Showdown Time
“…So that’s the Emerald Star,” Mia said as she looked at the elegant sailing yacht in front of her. Several different technologies were used to give it its elegant shape and small size, which were made so that it could move easily through the Galilea Sea’s many islands.
When she saw this engineering marvel, she made a soft, murmured remark. “Looks sort of like a budget boat…”
To put things in perspective, the only boats Mia had ever been on were the huge ferries that ran around Saint-Noel Academy. When she heard the word “boat,” she thought of huge ships that could carry a lot of carriages at once.
They were big things that gave off awe-inspiring majesty just by their size.
The Emerald Star, on the other hand, was not much bigger than two or three horse-drawn carriages.
“Esmeralda kept bragging about it, so I was sure it would be huge. This is kind of a disappointment, to be honest.”
Mia thought that “bigger is better” most of the time. It was important to get a sense of scale. The sheer size made people feel awestruck.
In this way, the yacht in front of her looked more like a toy than a car, and she couldn’t feel anything but disappointment. It’s important to note that the Emerald Star wasn’t a ship for business or for the military. It wasn’t made to carry a lot of stuff or have guns on it, so it didn’t need to be big.
In fact, that’s not the case. Modern technology made it possible to make it thinner by getting rid of all but the most important functions. This gave it a sleek, efficient design.
Which made no sense to Mia at all.
Mia looked up at the boat with her arms crossed and her head held high. Her guards stood on either side of her, and Abel stood behind her, ready to jump to her defense at any moment.
Sion was watching them from afar and leaned over to talk with Ludwig.
“I’m just wondering, Ludwig, what Mia’s plans are for going on this cruise. Do you know?”
“…Intentions? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s not much. If she just wants to have a good time, that’s fine. After all, she’s a person too.
“The only thing is…” Sion’s eyes got small. “With an organization like the Chaos Serpents working behind the scenes, I can’t help but wonder if she came all this way just to have fun.”
Ludwig gave a small nod in response.
“Prince Sion, you are very smart. It is as you say. In fact, Her Highness believes that a large-scale famine will happen in the near future.”
“…A famine?”
“Yes. It will be bad, and the whole continent will feel it.”
Ludwig then went on to describe in great detail what Mia had done to get ready.
“Well. All of this is new to me…”
“I think she hasn’t said much because she doesn’t have any proof that it’s happening. I still have doubts about the claim, to be honest. The eye of man cannot perceive the future. So, I chose to think of what she said as a metaphor. A roundabout way to say that the empire’s food supply chains aren’t good enough…” Ludwig took a break before continuing in a more serious way. “However, right now it’s a very cool summer. In years like this, harvests tend to have fewer crops.”
He looked at the sea, and the sea’s surface sparkled in his glasses’ reflection.
“This is why the seafood from Ganudos that is brought in will be so important. At the moment, the Duke of Greenmoon is in charge of all of our talks with them. I think Her Highness thinks this arrangement isn’t good enough because of the risks it brings.!
Sion was shocked by what Ludwig said.
“I had no idea… I knew she cared about her people, but I didn’t expect her to go to such extents…”
He had already shown her a lot of respect, but it was clear that it wasn’t enough.
“I can understand storing food for a possible famine,” Sion said. “Her work to improve the slums is also a triumph of government. But using Miss Chloe’s family to set up a network of supplies on board? The academy city project aims to promote education and fight dogma. The sheer scope of her ideas… It’s very impressive. I never imagined…”
He blinked. A thought came to his mind.
“Then, Ludwig, do you have any plans to talk to this country’s government while Mia is at sea?”
“I certainly do. I plan to do everything I can, but I think it will be hard to reach an agreement without the Greenmoons’ help. Her Highness knows this for sure, which might explain why she said yes to Lady Esmeralda’s invitation,” Ludwig said, turning to look at Mia.
“A fight with the Greenmoon Etoiline is coming up soon, and Her Highness is ready to get in the ring. In the meantime, I’m going to do whatever I can to help.”
“Miss Mia, oh. It’s so nice to see you,” Esmeralda said as she got off the boat.
“It’s my pleasure,” Mia said with an excellent curtsy and a perfectly polite smile.
“Thank you so much for inviting me on this wonderful cruise.”
“You don’t have to thank me in such a formal way. We’re best friends, aren’t we? Best friends always do things like this.”
Esmeralda answered with her own bright smile. By the way, hers was the real deal. She was looking forward to spending some quality time with Mia.
“But I was told you wanted to bring a lot of guards with you…”
“Yes. Five, to be exact, and I wanted to know if it was okay for them to come with us.”
“Well, I’d love to say yes, but they should know that only handsome men are allowed on my ship.”
She said and spread her arms out in a showy way. “These,” Behind her, a line of young, good-looking men formed. “Are my guards, and they show what it takes to get in. How do you feel? They look good, don’t they? How good are your guards?”
She laughed in a proud way.
“I’ve heard that the Princess Guard is filled with a lot of bad guys. There is a way to act in these situations, you know? These people have to keep up their good name. I do think you should be a little more picky about who you hire to protect you.”
The men of the Princess Guard stood behind Mia.
As soon as she said that, their faces darkened, and she could almost feel the anger coming from them.
Ah, it looks like I’ll have to fight this one and stand my ground.
If she didn’t fight back, it would bring down the morale of her guards. After all, who would risk their life to protect a princess who didn’t care enough about their honor to defend it? Some of her best friends were the men in the Princess Guard. Even after most people had left her in the previous timeline, they stayed loyal to her.
There were people there who were once part of Dion’s squad, but since they had died early in the previous timeline, she didn’t hold a grudge against them. They, on the other hand, liked her a lot because she kept them from fighting in a pointless war. The Princess Guard had a high level of morale because they were grateful, and Mia planned to keep it that way. Any comments that could bring it down would be quickly shut down.
She looked at Esmeralda and spoke with self-assurance.
“Oh? How odd. When it comes to my personal guard, I’m very picky, and these are the people I chose for the station. They are in charge of keeping me safe, so I know I can count on each of them.”
First, they were nice. The flex came next.
“On top of that, only two members of the Princess Guard will be with me. The rest are just my friends who came with me.”
“Hm? Your friends? Who could—What?!”
When three of the people behind Mia stepped forward, Esmeralda had to raise her second eyebrow out of shock.
“I hope they are handsome enough to be allowed on board?”
“What the heck? Why is Prince Sion here? And you? Why… you’re the prince of the Kingdom of Remno!”
When Esmeralda saw the two handsome princes, she squealed. Mia was right about what she was like.
Esmeralda liked handsome boys, and she knew a lot about who the most handsome boys were at Saint-Noel. She looked from one to the other, thinking things like, Prince Sion is younger than me, but he’s totally my type! and Keithwood, the attendant, is a real looker as well… Should I do make a move?!
Her mind was mostly made up of the same things that Mia’s was.
In any case, the sight of Sion, Abel, and Keithwood all at once was too much for her to handle, and she fainted and fell backward. Her line of good-looking guards ran after her.
Mia looked on and felt proud of herself.
Hah! The showdown is over, and it’s clear who won!
Before she landed the final blow, she put on her most smug smile.
“Just so you know, Abel and Sion volunteered to watch over me on this cruise because they were worried about my safety. I’d really appreciate it if they were allowed to get on this boat.”
