Chapter 26: Anne’s Trust and the Path to a Miracle

While Mia was busy smacking her lips at delicious hare stew, Anne had finally made it back to Tearmoon. Though fatigued from the long journey, she eschewed rest in favor of efficiency and immediately went to see Ludwig, recounting to him in detail the actions that Mia had taken.

"My God..."

After hearing her report, Ludwig threw back his head and let out a deep sigh.

"Her Highness, she... I'd heard about the riots in Remno, but... Damn it, I forgot one of her classmates is there. I should have known..."

He cursed his own carelessness and rose from his chair.

"I can't move the army right now or they'll think we're planning an invasion. Which leaves..."

His first thought had been the Princess Guard, but they were part of the army. If he couldn't send them to ensure Mia's safety, then he'd have to find something of equal caliber. Something — he realized a few beats later — or someone...

"And that's when you thought of me, huh," said Dion after hearing the story from Ludwig and Anne. He shrugged. "Gotta say, our princess is just a bundle of excitement, isn't she?"

Contrary to Dion's gleeful grin, Ludwig looked like he'd just swallowed a fly.

"This is no laughing matter. If something's happened to Her Highness... Augh, just thinking about it is giving me the chills."

"Relax. She'll be fine. You said the Sunkland prince is with her, right? I heard that kid's got a mean sword arm. As long as they don't run into some crazy bastard like me, they'll be fine. Probably."

"In any other situation, I'd agree with you, but something's not sitting right with me... The Kingdom of Remno is in no way on the brink of a revolution."

"Huh?" Anne blinked at him. "Um, what do you mean?"

Ludwig paused, collecting his thoughts before continuing.

"Revolutions are risky. Very risky. Failure means everyone involved gets sent straight to the gallows. It doesn't make sense for anyone to take such a risk unless they had no other choice."

"Um..."

Anne seemed lost. Dion, however, smiled and continued Ludwig's train of thought.

"And by 'no other choice,' you mean they're already dying. Only people whose lives are already a living hell would rebel against the Crown. If they succeed, they change everything. If they fail, well, the worst that'll happen is they die a little sooner."

"A-Ah, I see. So you're saying Remno isn't that bad right now?"

"According to our intelligence, anyway..."

In an effort to be more useful to Mia, Ludwig had been steadily expanding his network of connections in the government. While he was no spymaster, he had access to enough information to have a decent grasp on the general state of affairs in foreign kingdoms.

"I did some investigating of my own," he continued, "and while it's true that the tax hike is causing tension, its effects shouldn't be catastrophic. Not until later, at least." He crossed his arms. "What we're faced with is a revolution that never should have occurred, but did. And that makes me suspect sabotage."

"Not just a fire, but arson," said Dion, still grinning. "I see what you're getting at. This revolution is artificial. Someone grabbed a bunch of people, lit a fire under their asses, and is now fanning the flames. Hah, you're right! That does sound like a dangerous place!"

"Then that means it can also be stopped..." Anne proposed.

If someone was deliberately inciting the riots, then they simply needed to be caught. It occurred to her that Mia might have realized that and felt intervention was possible.

"Eh, fat chance that's gonna happen." Dion shook his head. "I guess it's technically possible, at least before any blood is spilled."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Death accelerates conflict. It pushes things past the point of no return."

He wasn't speaking from a moral standpoint. It was a pragmatic observation of cause and effect. Death was irreversible. Ergo, so were its consequences.

"I see. Is that why you didn't take any action against the Lulu tribe?"

"The Lulu tribe? Huh... Not exactly. But I did want to keep casualties to a minimum, so I didn't sow a bunch of seeds of hatred that might come back to bite me later." He grimaced. "The thing about the princess that impressed me was how fast she acted after hearing Viscount Berman's story. If even a single person died, that conflict would not have been resolved so cleanly. Once death enters the picture, the conflict will detach from the problems that caused it in the first place. The violence it spawns will become self-propagating, leaving neither side the option to back down. But the princess didn't let that happen. She swooped in and mitigated the danger by pushing the two sides apart before it was too late. Then she went straight to the root of the conflict and solved it. It was remarkable stuff, really. A masterclass in problem-solving."

"Mia..."

Anne murmured the name of her dear mistress, feeling her chest tighten as she gazed into the distance.

"Which brings us back to your original question. See, if the princess wants to settle this conflict as tidily as last time, she's gonna have to get to the root of the problem and eliminate it without a single death in either the Remno army or the revolutionaries. That sounds a little impossible, don't you think?"

It was a ridiculous thought, so removed from the constraints of reality that both Ludwig and Dion dismissed it as absurd. There was, however, one person who did not.

"Even so, Her Highness... She can..." Anne whispered to herself.

The next day, the three of them set off for Remno.

The seed of miracles that Mia had unwittingly planted would go on to sprout in the heart of the saboteur fanning the revolution's flames. Not a soul yet knew what kind of flower it would ultimately yield.