CH 398

Alone

Mia took Chloe into her room by the hand. Inside, they found Anne still cleaning, with a dust cloth in one hand.

“Anne, I’m sorry to interrupt your cleaning, but Chloe and I are having a tea party right now. You can stop for a while.”

“Oh, okay, milady. After that, I’ll go make the tea—”

“No, don’t. Bel is off to get it from the restaurant as we speak—”

“Mia-neesama, I’m back!” Bel came back right on time. She held a tray with five cups on it. The cups gave off a sweet smell of hot chocolate.”

“Oh, Bel, I told you tea was fine… Also, how many cups are these? Only you, me, and Chloe are here. Why do we have extras? Did you get some for Anne and Lynsha?”

Anne was in the room, but Lynsha wasn’t there. Mia cocked her head when she saw how many cups there were. Bel grinned.

“Of course, the extra one is for me to fill up!” Bel said this without any shame.

“Bel…” Mia waited for Bel to put the tray down on the table before pinching the girl’s upper arm. One of the side effects of F.A.T. was that the skin between the shoulder and elbow was loose.

“Whoa, what?” Her jaw dropped. There wasn’t any jigglyness! She tried her own arm quickly. It moved around more than Bel’s. What a shame! She tried again on Bel because she couldn’t believe the world could be so unfair. To her great disappointment, it only confirmed what she had already found.

“U-Um… Mia-neesama? What are you doing?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing, I guess. Don’t mind me. Bel, what are you doing? Are you…working out? When I’m not paying attention?”

“Huh? I’m practicing the dance moves you showed me. Is that enough?”

“Oh… Yes. We should start doing those things again as a group. It’s time I took another look at your practice to make sure you’re doing it right.”

“Okay.”

After that long and unnecessary exchange, Mia turned to Chloe.

“Anyway, enough going off topic. Chloe, what’s bothering you?”

Still unsure, Chloe looked at Mia’s face and then at the cup she was holding in her hands. She didn’t say a word. Mia sighed briefly and put her hand on her chest.

“You’re my friend, Chloe,” she told her with a smile. “And a very valuable one, too. I’d like to know if there’s something on your mind. I can’t even enjoy this delicious cup of hot chocolate because you look so sad.” Even though her last claim might not be true, she kept going.

“I think it’s important for friends to be honest with each other. So, if you also consider me a friend, please talk to me. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“P-Princess Mia… Ooooh…” Chloe made a soft whimpering sound. It was like a crack in a wall, because it didn’t take long for her to show how upset she was. Her eyes filled with tears. She soon had tears running down her face.

“Hm…” Mia nodded, took out a handkerchief, and walked over to where the Chloe was. “Here. Use this. It’s okay.”

She gave Chloe the handkerchief and gave her back a gentle pat. At that time, she looked like a saint. She was calm and kind. But just for that moment.

“Oh, Princess Mia, I’m so sorry… I-It’s my dad. He… He fell to the ground and…”

“Huh?” Mia stopped when she realized what Chloe’s sobbing statement meant. Her holy smile was gone in an instant.

“Wha— Wait, you can’t be— Huh? Your dad? Y-You mean…Sir Marco? He…collapsed?”

Mia almost passed out right there, too. And with good cause. Marco Forkroad, Chloe’s father, ran Forkroad & Co. As it looked like there wouldn’t be enough food, their business was actually saving the empire. If it broke, Ganudos would definitely have a chance to move against the kingdom. They couldn’t miss out on a chance like that.

Crunch, crackle, crunch, crunch.She could hear the sound of something coming toward her. She turned around and saw a cliff with the obvious wooden frame of a guillotine climbing up it toward her.

Eeeeek! No, no, no, no! This is wrong!

On her back, a thin layer of cold sweat formed. She drank a big mouthful of hot chocolate and let out a breath. It helped her relax. After that, she gave Chloe a serious look.

“Please tell me what’s going on. What’s going on?”

Chloe looked at her for a second before nodding.

“Another company is actually coming after us. In terms of business, I mean.”

She then started telling her story. Someone went on a full-scale attack against Forkroad & Co., going after all the businesses that did business with them. This person was Shalloak Cornrogue, a rich merchant. As an aggressively hostile rival, he had used his business power to destroy every single trade channel that the Forkroads ran. In response, Marco worked day and night to try to find a way out of this terrible position, but he eventually collapsed because he was too tired.

“U-Unforgivable.” Mia said, “How dare he pick a fight with Chloe’s dad!” through clenched teeth.

The nerve of this thug of a shopkeeper made her visibly shake with anger. Forkroad & Co. was very important to the empire’s ability to get through the famine. In fact, after Mia’s big promise at the entrance ceremony, their part became even more important. She couldn’t let the Forkroads run out of wheat, because the wheat stocks were looking dangerously low now that demand had gone up.

This famine is already a code-G situation, merciful moons. Right now, the last thing I need is more trouble. Who is this jerk who wants to fight me?

Yes, you’re right… At this moment, attacking Forkroad & Co. was the same as attacking Mia herself. Code-G, which meant “guillotine,” was no joke. She wasn’t going to sit down and take this.

“Thank you, Chloe,” she said, giving her a nod of approval. “And good for you. I’m glad you told me about this, because I’m the right person to talk to about it. I’ll deal with it.”

“Princess Mia…”

“Let’s see… First, I need to talk to Ludwig. I don’t know much about merchants, but I think he comes from a family of traders.” Mia said to herself, “He should have some good ideas about how to handle this.”

Then, she showed an evil smil.

“Oh, ho, ho! Whoever this guy is, he’ll be sorry he picked a fight with me!”