All Aboard the Imperial Majesty’s Mia Ship
“Mia-sama! Oh, you won’t believe what just happened to !”
Esralda exclaid as she walked into the room.
“Oh my, what’s wrong?” Mia asked Esralda, “Why do you look so upset?” as she stole a look at her hand, which was empty.
No tasty treats!
Anne poked her head in and announced, “Milady, Lady Esralda brought so baked sweets as a gift, so I’m going to prepare them now.”
“My! Esralda, is that true? You don’t have to, you know,” Mia said, instantly getting up again. Her mood depended on whether or not she had sothing to eat.
“Oh ho, I can’t show up empty-handed now, can I? To be honest, a rchant brought it to us when he ca to see us,” Esralda said in a sorry voice.
Mia, on the other hand, liked that the gift was recycled. It seed to show that Esralda had listened to her warning about wasting money and decided not to buy high-end sweets.
“And to tell you the truth, Esralda, good for you. I told you to cut back on your spending, and you did just that. I’m so happy to hear that!”
Mia thought that all sweets were the sa, and that so were not better than others. It didn’t matter at all how or where they ca from. In fact, the fact that they were bought cheaply and with care only made them better.
Once they were both settled at the table and a few teacakes were put in front of them, Esralda went back to what she had been talking about.
“Anyway, as I was saying, you won’t believe what happened to , Mia-sama!” she yelled. “My father is terrible!”
“Oh no, what happened to your dad? Mia asked with a half-smile, “I thought you were on good terms with him.” Really, only half-heartedly. The teacakes were where the rest of her heart was. They had such a sweet sll. So sweet. Just as her nose started to twitch with excitent…
“Good terms?! No longer, no! He says I should get married! How could that be? He has everything planned out!” Esralda was furious, “It’s completely unforgivable!”
“My… Well, congratulations, then…?”
A possible marriage was a very important thing for won of the elite. Even though Esralda was still in school at Saint-Noel, she was old enough to get asked out on dates.
“There’s nothing here to be happy about! “He wants to set up with a Sunkland noble!”
“Oh, Sunkland, I see…”
“Oh, but even if I end up going to Sunkland,” Esralda quickly added when she saw Mia’s quiet response, “you can still count on to keep my promise to you, Mia-sama.”
Even so, she was t with silence.
“You’ll no longer be in Tearmoon… This place is going to get lonely…”
Mia’s eyes were still downcast. It just so happened that the angle lined them up perfectly with the teacakes on the table, but that might have been a total fluke. After all, she liked the treats that Esralda always brought her, and she always looked forward to their tea parties. Also, she didn’t know many other wealthy girls her age with whom she could have an honest conversation. Esralda was like an older cousin, and she didn’t have many other options. If she got married and moved to Sunkland, she wouldn’t be able to go to as many tea parties. That was a pretty depressing idea.
“Mia-sama…”
When Mia looked up, she was surprised to see Esralda with tears in her eyes, but her face soon beca more determined.
“B-But don’t worry, because of course I’ll turn it down! I’ve always planned to.” She said with a firm pump of her fists, “I’d never leave my best friend behind to get married off to so foreign kingdom.”
“Huh? You can marry if you want to. It’s not like that—”
“No, I made up my mind! I’m going to tell them to stop! I’ll do it today, in fact! I’ve been asked to a party at the royal castle in Sunkland, but they can stuff their party—”
“Stop! Hold it.” Mia heard a word that she couldn’t forget. She looked at her friend in a strange way. “Please explain.”
“Hm? I was asked to co to their castle. Since I’ll be closer to their royal family if I get married, they threw a party to break the ice. Even though it doesn’t matter, since I’m not going—”
“What do you an by saying you won’t go? That would be a waste. They spent a lot of ti and work setting it up, didn’t they? You might as well go have fun,” Mia said as she started to think of a plan. “I’ll go with you, in fact.”
How could she keep Sion from dying? Definitely, it was to protect him. Most likely by having Dion Alaia hang out with him all the ti. But even if she stopped one attack, would that change what would happen to him?
Most likely not…
Her body told her no. Since winter, the Serpents had been very quiet, but she didn’t think for a second that they’d stopped being sneaky. If they really were the ones who killed Sion…
Stopping them once can’t be enough. I’m sure I’ll find sothing else in the Chronicles that says he died in a different way.
It was good that she knew this, but as long as she stayed in Tearmoon, she couldn’t do anything about the whole thing. Then what should she do? The answer was obvious.
I have to find a way to get to Sunkland. That’s the best way to do it. Since I’ll need protection, that gives a reason to bring Dion with . Hm… Maybe I should also invite Citrina, who is an expert on poison. After all, poison is often used to kill people. Also, I’ll probably have to stay there for a few nights, and I’ll feel better if I have so protection who can stay close by, so I’ll ask Tiona and Liora as well…
Standard etiquette said that a Tearmoon princess couldn’t just say out of the blue that she was going to Sunkland and expect to leave soon. Guard convoys needed to be set up, and Sunkland also needed ti to get things ready. Her trip to Perujin happened earlier than planned, but that wasn’t the point—it had been planned all along. They just moved the plan around a bit. As for the ti she went to Remno, she broke all the rules to get there, so it wasn’t exactly a good example. If she wanted to get close enough to Sion to protect him, she couldn’t sneak into Sunkland. That ant she had to go through the right channels to get into their kingdom.
Lucky for , it might work if I say I’m going as a mber of Esralda’s entourage. Instead of the princess of Tearmoon making an official visit, an Etoiline is there, and I’m just along for the ride.
Only Mia was more famous than Esralda in Tearmoon. When a daughter of the Four Dukes went abroad, she had to do a lot of the sa things that a princess did. Most importantly, those plans had already been made. They only had to make a little more effort to keep people safe.
When everything was taken into account, it seed…surprisingly possible. At least to her. Anyone in charge of making this sudden change was in for a nightmare, but Mia didn’t hear their screams of anger because they were in the future. She didn’t realize there was a difference between what was happening and what she thought would happen, so she kept planning the next steps of her plan. This is called “counting unhatched chickens.”
Once I save Sion, the whole Sunkland royal family will owe a big favor. That will help a lot when I do this empress thing.
She folded her arms and gave herself a nod.
“I’m coming with you, so make room for —Wait, what?”
When she turned back to Esralda, she saw that her friend was crying again.
“Oh, Nina…” Esralda cried and looked over at her servant. “Did you hear that? Mia-sama told she’s coming to help get out of my marriage… She’ll tell them right to their faces!”
“Yes, I heard you very well, madam.” Nina said, “I’m glad for you” in her usual dispassionate way as she held out a handkerchief.
Esralda took the cloth and wiped her eyes with it.
“Thank you, Mia-sama. This is a big deal. Really, it does. To know that you’d go so far for …”
Mia felt a little bad because her friend was so happy, so she decided to help her out. She put her hands on her hips and said, “Of course, I’d be willing to. We’re the best of friends, right? Since I’m coming with you, you can rest easy knowing that Captain Mia is in charge!”
So, Her Imperial Majesty’s Ship set sail with Esralda and Sion’s futures on board. Did the captain, who rode the waves, have what it takes to steer the ship through the dangerous seas ahead? Only ti would tell.
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