CH 367

Princess Mia’s Debauchery Party 3: White Mia Towers the Palace

“Oh? “My, what is this?”

Mia’s birthday party was coming up, so the Whitemoon Palace was going through a change in appearance. Large pieces of beautiful fabric were hung up on the walls of the palace. The name Mia Luna Tearmoon was stitched in big, bold letters across the fabric. It was all right. Every year, it was the same, so she was used to it. The trouble was somewhere else.

A huge white statue of Mia was imposing, and stood almost as tall as the palace itself.

“”What…?”

She made a twitching face as she looked at it.

What the moons is that supposed to be?! Even worse…

“Come on, you need to cut away a little more around that part, or Mia’s charm won’t come out. And be especially careful there. Notice how it’s nice and round and has a little bit of a chub? Yes, that’s very important! It’s just like Mia. Make sure you don’t mess it up.”

His Imperial Majesty Matthias Luna Tearmoon, who is also the current emperor of the Tearmoon Empire, was in charge of the job site. Mia was horrified as she watched her father fight hard at the front lines, where he had to deal with sand and flake while he pointed his finger and shouted orders.

She sputtered. She quickly got out of the carriage when she felt a sudden warmth in her cheeks. A quick look back showed that Abel and Sion were also getting off the carriage, but they would have to wait. First, she had to deal with the problem that was right in front of her.

She hurriedly stomped her way toward the emperor. When he heard her coming, he turned to look at her.

“Oh, Mia, you’re back!” He ran over with a smile like a summer morning.

“Greetings, your highness. I’ve come back,” said Mia. She curtsied in a very good way. Even though it was done perfectly, Matthias was not happy.

“Moons! Your Highness?” He made a grunt that showed how upset he was. “You hurt me, my dear darling daughter. Call me ‘dad’ like you always do! Come on. Let me hear you say dad.”

“Ugh, da—I mean—augh! I do not call you dad all the time. Dad, stop making stuff up already!” she yelled, her face turning red. After all, this was a public place. There were a lot of other people around. In particular, two princes who

—Oops!

Slowly and with a sense of dread, she craned her neck just enough to look behind her, where she saw the two people standing just a few steps away. Abel was just staring at her with his mouth wide open. Sion had his hand over his mouth, but that didn’t hide how amused he was.

Hnnnnnngh! This is really embarrassing! Why should I have to deal with this kind of public shame…

Even though she wanted to leave the place, she couldn’t do so yet. She had to figure out what was going on with that thing.

“More importantly, father, what is this supposed to be?” she asked as she looked up at the huge white statue of herself.

“What’s this? I had it made as a present for when you came back. I thought you’d feel better when you saw it. It’s a snow sculpture,” he said with pride as he looked at it. “I’ve heard about what you’re doing out there, you know? The other day, Viscount Berman stopped by, and we had a short conversation. He told me all about the big wooden statue you’re putting up of yourself at the Mia Academy.”

“What wooden statue?!” she laughed. “Why haven’t I heard about this?”

She remembered that Berman had wanted to build a huge golden statue in the past. She thought she had convinced him not to do it, but it was clear she was wrong.

“When I heard that, I decided that the capital should also have one. Then, by the way, I just happened to hear about snow statues at just the right time, so I looked into it.”

When it was time to get down to serious business, the emperor could move very quickly. Mia just wished he would be as proactive about other things, like not making big snow sculptures of her.

“But…it hasn’t snowed here in the capital yet, has it?”

The most strange thing about the sculpture was that she didn’t remember seeing a single snowflake on the whole way here. It was cold enough for snow to stick to the ground, but it hadn’t snowed yet. So where did her bigger, frosty copy come from?

Matthias smiled to himself and laughed.

“Outcount Gilden comes into play here. It’s already snowing in the north, and I heard that you and the man get along well, so I asked him to bring some snow over. He really wanted to help.”

Mia quickly went over the name in her mind. Gilden was the noble from the Outlands that she made friends with on the way back from Ganudos Port Country.

First Berman, now Gilden… Ugh! Why can’t they just do what they want? Unforgivable!

She glared up at the snow sculpture while grinding her teeth very hard and trying very hard not to show it. It was only because she looked at it so closely that she realized how artistic it was. Mia, who was covered in snow, was dressed as a fairy, and the amount of emotion she was able to show through the fluffy outfit was, well, breathtaking. From the shape of her cheek to the angle of her jawline to every single hair on her head, there was a level of attention to detail that was on par with the best art.

To think that something like this could be made out of snow… Art is amazing…

Her mind tried to escape by thinking about the art instead of the situation. It was a natural reaction, especially since the sculpture had made her look better in a subtle way. Basically, it made her look more beautiful than she was. If Mia, who was made of flesh and scones, was just about pretty enough, then Mia, who was made of snow, was very pretty. There was definitely some freedom taken with the art. She was also bigger than the sculpture. Much much bigger. Snow Mia was the same height as the palace and loomed over everyone in the area, as if it wanted as much attention as it could get. It was so damn tall that she wondered if everyone in the capital could see it if they knew where to look.

She tried to keep the context out of her mind, but she couldn’t.

Imagine, if you will, a beautiful painting of a girl. It would be so beautiful that any sane person would wonder if the artist took a few too many liberties. Now picture this likeness as a huge sculpture as tall as a palace. Lastly, picture the poor girl, whose likeness was now on display for everyone to see, standing there and staring at her own likeness while her own father yelled at his artists to fix her nose and make a dimple on her cheek. What does this girl think? How would she feel?

