CH 386

Princess Mia Levels Up: The Statue of Proof of Friendship

The next morning, Mia left the Berman manor before daybreak. Mia was in fact quite the morning person, rising early and going to bed early. When she didn’t choose to take one or more morning naps, that is.

Her carriage moved toward Princess Town, which was located at the border of the Sealence Forest, accompanied by a squadron of soldiers. After some trundling, a row of trees became visible.

“Aaah, I haven’t visited this place in a long time. Moons, doesn’t this place look different now?” she remarked with obvious amazement, “I hardly recognize it.”

In front of the woodland stood a huge building. Of course, it was nothing compared to the Whitemoon Palace. Even the main building of Saint-Noel was larger. It did, however, compete favorably with the typical noble manor. Large farmland areas were located all around the structure. She had the impression that she was traveling through farmland to get to school because these fields surrounded the route they went toward the academy.

“They weren’t present the previous time, were they? Are they being utilized in agricultural research?”

The fields were lush and verdant despite the lingering chill in the air.

“Those don’t appear to be weeds; they are developing in orderly rows. There must be someone caring for them. I wonder whether that little home there is some sort of surveillance post. Wow, all of this is really impressive.”

The creation of a wheat strain that could withstand the cold was, after all, the academy’s main goal. Mia couldn’t help but beam with happiness as she noticed that consistent advancement was being made. Just then…

“Is that Saint Mia Academy, wow?” Bel shouted with delight as she hugged the carriage window. Mia was startled out of her thoughts by the noise.

“Right, Saint Mia Academy was the name of the institution.”

Even though it was already too late for Mia to be fussing, she still wasn’t fully comfortable with the name.

Whatever. I’ll overlook it. After all, it’s just a name…

She would, regrettably, only briefly embrace the academy’s branding.

—

The tiny houses had been erected in a rough circle around the school, Mia noticed as her carriage drew closer to it. Even if they were still too few to constitute a town, she didn’t care. Wheat research was her major goal. Everything was fine as long as that was moving forward.

The carriage eventually came to a stop in front of the school. Mia exited and looked at the structure in front of her. She felt uneasy as soon as she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. At the entrance to the school, there was an odd building that resembled a shed. It only had walls and a roof on three of its sides. The final side was really open. Any type of human home was impossible due to the strange architecture. It appeared to be more of a refuge from the weather. Or perhaps a protected shrine.

She focused her attention on the building and saw that something whitish was enshrined inside. It appeared to be a statue. Mia looked up and noticed, then looked aside. She was in full “please don’t let that be what I think it is” mood at this point. Her spine was racing with chills. She really didn’t want to look at it again for fear that her worries would come true, but she was forced to. It couldn’t be avoided. She therefore looked at the enshrined thing with much hesitation.

“Gah! What the?”

She was in awe of an iridescent sculpture that was twice her height. She had to stretch her neck back to see the top, where a horn of something horsey could be seen. The unicorn had a hand on its neck that belonged to a young girl who had a beaming smile on her face. More than a passing resemblance could be seen between Mia and the girl.

That girl kind of reminds me of someone, which is fascinating. I wonder if… Ack no! No, I have to face the facts! That most certainly is me!

She was reminded of what her father had said at the her birthday celebration.

He undoubtedly made reference to the statue that Viscount Berman was erecting. Consequently, this is the crime scene…

This wouldn’t vanish as quickly as the enormous snow sculpture from the event, which would melt as the weather warmed up. She was unsure about the lifespan of wooden sculptures, but she assumed it was at least years.

Viscount Berman made no comments regarding this. Was this a surprise? I most certainly don’t require such a surprise!

The Mia in the sculpture was dressed in a one-piece that resembled a woodland fairy’s outfit. She didn’t simply look like a fairy, though. She was a fairy! Her back was really sprouting wings!

This is pushing things too far, don’t you think? Now that we’ve entered pure fiction. It’s kind of embarrassing, to be honest.

