After Orania, Kiryl, Yanna, and Patty were led away, Mia and the others—namely, Anne, Ludwig, Dion, and Citrina—were brought to the palace. They were shown to a large room, and Mia immediately plopped onto the sofa with a dramatic sigh.
“I suppose it would be safe to assume we were brought here to keep us from acting freely,” remarked Ludwig as he looked around the room.
“Well, there’s no helping that, unfortunately. Orania’s been labeled as the culprit, and I went out of my way to exaggerate how deep our bond is.”
As a result, suspicions had been placed on Mia as well, and there was nothing more dangerous than a princess of a neighboring country who could have been a conspirator in assassinating the king of another. For Ganudos, the best thing to do was clearly keep her stuck in a room where she’d have to be quiet and obedient.
“Thanks to that, they might think you were trying to axe the king and take Ganudos as a territory,” joked Dion. Unfortunately, the suspicions placed on Mia were not a laughing matter.
“Still, I had no choice but to announce myself. If I hadn’t, he would refuse us an audience even when we do find the real culprit.” Not to mention, Mia had become “Master Mia” somehow or another, and she couldn’t just abandon Orania in her time of need! Now that the other children—especially Patty—had gotten involved, she had no other options. If anything happened to Patty, Mia’s very existence would be in the balance. She had simply done what was needed.
Patty is quite close with Yanna and Kiryl, and chasing after them is a good sign for her education. I can overlook this.
And there was Yanna and Kiryl to consider as well. As Visalians—especially ones Orania had made an effort to protect—they’d likely be interrogated as a potentially involved party. The chances of something bad happening to them were rather high.
“Announcing that the children are under my care should protect them. As long as we can catch the real culprit while we still have time, that is.” Something suddenly occurred to Mia. Wait, if I do find this culprit, won’t I be credited for the feat? In that case... Well, the king is still alive and safe, so I doubt it would be recognized as a “feat” quite yet, but... In later generations—especially Orania’s generation—there’s a chance that...
An image of Orania smiling ear to ear suddenly popped up in Mia’s head. “When my father suspected me as an assassin, you saved me... So to celebrate your grand wisdom, I used every last drop of my people’s hard-earned tax money to build you a huge, golden lighthouse! Take a look! Isn’t it amazing...?”
Mia shook the image out of her mind. “That won’t solve a single thing,” she muttered without thinking.
But Ludwig nodded in agreement! “So you thought the same, Your Highness.”
“Huh?” Mia’s expression was blank.
Ludwig continued excitedly. “The very same thought had just occurred to me.”
I don’t get what he’s saying at all! Um, I suppose it would be best to ask him, then. But just as Mia opened her mouth, someone else asked the very question.
“What do you mean, Ludwig?” It was Anne! Whenever she (Mia) didn’t understand, she asked the right questions with perfect timing! She truly was a brilliant maid.
“Of course, this is only a hunch. However...do you truly think His Majesty suspects Princess Orania? It would be one thing if he had long harbored suspicions of her, but given the current circumstances, there was no reason to doubt her.”
“You’re right. Yanna and Kiryl were there, but...”
“Exactly. The fact the two children are Visalians implies a possible connection between Princess Orania and the Visalian assassin, but the king suspected her before that connection was made clear.” Ludwig pushed up his glasses. “If, perhaps, His Majesty has another reason to suspect Princess Orania of this crime, there may be no point in capturing the true culprit and proving her innocence. We first need to look into His Majesty’s motives.”
“Jeez. King Nestori Perla Ganudos, was it? I always thought he was a tough nut to crack, but it’s not gonna be pleasant having to probe out his intentions when he’s probing out ours,” muttered Dion.
Ludwig gave a sharp grin. “Don’t worry. You won’t be the one doing that work. As Her Highness’s sword, you can leave the laborious thinking to me.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer.”
The sight of the two men grinning at each other put Mia’s heart at ease. “And luckily, we have a perfect method to conduct these investigations.”
“Lady Esmeralda of House Greenmoon, I suppose?” asked Ludwig.
Mia responded with a nod and glanced at Citrina. In fact, two messengers were already on the way to request Esmeralda’s aid. Namely, the two who were currently missing from the group: Bel and Abel.
When Mia had stepped forward to announce herself, Citrina had jumped into action. She had correctly predicted the circumstances Mia now found herself in and had thus decided to secure some outside personnel. As King Nestori seemed to have already noticed Ludwig, she enlisted Bel and Abel via the process of elimination. The latter had seemed quite surprised, but he immediately grasped the situation. Bel, on the other hand, had sensed an adventure, and her eyes were twinkling with excitement...
“This adventure might be the reason I came to the past!” Bel had exclaimed with glee...thereby inspiring a sense of foreboding in Mia.
Anyway, Citrina herself had stayed with Mia and the others just in case any of them was poisoned at the palace.
“Well, I suppose Bel won’t be born if I’m assassinated,” remarked Mia once she noticed it was clear that Citrina had wanted to go with Bel.
Citrina puffed out her cheeks. “You’re a bully, Miss Mia. Rina has never forgotten how you saved us Yellowmoons.”
“Hmm? Well, you have my apologies then. So you really decided to stay and protect me out of loyalty?”
Citrina slowly closed her eyes. “A heart has many faces and is the combination of many emotions. Rina is both grateful to you and wants to protect you so Bel will be born someday. It’s just that those two feelings aren’t of equal size...”
“I see... Wait a moment. So if you were to compare your gratitude and loyalty toward me with your friendship to Bel, then which one would be bigger?”
Citrina adorned her usual sweet smile. “It’s boorish to compare emotions, Miss Mia.”
Anyway, such a conversation had taken place, but it was time to return to the topic at hand.
“Sion should be with Esmeralda as well. I’m sure Abel will do everything he can, and Bel will be there too.” For some reason, that last bit inspired some anxiety. “By the way, Rina, do you have any clue as to who the man on the ship might be? I think he’s the Visalian Serpent we had already heard about, but this is the first time you’ve seen him, right?”
Citrina tilted her head. “At the very least, Rina doesn’t think she’s met him before.”
“I see. But you’ve fought him before, right, Dion?”
“Yup, at the Clausius Domain. But he’s really got some sea legs. This fight was harder than the last one, though only a little.”
That didn’t seem to be the case at all! In fact, he seemed to be having quite a lot of fun...
Mia folded her arms and groaned. “In any case, the Serpents are certainly involved with this incident. Hmm?” Noise suddenly started to seep in from outside. “What is it?”
Ludwig opened the door and grabbed one of the men hurrying through the hallway to ask what was on everyone’s mind.
“My apologies, Your Highness. Princess Orania has...”
“She has what?” Mia didn’t feel good about this.
“She has escaped, along with the three children.”
“Huh?”
It was pure pandemonium.