In the lesson Lady Sandoval gave me a children’s book. I mean, I know I’m hopeless at this empires’ history, but I didn’t know ‘back to basics’ meant THIS far back.

She instructed me to read, so read I did. It went like this:

Once upon a time, a long time ago, before people sullied the nature and before magic vanished, there was a flower.

A single flower in the middle of nowhere. It did not even know itself, what it was. It just stood tall, making all the nothingness around it seem beautiful. Even though there was nobody or nothing to see it, it stood there, day in and day out.

It was a strong and beautiful flower, though it looked small and thin.

It was modest as well. If someone had been there and could ask it how it could stand there in full bloom, making everything bloom along with it, it would have answered in a small voice “I am not making the nothingness bloom. The nothingness is making me bloom.”

But sadly, The Flower could not be asked.

One day, The Flower noticed some grass starting to grow around it. Feeling proud, it beamed brighter than The Sun, while standing straight, making other things magically start to grow around it. The nothingness grew into somethingness, which then grew more and more beautiful.

However, The Flower had never thought about where the light came from. It came from the real sun who was proud and powerful.

The Sun did not like to be upstaged from a little flower. How did The Flower dare make light of the job The Sun always had to do?

It shone brightly, day in and day out.

If anyone had been around to ask it how it could make everything shine like that, it would answer “I make everything shine, so it can see how great I am”

But sadly, The Sun could not be asked.

When The Flower noticed the wrath of The Sun it immediately regretted feeling pride. How could it have taken credit for something that so clearly was the work of The Sun?

The Flower felt ignorant and ashamed. It vowed to keep its beauty modest and only make everything around it bloom the way it had always done. With patience and kindness.

The Sun saw The Flower’s regret and modesty and gracefully forgave it.

From that day onwards, The Sun shone on The Flower, who in return shared its beauty.

After a long time, there were small flowers everywhere, but none as beautiful as The Flower. Grass had grown, animals had started appearing, people were starting to exist.

The Sun and The Flower looked upon their empire and their children. The Sunshine the two of them had shared was proof of their union.

The Sun looked out with pride and honor, The Flower looked out with modesty and admiration.

They were the first Emperor and Empress of the great empire of Mercia.

The End.

I looked up from the book trying to process what I just read.

Lady Sandoval who had been sitting and enjoying a cup of tea while I was reading noticed I was done. She put down her cup and looked directly at me.

“This book is a must-read for every child in our empire. It has been made into plays and operas as well. It is said that this is how our great empire was founded. Thanks to The Sun, our emperor and The Flower, our empress”

Her words was as dignified as ever, but she definitely talked down to me. Sigh.

Huh? The Sun. The Flower. Flower names. Sunshine.

AH SO THAT’S WHY!

When greeting the emperor, it is done by referring to him as The Sun.

When greeting the children of the emperor, it is done by referring to them as Sunshine.

Hmmm, so far so good. You should refer to an empress as The Flower, then?

“Lady Amy…”

“Yes, you have my undivided attention!” I say, with great vigor.

“Sigh, I will take you on your word, then. As you know, when greeting someone from the royal family, it is important to know what title they have. This is also why the royal family are the only ones allowed to wear the color purple. Purple takes the blue representing calmness and stability that The Flower gave to those around it, mixed with red, representing the fierceness and power The Sun exhibited, making a beautiful purple that in itself stands for peace, magic and wisdom”

…Now she is rambling color symbolism.

“When you marry Prince Horus, you too will have to start wearing purple at all times as an official part of the royal family”

Hmm….. I don’t think purple is my color at all to be honest.

“Another thing related to the story. Every empress has been named after a flower by their husband when being crowned, throwing away their own name and vanity for the sake of the empire. Henceforth only to be The Flower of the empire”

What a load of bullpoo. This entire thing is just a load of… of… HORSEPOO!

The entire story was basically just about The Sun not being able to handle competition, so he forced The Flower to bow her head and follow The Suns every command.

This entire empire is riddled with male chauvinism. I knew it was bad, but to make an entire story about it, and teach small kids that the man should be proud and shine on everyone, while the woman should shut up and never take pride in anything is just SO WRONG.

OH AUTHOR WHY DO YOU KEEP DISSAPOINTING. I can appreciate your great lore, but why did you have to make this empire so LGBTQA+ unfriendly. I miss feminism.

And what’s up with having to throw away your name? First the empress have to say bye to her last name when marrying, and then she would have to give up her real name when being crowned?

Aaaah, I hate everything.

But at least now I get why Prince Horus was so mad at my lack of knowledge. It should be common knowledge that every empress is named after flowers… Not just a funny coincidence.

“Furthermore. The Flower is seen as something sacred, while The Sun is seen as something beyond reach. Hence why the royal garden is forbidden from outsiders. It is the garden in which The Flower, the empress, can grow”

Wow, thank you for the history lesson, can I go home now? No? Okay then.

Lady Sandoval keeps speaking about the book, the lore and the story and since I’m still horrified of her, I just keep my mouth shut and enjoy for a moment that I can forget about Prince Chaker and Sir Windsor while paying full attention.