CH 320

… And Mia

Mia thought she would be ready to seize the day after three days, when she was no longer locked up and her health had improved. Instead, she almost wanted to eat that mushroom again. That way, she would be able to stay in bed instead of… going to Rafina’s tea party.

Rafina’s Tea Party!

When she saw when the invitation was sent, she knew right away that neither the tea nor the party was the main point. Instead, Rafina wanted to talk. Santeri, who is in charge of safety on the island, would also be there. It was obvious that she was going to get a serious talking-to!

“Oh no, now I’m in for it… They must be really angry!”

She shuddered when she thought about Rafina’s red eyes during the election. Because things had been going well for her lately, she had become lazy and forgotten an important fact: Rafina Orca Belluga was, in general, a very scary person. Her wrath would be uncontrollable if someone did something stupid and random that made a lot of other people upset.

Mia had just pulled one of them out. At least she was able to get the kitchen staff off the hook, but that wasn’t much of a consolation. It couldn’t possibly keep her from getting a very harsh scolding.

“Ooooh, stupid me. Why did I have to do something so dangerous? Ugh… I need to come up with a reason…”

Her anxious muttering didn’t stop until she reached the place of the tea party, which, strangely, was the same private room in the cafeteria where her bad taste test had happened.

Mia squeaked, “Excuse me, Miss Rafina,” as she crept into the room, but she stiffened when she saw the people there. Rafina was with Monica, who used to be a Wind Crow, and a moody Santeri, who glared at Mia as she walked in.

This is not going to be a chitchat session, that’s for sure… Oh no, my stomach is hurting again…

She rubbed her stomach out of habit, wincing at the stress-related pain. Rafina looked at her with worry on her face.

“Does your stomach still hurt?”

Mia quickly said, “Oh, um, no, not that much…”

She lost her train of thought because she had another idea.

I might have been better off saying I still don’t feel good. That might have made her feel sorry for me enough to keep her from giving me a harsh scolding. Ah, but saying I’m fine gives the impression that there wasn’t much damage, so maybe I’ll get off easier that way? It’s hard to say…

Mia was in a very awkward place because she was both the offender and the victim. She stared at the ground in silence because she didn’t know what to say. Rafina’s soft suggestion broke up her quiet thought, which surprised her.

“Mia, please don’t overdo it. Here, sit down. I’m so sorry I asked you to come here today. I know that you’re still recovering. If it makes you feel better, I made some tea and sweets that are easy on the stomach. If you feel up to it, feel free to try some of them.”

“Alright… I will. Thank you…”

Mia sank down into a chair and gave a short sigh. Monica, who was now a maid, poured her some tea right away. It smelled strange and herbal. She drank a little.

Aaaah… How relaxing…

She gave a deeper, more relaxed sigh. Her nerves calmed down enough for her to start planning how to get through the dangerous conversation that was coming up.

Okay, let’s get started. I need to apologise. No matter what I do, I will always be to blame. In that case, I should say I’m sorry as much as I can. Just keep saying “I’m sorry” over and over so I can figure out what to do next.

After deciding what to do, she turned to Rafina.

“I know that saying I’m sorry won’t make my actions more acceptable, but I’m sorry for my irresponsible behavior.” she said, putting her head down in shame.

Rafina listened carefully while she nodded.

“An act of irresponsibility… Yes, you were very careless to do that,” Rafina said with a serious nod. Then her face turned into a sad shape.

“But it was us who made you do it, and I’m sorry about that too.”

Mia was about to start her second round of apologies to buy more time, so this response caught her off guard.

“I can imagine how you struggled to make that choice, and how hard it must have been for you to…”

“Eh? Uh… I, well…”

Mia nodded along, trying to figure out what was being said.

So, I guess… It’s true that Rafina and the others would stop me if they caught me doing it, so I had to move quickly to sneak it into the pot and then into my mouth… In that way, I guess you could say that they “made me do it.” As for the struggle… Well, when I found it, it was hard for me to tell if it was poisonous or not. Maybe she means just that?

She wasn’t sure what Rafina was trying to say. But a moment later, an idea came to mind.

Aha! That’s all! I now know what she is thinking. She feels like she’s to blame for the fact that I had to act on my own without asking anyone for help when I was making mushroom stew for everyone. Obviously, I wouldn’t have done everything in secret if I didn’t think they were going to stop me. I would have asked Citrina for a second opinion. I wouldn’t have had to taste the food myself.

Mia felt like a way forward had become clear. It was a small, winding path, but it was the only way out of this maze.

If this path leads out, narrow or not, I’m going to run down it at full speed!

She nodded as if she had made up her mind.

“In reality, it was a very hard choice, and I did struggle making it.”

First, she made sure to say that her decision about the mushroom’s possible poisonousness was not an easy one. It was an ordeal. She’d done a lot of work that made people feel sorry for her. Furthermore…

“I did it because I thought it was best for everyone.”

…She made it clear that she had been trying to help people. She had done it for everyone else’s good. It wasn’t to satisfy her own hunger, for sure. Not at all! There was nothing selfish about this at all!

So, she kept playing one “I’m sorry” card after another, hoping to win the “Extenuating circumstances” game. It was, to be honest, pretty low. But shame didn’t pay the bills, so she kept going while sneaking glances at Rafina to see how she would react.

She was happy to see that it seemed to be working.

I thought Miss Rafina would be a lot more angry than she seems to be. I…I think there might be a chance I can get out of this.

Just as she was beginning to feel better…

“Hmph, Princess Mia, with all due respect, you’ve just made all of our lives harder.”

Santeri spoke up in a harsh voice and gave her a cold look. If they were in Tearmoon, he would not have been allowed to treat her the way he did, but they were in Belluga. Here, the Holy Lady was the most important. Not only was Mia’s power limited, but she also did things that should have gotten her in trouble. She had done such a bad job that there was nothing she could say to make up for it. She had to take any criticism with humility.

So, she kept her head down, shut her mouth, and hunched her shoulders to give the impression that she was very sorry.

“Yes, you found that dangerous mushroom,” he said. “That’s good of you. We made a mistake by letting something so disgusting grow here. But what you did hurt the reputation and history of Saint-student Noel’s council in a way that can’t be fixed. You do know, I hope, that if we hadn’t been lucky, this could have turned into a big international problem between Belluga and Tearmoon, right?”

She took his criticism quietly because she knew she couldn’t fight back. Ludwig probably would have given her an earful if he had known about what happened. Even though this was all kept secret and only a few people knew what was going on, it would be a disaster if Mia’s father found out. A few wars would be getting off easy.

So, Mia thought the only right thing to do was to slump her shoulders and accept that she would be raked over the coals.

That’s why…

“As the person in charge of keeping peace and order on Saint-Noel Island and the person whose job it is to protect the academy’s good name, I just can’t ignore such destruction.”

“Shut up, Santeri!”

…She had no idea that Rafina would say something that meant “shut your damn trap,” but she did not expect to hear it.

A shy look at the Holy Lady’s eyes showed that they were scary. They were very angry, and their eyes were fixed on Santeri.

“Are you really that stupid? Do you not get what Mia’s actions mean?”

“Wait, what?”

This sudden outburst made Santeri drop his jaw to the floor. But that wasn’t as bad as Mia, whose jaw went through the ground.

Who knows what Rafina was talking about. If Santeri didn’t know, Mia knew even less.