They were able to find the museum without a whole lot of effort; the place had a little sign, so it was easy to find. There wasn’t a whole lot else distinguishing it, though—no people were around the building and the place itself looked pretty average. It made sense if this was where the royal family lived after they were forced to leave; they wouldn’t have much of value that would mean anything in Sólstaður, provided they even wanted the reminder of what they lost in the first place. The Roken house—somewhere down the road with a little bell on the doorknob, as pointed out by Hannah—was more impressive.

Matteo entered first, followed by Tara then Hannah. They all grouped around the door; Matteo looked around at the small tables filled with littler trinkets. It fascinated the part of him that liked history and culture, and bothered the part that was reminded of Aurik.

“The Final War must still be something of an open wound,” Matteo murmured. “There isn’t even anyone to make sure nothing gets stolen.”

“That’s not too rare here,” Hannah replied. “Anything expensive would be locked or hidden, so the hired work’s not worth it; normally the only visitors to places like this are people who have some background about the events, so they don’t need the history teacher either.”

“It makes it a little easier for us, at least. We can look around without getting any odd glances.”

He turned to see if Tara had any input, but she was already walking alongside each of the walls. One could say he was being a little selfish for wanting to come here—the possibility of seeing something interesting from a lost nation excited him—but Tara didn’t seem to even notice Matteo had said anything.

Then again, this little house had bits and pieces of culture that she once lived through, even if that was ages ago. He didn’t have a reason to stop her when he would likely be just as distracted in a few minutes.

Matteo opted to go the other way of Tara. The place had the pattern of a table with trinkets on it in between doors to other rooms, making four outer rooms and five tables. The only table without much of anything on it had drawings and a traditional offering setup—with the exception of a little note that he couldn’t read from here.

He checked through both rooms on the left side; Hannah followed somewhat behind them, apparently preferring to walk around then wait for the siblings. The first room seemed to be dedicated to the reason for the first island’s fall, but the second one focused more on the positives. The right wall was nothing but books, which Matteo walked over to mostly out of curiosity.

Hannah paused by the door, glancing around the main room. Matteo gently picked up one of the books and flipped through it, perking up a bit when he partially recognized the contents.

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“Here I thought they didn’t translate these.”

He didn’t actually realize he said it until Hannah gave him a curious look.

“A story you recognize?” she asked.

“It’s the biography of the eastern kingdom’s first queen, written by her husband. Dakari doesn’t have any officially translated versions, but it’s referenced a lot in our legends and stuff.”

“I remember that story—I always hated it. You’re not missing out, kid, trust me.”

“Rene’s told me what she knows,” Matteo said, looking back at where the books were. A little note said they were free for anyone interested. “And it’s not the happiest ending, but it has some good parts.”

Hannah shrugged. “You do you. Can’t I share the same sentiment—or that most of anyone else does, really.”

“It’s a hazard of the hobby,” Matteo replied half-jokingly.

Hannah went back to observing the other rooms, and Matteo looked around this one a bit more. Most of the things on display were little good luck trinkets and notes on what each color represented, but he didn’t see anything of interest aside from the books. Nothing was from the timeframe they needed.

Matteo headed out with that known; he could stand around staring at them for a little longer, but it could wait until later. He would probably have the chance to come back later if he really wanted to, even if ‘later’ could be really far down the line.

Tara, now at the back table with the drawings, noticed he was done and looked over her shoulder at him. He took that as his cue to walk over, taking note of her slight reverence. He couldn’t tell if she was admiring the drawing—labeled simply as ‘The Younger Last Prince,’ but it looked like a copy in the same style based on its lack of age—or the person depicted. Knowing her interests, he assumed the former.

“Did you see something?” Matteo asked curiously. “Or just appreciating the old-ish art?”

“Both—I honestly wish we had a camera so I could look at them more at home. I didn’t realize the style of portraits and paintings were so different.”

She paused for a second—letting her enthusiasm fade—before gesturing towards one the closest room to her right.

“That room has the things donated around the first island’s fall. It’s structured a lot like the memorial; there’s first island text here too.”

“We can write that down then head out,” Matteo decided. “By then it should be around lunchtime? So we can eat and discuss.”

Tara murmured some agreement, entering the room in question. Matteo stood off to the side, his part mostly done for now. The smaller items displayed here definitely seemed more…familiar. They felt less foreign than some of the others—like they were newer.

He didn’t bother Tara as she scribbled down what looked to be a little poem on the back wall. It took her a few minutes, but once she finished she turned towards the other two.

“We can head to eat now,” Tara said.

“We’ll stop by the inn to get the book, then find somewhere for lunch,” Matteo replied.

With no protests, they headed out.