“Brother, why are you teaching me again?” She asks alarmed. I’m not going to tell her that I just want to hide away in a corner right now. I’m still mad at Elizabeth and I don’t want to meet her at this very moment. 

“Today we are going to talk about modern Arria.” I ignore her question. “Please tell me what you know about it.” 

“Arria is a nation with abundant resources and manpower. It is considered one of the three empires on this continent.” She begins. Well that is a decent knowledge about that. 

“Yes, however Arria is in a state of massive debt. Even before the beginning of the war they were losing money they didn’t have, then their agricultural region was ruined.” I began my lecture. Vicky looks stricken for some reason. “The Arrians burned their crops so that our father couldn’t feed his army. Then the cities were destroyed because father couldn’t waste time sieging them. After they lost the battle the cities were then looted.” 

“Then how bad is the economic situation in Arria right now, why are they paying us money?” Vicky interrupts my lecture. Can’t I just run my mouth for an hour, I don’t mind if you don’t pay attention. 

“If we took a bucket and cut off the base, the Arrians are trying to fill that bucket. It won’t work, it’ll be an endless dump. Having said that, they just need to fix the base of the bucket, then they can fill it up again.” I answer her question. Having said it like it’s simple isn’t quite true. They are spending too much money so they don’t have enough money for reconstruction. If they just cut their military spending, they could do that. Not that that is possible with their situation. 

“So, they are falling apart, why did we end the war? If we had continued, they would have collapsed.” 

“How naïve. They have handled worse situations. Though I guess if we decided to suicide and the Yanzhou had joined in they might have collapsed.  That wouldn’t have been possible. Also, the war would have cost us more than it was worth.” Though it must have stung that we controlled their mining region and destroyed their agricultural region as well. “Alright, let's see if you have our family’s gift for predicting the future. How long will it take Arria to recover?” 

“Well, if things keep at this pace, they will have fully recovered from the war in about 10 years.” 

“Well said. Those Arrians are a tenacious bunch. They have one of the oldest empires on the entire continent. And I don’t see it falling apart anytime soon.” I’m surprised that we had similar thoughts. Perhaps the Arrians should make their national animal a cockroach. It seems like an apt description of them. “If I was to give them one compliment it is their military academy is the best. Having said everything, they are also the only competitors we have on this continent.” 

“I must also state that unlike the Yanzhou and Koryo, the Arrians and us have an actual claim to this continent.” I make a side note. This continent is our birth place not theirs. Sadly, we have to share it with them. 

“But the people of the Koryo have been here for over a century and the Yanzhou for a millennium.” She argues back. 

“Yes, they have moved into those lands but they took it from the rightful owners.” I respond.  Vicky gives me a strange look. 

“So even if they were born on that land it is still not the land of their birth?” She asks. Ahh, I see what she is getting at finally. Luckily, I've read some Arrian and Allonian scholars who have answered this. 

“I am talking about their culture. The land that they own here is not where their culture is born nor is it the only place of their culture. It is not theirs; it is something they have taken in their greed for more land.” 

“But the Koryo ran when their country was invaded and taken over.” 

“That may be true, but it regained its independence and even now the Koryo still consider it their homeland. The same with the Yanzhou. They don’t even see this land as their homeland, just a place to stay because they cannot live in their homeland anymore. We have nowhere else to go, they do.” 

“I see, that is an interesting view on how a culture owns land.” 

“Just remember, the truth is what you make of it. Falsity becomes the truth when everyone agrees that it is such. Power can be kept as much by an illusion as much as by reality. The Yanzhou know this better than anyone else.” 

… 

“The lesson is over now; I hope you took something out of this lesson.” I say leaving the table. I head toward the door but stop when I hear Vicky let out a voice. 

“I noticed that you are avoiding Lizzy.” She says. Something in what she said makes me stop. I feel extremely jealous for some reason. 

“You’ll find out in life, that even if you find someone you wish to spend your life with. It doesn’t mean that you will always agree with them or that you won’t need time to yourself. Also, if you want to make the relationship work, you need to communicate, and it doesn’t help when one side won’t tell you what is going on in their head!” I start getting louder the more I talk. Vicky just looks at me with her jewel-like eyes then rolls them. 

“So, I am right. You did get into an argument with her.” She says in a haughty tone. I really don’t like that. 

“I don’t think that it is your business.” I respond. “Plus, I have other things I need to do.” 

“The other thing I've always wondered is why she is the only one you’re interested in. You don’t look at anyone else.” She presses on. 

“Well, I just don’t find women that interesting.” I respond. I really don’t get some peoples weird attraction to them. Not that I am interested in men either. Perhaps it is better to say that it is hard to raise my interest. “But I must say, that you won’t get anything more out of me.” 

“But, ah- wait I can help you.” She responds as I leave the room. Yeah, I don’t see how you could be of any help. You wife stealer. I’m more afraid of you stealing her than anyone else. With that thought I close the door on her. Rude perhaps, but justified. 

A/N: The last part is just James being jealous of his little sister. I'd also like to note that I am not much of a writer. In fact my favorite part of writing is probably the world building aspect of it. So I would like to ask, what do you guys think of this world? Is it interesting? Is there anything you would like to know? Or even a comment on it would be nice.