Mia was very tired by the time she left the Gildan domain and finally got back to the capital.
“Oh, for a trip for fun, this has sure worn me out…”
Using this and a bunch of other excuses, she was able to stay in bed for about ten days. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t nearly kind enough to let her stay in slacker mode without getting in the way.
Two days into her bedroom sabbatical, Ludwig started stopping by to tell her what was going on at home in the empire. Still, she didn’t want to stop lounging, only getting up to hear what he had to say. She was a princess, after all, and princesses had rules.
This was something to be proud of. She had decided to relax, so she was going to relax, come hell or high water.
“I’m sorry, but… Who would have thought that the first emperor was to blame for the empire’s low rate of food self-sufficiency?” She thought to herself as she read Ludwig’s most recent report.
“Then again, I guess he’s not the only one to blame. At least, Outcount Gildan’s actions make sense given his situation.”
The weather in his territory was not good for farming. He had given the problem a lot of thought and was working to make life better for his poor people. He had the right intentions.
“What about the other nobles, though? How can they look at the situation and still want to get rid of some of their farmland? If they keep doing what they’re doing, it seems pretty clear that the empire will fall sooner or later.”
“What they don’t want to see, they stop seeing in the end. Such is the nature of man, whose eyes see only what helps them.”
Ludwig shook his head and sighed.
“If only everyone could listen with an open mind like Your Highness and take the information for what it is…”
Mia also shook her head, but in a gentle way to say she didn’t agree.
“No, that’s not right… I also sometimes turn away from things I don’t want to see.”
It was a sincere way to remember a painful time. She felt terrible about the fact that she had done the same thing. In her mind, she went to the memory archives and reached for the files from the past timeline. She kept reaching, too! And a long way! Her hand reached all the way to a journal from just a few days ago that talked about an experience she had on the deserted island.
I was too shy to read the Princess Mia Chronicles, so I didn’t really pay attention to it.
She had put herself away from bad things. She didn’t trust the book because she thought the way it over-exaggerated things made it more like fiction than fact. Because she didn’t care, what happened in the sea happened.
I never would have believed a monster fish like that could exist… It was just plain scary! Based on the size of the fin on its back, its mouth must be big enough to swallow a person whole…
In her mind, a picture of a huge sea monster with sharp teeth appeared.
There was a piece of writing about that event. It was written in the book. I could have known ahead of time… It was a bad mistake! I should have done more to get ready. I was lucky that it came after me, so I could fight it off with that magnificently decisive blow of mine. If it had gone after Anne or Esmeralda first… Or, merciful moons, if it had eaten Abel…
She shuddered at the thought of harm coming to the people she cared about.
This doesn’t work. I must do better… I won’t let that happen again. I won’t make the same mistake again. From now on, I promise I won’t look away, no matter how uncomfortable the truth is.
…Just in case you’re getting caught up in the seriousness of the scene, the fish Mia beat wasn’t a man-eating colossus. It was a moonbow, which is probably one of the most docile creatures to ever live in the open water.
Still, Mia decided to go back to the Chronicles when she got back to the academy and read it carefully.
—
Mia went back to Saint-Noel as her summer break was coming to an end. Bel was waiting for her in her room and was very happy to see her.
“Miss Mia, welcome back!”
Something looked a little different about the girl. Her skin looked healthy and fresh. Perhaps too good.
Her cheeks seemed fuller. Her face is more round.
Mia gave a little gasp.
“My, Bel. You’ve put on some weight…”
“Hm? Did I? Are you sure about that? I don’t believe so.”
She must have thought that without Anne around, she could eat a lot more sweets. Really, Lynsha is way too nice to her…
Mia thought again when she remembered how sad she looked when they first met. Being skinny was much worse than having a little extra fat.
“Bel, you should get some exercise. It will make you feel better. Go join the equestrian club, and we’ll ride horses together. I’ll also teach you how to dance.”
“Really? You’re going to teach me?”
“You’re right. Now that I think about it, there will be dancing at the Holy Eve Festival when winter comes. When my granddaughter gets on the dance floor, I want to make sure she doesn’t look like a fool.”
When Bel heard that Mia would teach her on her own, her eyes lit up with excitement.
“Really? Grandmother Mia, thank you so much! I’ll do my best!”
Mia nodded at her in a teacherly way and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Bel, could you show me your copy of The Princess Mia Chronicles?”
“Huh? Sure, no problem…”
Bel was abit confused but went straight to her bed and pulled a book out from under her pillow.
…How did it get there? Was she propping up the pillow with it? Had the cherished book been reduced to a height-adjusting device? There are some questions that won’t be answered…
This girl can sometimes be messy in the strangest ways. I don’t know where she gets it…
Mia tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.
“Here it is.”
Bel handed off the Princess Mia Chronicles.
“Thank you.”
Mia frowned as soon as she got it in her hands.
“Huh, that’s odd… Is it just me, or did this book get a little bit thinner?”
She thought it had been heavier. At the moment, it weighed about half as much as her diary. She used her fingers to get an idea of how thick it was. It was much thinner than it had been before.
“How odd. Hey, Bel, are you sure this book doesn’t have a page or ten missing?” she asked as she turned the book over and continued to look at it carefully.
I don’t notice anything strange…
She thought that someone who knew the secret of the Chronicles had torn out some of the pages, but there were no signs of vandalism.
If anything, it seemed more like a different, thinner book, as if it had been made that way and this version of the Chronicles had been written as a shorter book from the start.
So strange. I’m curious about what happened to—
When she opened the book, she stopped thinking because she knew right away how bad the problem was.
The book she was holding, The Chronicles of Saint Princess Mia, was a full account of her life, from the beginning to the end.
“Wh-Wh-What the…”
And if a book about her whole life was shorter than it used to be, that meant that her life was…
“I-I-I’m…going to die?! This winter?!”
Mia Luna Tearmoon. Died when he was 13 years and 11 months old. On the night of the Holy Eve Festival, they were killed.