CH 334

Holy Eve Festival Conspiracy in Action

Day of the Holy Eve Festival, Eight Bell (8:00 a.m.)

The day that would determine Mia’s future came quietly.

As she woke up slowly from her sleep, she saw that it was a quiet morning. She went to the public baths with Anne by her side. There, she cleaned off the sweat from the night before, washed her face, and gave herself a hard smack on the cheeks to wake up. It wasn’t often that Mia was so put together and ready to go in the morning.

“Well, I guess that’s about it…”

“Wow, lady, you’re really fired up today,” Anne said with a hint of surprise.

Mia smiled softly and said, “Yes, I am.”

“I thought it would be a good idea today of all days…”

After she ate breakfast, she went to the student council office.

“Ah, Mia. Hello!”

Rafina was there to greet her when she came in.

“Miss Rafina? My… Is there anything we need to do today at the office?”

The student council had already gone over everything that would happen that day, from checking security procedures to making plans for the celebration banquet to checking how people get on and off the island. In fact, the council wasn’t supposed to do much at all on the day of the festival.

“Oh, no. If something happens, I’ll tell everyone to come over…”

Rafina let out a quick giggle.

“But I don’t think it will come to that. Since we talked, Santeri has been working so hard that there isn’t much left for us to do.” She smiled and then said, “It’s all because of you.”

“No, that’s not right! You think too much of me.”

She definitely gave Mia more credit than she deserved. Mia was just doing what her stomach told her, which was to eat a poisonous mushroom.

“Then, why are you here?”

“Oh, I’m just…thinking.”

Rafina’s lips curled into a sweet smile.

“It’s been a year since I stopped being in charge of this room. A full 12 months… It’s a thought that sometimes still blows my mind.”

Rafina then climbed up to the top of her desk and sat down. Mia was surprised by Rafina’s action because she had always thought of her as a model of good manners. Sitting on a desk was not a very dignified thing to do.

“You know, I always come here on this day,” she said. “Every year before the festival, before I washed myself and put on the holy clothes, I’d come in here and talk to myself. You might not realise it, but the rituals of the Holy Eve Festival can be pretty scary.”

“I… can imagine.”

“But things are different this year. It still makes me nervous, but just thinking about the party we’re going to have with all the council members afterward makes me so excited.”

Rafina’s smile was full of the childlike joy of a child.

“Well, then, I think I should leave. But just so you know, I’m looking forward to tonight’s stew party a lot, okay?”

Mia heard a quiet murmur as she watched Rafina leave the office.

“Oh, tonight… You’re right. This evening…”

She still had no idea what would happen. But she knew one thing for sure: a stew party was waiting for her. All of her closest friends were going to get together and have a great time.

In addition, the stew would have mushrooms in it. The mushroom stew will delicious! Exquisite! Mushroom!! Stew!!!

It’s okay. I don’t think anything could get me off the island tonight. It just can’t be done.

With that thought in mind, Mia also left the office.

Day of the Holy Eve Festival, Tenth Bell (10.00 a.m.)

“Oh, Princess Mia!”

Mia heard a voice as she walked by the grand hall where the banquet would soon be held.

Rania Tafrif Perujin was waving at her when she turned around.

“Ah, Rania. Good day to you.”

Mia walked over to Rania with a friendly smile, but as soon as she did, her eyes went straight to the things on the table next to Rania.

“My! Those look tasty!”

She couldn’t stop licking her lips when she saw the sweets made by Perujin’s best craftspeople. Because of what happened with the poison mushroom, Belluga put guards around everything that could be eaten. Under their careful watch, it was probably impossible to sneak a bite…

“They look…so incredibly tasty…”

Rania was happy.

“Then you should come back later. I can’t wait to hear your opinion on them.”

With a soft smile, Mia said yes to her invitation.

“Thank you, Rania. All the time. I’ve never had anything bad happen to me when I ate Perujin food. I’ll do everything I can to come by.”

She didn’t say yes or no in her answer.

Why, you ask?

Well, I’m making mushroom stew for dinner tonight… I can’t promise that I’ll have enough space.

