Returning to the Imperial Capital
Anne was bringing news from Ludwig.
There is something I wanted to discuss with you about the academy town plan. Please return to the empire at earliest convenience.
That was all it said.
“Well, it’s rare for Ludwig to be looking for me…”
Ludwig was exceptionally competent that he rarely bothered Mia with his work. Occasionally, he would ask Mia to use her name for something, and she’d give permission without a second thought – well, without a first thought either. Mia had always been a model yes-man.
Anyway….
Arriving with the message was a detachment of the Princess Guard. They were on the lake shore and all ready to bring back Mia to the empire the next day. Accompanying her were Anne and Bel, along with Lynsha, Bel’s new attendant.
“I’m sorry, Lynsha. I know you were looking forward to studying at Saint Noel’s”
In response to Mia’s apology, Lynsha shrugged her shoulders.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s work. Besides, I’ve never been to the Tearmoon Empire, so it will be a new experience.”
And so, the carriage carrying the four of them, accompanied by a small escort force, hurried their way to the empire.
“The academy town, huh? I wonder what it will be about. If I remember correctly, the construction has already started, and I heard that students are planning to start studying by summer time.”
Mia scratched her head before pulling out the Chronicles of Princess Mia. She thought that she would have time for analyzing its contents while they were riding the carriage.
It is something that shouldn’t be shown to other people, but she thought she would be able to get away with it with her carriage companions.
“Oh? Mia-sama, what are you reading?”
It was Lynsha who immediately asked. Curiously, she tried to peer into her book.
“Oh, this is…”
A foreign book I borrowed from the library… and so on: was about to come out of her mouth. When…
“Ufufufu, that’s right. It’s The Chronicles Princess Mia. A book that details all the glorious achievement of my sister Mia!”
Bel announced proudly.
“What!?”
Mia shouts out totally surprised by her granddaughter’s revelation. The conversation, however, continued.
“Chronicles of Princess Mia… Oh, maybe someone in some other country has written and published it without permission. Now you are analyzing it. That makes sense. It is important for the royal family to know the public’s evaluation is also beneficial.”
Lynsha nodded in agreement,
“It was written by Mia-oneesama’s writer, Mother Eli – I mean Elise-sama.”
Bel became more talkative.
“Really? Elise wrote something like that…?”
Anne makes a curious face. Next to her, Lynsha was looking at Mia with blank eyes. It was as if she was looking at Mia while accusing her: “Did you have your writer write a book about you to praise your achievements? And now you have the guts to read it in front of us to show off? Seriously? That’s a new high to bragging!”
“Uh, uh… Stop, don’t look at me! Don’t look at me like that!”
Mia covered her face with both hands and shook her head. It seems that embarrassment can indeed kill a princess. What a terrible thing!
That’s it! This book is officially a dangerous good and needs to be handled with caution.
Having decided that it was a terrible idea to read the book in front of Lynsha, she asked the two attendants to move themselves to the driver’s seat under the pretense of instructing them to arrange the night’s food and lodging with the guards.
Now, Mia, who was alone with Bell, opened the dangerous book again. But not before giving her granddaughter a good talking.
That’s strange. It seems that this passage seems a little different from the last time I read it. Ah!
Mia finally found where the start of the passage seemed to have changed.
“Bel, I just want to confirm. I was able to build an academy town in the Tearmoon Empire, right?”
“Yes. You mean St. Mia Academy? Of course!”
Hearing the disturbing name, Mia involuntarily stiffens.
“Um, now, what…?”
“It’s St. Mia Academy. It’s the most prestigious school in the Tearmoon Empire, located in the princess’ direct jurisdiction right next to Sealance Forest. The academy teaches various subjects.”
“Ah… well, the name aside, it seems to be the kind of thing I’m thinking about.”
Mia resisted in cursing out loud.
Who in the dark moons thought of giving it that name!
“If that’s the case, it’s even more strange. This princess’ biography… doesn’t mention that academy at all.”
If it’s a school with such a name, it should definitely be in this book. Despite that, the story of the academy was not written at all in Princess Mia’s biography.
“Huh…? It can’t be. I mean, I’ve read it before.”
Bel looked into the book. She exclaimed in surprise.
“Huh? Huh? No way! Why? This is weird.”
Looking at the confused Bel, Mia can guess what happened.
It’s probably the same as what happened with my diary. An event can trigger it to change its contents. Oh? But Bel’s memories itself hasn’t changed. Does that mean that it does not affect memories? Or is there some sort of time lag?
Unlike pages on a book, memories certainly seem to take time to be changed.
Hmm, there are many things I don’t understand…
Mia tilts her head in puzzlement.
So, what does this mean?
Mia continued thinking, using all her brain cells. She finally arrived at a truth.
That’s right. Bel came here as the guide that I prayed for. That means if I compare her unchanging memory with that of the changing accounts of this book, then I would be able to figure things out! That must be it!
Mia didn’t bother analyzing why such a phenomenon was happening. She was approaching it from the perspective of what does it mean for Bel and the ‘Chronicles of Princess Mia’ to coexist at the same time.
It was definitely not because she thought it was too tiresome to think about difficult things. This was ingenuity at work! At no point did she think that there’s no point about thinking things that she can’t figure out at all. After all, that would just make her tired. So long as she has an answer, she was happy with it.
Well, that aside…
“There is also this new strain of wheat.”
“Huh? New type of wheat? What is that? What do you mean, Mia-neesama?”
Seeing Bel’s expression, Mia nodded in understanding.
I see… In other words, in the future where Bel was, even though there was an academy town, no new wheat was developed. Well, it seems that the famine can be overcome thanks to the stockpile of food and Chloe’s firm…
Mia’s deep, deep thoughts continued.
