The Researcher's Journey

Chapter 20 : This Place.

After about an hour of discussions between them, she finally went out to the garden with her, everyone in the house was in a state of shock because Annie would not even look out the window.
Stella gave her a big white hat to protect her from the sunshine.
The Albinos suffer from a lack of melanin pigment in the skin and hair due to a genetic disorder. This deficiency in melanin affects protection from sunlight, increasing the risk of sunburn and skin cancer.
Additionally, they may experience vision problems due to poor eyesight or light reflection in the eyes.
In addition to the hat, Stella also carried an umbrella.
"Why did you bring this too ?"
"It's to completely protect your skin from the sun, to make you more comfortable walking around."
Annie looked at her for a moment before speaking in an apologetic tone, " I am, I am sorry."
"There's no need to be so embarrassed, I don't care about such things, I know you were just a little upset."
After this answer, Annie's features looked more relaxed.
"Now will you complete me ? What happened to your friend ?"
Stella answered calmly, her features were the opposite,
"Nothing, in the end, she was cured of her illness, and she returned to play freely again."
"Uh, very well, she overcame it."
Stella fell silent without reply.
Then she took Annie to the back garden because it contains varieties of flowers, even rare ones.
Stella named all those rare species for Annie, and also what they are good for.
"Do you know all these types ? This is amazing, for someone like you."
Stella has always been a curious person about living things, so she read a huge number of books in the field.
"What a rude tongue ! for someone in your age."
Stella watched Annie as she made her tour of the garden contemplating the flowers.
There was a lot of longing and sadness in her gaze.
The story of the girl she told Annie, was her childhood friend, 'Lena'.
The two have always spent time together, both at school and in the neighborhood as well as in each other's homes.
They always played in a park in the next neighborhood, Lena being a fan of flowers. But in their ninth year, Lena fell ill with a rare disease, and due to her family's poverty, she could not complete the treatment, which led to her death months later.
During the period of her illness, Stella visited her daily at home, played together, and brought her flowers from the garden, until the last two months of her life, because she could not. One time Stella was talking to her in bed, and Lena told her that she had listened to her parent's words and that she was going to go somewhere to play forever.
These words remained stuck in Stella's memory, so she tried to console Annie with them.
After a month.
The Plain Of East experiences a refreshing transformation with the arrival of spring. As the harsh winter fades away, the landscape awakens with vibrant hues of greenery and blossoming flowers.
The thawing snow and ice give way to fertile soil, nourishing the growth of crops and vegetation.
The mild temperatures create an ideal environment for outdoor activities, attracting locals and visitors alike to explore the rejuvenated surroundings. With longer daylight hours, residents of the Plain Of The East embrace the opportunity to engage in community gatherings and festivities, celebrating the beauty and bounty that spring brings to their region.
In the Loran family mansion, things were getting better for Stella, her relationship with Annie improved and they began to spend time together, she also able to gain friendships with the servants in the house.
As usual, in the morning, she goes to Annie's to teach and assist her, and they go out together.
Their destination is no longer just the garden ; they also go to the city now.
At the end of the day, she met with Carla, they exchanged some conversation while having dinner.
"I need to try to enter the library tomorrow. I heard from Carla that nobody is allowed to enter except for family members and the servant in charge."
She had already thought about trying to bring Annie in, but she said she didn't want to go more than once.
"I guess I need to plan for something else."
Early in the morning she woke up and went to work as usual.
"I will go to her in the evening, I will try to get the servant to let me in by any means."
Stella realized that the longer she delayed, the more the problem of insufficient information about the place would escalate, potentially exposing her.
The evening came after Annie went to have dinner with her family, and she decided it was the right time to go.
Already heading to the library instead of having dinner, she found the server closing the door to go to rest.
The elderly but dignified servant, clad in a formal suit, exudes an air of authority. His stature is short, but his face tells tales of years spent in labor and service.
Quickly, he noticed Stella watching him from afar.
"Ah, the old man noticed quickly."
He said with a smile on his face," Miss, I remember you are the nanny of the Little Miss. Tell me what I can help you with."
Stella responded calmly," Good evening, I would like to enter to retrieve a book from the library, for the young miss's study."
This was just a lie to gain entry, in reality, Annie was still too young to read library books.
The man replied with the same smile," Sure, tell me the title, and I will bring it to you."
"Thank you, but I'd rather go inside by myself to look for him, you must have been going to rest, so you can go and I'll take care of the rest."
He replied with the same smile, " No, no fatigue, don't worry, miss, just tell me."
Stella won't find a way to make him leave, which makes her angry, "The stubborn old man. What am I going to do now ? If only there was an internet connection !"
She replied in a calmer tone, " Well, actually…"
Before she spoke, she sensed that someone was already standing behind her. 
"Mr. Jacob, I will take care of Miss's request, you go rest."
The person who came was Liam, the eldest grandson.
Speak in a calm and polite tone with the server,"Okay Mr. Liam, here's the key." The servant Jacob departed respectfully.
Liam looked stylish as usual, which further enhanced his handsomeness.
With symmetrical features, short smooth dark hair, sharp green eyes, and flawless skin, he resembled famous artists.
"Good evening, Miss White. How are you ?"
Stella replied Respectfully, " Good evening, Sir."
"I heard you  want to take a book from the library, ah, I apologize for this, I heard you by accident."
"Yes, I want to borrow some books in order to teach the Little Miss, please."
"Well, come with me."
The large library is a haven for book lovers, with shelves overflowing with books spanning various fields, meticulously arranged and impeccably clean.
Stella was impressed by its size, she thought it would be some shelves, but it's much bigger.
"Now isn't the time to be amazed ; I should take the chance and grab some historical books…"
She paused briefly before exclaiming,"This is the biology and chemistry section ! It'll be fun to learn about the earliest discoveries too."
Anything related to science had fascinated her since she was young.
Liam noticed her as he stood beside her, smiling,"I see you have an interest and knowledge in science, don't you ?"
Stella snapped out of her thoughts at this question, "No, not at all, just got a bit lost in thought."
"Really ? It seems like it. Not everyone stands like that except those interested in books."
"Oh, I suppose so, to some extent. Well, I don't want to hold you up any longer ; I'll go get the necessary books."
She distanced herself a bit and started wandering to find history books.
"Why should I tell you I know about chemistry and biology ? It's good I got rid of that. Pretending ignorance sometimes makes life easier."
After she checked the history books, chose two books that looked interesting, then she greeted him and left.
"Now I'm going to start reading, I hope they will be useful."
After reading a few pages, Stella was completely satisfied," I chose the right books, they talk about the whole history of the continent."
According to the books, this continent is the center of the world.
"I expected this ; they don't know about the existence of other continents. Most of them, except for a few, will be the powerful ones."
The continent consists of four regions : Nort, East, West, and South.
Each of the four regions has a major city.
'The Blue Pearl', 'Plain of the East', 'Lily Pier', 'Cloud City', while the rest of the areas are villages. They share one language with multiple dialects, besides some differences between them, the inhabitants of each region have their advantages and the business they are famous for.
The South is famous for farming and fishing, the East for trade, the West for handicrafts and the North for weaving.
"The people in power must not want everyone to know the facts just like us, we think the place is a nature reserve. But why did that man say that if we come, we will bring ruin ?"
There were other things included in the book that Stella couldn't understand.
"It must be an older language than the one used in the rest of the pages."
While she is immersed in thought, it is interrupted by a view she saw from the window.
It's two people who looked like a man and a woman.
The woman is slightly taller than the man, they are quietly discussing in the back garden, and then she gives him something.