Chapter 39: Princess Mia... Hits Peak Mental Performance!

Crimson flames raged above a burning capital... People, their voices filled with hate, yelled and yelled and yelled. Then, her own head rolling onto the ground...

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Mia sprung awake with a scream to find herself on a bed in the school infirmary, soaked through with sweat. It had been a while since she'd dreamed about her own execution, and the dreadful sensation of death yet lingered. Her wet clothes stuck uncomfortably to her skin, and she desperately wanted to take a bath. Now, however, was not the time. She called Anne over, who'd been watching over her with a look of deep concern, and immediately gave her a set of instructions to carry out.

The first thing Mia did was to forcibly send the four attendants who'd directly participated in the incident back to the Empire. Immediately, their student masters showed up to protest. She shot them a harsh glance.

This is it. It's make or break.

Mia fully understood her situation. One wrong step here, and she'd be in dire straits. After waking up in the infirmary and sending off Anne, she'd immediately grabbed the bloody diary she'd brought with her. A couple of pages in, she'd found that there was indeed mention of the incident of Tiona's imprisonment. She had no idea what it was really all about when she'd first written it down. Never could she have even begun to imagine that so much had been happening behind the scenes.

This wasn't something she could hand-wave. Withholding punishment would almost certainly anger Rafina, and neither Prince Sion nor Tiona would think very highly of her either. Therefore, she needed to clearly denounce the culprits and discipline them for their actions. The problem was their masters. While they all denied involvement, she doubted any of them were truly innocent. In her opinion, they'd all dipped at least their toes in, if not the whole lower half of their bodies. One issue, however, made it impossible to say for certain that they were personally involved.

Normally, if the attendants were commoners, there was no way they'd abduct and confine a noble girl without direct orders. The problem was that all the perpetrating attendants were themselves nobles. None of them were heirs to their realms, but they'd all grown up as central nobility, admired and respected by their peers. If there was one thing they'd gained from their upbringing, it was a generous helping of pride.

I figured as much, judging by the fact that they all carry at least something that bears the Imperial Crest.

If Mia was being honest, the thing that she most wanted to yell in their faces was something along the lines of if you're going to do something bad, at least hide the damn crests! That way, at least people wouldn't know where they were from...

In any case, they, and their egos, probably couldn't live down the fact that a "backwater noble" like Tiona got to go to the welcoming party while they didn't. Unlike their masters, the attendants actually had a motive.

"Your Highness, we find this too difficult to accept. Our attendants... all they did was lock up some backwater noble girl for a while..."

Their protests reflected the beliefs of Tearmoon nobility. The tyranny of the central houses was tolerated not only against commoners, but nobles from remote regions as well.

They're sowing the seeds of so much hate, and yet they have no idea.

Mia regarded them not with hate but pity. She pitied them, because like them, she had been equally ignorant until she found herself in a dungeon. It was the kind of thing that she'd never have realized without hitting rock bottom, and yet, once she did, it was far too late...

To sow the seeds of hatred is to reap their fruits. I can lecture them... Mia sighed and shook her head. But I can tell it'll go right over their heads.

"I see... I understand what you are trying to say. In fact, it might very well be true... were we still in Tearmoon."

"Huh?"

"You need to consider who has authority over this academy. Who... is its ruler?"

Mia had a plan. If she were to judge them based on her own values, they would hold a grudge against her. To avoid this, she could push the responsibility onto someone else. And what better person to take the blame than the academy's reigning figure of authority, Rafina Orca Belluga?

"Miss Rafina is a person of most noble character. Do you think she would condone such thuggery toward one of the academy's precious students?" She took a moment to pause and close her eyes. "And, I must admit, I am not fond of your approach either. Ganging up on the weak and bullying them... There is nothing noble about such behavior."

A part of her was being honest. She knew what it was like to be ganged up on and bullied. Having experienced this at the hands of the revolutionary army, she could no longer bear the thought of doing the same to others. Violence hurt the body, and derision hurt the soul. Both felt terrible. She didn't wish that on anyone, and she didn't want it done to her.

"Normally, I would require all of you to take responsibility for this incident as well and surrender your student status. However, I find such treatment overly cruel."

"Your Highness..."

"For this time only, I shall ask a personal favor of Miss Rafina to forgive you for your actions," she added, making sure to clarify that this was an act of kindness which awaited repayment.

This way, she'd be able to punish them while simultaneously making them feel indebted to her.

I sure hope with this, things will settle down and everyone will just move on.

Feeling particularly drained by the exchange, Mia nevertheless dragged her tired self out of the room to go request an audience with Rafina.