CH 472

Another Sister

While Mia was busy getting important information out of Keithwood, the other members were having a friendly conversation in the dining room.

“Oh, yes, that’s right, I remember that she knows Keithwood. Then…” said King Abram in a low voice.

Tiona Rudolvon was bored as she watched him think quietly. At first, she was nervous and stressed because she was going to a dinner party with the royalty. She was afraid of offending someone by chance, so she made sure to be as polite as possible. As the dinner went on, however, the friendly environment made her feel better. Anxiety stopped coming to mind, and discipline took over.

As a way to get back at the haughty central nobles, Tiona had trained herself from a young age to meet or even exceed all of society’s standards. She had learned everything from courtly manners to academic knowledge. She even practiced swordsmanship so that haughty lords wouldn’t look down on her.

Today, all of that hard work to get better has paid off in a big way. Once she got over her fears, her true personality came out and gave off a unique vibe that was unlike anyone else in the room. Tiona was more of a spectator; compared to Esmeralda, who is a potential bride, and Mia, for whom the marriage could have had big effects. She had nothing to lose, so she could look at the scene from her own unique point of view.

She looked away from the king and toward Sion. Prince Sion seems to care a lot about Prince Echard.

She agreed with Sion’s point of view very much. Esmeralda didn’t have to be the only older sister there. Tiona had a younger brother, too. On top of that, Cyril, who had been a shy child who didn’t have much confidence for a long time, was a lot like Echard. She knew all too well how he felt as she watched his brother get rattled trying to answer Esmeralda’s questions while she threw in a few careful words here and there to take the pressure off the poor boy without hurting his fragile pride. The line between being too watchful and being too careless was thin, and Tiona could see on Sion’s face how hard it was for him to walk it. In some ways, it was endearing to see.

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She thought, “Boys can be such a handful.” She felt a twinge of guilt when she realized that she liked more than just the younger prince. It was endearing to see Sion, who was always so perfect and could do no wrong, struggle so much. The thing that stuck with her the most was when the king was talking to Mia and Echard was trying his best to understand what was being said. Sion had taken a quick look at his brother at that time, and Tiona saw the pride in Sion’s eyes. It was something he was very proud of.

I know how you feel. He probably hopes that a little bit of Her Majesty will rub off on his brother.

It was clear that Mia and the king would have important talks. Sion probably wanted Echard to learn something from the conversation by letting him listen in.

I had the same feelings for Cyril…

Since that day when he met Mia, Cyril had changed. Before she knew it, her shy, quiet brother had changed into an important part of Mia’s team who worked with the princess of a neighboring nation for the good of all. Tiona was very proud of her brother because she had helped him ever since she could remember. She also couldn’t help but feel a little bit of jealousy toward Mia. Mia had done in one meeting what she hadn’t been able to do her whole life. Even though she was happy with the results, that was still hard to take…

Comforting him… Nursing his broken heart… That still falls to me in the end, doesn’t it?

Cyril had a crush on Mia. That was almost for sure. Just as sure was that it wasn’t fair. It was an impossible love, and she had to comfort her brother when he had to face the truth of how he felt. In fact, this was something that she thought about quite often.

No matter what, the point was that Tiona knew what it was like to have problems with her little brother. Sion probably hoped that Echard would be changed for the better by meeting Mia, like he had been and maybe like everyone else whose life she had touched.

I guess it’s the same for everyone, now that I think about it, isn’t it? Her Majesty is really something else…

Whenever Mia crossed paths with someone, that person’s life would get better. They grow as a person. Just like Tiona did. As she thought about the lunch with Rafina, she was reminded of the time she had faced the people who had locked her up… and forgiven them. Once upon a time, there was a Tiona who wouldn’t or couldn’t forget. That Tiona only cared about getting back at the central nobles, whom she hated so much.

All of us changed after we met Her Highness…

It seemed like when Mia touched something, the world itself would change. As if she were a lighthouse for change, a new, brighter, warmer world slowly grew from her to replace the old one. But the that begged a question.

What would have happened if she hadn’t met Mia? How would her life have turned out? How far would she have gone to get even with the central nobility because she was so eager to get her revenge? She would have sworn to never forgive them if her anger and frustration had filled her with bitter hate. What did that version of herself have in store?

She saw a strange scene appear before her eyes all at once. She saw a big square that was lit up by the red light of the setting sun. Victory rang through the air, hollow and empty. What she had worked so hard to get rid of was in front of her, stuck in red and impossible to get back. It had been lost. She was too. All that was left was bone-weary indifference.

It was a scene that couldn’t have happened. It was too fantastical to be real, but too real to be a dream. Maybe a nightmare from a sleepless night that came back to life…

Just then, the door to the dining room opened, and Mia came back smiling like a big weight had been taken off her shoulders…or her bowels.

When she left, Her Highness looked very upset, but now she seems to be in a much better mood. I wonder if she’s found a way to deal with the problem with Miss Esmeralda…

That must have been it.

She is always so amazing. Maybe she’ll figure out Prince Sion’s trouble along the way…

She could see the rift between Sion and Echard, and it had been bothering her the whole time she was eating. Even worse was the fact that it was being used by other nobles for political gain, which made Sion’s already tough situation even worse. It was a hard problem, and Tiona couldn’t think of a way to solve it. But if Mia took on the problem, she would surely solve it easily, just like every other problem she had ever faced.

Is that…all right?

She thought she heard a small voice. Mia might be able to make things better after all. Did that mean that Tiona could just stand there and do nothing?

Do you think that’s okay? No remorse?

If the problem was fixed, but not by her…

You can still talk to him now. You can still reach him…

The voice, which was hers but wasn’t, turned into a far-off echo and then went away, leaving her heart full of frustrating doubt. She ate some of the dessert. The taste escaped her.

—

Keithwood’s words were true, though, for those who were paying attention, and the dessert really was a great!

“Th-This… Moons, this can’t be…”

So much so that Mia couldn’t say anything when she first saw it. A fact that doesn’t matter, but is still a fact.