She did the math on her budget for food, and it was going to be tight because she was going to eat a delicious mushroom stew tonight.

Delicious! Let’s all say it together: Mushroom Stew!

With that on the list, it would be hard to add anything else.

Rania looked at Mia for a moment, then grabbed a cupcake off the table and gave it to her with a spoon.

“Here take this.”

“What is this?” Mia asked.

“A sample. Try it.”

“Huh? Uh, okay, thank you?”

Mia did what she was asked, even though she didn’t understand why. She tried a spoonful right away.

“Mmm! This is—!”

“How is it?”

“It’s melting in my mouth, and I can taste all the flavours… So rich… Wait, does this taste like honey chestnuts?”

“It is. Look at what we’ve made. Chestnut cake with honey.”

“Ah, so I was right. It’s been so long since I’ve had honey chestnut, but it’s just as good as I remember,” Mia said as she handed back the cup.

Now, the way this is written, it might sound like she just tried a bite of the cupcake and gave the rest back, but anyone who knows Mia well knows that would be against her nature.

In fact, she gave her back an empty cup.

During their short conversation, she skillfully moved her spoon around the cup to get every last bit of the cupcake and shoved it all into her mouth.

No one should ever say that Mia ate too much.

“If this keeps up, Perujin will be able to sleep easy for many years to come.” She said with a smile, “I’d wish you luck at tonight’s banquet, but I don’t think you’ll need it.”

Rania didn’t return it in kind. She looked at Mia for a few more seconds before she said,

“Uh, just so you know, there will be a lot more at the banquet. There are lots of tasty things. Not only at my table, but at every other table as well. Everyone has done the best they can. So…”

Her voice had a hint of desperation in it.

“Come try them out. We all wanted to make you feel better, so we made you a lot of tasty food. Please come, all right?”

She talked as if she wanted a promise badly. As if…if that promise hadn’t been made, Mia would just drift away and never be seen again.

“Well, if it’s that important to you…”

Mia decided that she could probably spare a little less room in her stomach for the mushroom stew.

Besides, you always have room for dessert, as the saying goes, and idioms don’t come from nowhere. I’ll probably be fine.

Day of the Holy Eve Festival, Fourth Bell Second Sequence (4:00 p.m.)

After seeing the whole school, Mia went back to her room and stayed there like a good little girl trying to avoid death.

Later, she was surprised when someone knocked on the door. Anne went to answer the phone but soon came back frowning.

“Milady, I’m sorry, but could I be excused for a moment?”

“Sure. I don’t mind. But what for?”

“They asked me if I could help set up the banquet for tonight because they need more people.”

“Ah. Well, after all, today is a special day. No one could be blamed for needing a couple more sets of hands. Hm… Then go make me proud, Anne. Show them what you can do as a Tearmoon attendant.”

Anne’s face showed that she was a little worried.

“Understood. But, um, milady…”

She went on in a hesitant way.

“Hm? What’s that?”

She shook her head and said, “Never mind. It’s no big deal. So, I’m going.”

“Okay, then. Oh, could you tell Bel to come back to our room if you see her? I don’t think I’ve seen her this whole morning for some reason.”

Bel was in a lower grade than Mia, so it wasn’t unusual for them to not see each other for a whole day. Today, though, her absence was strangely strange.

“Miss Bel?”

Anne looked confused for a second, but then she nodded.

“Understood. Then, I’ll see you later, milady.”

Mia looked around the empty room after Anne left and then went to Bel’s bed.

She pulled out the copy of The Chronicles of Saint Princess Mia that was under there and opened it to look at the pages again.

I don’t think any of it has changed, but… I’ll give the Chronicles one last look to see if—Hm?

A light knock on the door made her stop.

“Huh. Who could that be? Did Anne maybe come back? No, I doubt it…”

She didn’t understand, so she went over to see who it was.

She was about to open the door when she looked down and saw a piece of paper that had been slipped under it. Her eyes scanned the page’s first few words…

We have you dear sister Miabel in our custody. Come by yourself to the place below if you still wish to see her alive.