CH 429

A Request From King Yuhal

“Huh? You want me to dance the Thanksgiving Dance with you?”

Mia frowned when she heard the idea out of the blue. She was relaxing in the guest room of Perujin Agricultural Country’s famous cake-shaped castle. She thought that after surviving King Yuhal’s dinner party and beating the rich merchant Shalloak last night, she had taken care of all her problems for now and deserved a break.

This idea was wrongly thought to be true when Princess Rania showed up and asked Princess Mia right away, “Princess Mia, would you like to dance the Thanksgiving Dance with me?”

Mia was surprised by how quickly she asked and how serious she looked.

“But isn’t that something that only Perujin princesses are allowed to do?”

Mia thought that the dance was a religious ceremony that Perujin women did to thank the gods on behalf of their people.

“Usually, yes. But this time, we have a special dance called the Visitant’s Dance to welcome important people to our country.”

“Hmm…”

Mia’s arms were crossed as she thought.

I guess I could be called an eminent guest since I’m the princess of a powerful neighboring kingdom…

She did meet the standards.

“But it’s participatory, right? I don’t know the dance, so I don’t know if I can keep up.”

“You’ll be fine. You helped me figure out the dance steps that one time.”

“Oh, yes, now that you mention it, I do remember that.”

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Rania once asked Mia for help because she knew that dancing was her (only) skill. Rania had to do the Thanksharvest Dance at the festival every year, but she had a terrible sense of rhythm. Mia remembers that the process of teaching her had been especially hard.

“Also, you got here before you were supposed to, so you can take your time learning the steps.”

There was still a week until the show, so she would have plenty of time to practice.

“Well, if that’s the case, I guess it’s okay…”

Dancing was her (and only) strong suit, so she wasn’t too worried about learning the steps. Tatiana had also been trying to get her to work out more.

During this event, I’m likely to eat a lot, so I’ll have to find a way to burn it off. This dance practice might be just what I need after all.

“Oh, by the way, Rania,” she added when she had another thought. “May I take Bel? I won’t ask her to be part of the real thing, but could she at least practice with us?”

Bel was also no slouch when it came to stuffing her face since she arrived in Perujin. She had to do the exercises she was told to do or she would end up like Shalloak.

“I see no reason why not. “I think Bel is your relative, right?”

“Yes, she’s my gr… sister, little sister?”

Rania took her speech stutter as a nervous but honest answer, and gave her the kind of sympathetic nod that people usually give when they don’t want to say something awkward about family.

“Understood. Since she is a member of the royal family, she might even be allowed to take part in the performance. People say that about ten people used to perform the Visitant’s Dance back in the day. We’ll let her work with us. Then, if she’s okay with it, she can join us for the real thing.”

“Huh?” Bel jumped out of her bed and asked, “Mia-sama, are you talking about me?”

The hammock in the middle of the room, which was attached to two poles, shook when she moved.

“Eeek!”

She fell off the swaying cloth.

—

The night before, when Mia had come back from Shalloak’s treatment room, she had found Bel sleeping peacefully in a hammock.

“Stop, Grandma Mia! I can’t eat any more…”

The happy smile on her face and the mumbled comment she made showed that she was having a good dream. The bottom of her pants were turned up, so her belly button was showing.

“I’m telling you, this girl…” Mia put her head down. “She needs to remember that she is the princess of a huge kingdom. This doesn’t look good at all…”

Mia actually has a good sleeping posture, just so you know. Her own sleep-vice was that she would sometimes just get out of bed in the middle of the night. Most of the time, this happened after she heard ghost stories, and Anne would find her in her bed the next morning.

She pulled Bel’s clothes back over her stomach and muttered, “I’ll never figure out who this girl took after…” As she did this, she saw that the tummy really was quite round!

“I’ve never had anything so delicious… Ha ha, I could eat this forever…”

Bel’s sleep-talking came in as if on cue. Mia felt like she was looking into a mirror all of a sudden. This girl, like herself, was a victim of the same terrible, melodic curse: the curse of an endless hunger when faced with delicious food. This would be bad for their health in the future. Mia finally knew how to fight back against its evil power. The answer was to work out. And exercising on a regular schedule!

“I need to get Bel to exercise more…”

—

Bel’s big belly gave Mia a new sense of purpose, which is why Rania’s offer was like a gift from heaven.

“Bel,” Mia said, “you need to work off every delicious thing you eat by working out. You’re coming to dance class with me.”

Bel jumped to her feet and put her back straight.

“Okay, Grand…Mia-sama! If you want me to practice, I will do that.”

She was a good girl.

“Oh, but the performance is in a few days, so I’ll have to spend less time studying with Professor Ludwig…”

A cheeky little rascal but she is still a good girl.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It will be for your own good.”

Bel sighed.

“Ooooh, Mia-sama… Why are you always so mean to me?”

She started crying and whining right away. Mia looked at the fake crying and let out a sigh.

I can’t believe how brave this girl is… She was born to be a seductress. If it were father, she would control him like a puppet. It’s scary to think about what she’ll be like in the future.

She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or worried.

Author’s Note:

I feel like the Perujin arc will finish in a week. I won’t be posting for a week because it is the Golden Week. I will post this week by Friday.

Translator’s Note:

Posts will continue every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We are still more than hundreds of chapters away to catch up.

But I’m on holiday at the moment.