Chapter 25: Princess Mia... Files a Complaint Against Her Future Self!

After school on the day following the Opening Mass, Mia made her way to the library, her face set in grim determination.

“Backdoor dealings or not, I still need to make it look like I have a campaign. For appearance’s sake! Or Rafina is going to have my hide!”

The naivety of her prior outlook had dawned on her, and she now realized she was woefully underprepared. She did still intend to wheel and deal her way to victory, of course; she knew she had no chance of winning otherwise. However, without adequate camouflage it’d be painfully obvious that she’d employed dubious methods to secure her victory. She needed to manufacture a set of circumstances under which her victory would seem natural. Natural enough to satisfy Rafina, at least.

Satisfying Rafina though... Ugh, that’s such a tall order...

She could feel her mood sinking with each passing second as she pondered this in isolation. The library was currently empty of students. Her comrades of the Mia Faction had gone off to plan their campaigning approach. In other words, they were doing the hard work of actually running a campaign.

The concept of elections was foreign to the Tearmoon Empire, so Mia was unfamiliar with the details. After consulting Chloe, she learned that in nations with elections, candidates frequently engaged in active promotion of themselves. They employed a variety of methods: some popularized their name and identity by distributing portraits of themselves, while others hired traveling bards to sing of their accomplishments. In Mia’s case, it was too late to have portraits done, but they might still be able to write her name on pieces of parchment and hang them up in various locations throughout the school. Chloe had brought with her a number of ideas and was currently in the middle of a brainstorming session with her fellow campaigners.

If it was only Chloe, I might be a little worried, but she’s also got Tiona with her, so maybe it’ll be okay...

With so many young nobles around, Mia worried that Chloe might have trouble keeping them under control, but Tiona was also there. When tension was still thick in the air and public opinion was firmly against Mia, Tiona was the first to voice her support. Now, she was steadily becoming a respected figure within the Mia camp. Tiona’s campaigning expertise was still to be determined, but Mia was reasonably confident that she wouldn’t pull the kind of underhanded tricks that would draw Rafina’s ire. Besides, she did speak up when everyone else kept silent — that alone deserved recognition. As a form of appreciation for her courage, Mia let her lead their campaigning efforts.

“She’s good friends with Chloe too. Hopefully, they’ll be able to handle their side of things... Ugh, there’s so much to do. It makes my head hurt.” She propped her chin in her palm and blew out a tired breath. “First things first, I need to figure out my campaign pledges. What am I going to do if I become president... I have to make sure that gets communicated clearly...”

She reflected on the advice Chloe had given her. Then, she started writing down what she wanted to accomplish as the student council president.

(1) Add more sweets to the cafeteria menu

(2) Increase the variety of jams that can be put into tea

(3) Mushroom stew (to be made by Mia) party in the winter

(4) Expansion of bath facilities (interested in steam baths, etc)

...And so on.

Soon, a pure and unfiltered list of Mia’s personal desires took shape on the page. In other words, it was a waste of papyrus. As she continued to scribble, she heard a voice behind her.

“Excuse me, Miss Mia.”

“Hm? Oh, Bel. And Anne! You’re here!”

Mia’s expression brightened at the appearance of cavalry. Bel notwithstanding, Anne, as her right hand and confidante, should be a great help.

“I heard you were here in the library, so I came as soon as I could. What can I do to help?”

“Thank you, Anne. I was just in need of your wisdom.”

She promptly held up the page for them to read.

“This is...?”

“The things I want to do if I become the student council president,” Mia declared without a hint of shame.

Bel carefully studied the contents.

“These...”

She looked up at Mia, her expression incredulous.

“Sound amazing!” Her eyes glowed with wonder. “I knew it! You’re a genius! This cream-filled pie sounds amazing! I think it’s a great idea to have more sweets!”

Mia’s list was a big hit with Bel! The younger girl wiped away a trickle of drool with the back of her hand as she reviewed the list of items to be added to the cafeteria menu. In that moment, it was unmistakably clear that she was Mia’s granddaughter.

“Indeed. Thinking outside the box and letting ideas flow freely is important. It’s something Elise said often as well.” Anne seemed impressed, nodding appreciatively as she said this.

Seeing the positive reactions of her two helpers, Mia felt considerably more sure of herself.

“Hm! I can feel it! I’m on a roll! I need to keep thinking outside the box! Let’s see how far I can go with this!”

Her mind racing, she began setting pen to papyrus. Just before she raced right off a cliff, however, a new voice joined the conversation.

“Hey, Mia. I see you’re working hard.”

“My! Abel! Are you here to help me?”

“Yeah. I heard you were racking your brains in the library, so I figured I’d make myself useful and do some research as well. I looked into some things, what Miss Rafina did since she became president and stuff like that.” At that, he took on a more solemn tone. “There’s an old adage in Remno: ‘If you wish to win in battle, you need to know your enemy.’”

“I see. That’s true. Having some idea as to what kind of platform Miss Rafina will run on does seem important,” she replied before smiling at him. “Thank you. I’m glad I can depend on you, Abel.”

Technically, even if he’d brought no useful information, she’d still be glad that he came to see her, but anyway...

Mia’s smile caused Abel to look away in embarrassment, at which point he noticed Bel staring at him with wide, incredulous eyes.

“Hm? You... must be the young lady I’ve been hearing about. Mia’s relative, I believe?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Grand— erm, Prince Abel? My name is Miabel. Please call me Bel.”

“Nice to meet you as well, Bel. Like you said, I am indeed Abel. Abel Remno, Prince of the Kingdom of Remno.”

He regarded her with a gentle smile for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

“My, what’s so amusing?”

“Oh, it’s just that when you think about it, Miabel is a pretty funny name. I mean, it’s what you get when you take our two names and mash them together.”

It suddenly dawned on Mia that he was right.

Miabel = Mia + Abel.

That certainly was a valid way to interpret the name.

“Oh, Abel, you’re so silly... Ohoho.”

Mia’s cheeks reddened slightly as she laughed.

Oh, how terribly silly of them. I can tell that they loved us very much, but even so, a name like that is just too straightforward. What in the moons was my child thinking, giving her a name like that? You need to put more thought into—

“Yes, it’s the name my grandmother gave to me, and I love it very much. It means a lot to me.”

Wh-Wh-What?! Augh! What in the moons was future me thinking?!

In her heart, she screamed in dismay.