CH 430

Princess Mia Dedicates Herself to Dancing

Mia started learning the Thanksgiving Dance as soon as she said yes to Rania’s request. As part of the routine, Perujin dancers held wooden clappers called “naruko,” which looked like paddles, in each hand and rattled them in a rhythmic way. Mia had no trouble with this, and she was able to copy the exercise she was shown almost perfectly in the end. Her smooth, graceful moves were so beautiful that it looked like she had been dancing for as long as she could remember. Even though she was a good dancer to begin with, she had to put in a lot of hard work to get to where she was.

You might ask, “What made her work so hard?” Well…

—

“We’ll have you do a simplified version of the dance,” Rania said, “since the full version is pretty complicated.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m fine with doing the whole thing.”

She didn’t want to say that, but Bel, who was standing behind her, looked up at her with wide eyes and said, “Oh, I can’t wait to see Grand— Mia-neesama dance!”

Sincere praise for her granddaughter tickled her ego just enough to get her to say what she wanted to say before her brain could stop her. She even added, “Oho ho, then get ready to be amazed, because my dancing will be breathtaking!”

Her brain really needed a break.

After saying out loud that she was going to amaze her audience, she could no longer fail. She didn’t have the guts to wing it on stage, so she gave in to her inner chicken and did what was safe. So, she kept practicing over and over. Then she did more practice. During this time, she had dreams every night about messing up badly on stage. Still, she did what she had to do. After all, Mia thought that she could win by sheer numbers. That is, the amount of time spent learning or practicing. So, she was able to build up the muscle memory she needed to learn the choreography. She then used this newfound skill to teach Bel.

“Hold on, Bel. This is not how that part goes. It’s more like a whoomph, and then you go whoosh with the spin, and then you just shooo to a stop.”

A guest, however, stopped her from teaching in a way that no one could understand.

“Hello, Princess Mia. It has been a while?”

“My, Chloe. I didn’t know you were also here.”

Mia’s dear book friend made her smile when she saw her. She missed her.

“I must say,” she said, tilting her head in a strange way, “I didn’t expect you to come with Tatiana. It’s not often that I see you both together.”

Tatiana also showed up. She had been taking care of Shalloak for the past few days. In fact, she should have been with him, so why was she here?

“Mr. Cornrogue said he wanted to talk to my dad, so…” Chloe said as she looked at the ground with fear in her eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” Mia said with a soft smile that quickly turned arrogant. “I’ve already talked to him. Right, Tatiana?”

“Yes. Master Shalloak has been different ever since he talked to Her Highness. He’s changed into a whole new person.”

Shalloak’s stubborn personality went away the day Mia talked to him, and he became a much calmer person as a result. She thought that most of the credit should go to herself, even though he was determined to rest his sick body.

Oho ho, and you can thank me for it all. I broke that man up to help him. He should be happy that I was willing to be his bad guy.

“Not only that, but Tatiana has been making him medicines to take.”

Mia gave a sneaky grin.

Tatiana isn’t a slouch, is she? She not only makes Shalloak work out and eat better, but she also changes his attitude. She did tell him that she was giving him medicine to thin his blood. How clever to make a man happy by making his blood happy. The girl is good at what she does!

People with thick, sticky blood were touchy and quick to anger. Mia was a strong believer in the (pseudo)science of blood-based temperance, so this made perfect sense to her.

“That’s why you shouldn’t worry. He probably won’t do anything bad.”

He probably just wants to apologize.

She had no idea that the talk would be about a lot more than just saying sorry.

—

“Lord almighty, Shalloak. Look at you. This must’ve been a big ordeal?”

As Marco walked into Shalloak Cornrogue’s treatment room, he was shocked.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

“Hello, Marco. You came. I wish I could have talked to the head of Forkroad & Co. with a little more respect, but…”

Shalloak made a grimace, which made the lines on his face look even older. At the same time, he seemed calmer, like a big weight had been taken off his shoulders.

“All the business deals I had planned to make here have also gone up in smoke. I really have hit bottom.”

“For a man who has hit rock bottom, you seem pretty happy.”

“Well, I guess… A close call with death can change a person. I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”

He met Marco’s eyes.

“I have done you wrong, Marco. If you can forgive me, please accept my apology.”

Marco’s eyes got bigger as he was shocked by both the apology and how sincere it was. It really seems like he’s a different person. In fact, it’s so strange that it’s spooky.

He gave a sad smile and a shoulder shrug.

“Everything was just business. You don’t have to say you’re sorry. I’m still interested, though… What made her suddenly change her mind? Was it Her Highness?”

“I guess it was. You could say that she showed me something. To the kind of death that would come at the end of a life lived for nothing but money, and to the sorrow I’d feel if I did that.”

Shalloak turned his head down.

“It scared me, so I freaked out. Can you even think of that? A young girl told a grown man something that made him very scared. But now we’re here. I’m still scared, and it makes me want to do something…”

“I see…”

Again, Marco’s eyes got bigger as he was shocked by the revelation. He knew a Shalloak who was known for being bold and focused on making money in business. That old Shalloak was nowhere to be found, and Mia Luna Tearmoon was to blame…

No wonder Chloe have changed so much? No, she’s not the only one. I, too, have…

Since he heard about Mia’s Bread-Cake Declaration and how, at least in his mind, it would lay the groundwork for a big plan to end hunger on the whole continent, the thought stuck with him. Before he knew it, he was already coming up with ideas for how he could help with the project. He would ask himself if this wasn’t his chance to really use his business skills.

“Hm? Is there something wrong?”

“Oh, no, no. I just had a thought…”

The look on Marco’s face changed.

“Well, then, Shalloak, I have a pretty good idea for you. Now, I haven’t heard anything from Her Highness, so I’m just guessing, but I think she’s going to…”

—

So, the Thanksharvest Festival in Perujin began in earnest, setting the stage for a lot of different goals and plans to come true.