CH 449

Princess Mia Feels Extremely Tolerant

“Bandits! Bandits are attacking!”

Mia knew she had done something very wrong as soon as she heard the frantic cry from outside.

Oh, moons I did wrong. I was meant to just watch, but I’ve made to take part.

The fact that she had Dion Alaia was the only thing that kept her from having a nervous breakdown right there. The best and scariest of the Empire was here, and was on her side to boot! As someone who had been hunted by Dion before, Mia knew how important the last point was.

Things should go well. Bandits are all that are involved. They can’t be that bad, can they?

The plan worked! For once, she didn’t run away as soon as she smelled danger.

Sion, with his big head, might be careless around bandits and get himself killed, but not me. I never let down my guard. Ooh oh! I may have walked right into the middle of a very scary situation by accident, but that’s okay!

Mia was very sure of herself even though she was in a dangerous situation. She had done all of her work. She was ready for anything that might happen on this trip. except for this one. But other than that, everything was going great. Not only that, but she was able to buy some rare treats, which wasn’t even on the plan. She just needed to fix this tiny hole in her plan, and she would be good to go. It can’t be that hard, right?

“Mia-sama…”

She heard someone say her name in a voice full of worry. When she turned toward it, she saw a scared Esmeralda almost holding on to Nina. To be honest, it was a pretty sad sight.

I know she’s afraid, but why is she hugging her maid like that? How incredibly childish.

Mia gave Anne a quick look. Her own maid was clearly worried, but she wasn’t about to lose her cool.

No matter how scared I was, I know I’d never act like that. I do hug Anne sometimes, but it’s to help her calm down.

She shook her head.

I do it for her, never for myself. Esmeralda really can be such a chicken sometimes. No woman who cares about herself should ever do something so embarrassing in public.

“Don’t worry, Esmeralda,” Mia said with a smile to reassure her. “My guards won’t have any trouble with bandits like these. Before you know it, it’ll be over.”

But I do wonder… What if I were not here? How would things have gone?

Most likely, the pilgrimage traders would have passed Esmeralda’s group and gone on ahead, where the bandits would have attacked them. Sion would have died during that fight.

But hold on. Esmeralda’s trip plans changed from what they used to be. I made the fix myself. We’re a few days off than the first one…So, the bandits shouldn’t have come at such a good time. Still, they were going the same way, so…Something bothers me about this. Esmeralda is from one of the Four Houses, so I can see why people might want to get her…

She made a serious frown as she tried to figure out what this line of thought meant.

Was Sion forced in some way to go on the hunt for bandits? Or would things have been different if he hadn’t gotten involved? I thought that these bandits were trying to kill Sion, but maybe they just want Esmeralda.

Only the fact that Sion had died was written in the Chronicles. There was no way to find out what had happened before this happened.

I have the feeling that whatever is going on behind the scenes is pretty complicated—Huh?

She was lost in her thoughts when she felt a sudden weight on her chest. Esmeralda had jumped on Mia out of the blue.

“What? Esmeralda? What are you doing?”

She had to fight with Esmeralda a bit to get her to let go of her. Only then did she notice that her friend had tears in her eyes. This didn’t stop Esmeralda, though, from putting on the least believable brave act anyone has seen in a while.

“Just so you know, Mia-sama… I-It’s okay to be scared! I’m here to help you. I’ll protect you with my life if anything bad happens. As an Etoiline, I swear on my honor. So do my troops. I know they will put their lives at risk for us. Most likely… So, don’t worry—Eeek!”

When the carriage creaked, Esmeralda almost jumped, but she tried her best to get back to her “you can count on me” self. Mia could almost see the big sister part of her and the scared little sister part of her fighting over who was in charge.

What if Esmeralda had come with me during the revolution? If we had both tried to run away? Would it have felt a bit like this?

Mia was curious.

In the earlier timeline, the Greenmoons had already left the country, making it impossible for the two to leave together. Fear and doubt were the only things Mia had with her when she tried to leave on her own. If she had been with a stressed-out Esmeralda, it might have helped her relax…

So be it. This isn’t too bad, I guess. I mean, she’s definitely invading my space, but I’m sure she’s scared, so I’ll let it slide.

Mia was in a very tolerant mood because of what had happened. Something you don’t see very often.

—

While the people in Mia’s wagon were saying, “Are you scared? Because of I’m not scared,” the mood in the car next to them was very different. Tiona and Liora were checking their bows and arrows. They were the main people (according to Mia) who pulled their weight in battle.

“Can you hit them from here, Liora?”

“Yes, I can. It’s no big deal.” Liora gave a confident smile and nod.

“Good. If I have to, I’ll also help. I think I should be able to hit, at least…”

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Target the body… They might have protection on… But when you’re far away, it’s easy to hit… And if it goes down their throat, well, you’re lucky.”

—

Then, in the next carriage, the mood was yet again different. The people on board were talking about less serious things.

“Wow! Do you mean I’ll get to see General Dion fight?”

“Hm? You know who Dion is?” asked a confused Citrina.

Bel threw her hands up in the air with joy.

“Yes, of course! He’s the best! He helped me so much!”

“Did he? Huh. So, I guess I’m happy for you then.”

Citrina didn’t agree with Bel’s answer, but she shook her head to get the thought out of her head. Her study didn’t match up with what Bel said, but that didn’t matter. The truth of those stories could wait for now. Right now, her best friend was about to talk about her past, which was much more important. Citrina had to choose between looking into a possible intelligence failure and talking with her friend. She picked the latter. Her sense of right and wrong had completely changed into that of a true noble girl.

“So, Bel, do you like strong men like him?”

“Huh? Strong men? Well, if I had to choose, I guess I would say yes. I like people who are strong and look cool.”

“It’s interesting. Who are the kind of people who are strong and look cool? Do you mean like Prince Abel?”

“Hee hee, just between you and me, I’m more into Libra–, I mean Prince Sion.”

…May Grandpa Abel’s soul rest in peace.