CH 318

Princess Mia Throws It In… And Eats It

So, Mia finally had everything she needed for the mushroom party she had wanted for a long time.

In the cafeteria at Saint-Noel Academy, there were a few private rooms that could be used for dinner parties. Food would be brought in from the kitchen. Any student could book one for their own use, and the student council already had one booked.

The mushrooms that Mia and her friends picked were brought to the kitchen, where they would be checked by experts to make sure they were safe to eat before being cooked in a stew.

When they walked in, they were met by Santeri, who was in charge of security for Saint-Noel. He had an air of hard work and stubbornness about him, and when he looked in their direction, he bowed deeply with his head.

“You’re back. As the island’s security supervisor, it makes me very happy to see that you’ve come back safe and sound. I do hope your trip to look for mushrooms was fun.”

Mia spoke for everyone when she said, “Thank you for caring, and yes, it was a lot of fun.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Also, I want to say how much I appreciate being asked to come to this stew party by the student council. It will be a great pleasure for me to be there.”

“Please, you’re far too modest. Without people like you, we wouldn’t have the peace of mind to enjoy school knowing that our safety is in good hands. It makes sense for us to show our gratitude. I hope you have fun at our little party.”

After saying a few polite things to Santeri, Mia walked deeper into the kitchen, making sure her movements were casual enough that they didn’t give away any clues about her plans or intentions.

“Ah, Princess Mia, welcome back! Did you enjoy your trip to the forest?”

She knew one of the women in the kitchen, and she was there to greet her.

“Yes, I had a great time outside. I’m sorry, though, that we gave you more work to do.”

They spoke to each other in a friendly way. Mia then said hello to each cook in a polite way. Everyone gave her a smile back.

The whole staff knew Mia’s face by now because she was in the kitchen so often. It’s important to note that whenever she visited, she always took some food with her, but the people she stole from were surprisingly nice about it. This happened because Anne had worked hard to make a lot of connections.

In general, Anne was the only person with whom Mia didn’t plan to be cheap. She always gave her maid a lot of money so that she could spend it on something fun in town. Anne, on the other hand, spent her money in a different way. Every time she got money, she would go into town and buy a bunch of gifts, which she would then send to different academy staff in Mia’s name. Because of this, Mia became known as a kind princess who was liked by the common people.

Well, let’s go back to the kitchen.

Mia walked over to her big basket of mushrooms on the counter after saying hello to everyone. The woman who was following her grimaced at what she saw.

“You’ve given us a tall order, haven’t you? It will be hard to put all of these mushrooms into a single stew. A lot of these mushrooms are also… uhm… a little hard to cook.”

“Yes, it does seem so. By the way, and I’m just asking out of pure intellectual curiosity, how would you cook a Belluga mushroom?”

“Huh? Did you also bring back any Belluga mushrooms?” the woman asked in a surprised tone.

“Of course not, no. I was just interested, like I said. We’ll call it an academic point of interest.”

“Oh, okay. Well… Hm…”

The woman made a thinking face.

“Belluga mushrooms taste good, so I think you could get away with just giving them a quick wash, cutting them into two or three pieces, and stewing them for a while.”

“Hm, hm… It’s that simple, huh? That’s good news for sure. In, um, a kind of academic way. Oh!”

Mia opened her eyes in a very fake way, as if she suddenly remembered something.

“Do you know where I might be able to wash my hands? They’re not very clean.”

She waved them around to show them.

“Oh, yes. They would be after a trip to the forest, wouldn’t they? There, you can get some water.”

Taking her question at face value, the woman made a point.

“By the way, how clean is the water? I have princess hands that need to be washed with clean water because they are so soft. As for how clean it is, let’s say is it like the water you use to wash your food?”

“You’re good to go. That is the water we use to wash our food, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Ah, excellent. Thank you.”

She gave him a smile and put her hand in her pocket.

Hm, wash it, cut it into big pieces, and put them in the pot… Sounds easy, but it’s not so easy to do.

She washed the mushroom in the water while pretending to wash her hands. The mushroom was hidden in her palms. She scrubbed it all over with care, hoping to clean it so well that it would be safe to eat even if it was still raw. She kept it a secret the whole time.

It was a feat of hand-eye coordination on par with the tricks of professional magicians. Mia was usually a little clumsy with her hands, but for some reason, when it came to mushrooms, her butterfingers got a lot more dexterous.

It could have been a sign that her Mushroom Princess powers were finally coming to life. What is a Mushroom Princess, even?

She took a few sneaky looks left and right before creeping up to the pot of stew. She had just finished a thorough cleaning of the water. She cautiously looked around again as she stood over it.

That Santeri guy is the one I have to watch out for the most. Keep an eye on where he’s looking… Have to time it… Now! Three, Two, One, Now!

She took off running so fast that her shape was hard to see.

In the time it took to take a breath, she cut the mushroom into four pieces, threw them into the pot, and ran away.

She whistled nonchalantly as she walked, or rather, she blew breathy hisses out of her mouth because she couldn’t whistle. Her heart was already beating fast, but she felt a sense of accomplishment.

After her mission was done, she went back to the private room and had a carefully timed conversation with herself before going back to the kitchen.

Her plan needed one more step.

It was time to hit the home run. If they find it before I do, they will make sure I don’t eat it. Even though I know that’s a real Belluga mushroom, I don’t think they’ll listen. There’s only one way for me to make sure that doesn’t happen.

She sneaked back in and went over to the pot.

“Ah! Princess Mia, no. It’s still being cooked—”

“Don’t worry, oh no. I’m just trying a little bit. It’s just one sip.”

She said, “Just one sip,” as she lifted the lid of the pot.

One of the white mushroom pieces jumped out at her right away. She quickly grabbed it and put it in her mouth before anyone could stop her.

Her slightly bigger cheeks moved back and forth a few times. Then her face changed into one of pure happiness.

Her tongue liked how juicy the mushroom was, and her nose liked how good it smelled.

“Mmmmm… Now this really tastes good… It’s so deep that I can’t even begin to explain it. Aaaah, it’s so goo— Mm?!”

She felt it all of a sudden—a problem with her stomach.

It came fast and hit hard. Her stomach made a scary gurgle, and then it almost turned in on itself.

“Ow… Ow ow ow! Ah, my stomach! I’m in pain! Augh! Oooh!”

She fell to her knees from the sharp pain.

“Ow! Ow! I can’t… This is… Oh no—”

Her stomach rumbled, and she had the clear feeling that something was coming back up her throat.

“U-Urp… I’m going to…”

She lost consciousness because she felt sick and her stomach hurt at the same time.