Chapter 23: The Cast Assembles...

Sion Sol Sunkland was born the eldest son of the King of Sunkland.

"He who reigns over the people must believe firmly in fairness and hold justice close to his heart."

His father had often spoken those words to him when he was young... And they'd guided him ever since. To this day, he still lived by them. Royalty and nobility — those who reign over the people — must always take pride in their integrity and hold themselves to a standard such that they might be examples to their subjects. He'd always believed so, but...

As he grew up, there were things that he couldn't avoid seeing. He came to realize that not all nobles were the same, and that not all — not even most — of them lived by his father's principles. Even so, he'd held out hope for Saint-Noel Academy. It was, after all, a school where exceptional students of the nobility gathered. Many of them must be exemplary in their conduct and virtue. Surely, here, he'd meet plenty of people who were worthy of the seat of power...

And it was exactly because of his hopes that he was profoundly irked by the sight of students squabbling over something as trifling as the order in which they crossed the lake. Then soon after, he was forced to witness another scene that was deeply unbecoming of nobility. A noble girl who came to the defense of her attendant who'd blundered was being bullied by three other noble girls.

"...Hah. It's the same here, too."

"Unfortunate, yes, but the rot that festers among the royals and nobles of the land worsens by the day. Those who hold themselves to the principles of His Majesty and milord are but few and far between," said his butler, Keithwood, who shrugged and shook his head. His lips were curved into the same wry smile he always wore.

The two of them had been brought up together from childhood. A war orphan, Keithwood was taken in by the King as a child, who raised him like his own son. As a result, a tight bond formed between them, and they trusted each other like brothers.

"So, what's the plan? Seems like a load of trouble to me. Are you going to help?"

"Obviously," nodded Sion without the slightest hesitation.

The aggression was clearly one-sided. Leaving a girl to suffer such verbal abuse ran against the principles of justice. However, just as he was about to run over, something flashed across his view.

"Excuse me, but what exactly are you girls doing?" asked a young girl in a demanding voice. Her lightly fluttering hair glowed as if it had been soaked in the silver luster of the moon. With anger coloring every inch of her beautiful face, she declared herself to be Mia Luna Tearmoon.

"Huh... Princess Mia. The one they're calling the Wisdom of the Empire... So that's her," he whispered as he watched from afar, mildly mesmerized by the girl. He found himself fascinated — even a little moved — by the way she'd boldly stormed into the scene. The audacity was admirable. The anger even more compelling.

When witnessing the oppression of the powerless, anger was the correct response. To Sion, the ability to feel righteous fury — to be justly angry in the face of evil deeds — was an essential quality for those who reigned over the people. However, how many people could truly empathize with the suffering of others? How many could go as far as to feel anger as if they themselves had been wronged? Even Sion, who had been ready to step in himself, would have done so out of a sense of duty. It came from the mind, not the heart. Faced with Mia's genuine anger toward injustice, he felt that he saw in her the makings of a ruler who truly lived up to his ideals.

...It was, to be honest, a remarkably poignant example of why humans can never fully understand each other.

"Rumor has it that she's made arrangements for a hospital to be built in the slums."

"Yes, I've heard. I've been hoping to meet her ever since, but..." His gaze still fixed on Mia, Sion put his thumb to his chin. "Frankly, I was expecting to find a girl who'd lived a sheltered life and barely knows her golds from her coppers. Or at most, someone who possesses an abundance of mercy but little else..."

An incompetent but charitable ruler was far more preferable then one who actively spread turmoil through misgovernment. For this reason, Sion hadn't thought too badly of Mia, but the scene he'd just witnessed profoundly changed his opinion of her.

"When she gave away the hairpin... She probably did so with a full understanding of the effect that action would have as well."

A good-natured simpleton would not choose to charge head first into trouble, much less thwart the villainy therein. Sion was certain that Mia possessed wisdom befitting her imperial blood and held justice close to her heart.

"If her friendship is the only thing I gain from Saint-Noel, then it will still have been worth it coming here," said Sion, his mood brightening visibly as his opinion of Mia underwent a bout of hyperinflation.

Meanwhile, Mia was in a terrible fluster. She'd felt rather good after delivering what she thought was a masterful jibe, but her triumph proved short-lived. After seeing Tiona break out in tears, she was immediately overcome by a wave of guilt.

I never expected her to cry so easily!

Mia never was much of a tyrant. If anything, she was sort of a wimp, and while her conscience was a perennial slacker, she wasn't devoid of it either.

"A-Ah, perhaps I, uh... went a little too far? Yes? So, um, could you... stop crying? Please?" she stammered semi-incoherently before pressing her handkerchief into Tiona's hands. "W-Wipe your face with this!"

And then, she fled the scene.