CH 408

Mia Recognizes her F.A.T.

“Mmm…” Mia woke up and saw she was in a clean bed. “Where…? Ah, I’m in the treatment room.”

Saint-Noel Academy, where young nobles from all the nearby countries went to school, had an excellent system for medical care. This shouldn’t be a surprise, since it was the Central Orthodox Church that set up treatment centers all over the continent, making it possible for more people to get medical care.

As its home country, the Holy Principality of Belluga had a lot of medical knowledge that had been built up over time. Mia may have felt so good after getting such cutting-edge care that she jumped out of bed.

“Hmm… I have to say that Saint-Noel Academy did a great job. Their medical care is excellent.”

…Or it could be that she didn’t need any care in the first place. She passed out when she saw the blood, but Abel grabbed her as she fell. They just put her on a bed, even though she didn’t seem to be hurt.

A girl walked over when she noticed that Mia was waking up.

“Ah, you’re awake. President Mia, how do you feel?”

“Hm?” Mia’s eyes got bigger. “My, you’re…Tatiana? What are you doing in this kind of place?”

Tatiana gave her an awkward smile in response to her surprise.

“Uh, I’m actually taking part in an experiential program here at the treatment center. My dad was a doctor, so I’m curious about the facilities here…”

“Wow, your dad is a doctor? I see… Oh, that makes me remember! Where is Bel.”

She quickly took a look around.

“Ah, Grand- Mia-neesama, you’re awake!”

As if on cue, Bel, Citrina, and Anne walked in, following Bel. They were waiting in the room next door.

“Hee hee, look, Mia-neesama. I asked Tatiana to fix my wounds. She was really good at it.”

She happily pointed to her knee, which was wrapped in a neat bandage.

Mia asked, “Are you going to be all right?”

“Oh, it’s nothing serious. You’re such a worrier,” Bel said with a laugh

Mia wasn’t quite sure. She thought that the fact that bandages were used meant that the injury was bad enough to need them.

“It bled a little, but the bone is fine and the wound wasn’t that deep,” Tatiana said. Her voice wasn’t as shy as it usually was; instead, it was full of confidence.

“Well, I can see your father in you for sure. Did he teach you all of this?” Mia asked.

There was a short pause before Tatiana replied, “My father died when I was five, so he didn’t teach me much. I taught myself everything I know now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that…” Mia said, “It must have been a lot of work.” and nodded sympatehically.

Tatiana, on the other hand, didn’t look sad. Instead, it hardened with resolve.

“President Mia, there’s something I want you to know.” She then told the story of how she met and her relationship with Shalloak Cornrogue.

—

“I came to Saint-Noel because I wanted to be a doctor like my father, or at least do something related to medicine. My family was poor, though… Way, way too poor.”

Tatiana put her hand to her chest as she spoke.

“Coming here should have been an impossible dream. However, Master Shalloak’s grant program made it possible for me to study here. He even wrote a reference letter for me to the academy.”

“My! Are you serious?”

That surprised Mia.

I wouldn’t have thought someone like him would be so kind. I mean, he thinks money is god. Oh, but he did say something about giving money to charity in order to keep up his reputation… That’s something that a lot of rich people do.

As she said again how she didn’t like Shalloak, Tatiana shook her head as if she could read her mind.

“I know a lot of people don’t like Master Shalloak. People say bad things about him all the time. They all think he’s doing it to improve his image.”

Mia huffed, impressed by how smart the comment was.

“But,” Tatiana said, “he started his scholarship program when he was much younger. He was still a new merchant at the time.”

“I can’t think he had much extra money back then. That must have been a hard cost to handle.”

“It was, but he did it anyway. He said he was thankful for the good business he got to do, so he wanted to give back with his own money. Many people, like me, had their lives changed by him. He helped us. Because they admire him so much, some of us who have already graduated hope to become merchants one day.”

Now, this is some very helpful information. Oho ho!

Mia kept listening nicely, but she was laughing like a madwoman inside. What she had just heard was, as far as she could tell, embarrassing stuff from Shalloak’s past. It was like seeing a pirate who looked tough talk baby talk to his favorite little kitten. This was a great thing to use as blackmail! Horrible stuff, for sure! The Shalloak of today would probably think this was the height of foolishness when he was young. It would be a part of his past that he would try very hard not to remember because it was so different from what he believes now. He had nothing to do with setting up a scholarship scheme for the children of poor families. And paying for it himself, even though he wasn’t very wealthy? What else could such a thing mean but compassion? Or kindness? Or sentimentality?

