CH 379

Mia Speaking Facts

After talking with Lynsha, Mia decided to find out what was going on the next day. She didn’t want to call Bel to the palace, but that meant she had to go to where Anne’s folks lived.

She decided against this choice after she looked out the window. It snowed, which means it was cold. Mia hated being cold.

“Well, I guess I can’t keep Bel hidden forever. Maybe I should use this time to tell my dad about her…” She thought about the idea. “Well, I could ask Miss Rafina or even Sion to help her, but if I want her to be able to move around the empire, I should at least get father to acknowledge her existence. I can tell him that she is my sister by blood. Or, since she gets along well with Rina, I can ask Duke Yellowmoon—oh, but it’s dangerous there with all the poisonous plants and stuff. She could be a commoner and stay at Anne’s place for a while. This might be the easiest solution.”

“Hmm… I’ll have to talk to her about all of these things.”

She decided to call Bel to the palace when she had enough excuses to hide the fact that they were really just reasons not to go out into the cold. At the end of the day, Mia just wasn’t the kind of person who would see snow and want to jump right into it. She liked going to bed much more. So, she told Anne to fetch Bel for her.

“But I do wonder… What is wrong with her? Why does she spend so much money on nothing?”

Bel should have been raised by Anne and Elise, and Ludwig should have taught her.

“She also told me how much she loves her grandma Mia, who is me. If she likes me, it doesn’t make sense for her to give people gold coins as a reward.”

It showed a certain way of thinking, which was that money could solve any problem. Mia knew where this line of thought would lead. The more someone used money to solve problems, the more money they needed. Nothing could stop it. It was a hard lesson for her to learn, especially since she had to sweat and work hard to find food when she was hungry during the famine days.

Ludwig, who always looked for the most logical way to do things, could, in theory, see it as a means to an end. Mia couldn’t imagine that he would tell Bel to act that way. He would have had to think twice about what was right and wrong because of that. Anne and Elise, well… They were more likely to get angry if they found out about Bel’s little habit.

No one could have taught it. This was an idea that Bel had on her own. Mia was thinking about these things as she told the stand-in helper to make enough sweets and hot tea for herself, Bel, Anne, and Lynsha. Supply lines had to be protected as a matter of strategy, and Mia was becoming a very good strategist—at least when it came to getting sugar. As she waited for her guests to arrive, all was quiet on the food front. Plates were set out and cups were filled.

Eventually, someone knocked on the door.

“Excuse me, milady.” Anne bowed. “I have Miss Bel with me.”

“Ah, good. Please come in.”

Mia let the three people into her room when they came in.

“Many thanks, Anne. Bel and Lynsha, you too. It was probably cold outside. Let’s start by making you some tea to warm you up. We also have sweets. She pointed to the table and said, “Feel free to try some.”

“Wow! The cakes look good to eat. “Thank you, Mia-neesama!” said Bel, who was very happy.

Mia smiled at her granddaughter as she looked at her.

—

After having a lot of tea and sweets to fill her stomach, Mia turned her attention to Bel.

“By the way, Bel, I heard that when you go shopping at the market, you give people gold coins and tell them to keep the change as a thank you.”

“Excuse me, Princess Mia, but I’d like to say that I’ve also been given silver coins as thanks before,” Lynsha said as she showed Princess Mia the proof. “Milady gave these to me after that old witch hit me over the head in the forest the other day. She said it was a repayment for all I had done for her… So I’m giving it to you again. I don’t like being thanked or paid back in this way. I already get paid by Miss Rafina straight for what I do.”

As she put the silver in Bel’s small hands, Lynsha gave her a smile.

Mia looked at Lynsha’s face. Yes, she is a little bit angry.

It was kind of scary that Lynsha’s smile didn’t match the way her eyes. Mia didn’t want to get in trouble, so she started questioning Bel.

“Well, then,” Mia said next. “Do you want to explain this yourself?”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Bel started nervously. “It’s because…”

Bel quickly looked at Anne and Lynsha before leaning into Mia’s ear.

“When I was younger, the people I gave gold coins to were the ones who helped me a lot. I wanted to thank them in some way, and gold was the most important thing I could give them, so I did that,” Bel said in a whisper.

“When you were younger…” Mia put her arms together.

I see… So, this was in the future of the empire when the civil war was happening, and the people who ran these shops must have treated her well back then.

In the world of her future, Bel was both on the run and a young child with no power. Even if she really appreciated how kind people were to her, she couldn’t pay them back. Mia was used to feeling thankful for others and wanting to do something nice for them. She had gotten so much from Anne, but she didn’t have anything to give back. She felt just as much sorrow now as she did when the guillotine blade dropped. If she had anything she could give Anne that day, even a broken piece of gold, she would have tried to force it into her hands as payment.

Because of this, she felt sorry for Bel. It even struck a chord with her. Yet…

“Money means the same thing to everyone,” said Bel. “It’s simple to use, and they can buy whatever they want with it. It’s the best way for me to say thank you.”

“Bel…”

“There’s also no guarantee that I’ll see them again, so I make sure to repay any kindness I get right away.”

Mia finally realized that Bel’s tendency for charity came from a deep-seated fear hidden deep in her mind. If someone didn’t think they would always be there, they would insist on paying back kindness right away. It was a precaution meant to make sure that she always paid back her debts of thanks so that if, or maybe when, she disappeared, she wouldn’t have any regrets.

The places Bel had been and the life she had led… It wasn’t one where she could be careless and say, “I’ll thank them tomorrow.” And she probably had to experience a lot to figure this out after saying many times, “If only I’d said it then…”

Mia couldn’t help but groan when she thought about how heartbreaking the situation was. She wanted to talk to Bel about how she spent her money, but she couldn’t find the right words. She had no choice but to change how she did things.

“Even so, I still don’t like how you use money to pay back everything.” Mia said, “I don’t agree with your idea that money has the same value for everyone. Money can’t solve every problem.”

It was a very sensible thing to say. Mia said it, which makes it even more unbelievable. The moon might have been blue. Who can say?

“Really? Am I wrong…really?” Bel didn’t seem completely sure. Mia wasn’t surprised by that. Even though what she said was true, it lacked power because it was borrowed knowledge. Hearts couldn’t be moved by words that didn’t come from the heart.

Mia frowned and thought, Well, this is really getting tough.

She put a sweet snack in her mouth, but to her disappointment, no wise words came out.