”

“What do you mean by excess?”

“Excess people, excess creatures, and excess unwanted heirs that cause more problems than they’re worth. And what a more convenient target could there be than a Light Fae country in Dark Fae hands.”

“But, creating a war just to shut up her people sounds stupid. Wouldn’t it be better to instead address what’s wrong and fix it?”

“Oh, you sweet little human child.”

“Hey! I’m not little and I’m not a child.”

“These aren’t the small representative democracies you’re used to. These are massive monarchies that have many races, religions, monsters, and lands on a giant scale. As you are now you cannot comprehend its complexity.”

“I can comprehend it just fine.”

“Perhaps you could if you had enough time. But for one royal family to control all that for over 25,000 years? You cannot be prepared for the intelligence and manipulation chops that the queen of Seirei Vohinthaslan has had to have in order to stay in power that long and not get murdered by her children who, at this point, likely hope she dies soon without a reaper around to bring her back.”

“Okay. I admit that we don’t have anything like that on my world. So what’s next?”

He brought out my book again and opened it to a different page. 5 large colored portraits and at least 200 small ones littered its surface.

“Read this.”

I groaned. “What? All of it?”

“You only have to memorize the top 3, but read all of the names and portraits.”

I picked up the book.

The first image was of a Light Fae woman with high cheekbones and thin lips in a regal pose. Her name was Queen Ruler Vasena and even though this was a flattering portrait her eyes looked hard and unyielding.

Princess Yoishay was the first heir to the throne. She had had of siblings before her who had been murdered or killed in wars. Judging by how innocent and happy she looked I felt sorry for her. In her description, it listed her as beloved of the country’s people.

Consort Gaerm was first consort to Queen Vasena. He was not Yoishay’s father, but he was her longest-lived husband. Though handsome in the way all these Fae were, he also looked like he could murder a couple of people if they looked at him poorly.

I hadn’t really compared the two families before, but I had to admit, that I liked this one less than Nenvari’s and his people kidnaped my brother!

After I had finished reading and studying the pictures of the Light Fae’s children my head hurt and I decided that this was a good point to get some mining back in my life.

“I’m ready to go back now.”

He nodded.