In the Aelius Kingdom, if one were to dedicate their life to study and prove they possessed knowledge far greater than others, they would be given the title of an Elder.

There were always ten of them, as a reflection of the Aelian pantheon. All of them were treated with utmost respect by Helians of all social statuses and races.

If one were to make them, say, wait for over half an hour, and then if they were to stare absentmindedly outside the window like a newborn lamb while daydreaming about experiencing sappy romance, their reputation would suffer greatly.

They could potentially end up shunned and ostracized, even!

Fortunately, Elder Quintus was widely known for his divine patience and kindness, and so, he only sighed dejectedly and called out to the Princess for the third time.

"Your Highness, are you listening?"

The Elder’s voice finally punched through the thick clouds of Oriana’s wild imagination. "Huh?"

"I asked Your Highness a question."

"Oh, yes." The Princess cleared her throat before answering with a serious expression on her face. "The answer is thirty-five."

"I actually wanted you to tell me who is in charge of the Lacus Province…"

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Oh! I thought you asked how many provinces there were in Aelius! Haha!" Oriana did her best to seem like she knew what she was talking about.

"Then it would also be an incorrect answer, Your Highness. The Aelius Kingdom has eight provinces."

In his ninety-six years of roaming this world, Elder Quintus had many students under his wing. Some were very gifted, some were less.

None of them, however, could hold a candle to the Princess when it came to being resistant to every teaching method he knew.

"Can you, Your Highness, at least tell me what important event for our kingdom happened in the year 1045?"

"That one’s easy. Grandpa Lucius became the king of Aelius after he liberated the country from the cultists."

Elder Quintus suddenly saw a ray of hope.

This girl wasn’t a lost cause after all!

"And do you know who those cultists were?"

The Princess tried recalling what her father told her one time she went with him to her grandfather’s grave. "Hmm… I remember father telling me that they wanted to kill the Gods, and that they believed that humans are the superior race. Or something like that."

Apparently, long before she was born, the Kingdom fell into the hands of a cult that believed that humans were the natural evolution of Fey, and because of that, humans, not Gods, should be considered superior and worshiped.

They ruled Aelius for many years, causing terrible amounts of death and destruction. They even annihilated the entire nation of Werewolves.

Fortunately, Lucius I, her grandfather, managed to stop them before they could achieve their ultimate goal of killing all of the Gods of Karia.

"I think they were called something like 'Artes'… 'Amores'…" Oriana dug into the deepest depths of her memory in search of the answer.

"Andras Kleos," Quintus interjected.

"Yes, that one!"

The Elder sighed heavily once again.

He felt like he started doing this a lot more frequently ever since he accepted the King’s request to become the Princess’ teacher.

Nevertheless, Oriana’s answer was far from perfect, but a small victory was still a victory.

For the rest of the class, Oriana tried her best to stay focused on what the Elder said. The results varied depending on how much politics was involved.

After what felt like an eternity, Elder Quintus blessed Oriana with the sweetest words she could hear at the moment—'That’s all for today.'

"This was our last class for now. We shall resume our meetings next month. Please, Your Highness, at least try to revise what you’ve learned so far."

"Next month? Why so late?" Oriana looked at the teacher with a puzzled expression. She wasn’t going to miss those lectures. However, she was forced to attend classes nearly every day for the past year, so suddenly having a full month off felt suspicious to her.

"I will be away. I am visiting my niece in a different province, so we can celebrate Dawning together,” the Elder replied.

"You have a niece? That must mean that you have a brother or sister, too! Wow! I always thought you Elders cut your ties with your families and live as hermits at the top of some mountain or in a forest or some other place away from people. That would be so romantic!"

Elder Quintus sighed for the third time, politely said his goodbyes, and left.