Later, as we were saying our goodbyes, Mirach’s twin sisters appeared at the front door to see us off. Enif and Mizar were all smiles as they ran toward us, but they staggered to a halt the moment they laid eyes on Miaplacidus. I was worried they were scared of him because he was so big, but that didn’t seem to be the case because in the next moment, they flung themselves at him with all their might.
“Found you!”
“We’ve found our prince!!”
Everyone’s jaws nearly hit the floor at the sight of the two girls springing into the air and clinging to Miaplacidus.
The first one to collect himself was Mirach, and in a panic he tried to tear the twins away. “Enif, Mizar! Let go of him! Also, come to your senses! This isn’t a prince, just some towering giant of an old man!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Old man? I’m only twenty-two years old!”
Amid the confusion, Miaplacidus managed to deliver a calm retort. In contrast, Mirach’s rebuttal was sharp.
“My sisters are just ten, so you’re practically ancient compared to them!”
“Don’t you think that’s too cruel? On one hand, I’ve been uplifted and declared a prince, but on the other, I’ve been belittled and called old,” Miaplacidus grumbled, rather justifiably.
Lukbar, who was standing next to both men, slapped them on the back as he advised Mirach to give it up.
“Come on, Mirach. Didn’t your aunt fall in love with Miaplacidus’s father at first sight and marry him? This guy supposedly looks just like his dad, so maybe he’s got a face that the women of the Quark family can’t resist.”
“You’re saying this brutish face is what they like?! Please don’t put a curse on the women of my family!” Mirach groaned before Miaplacidus voiced a complaint of his own.
“You’re the one who should stop treating me like a curse!!”
The two of them kept arguing for a while longer, with the twins remaining attached to Miaplacidus the whole time. Honestly, out of everything, what impressed me the most was just how strong they were.
A few days later, Mirach gave me an update on Galle Village.
I had been collecting herbs in my garden, but Mirach’s arrival had put a stop to the usual chatter from the knights guarding me, which caused me to look up and see him. When he hesitantly asked me for a moment of my time, of course I agreed. I’d been curious about what had happened in Galle Village since our visit, after all.
According to him, the villagers were initially furious about the chief’s arbitrary decisions and the gravity of the secrets that had been kept from them, but in the end, they’d unanimously decided to continue cultivating the Galle Gold Leaf using magic.
“Thank you, Princess. It was because of you that everything was able to be resolved. It appears that everyone made tea out of those leaves you distributed, and the effect was so potent that they wanted to keep the Galle Gold Leaf at all costs. Since they’ve decided to accept the herb, I’m hopeful the villagers will all stay healthy from now on.”
Surprisingly, his father would continue his role as the village chief. Hearing that Miaplacidus frowned.
“Is that really okay? I don’t think my mother’s magical prowess is anywhere close to the princess’s, so the future Galle Gold Leaf won’t be nearly as strong.”
Miaplacidus already seemed to be in the know about something. I must’ve obviously looked confused because Mirach quickly jumped in to explain.
“As it turns out, Miaplacidus’s mother has decided to assist with the Galle Gold Leaf. The villagers wanted it cultivated as soon as possible, but since there are currently no saints in Galle Village, they were at a loss about what to do. Thankfully, Miaplacidus consulted with his parents, and his mother agreed to lend a hand.”
“That’s great!” I clapped happily, thinking that since Miaplacidus’s mother was originally from Galle Village, she was probably happy for the opportunity to visit.
“I’m sure they’ll all be excited to see your mother again! Tee hee! Oh, but if everyone was in agreement about what to do about the Galle Gold Leaf, that must mean its existence is very important to the villagers.”
“Yes, I believe they all realized that.” Mirach nodded earnestly.
Next, he told me about how he’d made up with Sador. Wow, that was very good news as well! When I said as much to Mirach, he seemed to get a little bashful, causing his cheeks to flush pink.
“Thank you,” he said. “Because of all of you, I realized that reason doesn’t always include empathy.”
The knights who’d been assigned to protect me had been listening in quietly up to that point. But upon Mirach sharing his breakthrough, they nodded in unison and patted him on the back.
“That’s right!”
“Good on you for noticing, Mirach!”
Mirach had been irritated with Sador for repeatedly being late to his duties. Canopus, who had been present at the time, suggested there might be an underlying reason for Sador’s tardiness, considering he was usually so reliable. However, Mirach wouldn’t budge and insisted that there was no excuse for being late and that it wasn’t fair to make an exception and listen to Sador’s side of the story.
Ever since that incident, there’d been tension between Mirach and Sador, but from what Mirach was saying, it seemed like he loosened up and gave Sador the opportunity to explain himself.
When I told Mirach what I’d surmised, he affirmed that I was right before adding, “By the way, Sador was tardy for the fourth time this morning, so I asked him why. He explained to me that his constant lateness was due to the rather ridiculous reason of taking in a stray cat.”
“That’s really important, though!” I exclaimed, causing Mirach to flash me a troubled smile.
“It’s difficult to judge situations like this uniformly when everyone has different standards. That’s why it’s important to ask for the reasons and sometimes show a bit of understanding and kindness. But in this case, there’s no room for leniency. I made sure to scold Sador and tell him, ‘You can’t use caring for a stray cat as an excuse for being late!’”
He’d ended his explanation on a sharp note, but the knights smirking behind him added some information he’d left out.
“That being said, Sador’s demeanor softened a lot when Mirach went out of his way to ask him why he was late. I think he was somewhat pleased to see this hard-nosed guy actually try to understand where someone else was coming from.”
“Plus, after raving about how that wasn’t an excuse, he went and got some milk from the canteen for Sador. That softened him up even more until he turned into a pile of mush.”
“You don’t need to tell the princess that part!” Mirach huffed, his face bright red. After offering a quick excuse that he needed to speak with the captain, he hurried off, leaving the other knights to continue spouting off some peculiar things.
“I think he finally realized that being right isn’t always right. Glad he got over that fixation.”
“People are all different, so what’s logically correct for one individual might not work for another. There could be as many answers as there are people.”
“I think he’s finally realized that it’s our job to protect the princess, and part of that means building better camaraderie among the knights. In time, he’ll even start to learn that flattery and setting up little side deals are all just part of the process.”
That last line seemed to have gone too far, because it was immediately met by dissent from the other knights.
“That’s not something the princess needs to hear!”
“Mirach is way too serious, he’d never get to the point of tolerating that!”
Despite the knights’ rough remarks, their affection for Mirach was evident, and that brought a smile to my face.
“You all love Mirach, don’t you?!” I chirped. “So do I! If Mirach has changed so much, does that mean he’ll understand my genuine desire to assist him going forward?”
In the past, Mirach had always been two steps ahead of me, taking care of everything on his own before I had a chance to help him out. I was filled with hope that perhaps this would change in the future, but the knights quickly shot me down.
“No, I don’t think that’s going to happen!”
“Mirach’s overbearing nature is ingrained into his bones!”
Ahh, how frustrating. It seemed like I wouldn’t be able to be a big help to the knights anytime soon.