Wish Upon a Book
Ah! I’m in a really bad position right now, right?
Mia’s intuition has finally started working and was now warning her. This request is going to be even more dangerous. In fact, the Remno incident won’t even compare to this one.
Heavenly moons! I need to figure out a way to refuse this offer!
She started thinking of an escape plan but discovered it was too late.
“As Prince Sion has said earlier, the Chaos Serpents are everywhere, so you are the only ones I can talk to right now.” (Rafina)
“Hmm? But if they react strongly against the Sacred Scriptures, can’t we just use it to find them?”
Abel asked to which Sion shook his head.
“No, that probably won’t work. Remember the White Crows? While it was Jem who instigated the whole plot, the rest of the members were actually doing the work.”
“I see… it’s not just the members of the Chaos Serpents that we are up against. We are also against the people that are being manipulated buy them.” (Abel)
“That’s right. And they’re never stupid, they’re very cunning. So they never appear in places where they can be exposed. They won’t appear in places where the scriptures are read aloud. And if they need to do so, they would send one of the people they are manipulating.” (Rafina)
“I see. It’s sort of like a miracle that we were even able to capture Jem in the first place.” (Abel)
Abel looks at Mia with eyes full of admiration.
“Indeed. And even in this situation, I still have a room full of people that I fully trust. I should really count myself lucky.” (Rafina)
Rafina also looked at Mia and smiled gently.
“It’s all thanks to Mia. I’m so glad that she is my friend.” (Rafina)
“Oh, oh, of course! I and Rafina are friends. Friends help out each other.” (Mia)
“They most certainly do.” (Rafina)
“Well, if Mia cooperates, then I can’t help but also participate. Mu kingdom was also a direct victim of their actions. I would be happy to help.” (Abel)
Abel said with a firm nod.
Huh? What? I’m cooperating? When did I say that? I’m pretty sure I never said that! (Mia)
“Me too. It’s not a problem that can be left unattended. They even manage to infiltrate my kingdom’s spy agency. Since I don’t know who might be on their side. At least I can share information with the people in this room whom I can trust.” (Keithwood)
“Oh, I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll cooperate too.” (Tiona)
Following Sion, Tiona also declares her pledge.
And Mia …
Oh, the sweetness of this cookies… It’s so delicious that I can just cry.
… she has opted for good old escapism.
How can cookies be this delicious? This must be a dream. It has to be! I’m sure when I wake up in the morning, I would say that I regretted that I wasn’t able to eat more. Look! I’ll wake myself up now. I’ll just reach for another of this delicious cookie and as soon as I touch it, I will wake up.
It didn’t work. Unfazed, she reached for another cookie. And then another. She still did not wake up even after eating all of them on the table.
She did, however, got a good scolding from Anne for eating too much that she couldn’t eat dinner.
The evening of the next day …
“Ugh… I guess that wasn’t a dream”
Mia finally came into terms with yesterday’s events and accepted it. She then began to take action. After all, Mia was a woman who was able to overturn her past timeline. She may not look like a survivor, but she was aware that the longer she procrastinates, the more likely it was for a bad situation to get worse.
But this did not change the fact that Mia generally wishes to avoid anything that resembles hard work. If she can cheat her way through it, then she will do that. In accordance with this idea, she began looking for something that would make her work easier.
“I wish I had some sort of a guide. Something like that diary that helped me survive my previous future.”
To her dismay, no such thing materialized. Her diary was gone. Besides, reading a diary that describes the days leading up to her decapitation was not something she really wanted to do.
“Hmm… Wasn’t there something similar that I have seen recently?”
Suddenly, Mia remembers. There was something that was like that previous diary of hers.
“Oh I remember! It was that history book! Maybe something is written in there!”
The future was described in that history book. Although the words suddenly disappeared and never reappeared, that might have changed now. Figuring the sooner she finds out the better, Mia quickly got up from her bed and headed to the library alone.
The library of St. Noel Academy was located in the common building that is connected between the boys’ and girl’s dormitories. Since books are valuable, there are security staff at the entrance. But as long as the books stayed in the library, everyone can read it freely, even the attendants.
Therefore, the place is usually crowded with people. But because it was still holidays, there was only Mia in the place. This made it very convenient for her to find what she was looking for. Indeed, she found the book she was looking for almost immediately.
“Oh! I didn’t think it would be that easy…”
The history book itself was found quickly. But no matter how many times she flipped the pages, she couldn’t find the essential description she was looking for.
“Oh, but I remember that the passage mentioned that it was actually an excerpt from some other book. What was the title again? Chronicles of Princess Mia something, something… Ah! The Epic Chronicles of Princess Mia, The Great Wisdom of the Empire.”
Mia grimaced upon remembering the title. And it was for a good reason. Nobody would want to read a book with a title called Epic Chronicles. It would just be too cringey. Not to mention also very morbid.
“…I don’t really want to read that book. It sounds like it will just be depressing.”
Even while muttering her complains, Mia still went and looked for it. She went through all the bookshelves and couldn’t find it. She sat down on a nearby chair exhausted.
“…Well, I didn’t have much hope of finding it in the first place.”
She muttered to herself in order to ease her disappointment.
“Shining moons, I wish I have some sort of guidance. It doesn’t have to be as detailed as the dairy. Even just like a guiding star… just to guide my way… Maybe something will fall down from the sky.”
Mia gazed at the ceiling wishfully. After a few moments of making sure that there was no savior of hers falling down from above, she sighed and started getting up to leave.
All of a sudden, a bright flash of golden light appeared on her vision.
“Uhya !?”
Mia fell backwards on the ground, screaming so loud that she might she might have received scolding if there was anybody else in the library.
“Heavenly moons, what was that?!”
Mia quickly backs away from the light on her hands and her rear. Only after she was in a faraway safe distance that she stopped ang tried to take a good look at it. The light gradually diminished. A faint shape of a person appeared. She wasn’t sure if she was seeing an illusion.
“Oh, wha-wha-what is that?”
And then Mia suddenly noticed. She was all alone in the large library. Furthermore, she is in the farthest place from the entrance where the staff are. Moreover, it was quite dark and quiet, with the air seemingly stale. In short, it’s a creepy place.
Mia doesn’t believe in ghosts. Well, that’s what she tells herself anyway.
“Oh, oh, ohohoh. Ghost? Only children believe in those kinds of things. The-They don’t actually exist. N-No sharp tee-teeth. N-No bad fairy or de-demons who possess. No-None of those are real.”
Of course this is from an adult woman who is over 20 years old on the inside. It would be ridiculous for her to believe in ghost or goblins. Adults like Mia…
Patter… Patter….
In the fading light, something like a human figure was crawling towards Mia!
“………………!”
Mia screamed but her voice was gone. She just repeatedly opened and closed her mouth. She wanted to call for Anne but she was too scared to make a sound.
She bolted up, dashed out of the library full speed and into her room. Then she jumped into the bed and pulled the covers over her.
… Later on, Anne was soothing Mia was sniffling.
“Mia-sama, it’s okay. There are no ghosts. I’m sure you just had a scary dream…”
To protect her mistress honor, Anne decided never to divulge the events of that night.
Author’s Note:
So far this week, next Monday is scheduled again.
The new semester begins!
