CH 319

Princess Mia Makes Anne Cry

After what happened in the kitchen, where Mia ate a poisonous mushroom and passed out, she was told to rest for three days. A quick dose of an emetic made her throw up, which cleaned out her stomach and lessened the effects of the poison. Even though her pride was hurt badly, she was well on her way to getting better.

This let her say that the whole thing happened because she wasn’t paying attention, so it didn’t become a big scandal that caused a lot of trouble for everyone. If she hadn’t told Rafina that what happened was an accident, an army of anti-Chaos Serpent interrogation experts would be marching to the academy right now.

That was fine and all, but…

“I hate being bored. I’m so bored,” Mia said to herself as she lay in her bed.

The only bad thing about how quickly she got better was that she had way too much energy to stay in bed for three days. Even worse, her meals had been changed to a bland diet for the sick, taking away the only thing she could look forward to.

There, locked in her room with nothing but her health to keep her company, she realised what it meant for her world to become grey. Which probably made her look too good, since she was the one who did this to herself. She was really getting what she deserved.

She tried to pass the time by rereading the story draughts that her court writer, Elise, had sent her. However, when Anne caught her ignoring her doctor’s orders to stay in bed, she took the draughts away.

In the end, she had nothing to do but sit around and be bored.

“Yes, I know. Could you tell me a good story, Anne?”

To be honest, it was pretty unreasonable to ask someone to tell an interesting story off the top of their head. But, given her situation, she thought Anne would help her out. Anne, who was the most loyal person to her, would surely be kind to her. That’s why…

“A-Anne? Um…”

She was shocked when there was no answer.

Anne just kept making the room clean. After a moment of awkward silence, she stole a look at Anne, but the maid only looked at her for a second before turning away.

“…Huh?”

Something was wrong for sure.

Alarms started going off in her head as she kept asking, “H-Hey, what’s going on, Anne?” with growing unease.

On her second try, she still didn’t get any response. She could tell that Anne was mad at her, but she didn’t know why.

“Wh-going What’s on? What did I do to make you mad? I-I don’t…”

Even though she didn’t remember doing anything wrong, she got up and quickly folded her legs under her thighs in a respectful position.

I have no idea what is going on! What do I do?

Usually, it would be unthinkable for a servant to tell their master so directly how unhappy they were. But Mia and Anne had a unique relationship that went beyond how they compared to each other.

Anne was important to Mia. She thought of her as a close friend and never expected her to act like a typical attendant. It wasn’t likely that Mia would be offended by such a clear sign of disapproval.

However, Anne had never indulged herself. Even though Mia was kind, she had always Mia with the utmost respect.

Anne was a great employee. A model of how to be a good leader. She hadn’t even talked to Mia. Twice.

She was so angry that she wouldn’t even talk to her.

Mia looked helplessly at her maid. She was upset and scared, and she knew this wasn’t a joke. After that, there was a long, tense silence.

Finally, Anne spoke.

“You…left me behind again…milady.”

Her voice was hoarse, and she didn’t look at him.

“Huh? O-Oh… Um, well…”

Mia was about to say that Anne had looked tired at the time, but as soon as she saw the look on Anne’s face, those words went right back down her throat.

“I thought my heart was going to stop when I heard you went deep into the forest and fell off a cliff.”

Anne went over to the bed. She had tears in her eyes.

“A-Anne…”

Mia was even more upset by what she saw. She realised that this was the first time she had ever made Anne cry, and she didn’t know what to do.

“And so did the stew… I’m sure you had your reasons, and I trust you, so I won’t ask why you chose a poisonous mushroom, why you put it in the pot, or why you had to eat it yourself, but…”

When Anne’s voice broke, so did her emotional wall. Her eyes were filled with tears. Even though she was crying, she was still able to speak.

“If… If you ever do something dangerous again, I’ll go with you… I don’t care where I go or what I do. I taught myself how to ride a horse. If I have to learn how to use a sword, I will also do so. So…don’t… Don’t abandon me anymore…”

When she was facing Mia, she bent at the waist. As she bowed her head, tears of sadness fell from it and hit the floor.

“Anne… You…”

Mia chewed her lip. She was speechless. She tried to stop the rush of feelings that were pushing against her face from inside by closing her eyes.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then she spoke slowly so that her voice wouldn’t show how unsteady it was.

“You…really are my most trustworthy and loyal subject, Anne.”

The love her maid showed moved her to her very core. But she put a figurative hand on her shaky centre and kept it steady…

“I…understand now. Your feelings and the loyalty that drives them are a gift that I will always be grateful for.”

She said that she was thankful. But a noncommittal one. There were no oaths taken. No promises made. She knew that she was still on a dangerous path and that her life would end this winter. From what she knew, it would be a messed-up death that could very well hurt everyone close to her.

I hope it won’t happen, but if I do die, I can’t bring Anne along with me.

She deserved better after everything Anne had done for her, after all the love and kindness she had shown.

Mia shook her head inside.

There’s also Bel… Who would take care of her sweet little granddaughter if she died?

Her future self, the one who had died from poison, flashed through her mind.

She thought that even though she was in pain, she must have died peacefully because she knew her children and grandchildren were safe with people she could trust.

Okay, enough with the sad thoughts. I’m not putting myself in dangerous situations on purpose. I’ll probably be fine. On that day, all I have to do is stay in my room. Yes, it will work out. I’m sure of it.

Anne, on the other hand, just kept looking at Mia with teary eyes. She couldn’t have known what Mia was going through on the inside, but her eyes were so sharp that…

Mia said with a nervous laugh, “Please don’t look at me that way. You know me. I don’t often put myself in harm’s way.”

Her smile didn’t get a smile back from the other person.

…Those who found the conversation between the princess and her servant to be touching and heartwarming may not want to be reminded that Mia ate a poisonous mushroom because she was too eager and won’t listen to anyone. If you’re one of those people, you don’t need to be told again. Even if someone had been there to remind them, no one was there.