Meeting with Duke Yellowmoon
The Princess Guard moved in quickly and took over the Yellowmoon house. Inside, they only found a few Serpents, and Dion had already knocked them out. Barbara had probably sent most of her helpers away ahead of time so that she could make a last fight here by herself.
“Huh. The Serpents might be crazy, but I guess there’s a method to their madness,” said a shocked Mia. She had expected to see every last underling used as a sacrifice in a cruel attempt to get away.
After the noise stopped, Lorenz asked Mia to come to his room to talk.
Sion said, “I’d like to know as much as possible about the Serpents, but it sounds like this will involve a lot of Tearmoon business, so we’ll stay out of this conversation for now.”
Abel nodded. “Agreed. Someone probably needs to stay with Miss Bel and Miss Citrina as well. We’ll go see them.”
So, Mia said goodbye to Sion and Abel for a while. Keithwood and Monica came next.
“Hm… So, I guess Anne, Ludwig, and Dion will be coming with me.”
Even though Ludwig was with her, which was fine because he was the brains of the plan, the thought of Dion coming up behind her still made her nervous. Still, not having a trustworthy bodyguard made her worry even more, so she decided to put up with him, thinking that Anne would give her some mental comfort.
Anne smiled when she caught her eye.
“Oh, milady, you can count on me! I’ll look out for you!”
She gave a confident thump to her chest, clearly happy to be brought along. Perhaps a little too happy. Mia gave her a smile of resignation.
“Well, then, it looks like my back is in good hands. I’m also counting on you, Ludwig, and you, Dion. I want you to keep an eye on Anne in particular so she doesn’t get too excited and put herself in risk.”
“What? Oh, that’s such a mean thing to say!”
The two girls laughed at each other’s jokes all the way to Lorenz’s room, where Mia was met by a nice smell when she opened the door.
“My…”
She took a few sniffs. It smelled sweet and like it had just come out of the oven.
I think it was black tea and a cookie… there on the table. If I’m not mistaken, that looks like a tart made with Perujin apples.
After looking at Lorenz for a moment in silence, she whispered to herself, “Hm… This man…knows what he’s doing!”
It only took her a second to figure out how strong her opponent was, which shows how well she could predict things… when it comes to sweets. Which was about the most pointless ability one could have, but whatever…
“Your Highness, I’m sorry to bother you during this busy time, but there are some things I need to bring to your attention.”
Lorenz stood up and bent from the waist. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about these things.”
Mia gave him a sign to relax.
“Please, you don’t need to be so polite. I also wanted to ask a few questions, so this is a great time,” she said, still staring intently at the hot tart.
When they’re new, they taste the best. I want to eat them right now!
She took a deep breath and quickly sat down.
Then, in a tone that suggested she wanted to get things settled as soon as possible, she said, “Oh, in case you were wondering, I’ve chosen to forget about Rina trying to trick me into a trap. I don’t want my dad to find out and make a big deal about it, so I’d appreciate it if you kept quiet. Am I understood?”
It was too easy to imagine how crazy the loving emperor would get if he found out that his beloved daughter was so close to dying. She had just come close to dying, but she was still alive. She didn’t want to get a headache after that and die because of it. So, she made sure to tell everyone that what happened in Bandoor Village stayed in Bandoor Village.
And don’t forget, there was a tart waiting to be eaten, so the faster they could get this done, the better.
She was no longer just the Mushroom Princess after this. She was Mia the Sweet Princess-cum-Reconciler! That’s short for “Sweet-Pri-Cu-Re-Mia.”
Lorenz, on the other hand, was brought to tears by how casually she forgave the wrong that had been done to her.
“Your Highness, words can’t express how grateful I am,” he said in a shaking voice.
After talking about the more important things, Lorenz sat down again next to Mia as Bisset put the tart on the table and started to cut it.
When his knife cut into the crust, it made a satisfying crunch and let out a waft of buttery steam. Then, the smell of apples filled the air.
