CH 157

Princess Mia… Messes it Up…

Mia was shocked by Bel’s words. Although she had expected some tragic news from Bel’s appearance, it didn’t lessen the shock.

“Why…why? Did we not survive the famine?”

“Famine …? I don’t know the details because it happened long before it was born, or before my mother was born. Maybe it turned out fine…. It was mentioned in the book that praised your accomplishments. The book said that you stocked up more than enough food to get through and even sent aid to neighboring kingdoms that were suffering.”

“I suppose that’s right. The famine will occur a few years from now. It wouldn’t have anything to do with you…”

Mia began to breathe a sigh of relief…

“Oh, and that was also the time when they erected your golden statue in your honor.”

“Eh…? Wha…? A gold statue…?”

“Yes, Mother Elise said that the huge statue seemed to reach the heavens.”

“…reaching the heavens…” Mia imagined a huge statue of herself standing. The figure of herself with her arms folded and smiling proudly. Such a golden statue is in the square of the Imperial City… and then she could imagine the scene where it was overthrown by the Revolutionary Army.

Moreover, since it a statue made of gold, they wouldn’t just take it down; they would destroy it to pieces and sell them off. It will be like they’re taking me apart, almost literally. An image like that would be a shock!

Mia has not forgotten how her portraits was treated in the previous timeline. On the way back from visiting the needy people with Ludwig, she was saddened to see the portraits piled up and burned in the square.

“This statue must never be built… I have to tell Ludwig…”

“Huh? How come? I heard that it was a very impressive statue with the finest workmanship.”

“Remember this Bel: We, the imperial family should never think of taxes as our own personal money.” Mia said with a serious face. “Think of taxes as your own blood!”

“Blood …?”

“That’s right! That’s the key to survival!”

Bel nodded, diligently committing to memory a lesson that Mia herself learned from that most profound teachers – the guillotine.

“So, back to the story, what happened to the empire after all?”

“I don’t know directly what happened. All I know is what I have learned from Mr. Ludwig.”

With this opening, Bel started talking.

—

“After my great-grandfather, your father died, you did not succeed to the throne. Therefore, it was one of the Four Dukes’ families who succeed to the throne.”

The Four Dukes were direct relatives of the emperor, making their families part of the imperial lineage and therefore legitimate contenders to the throne. Greenmooon was on good terms with the imperial family due to Esmeralda being Mia’s friend – in principle, at least. Bluemoon owned an abundance of capital. Redmoon had strong ties to the military. Yellowmoon lacked a prominent feature but was still a renowned family.

The four families varied in prestige and power but were all prominent nobility whose standing was second only to the emperor himself. It went without saying that each had its own faction of allies within the aristocratic world, and all of them were engaged in a never-ending power struggle.

“Don’t tell me that a battle for succession happened that led to a civil war?”

“Wow! As expected, you understand it easily. That’s exactly what happened. The two families join hands and confront each other. Each noble in the empire, with a few exceptions, joined one or the other camp. The empire was split into two.”

Bel sighed a little.

“Mr. Ludwig was mourning. He said that if only you had become an empress, it wouldn’t have been so terrible…” Then Bel added in a hurry, “Oh, of course, he said that you probably have a deep reason for not ascending, and that you declined it after giving it a considerable thought.”

When she heard that, a cold sweat ran down on Mia’s back.

Ah, oh, now I’ve done it. I’m pretty sure I know what happened there…. That sounds exactly like the kind of decision I would put zero thought into… Mia knew the thoughts of future Mia. It was, after all, still herself. Ah, it’s because I read that history book. It was written I had eight children and the country prospered…

Mia was absolutely convinced that her future-self decided not to be an Empress out of sheer laziness. But in any case, she must have handed over the throne to another person for no particular reason or without putting much thought about it.

“Still, when the civil war broke out and the empire was about to break, Mr. Ludwig and his colleagues tried to put you into the position of Empress.”

“However…?”

“At that point, you were killed.”

“Killed?!”

“By poison.”

“What… poisoning !?”

Hearing that, Mia thinks for a moment.

Well, dying by poison seems to be better than dying on the guillotine.

A fairy tale story entered through Mia’s mind. A story in which a princess and her knight who loved each other lose their lives by poisoning each other after an unrequited love.

It definitely sounds more pleasant than having my head chopped off.

“It was a heroic end. Mia-neesan fought valiantly for thirty days against the poison…”

Mia translated those words as: suffered from poison for thirty days.

“And in your final moments, even as you lay upon sheets dyed crimson with your precious lifeblood, you let out a fierce cry, declaring that you lived your life to the fullest and died with no regrets!”

Mia translated that as: bled out of every hole in her body and died a horrible, agonizing death.

“It was written in Princess Mia’s Chronicles.”

Dark heavenly moons! Nothing about that death is remotely better than guillotine. Even considering Elise’s tendency for overdramatization, I pretty much just went through hell for a month before dying in a pool of my own blood! That is a terrible and tragic way to die!

The description was quite clear that when Mia imagined it, she shuddered.

Moreover, I feel that this story is very popular even if some parts don’t make sense.

Considering she was dying of poison, she can’t imagine herself letting out any kind of cry, nevermind that fierce declaration that Bel mentioned. Bel, meanwhile, was looking at her with glittering eyes. This made Mia a little anxious.

What in the moons have they been teaching about me…?

Mia has always been curious, but this time, she preferred not knowing for now.

“After that, my uncles and aunts, worried about their safety and scattered into hiding. I was first sent to Outcount Rudolvon’s place for protection. But then my mother passed away. Just before she did, she entrusted me under the care of Mother Anne.”

Bel stops to breath. When she spoke again, her voice was softer.

“But then… they came… and Mother Anne to protect me, she… and after that, Mother Elise took care of me, but she too…”

Oh, Anne and Elise. You guys have been loyal to me even after I died… But Elise, you need to stop making things up when you write about me.

Mia sighs a little and asks another question.

“But if I died, the empire be destroyed so easily. What about Sion? I don’t think he will overlook the suffering of the people because of the stupid nobles ruining the empire. And what about Ms. Rafina? Surely, she could not ignore the empire when it was in so much trouble.”

“Miss Rafina? Do you mean the Empress Prelate, Rafina Orca Belluga?”

“Uh? Yes, I think… Hmm? Empress Prelate?”

Mia scratched her head upon hearing an unfamiliar term.