There have always been powerful individuals who viewed themselves as gods in history. Although it was obviously selfish, their desire to be regarded as almighty gods was understandable. However, those who presented themselves as adorable fairies were much less common. This too was comprehensible. It was, after all, rather embarrassing. Even more cringe-worthy was the wide-eyed “look at me, I’m so innocent and charming” smile on the face of her avian counterpart.

Then came the killer: everyone who saw this sculpture would automatically think she had commissioned it and had expressly asked to be shown in this way. The idea almost caused her insides to curl around on themselves. She started to shake.

“What do you think, Your Highness? Do you like it?”

Mia was about to spiral further into cringe-induced craziness when a soothing voice intervened. The Saint Mia Academy’s headmaster was approaching when she turned around.

“Wiseman Galv, ah. Good to see you.” She curtsied politely as she greeted him. “I appreciate all of your assistance in establishing this academy.”

“No, no, thankfulness works the other way. I must express my gratitude for giving this old sack of bones a chance to experience life once more. Being a part of such a noble initiative is a huge honor.”

After introducing the headmaster to Bel, Mia returned her attention to the sculpture.

“However, I must say, this sculpture…”

Galv explained, “It was created by the Lulus as a token of their devotion to Your Highness. It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

She nodded. The old man was correct. Leaving her visage aside, the sculpture’s artistic value was evident. Every curve and groove radiated the artists’ unbridled ardour. The person who carved this must have had a strong admiration for Mia or really loved fairies.

Galv remarked, “I dissuaded them from that plan by stressing to them that Your Highness is not fond of extravagant displays of self-praise and would not enjoy such a massive sculpture. Originally, it was supposed to be three times the current size.”

Thank the moons that this guy understands! It makes sense why they describe him as wise. Well done, Galv!

“I therefore instructed them to keep it to twice their actual size.”

So close! You were so close, ugh! Why didn’t you just tell them to stop building it right away?

Mia was only just able to contain her scream. It was all the more frustrating because he had almost made the ideal decision.

“It was ultimately agreed that some artistic liberty to conceal the identity of the female in the sculpture would best suit our objectives. There was also the suggestion that the sculpture should be created in your identical likeness. To reflect your preferences in literature, we subsequently incorporated certain fantasy components.”

I don’t know whether we have different definitions of the word “conceal,” but it’s obvious who the sculpture depicts—that’s me. For shouting out loud, the academy bears my name! But wait, for the love of the moon, look at the plaque below! The title is “The Frolicking of Saint Mia and a Unicorn” as well.

So much for artistic liberty. There was absolutely no ‘concealing’ occurring in this situation.

Ugh, is there any way I can get this removed?

The sculpture’s rainbow-colored glitter made it obvious that it was from the same wood as the unicorn hairpin. Both were constructed from the forest’s trees, whose wood, when stripped of its bark, radiated a simple, earthy beauty.

She was inspecting the sculpture closely, Galv noticed and remarked, “They carved it from an ancient tree that grew deep in the forest. It has probably existed for ages. Unquestionably a priceless treasure, especially in light of the Lulus’ belief that trees are gifts from the heavenly realm. However, they stated that they would be delighted to give us the wood if it were to be used to create a sculpture of Your Highness.”

Hnnngh… Undoubtedly, the Lulus give a lot of thought to the trees in their forest. I only kicked one, but they nearly punched holes in me as a result. If that’s how they respond to typical trees, imagine how they’d react to one that’s hundreds of years old. Oh my goodness, the amount of kindness! It’s excessive.

“After the Lulus had shaped the wood,” Galv said, “Viscount Berman had arranged for its surface to be treated using the most cutting-edge woodworking methods available in the empire. This sculpture is a wonderfully moving representation of how two parties can put aside their previous problems and come together to support Your Highness.”

Augh! The backstory is just too heartwarming! Why is this damn sculpture full of significance!? How am I expected to request its removal at this point?

Mia was sadly beginning to understand that this sculpture was here to stay. She breathed slowly as she closed her eyes.

She said the words “W-Wow,” in the rigid monotone of a disinterested actor. “Being the subject of such a sculpture is such an honor. I’m so thrilled that I might cry.”

She nearly did, but she choked back her cries of joy out of respect for decency.