Dressed In Imperial Colors
At the Whitemoon Palace, there was a beautiful ball on the first day of the Mia Birthday Festival. The palace halls were full of nobles who came to Lunatear to take part.
At the entrance, before the gate, they saw the huge Mia snow sculpture, which was a beautiful sight.
“Wow, this is what we’ve been hearing so much about…”
It was a beautiful piece of art that didn’t give in to compromise. It was so tall that as they looked up toward the top, it seemed to get bigger. And it was very detailed. Even just the quality of the work was enough to draw attention, but what really wowed the nobles was something else.
“To make something like this…from snow. His Majesty is a real wonder.”
The idea that it would be brave to make such a beautiful sculpture out of something that would just melt away when the weather got warmer struck a chord with the nobles. It also made them all think about art for a short time.
“Oh, I see. Of course. If this were made of gold, it would lose some of its beauty. Gold isn’t as interesting. It lacks… art,” the nobleman said as he thought.
“Take a look at this work. Its passing away. Its short-lived existence. It’s so beautiful because it’s so easy to break and will eventually fade.”
“To think that so much careful work went into something that will only be beautiful for a short time… Aah, looking at it is like tasting art in its purest form, and what a complex taste it has!”
Merchants were the only ones who could spend money and expect to get it back. The truly wealthy spent their money on things that didn’t last, like fleeting dreams and moments.
“But the person we’re talking about—our dear princess—seems to have said some very boring things, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, she does. The people she wants to feed are not worth more than the food she plans to give them. We should get rid of both of them. Why does she seem to be so interested in them?”
Nobles were confused when they heard about what was going to happen at Mia’s birthday festival. This added to their growing list of complaints about her seemingly crazy behavior. They think that the poor should be forgotten. They already had a safe place to stay, which was the Newmoon District. Wasn’t the point of that project to get rid of them and forget about them? Why would anyone want to get their hands dirty by putting them back in that hole? It seemed like a waste of time and money to give money and build hospitals.
“Surely a mistake made when he was young. She is still very young. Also, in the empire, it is usual for a male heir to take the throne. Lord Sapphias of Bluemoon seems to me to be the most likely candidate to be the next emperor.”
“Now, the Redmoons also have a lot of sons. Their military skills will help keep us safe for sure.”
As they argued about their different points of view, the only name that never came up was Mia’s. No one had the slightest doubt that the throne would go to a boy from one of the emperor’s four bloodlines. Due to old traditions, the idea of trying to crown an empress was just unthinkable. They thought that Princess Mia should get married to someone from another kingdom. They only wished she’d stop having such crazy ideas and start acting like a princess. As long as she did it before she got married, everything would be fine.
The nobles walked into the ballroom after making some questionable comments to each other.
“Well now…”
Even though it happened every year, the sheer beauty of the sight never failed to leave people in awe. In the middle of the room was a huge round table with a lot of high-quality, showy dishes for the princess’s birthday party. The head chef had put his heart and soul into every dish on the menu, making them not only delicious but also a feast for the eyes.
“Yes, it was a dinner banquet fit for Her Highness. Every year’s show is awe-inspiring because of how much money they spend on it.”
“These are almost like edible works of art. So pretty.”
“I just ate one, and my goodness, the head chef has really outdone himself!”
They all laughed, but no one knew how far the head chef had gone to beat them. This year, Mia asked the head chef to cut the kitchen’s budget for the banquet, which he did with great care. After a lot of work, he was able to make the menu on display for half as much as it had cost in previous years. He also had at least three times as many headaches, but that’s not important.
Mia had said, “I’d like to try some cheap food that tastes good.” Okay, so the request itself wasn’t put in a very strong way. In fact, she might have just brought it up out of the blue. The head chef, on the other hand, took it very seriously and promised to see it through. The dishes that came out of this were a series of culinary miracles that kept costs low and satisfied the taste buds of nobles. This either showed the hidden potential of cheap ingredients or how unreliable noble taste buds are.
In any case, the lights in the room suddenly went out while the nobles were praising the head chef’s delicious dishes.
“Oh? What’s going on?”
The guests were all caught up in a wave of noise. The next second…
“Greetings everyone. I’d like to thank everyone who came to my birthday party.”
The evening’s heroine had finally arrived.
“Oh sweet moons, that’s…”
As she walked into the ballroom, everyone let out a gasp of surprise. Mia Luna Tearmoon’s body was so beautiful that no one could look away. Her white-gold hair glistened softly and moved like silk when she moved. Her soft, full cheeks went well with her thin neck, which was made even more noticeable by the shape of her collarbones. All of them shone. The bath herbs that had saved her life on that fateful day not so long ago were the ones that gave her this glow all over her body.
“How interesting. This must be what it means to be beautiful.”
“What a good comparison…” said one of the people watching. The said onlooker was wrong. There was no comparison. She looked like she was glowing.
Even more interesting was the fact that her beauty now had a hint of maturity, not just the charm of a childishness.
“Wow, that dress is really well-fitted!”
But what shocked the nobles most was the color of her dress. Mia usually liked to wear brighter colors, as shown by the cute children’s dress she wore the year before. Today, however, she came wearing a beautiful purple dress. It was a powerful piece of clothing that everyone could feel.
You’re right. Mia was here this year to make a point. Not only did her silky hair and smooth skin shine, but so did the clothes she wore. She had never looked more like a princess in her life.
The jaws of everyone in the ballroom dropped to the floor. They were quickly put back together, though. Their owners were shocked at first, but it didn’t last long. After that, the room was filled with the quiet energy of many minds trying to solve the same puzzle: what did Mia’s purple dress mean?
Emperors wear purple. Since she was the daughter of the emperor, it wasn’t too strange for her to wear it. In fact, it wasn’t the dress itself that made the difference. She chose to wear the sublime color here, in front of a lot of nobles, on her birthday festival day. The nobles thought that had to mean something, and the most obvious thing would be a message of some kind. A statement.
Was she saying that she wanted to take over the throne? A lot of them agreed. They didn’t know that they would soon find out something even more shocking, which would confirm what they already thought and make them drop their jaws again.
Now, let’s take a look behind the scenes. The reason Mia’s dress is purple today is because of the way she has been eating lately. So, purple is a color that makes things smaller. There are many colors in the world. Some colors make things look bigger than they are, while others make things look smaller than they are.
Mia’s appetite came back after what happened at Yellowmoon manor, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, which led to a little bit of overeating. Anne came up with the idea of using color tricks to stop this change.
“Milady, I learned this from Miss Chloe, but there are colors that make you look thinner if you wear them.”
Mia was ecstatic when she heard the news and was eager to give it a try.
So, that’s it. A clear explanation for a simple choice that no one in the ballroom could have come close to figuring out.
