The Secret of That Dress…
Mia was getting ready for the party in Count Lampron’s guest room, which was her temporary ho in the Kingdom of Sunkland. Anne was helping her put on a dress that wasn’t quite fitting right around the waist. She took a quick breath to clear her mind. The tightening of her stomach made it easy for the dress to fit perfectly. After putting on her clothes, she closed her eyes to get her thoughts in order.
I thought a lot about things while I was in bed yesterday, and I have to say that things are pretty difficult right now.
Thinker-in-bed Mia then went to her favorite place to think and lowered herself. She started going through the huge amount of information she had just discovered while her eyes were still closed. She put them back together in her mind one piece at a ti so she could think about them more.
To add on to that, it seems that brains order the mories while asleep. This might have sothing to do with Mia’s chosen way of thinking, but it’s not clear.
In any case, she ca to a decision after going over everything she knew and giving it a lot of thought: This ti, it seems like the easiest thing to do would be to tell Sion about it and have him fix it. And he has Keithwood too. Even if both of them are looking out for it, they won’t be able to poison Sion…
Mia’s understanding of what was going on was no longer limited to what she had read in the Chronicles. She also had access to Citrina’s research results, which made it pretty clear that Echard had been in touch with the Serpents and might have been planning to poison soone. Sion and Keithwood would definitely co to the sa conclusion and take steps to stop the plan if they had the sa facts.
Mia didn’t want to go through with the plan, though, for so reason. How strange… Maybe it’s because I don’t want to do what I know is the best thing to do… Like if I do that, sothing bad will happen… I wonder why?
“Uh, milady?”
Anne’s voice woke her up from her thoughts. When she turned around, Anne had already stepped back, her job done. She got up and walked over to a mirror.
“Hmm…” She turned around in a circle to look at herself and nodded happily. It’s perfect.
Mia wore the sa simple dress to the new students dance party at St. Noel’s. That dress was too short for her now that she had grown a little. But that wasn’t all. She was really going this ti in full gear. She had a bow on her head. A chain with a pendant around her neck and small earrings sparkled on her ears. Lastly, a scarf that was see-through added an extra touch of class.
“Thank you, Anne. Great job on your work.”
“Milady, it’s always an honor.” Anne bowed her head politely.
Mia laughed. “Look at you now, all grown up and in charge. You look like a maid who knows what she is doing.”
“That’s great that you think that, milady. I learned how to bake bread and ride a horse. Now, I’m not sure if riding horses is usually part of a maid’s job, though.”
They laughed and gave each other a knowing look. After that, Anne’s face showed a hint of worry upon seeing Mia’s face.
“I’m sorry, milady. Is sothing on your mind?”
“Oh? Why do you ask?”
“The whole ti you’ve been looking down. I can tell because I’m a good maid who knows what she is doing,” Anne said with a wry grin. “And the person they serve is the one thing maids know better than anyone else.”
“Wow, you’ve really learned how to talk.” I guess you’re right, though. I can’t keep anything from you.
“That’s correct. Since I’m your maid, you can’t hide anything from . That’s why I know you’ll be okay too. Don’t worry, I’ll always be here for you if sothing goes wrong. Do what you believe is right and give it your all.” Anne clenched her hands and huffed to cheer her on. “I will always have your back, no matter what!”
“Anne…” Mia smiled when she saw her maid’s touching act of love.
“Then I guess I’ll have to go out there and give it my all.”
Whatever Anne saw in Mia’s face made her feel better, and her face beca less serious.
“All right, milady, I think it’s ti for to go help Miss Bel and Lady Citrina get ready.”
“Of course. Sure, go ahead. While I don’t know about Rina, I think Bel hasn’t worn many dresses before.”
“Understood.”
This ti, Esralda was there when the door opened again just as Anne was leaving.
“Hello, Mia-sama.”
She looked beautiful in a dress, and she wore it well, turning its extravagance into grace with poise like a lady. It was a beautiful shade of erald green and had lots of frills. Golden thread was used to make Greenmoon family crests in different places.