Mia spit out an amount of saliva when the smell reached her nose. She couldn’t take her eyes off the tart. She looked at it as if her will alone could make it happen faster. She was so excited that her muscles tense up and her hands start to shake. Mia’s mouth turned into a wry smile when she saw how her body was overreacting.
That reminds me, I haven’t had anything sweet to eat since we rushed back from Belluga…
Her brain was already hungry for sugar, and then it had just done a hard workout. Her brain’s sweet reserves were already depleted. It needed to be refuelled right away!
She gulped again when her slice of tart was finally put in front of her on a plate.
As soon as Bisset took his hand away, she ate it up. She ate it like a chipmunk and enjoyed how crunchy it was as the top broke apart between her teeth. Its sweet filling flowed over her mouth, coating it in so much sweetness that it almost made her feel sick. The rush of sour apple afterward, on the other hand, toned it down just enough to hit the sweet spot.
Her mouth was filled with pure happiness.
“Mmm! It’s something I’ve said before and will say again. ‘Perujin fruits are the best!’” she said as she smiled and ate a tart.
Bisset couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Your Highness, are you sure that was the right thing to do? To…just eat the tart? It hasn’t been checked for poison yet. Even though it makes me sad to bring it up again, I must respectfully tell you that you are sitting in what was enemy territory just a few hours ago.”
Mia’s head was tilted in a way that showed she didn’t understand what he was worried about.
“Hm? That’s a strange thing to say. Poison? And mess up such a tasty tart? Who would do something like that? I don’t get it, no one in their right mind would waste a good tart by doing something like that.”
Which made sense to her because she wasn’t thinking straight herself. Since she hadn’t had any sweets in a long time, her brain had lost all sense and control. At this point, she would happily sell her palace for a cake. She was getting close to the point where a cake was worth a castle.
“I have to say, though, that I was surprised to learn that you used to be a Wind Crow. How you tricked those Serpents before was just brilliant. A great show of skill and wit.”
After eating a delicious pie, Mia’s mood improved a lot, and she was very nice to Bisset.
“I’m most flattered, Your Highness,” Bisset said with a calm and polite smile.
At that point, Ludwig cut in and interrupted.
“My deepest apologies, Your Highness. When Duke Yellowmoon talked to me, I should have told you right away. It is—”
“No, Your Highness, Ludwig-dono didn’t do anything wrong.” Lorenz put out his hand to make Ludwig feel better. “I asked him to keep this whole thing a secret… so I could find out what kind of person you are. For us Yellowmoons, finding out who you really were was a matter of life and death. We had to be sure of everything. Still, it’s a huge insult that you were tried in this way. Please let me show how sorry I am.”
He put his head down until it was only an inch from the table.
Ludwig did the same and added, “Lord Yellowmoon asked to see your true nature. To see if you would help them if you didn’t know what they were up to. So that Lord Yellowmoon would trust me, I chose not to tell Your Highness about our letters. I’m sorry that I had to keep such a secret, but I did so knowing that your wisdom would win out. Your Highness is, after all, the kind of person who can take one piece of information and use it to figure out ten more facts and see a hundred possible futures.”
Am I now?
“Well… In that case, I guess it can’t be helped.” Mia nodded, her ego rising. She was the type of person who liked getting compliments. She was also the type of person who could take a single piece of information and figure out maybe half a fact and then see a hundred sweets in her head because it took so much work.
“Anyway, now that there’s no reason to keep things secret,” Mia told Duke Lorenz Etoile Yellowmoon, “I think it’s time you told us the whole story.”
She wanted to know a lot about the Serpents, the House of Yellowmoon, and all the stories that had happened behind the scenes of the empire’s past that had never been told.
“All right. Where do I start?” Lorenz thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and then gave a nod. “Perhaps it would be best to start at the beginning. When the House of Yellowmoon and the First Emperor swore an oath…”