She would be ready to die out of embarrassment. For a girl in her most sensitive years, this was deeply cringe-worthy. Back-bending, tummy-fluttering, and making you want to hiss.

I-I’m going to die if Abel sees this!

Whoever saw this sculpture would probably think that Mia Luna Tearmoon, the Great Wisdom of the Empire, likes to show off. They’d cringe when they heard about it. Then, after seeing how beautiful she was in the snow, they’d see her in person, and they’d no doubt smile at each other knowingly. “Ah, so this is what the real Princess Mia looks like,” they would say. “Mmm. Well, I guess art is art, but maybe they cleaned her up too much?”

I can’t show this to the two of them. No way! Not even close!

She quickly turned on her heels and got her hands ready to use as blindfolds for the two princes. She was too late, though. She noticed that both of them had their heads tilted back, and their shocked eyes were fixed on her sculpture.

Then Mia wished for the stars to fall from the sky and end the world. Her apocalyptic escape shows an important fact about the way the world works: just as cats die of curiosity, princesses die of embarrassment. If you or someone you know is a princess, please be kind and respectful to them.

In any case, she quickly changed the subject when she realized that every second she spent looking at the sculpture was making her crazy.

“Well, anyway, fathe—”

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back for so long. I think I deserve at least one ‘dad.’ How do you think I feel?”

“I want to have a serious conversation with you, dad. Prince Abel and Prince Sion are my classmates,” she said, making a small turn to point at the two princes behind her. They came from far away to be at my birthday party.”

Then she gave Matthias a pointed smile, which made him grunt.

“Ah. To go to the birthday party for my daughter. I see,” he said again, his face becoming more serious. He walked up to the princes without saying more.

“Thank you very much for coming all the way here. I am Matthias Luna Tearmoon.”

The emperor’s eyes swept over them like a royal sword, stopping on Abel, who couldn’t help but stumble backward. He caught himself and turned his step backwards into a respectful bow. The Emperor of Tearmoon is Mia’s father.

Abel took a quiet breath in. The man was both majestic and imposing in his appearance. It was different from the aura of his own warrior father, but it was just as impressive. Something about the emperor’s careful, judging look made every muscle in Abel’s body tense up, pulling his shoulders back and straightening his spine. He couldn’t help but turn his eyes toward Sion. With a rush of shame, he focused them back.

Man, get a grip on yourself!

Because Sion was the most powerful person on the continent, it was expected that he would be the first to return the greeting. After all, the Kingdom of Remno did sit on a much lower rung. The only thing that could be said about the Tearmoon Empire that was also true of the Kingdom of Sunkland. Remno didn’t fit anywhere in that setting. In addition, Abel was also a prince. In every way, he was worse than Sion, who was the crown prince of Sunkland and the heir to the throne.

What am I thinking? Who cares if what I am?

Mia said she believed in him, so Abel had to meet her expectations. That was all there was to it. This was not the time to be hesitant.

“I am Abel Remno, the second prince of the Kingdom of Remno. At school, Her Highness Princess Mia and I are both on the student council. We do things together. Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

After he was done introducing himself, he looked Matthias in the eye with confidence. After a pause, Sion also spoke.

“It is an equal honor for me to meet Your Majesty. I am Crown Prince Sion Sol Sunkland of the Kingdom of Sunkland. Like my friend, I’m on the student council at Saint-Noel Academy.”

When the two princes were done introducing themselves, Matthias crossed his arms in a quiet way.

Hm… Abel Remno. As he carefully measured the boy, he thought…

So this is the second prince of Remno. A sharp gaze. A strong but fair stance. I’d say he’s becoming more of a knight. I heard that the army of the Kingdom of Remno is getting stronger. It seems that the first prince is a better swordsman than this one, but… It looks like this one is just as good. That’s not the look of a weak person.

Then he turned to look at Sion.

And this is Sion Sol Sunkland, the crown prince of Sunkland… Handsome. Easygoing, but not weak. He seems like a nice and friendly young man. I can see now why nobles his age pay attention to him and are interested in him.

One by one, he matched what he saw to what he knew about each one. In fact, Matthias had learned the names of the sons of every king, queen, and powerful noble in the area. Why? Of course, to find Mia a good husband.

There are rumors that Remno’s first prince is a mean person. From what I can tell, this Abel boy, on the other hand, is not like that. Mia is a nice girl, though. She will be more interested in people like me who are kind and gentle. She used to tell me that one day, she would marry me.

With a snort, he came to the end of his review and turned to Sion.

Which means that Prince Sion must be the one she really wants. But wait! Would she really fall for a boy who is so obviously loved by so many other girls? Is she really that uninteresting? Of course not. She used to tell me that one day, she would marry me. There’s no question that she’d rather be with someone who is more steady and loyal.

He gave himself a little nod as he thought.

Even if one of these two starts a relationship with Mia, I’ll have to make them work on being men for another five or ten years before they are good enough for her. They won’t be able to beat her, but they’ll have to be at least close to her level…

He thought about things that didn’t matter much, but he still thought about them.

“Oh, father,” Mia said to stop him from thinking about nothing, “about this year’s birthday festival. I’ve got a great idea.”