For someone who talked a lot about sentimental wish-washing and the dangers of letting feelings get in the way, he sure did a lot of wish-washing and falling into emotional traps back in the day, didn’t he? How dare he tell me what to do!

Shalloak was supposed to be a superhuman who was coldly calculating, born for money, and would die for it. However, it turned out that he was neither super nor coldly calculating. He was just a normal man with normal weaknesses and feelings. From what he said, he had flaws. Weaknesses that Mia knew about and could use at any time.

She smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

He didn’t look like the kind of person who would give up easily. I’m sure he’ll come back. When that happens, oho ho… I’m going to poke him right where it hurts! He’s such a nice guy. Oho ho ho ho!

If she had been alone, she would have laughed out loudly in her most evil way.

“Please, Princess Mia,” Tatiana said in a polite way. “Please don’t do anything too cruel to Master Shalloak.”

The sincerity of her plea made Mia smell danger. The idea that they are “grateful for his scholarship program” might not work. After all, he used his own money to help smart but poor kids get education.

Knowledge was a tool, and there were people with very sharp weapons who were very thankful to Shalloak. If Mia says bad things about him, she could end up making some very dangerous friends.

Only now did she come to the sad understanding that Tatiana herself could be a danger. The girl seemed to want to become a doctor. Mia’s time with Citrina taught her that medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin; how they are used makes all the difference. If she could turn someone like that against her…

The paragraphs about how she’d killed herself with poison came back to her mind.

I thought it was Rina who did it, but I just realized that someone else could have done it, too.

Finally, Mia realized that she’d become too comfortable.

Ugh, stupid me. I let all of my guard down. I already know that I have to be alert and on my toes all the time.

She thought back on what happened before last summer.

When I didn’t work out as much as I should have, my body got a little flabby, which I didn’t like.

Her swimsuit had trouble fitting her new F.A.T., and now it was doing the same thing again.

Oh no, I did it. I let myself get too used to things and let F.A.T. sneak up on me. It hit my brain! I’ve gone mentally flabby!

So, after giving it some thought, Mia decided to change her plan.

“Hmm,” she finally said in response to Tatiana. “It all depends on how he chooses to act.”

First, she made it clear that Shalloak was the only one who could decide how she would treat him. In a way, this wasn’t a lie. She didn’t want to have a fight with the man, much less make things worse between them. The joker in her thought it might be fun to bother him with the dirt she had just dug up, but she wasn’t set on it. With the great famine coming, this was a very important time. If he wanted to stay out of danger and stay out of sight, she would be happy to let him.

However, she had a feeling he wouldn’t give up so easily. If Shalloak kept getting in the way of Forkroad & Co.’s business, she would have to back Forkroad, which would keep her at odds with Shalloak.

It’s probably not a good idea to keep a small fight like this going with him forever. If only there was a way to just…break him.

Mia snapped her fingers to make a point.

If he would just do that and accept defeat, the problem would be solved… Oh, I get it!

When she looked at Tatiana’s face, she had a flash of an idea.

“Give me a moment… You know, there might be a way to avoid useless fights, but I can only do it if you help me.”

“Huh?” Tatiana blinked. “You want my help?”

“That’s right,” Mia said, nodding with a sneaky evil grin.

Even if I expose him to his face, he might still deny it. But if I bring her along, I will have much more power. So, I can really make him uncomfortable. After all, he can’t act like he doesn’t know when one of the kids he helped is right next to me! Oh, you nice, nice man. What will you do when I tell people that Tatiana is my friend? Oho ho… I’m going to put you in a corner, and then I’ll slowly put pressure on you until you break.

Shalloak made his grant program when he was weak; he gave in to his emotions. Mia was looking at the bad thing that happened because she didn’t think things through. She’d be crazy not to take advantage of it. This also made it easy for Tatiana to take on some of the work. If her fight with Shalloak got worse, she could avoid Tatiana’s anger by saying that she was also to blame. It was all part of her plan to avoid blame.

Oho ho, with so many things going my way, Shalloak will probably understand it’s best to back off while his wounds are still shallow. If he doesn’t, he’ll face much more shame.

In war, the most deaths happen when both sides are about the same strength. If one side is much stronger than the other from the start, talks could lead to one side giving up and going home without any fighting. As the princess of a powerful empire, Mia planned to go into war right away with a much larger army. General Mia the Great had woken up and was showing off her military skills.

I have enough to do with the famine. A quick, clear win is the only way to go in this case. Just charge in and wipe out the enemy! If, of course, he does try to start a fight with me. No matter what, it doesn’t hurt to be ready.

So, Mia got Tatiana’s help as a trump card. But she didn’t expect to have to play it so quickly.