Mia took a good look at her. She then looked at her stomach and saw that it was slim and firm.
I see that she has a corset on, right? It looks like a corset. Poor girl, she won’t be able to eat much with that corset on… She gave herself a nod and looked at her friend with sadness.
Esralda looked at Mia’s dress and said, “My, Mia-sama, that dress…”
“You know what it is? It is one of my favorites.”
The dress made her rember many happy tis every ti she wore it.
I hope today I can dance with Abel… She smiled to herself in thought, Oho ho, it’ll be like living that ti all over again.
Esralda’s unexpected answer cut her off in the middle of her dreams.
“Yes, of course I do… Isn’t that the one your mother, Her Imperial Majesty Adelaide, made?”
“Huh?” Mia looked blankly in shock. “What do you an?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? It ca from one of the tailors that my family often works with. I rember her telling that she was scared to change the fit because your mom made it. It looks like her hands were shaking the whole ti.”
“No one ever told that!”
“Really? I’ve also heard that mothers give their children handmade clothes as a gift in Her Imperial Majesty’s ho country…”
“Do they? Huh…” Mia said sothing in a trance-like voice and then looked down at her dress. As she ran her fingers over it, her face turned serious and thoughtful. “This is from mom… That’s why… I understand why my dad was so pleased when he heard I wore it…”
She rembered the ti she told her dad she wore the dress to the dance party for new students. He was so happy he almost burst.
—
“Are you sure? You wore that dress!” he had cried, then asked for all the details, which she had reluctantly given.
“Yes, the dress is very nice. I really like it—Oh, I was going to wear the dress you got at first, but it got dirty for so reason, so I switched to this one.”
It was a lie, but her dad didn’t seem to notice.
“I see… I see!”
Even harder to explain was his happiness afterward.
“So you wore that dress, right?” He said, “My dear little Mia, wearing that dress…” with the funniest grin ever.
What in the moons? He chose the dress, so I thought he would get mad that I didn’t wear it… All of this makes no sense…
What’s more, when she told him that she’d grown out of the dress a bit (vertically, in case anyone was asking), he had it resized right away so she could wear it whenever she wanted. Besides that…
“Since we’re already replacing the dress, why not add so accessories that go with it? Cost doesn’t matter. We will have the best on the continent—”
“No, no, dad. Do not do that. That would be a waste—um… Oh! They wouldn’t go with the dress. I’d rather the dress stand out, so let’s wear so accents that aren’t too flashy. The best ones would be the ones without any gems!”
“Really then? But—”
“Yes! Yeah, I’ll pick out the extras, so you don’t have to worry about that, okay?”
“Oh, I see… If you say so… By the way, Mia, there’s sothing about that dress that you should know, uh…” the emperor said in a mumbled voice.
“Hm?”
When Mia raised an eyebrow at her dad, he slowly shook his head.
“…No. Don’t worry. It’s great that you like the dress. Please take good care of it, okay?”
“Huh? Yes, of course I will. After all, I like it.”
—
“Silly dad… He could have told …” Mia whispered. “He had to feel embarassed about it. He acts like a child sotis…”
She shook her head, but it was more of a fond gesture than frustrations. Then she slowly closed her eyes. She didn’t rember much about her mother. Still, the soft, delicate grain of the fabric made her feel very nostalgic.
“Thank you, mom… Please keep an eye on , okay?”
Sothing flashed in front of her eyes as she breathed the words. It looked like a faint image of her mother’s face with the look mothers would wear when they loved their kids but thought they needed too much help from them. Because she was being gently told off, Mia could feel her back straighten. She looked more serious and focused in her eyes.
“Okay then. Ti to leave. Look alive now. Mom is watching.”
Her voice had a new sense of purpose in it.
Author’s Note:
The comicalized SS received good reviews.
I was so happy that I couldn’t help but write about it… I have no regrets….
And yesterday, I updated the activity report.
I’m sure there are so surprising images, but please don’t jump to conclusions.
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