Chapter 39: Mia the Provoker!

With the student council roster finalized, Mia marched eagerly toward Sapphias’s room and rapped on his door.

“Sapphias? Are you there?”

She was bright-eyed and confident. The figure that emerged from behind the door was anything but.

“O-Oh, uh, Your Highness...” said Sapphias with the tone and appearance of a man who’d hit rock bottom, and then fallen a couple feet further. “I’m, uh, terribly sorry. My room is a bit of a mess. But, um, if you could give me a few minutes, I’ll get it cleaned up right away and, uh—”

Mia silenced his anxious stammering with a solemn shake of her head.

“That will not be necessary. The doorway will suffice, for I am here to inform you, Sapphias, that I have appointed you to the student council as assistant to the secretary.”

“...Huh? I’m... What?”

She disregarded the look of complete incomprehension on his face and continued.

“Miss Rafina and Prince Sion will serve as vice-presidents. Prince Abel will serve as assistant to the president. My dear friends Chloe and Tiona will serve as treasurer and secretary respectively.”

Assuming he was an accomplice of the Chaos Serpents, he’d doubtlessly be aware of what happened in Remno. It was no secret that Sion and Abel were united against the Chaos Serpents, while Rafina was an enemy of all heretical cults in general. There was also Chloe, who was Mia’s close friend. As for Tiona... well, she did go to Remno with them, so she at least bumped up the head count. What Mia was implying, in essence, was I’ve surrounded you with members of the anti-Chaos Serpent coalition, and they’re all keeping a close eye on you, so you’d better tread carefully, you sneaky bastard! The fact that Sapphias’s position made him assistant to Tiona, an outland noble, was just icing on the cake. Petty icing, but icing nonetheless.

With her exposition finished, she proceeded to turn into Mia the Provoker. Put simply, she started taunting him!

“I expect this appointment to be particularly challenging for you, so should you choose to refuse, I’ll not hold it against you. With that said, I do believe this to be quite the opportunity...”

She smiled with triumphant smugness at him, as though she’d just soundly trounced him in a fight. When Mia taunted, she went all in!

If Sapphias was a Chaos Serpent, the student council would be enemy territory. He’d be surrounded on all sides and in constant danger. However, it also meant he’d be at the heart of enemy forces, literally sitting in their headquarters. As the saying goes, you can’t get the lion cub without entering the lion den. In great peril lay great opportunity.

Mmhmhm. Hard to pass up a chance like this, isn’t it? Too bad for you though. Once you join the student council, that’ll be it for you. We’ll watch you so carefully you won’t dare do anything sneaky!

Feeling rather proud of her supposedly inflammatory delivery, she huffed out a satisfied breath and strode off without another word.

“I... I can’t believe... that just happened...” whispered Sapphias as he watched Mia go. His legs failed him, and he collapsed to the floor. “Never in a million years... would I have thought that this could be the result...”

Ever since he’d been summoned by Rafina, Sapphias had been holed up in his room. Her icy threats had thoroughly traumatized him, leaving him with a debilitating fear of going outside. Furthermore, the letter from his fiancée weighed heavily on his heart. Once she’d heard — prematurely — that he would be in the student council, she promptly sent him her heartfelt blessings and encouragement.

Dear Lord Sapphias, my future husband,

I am overjoyed to hear that you are so deeply valued by Princess Mia. I feel nothing but endless gratitude toward Her Highness, who perceived and appreciated your talent and potential. It is my honest wish that you will fulfill this important new duty by supporting Her Highness with grace and competence.

After receiving a letter like that, there was no way he was going to tell her he didn’t actually get in; that’d be too pathetic. At the same time, he couldn’t keep the truth from her forever. Trapped between a rock and a hard place, he languished in his room alone, feeling his will to live slowly draining out of him. Then, just as he was about to fully succumb to his despondency, Mia showed up with her miraculous announcement.

“A-Anyway, I should, uh... Oh, right! A letter! I need to write a letter to my dear heart!”

He hastily sat down at his desk and picked up his pen. As he set it to paper, however, his hand froze.

“‘Perceived and appreciated my talent and potential,’ huh...”

Sapphias knew that wasn’t true. This past week had made him painfully aware of his own inconsequentiality. He was no mastermind; he was but a paltry stooge who had no place on the big stage.

“But even so... Even for someone like me... She was willing to give me a chance.”

He’d heard her message loud and clear. Rafina would be there. Tiona, whom he’d looked down on, would be there as well. She’d said that she expected this to be a particularly challenging environment for him, but also that she believed it to be an opportunity.

“Does she have great expectations for me? No, she probably doesn’t... But surely, she still has some hope in me, however minor it may be... Yes, she hasn’t given up on me completely, or she wouldn’t have bothered to speak with me in the first place.”

He’d have a seat on the student council, but he’d know he didn’t earn it himself. Mia gave it to him. It was an act of kindness — kindness that he was equally undeserving of.

“This important new duty of supporting Her Highness... with grace... and competence...”

He’d always thought of such expressions as little more than lip service — flowery formalities with no substance. But now... he felt something behind the words. Something with weight.

“Her Highness preserved my honor. She gave me another chance. For that, I owe her a debt of gratitude. Should I fail to repay it... To live up to her expectations... Then I’ll undoubtedly remain a loser for the rest of my life...”

When he finally looked up from the page, his sunken eyes had gained a faint glimmer of resolve.

The Clair de Lune was a tea party hosted periodically by the Etoilers that convened their children. Attendance was often imperfect, but today one of the frequent absentees happened to be present.

“Well, well, it’s not every day that you show up,” said Esmeralda with a curious look. “I can barely remember the last time I saw you here, Ruby.”

“Yeah, been a while, hasn’t it, O Lady of Greenmoon?” replied the sporadic attendee with a bold grin and a blithe laugh.

The daughter of the Duke of Redmoon, Ruby Etoile Redmoon, kept her flaming red hair trimmed neatly to shoulder length. Her features were sharp and well-shaped, exuding an intrepid charisma that blended masculine handsomeness with feminine beauty. Coupled with her gallant disposition, she often found herself receiving dreamy looks from her female classmates.

She scanned the room, her gaze cool and crisp, before lifting an eyebrow.

“Hm? Just you here today? Where’s the young scion of Bluemoon?”

The question drew a pouty “Hmph!” out of Esmeralda.

“Busy with student council work, apparently.”

“Ah, that’s right. The council convened and he had to answer the call of duty. What about Lady Yellowmoon then? She started school this year in Saint-Noel, didn’t she?”

“Yellowmoon? You mean those good-for-nothings who only held on to their prestige because of pure luck? Please, we all know the yellows are the oldest and weakest of all. I couldn’t care less whether she shows up or not.”

“Sure, but it beats having a one-woman tea party, doesn’t it?” quipped Ruby as she sat down opposite Esmeralda. “Well, might as well have a cup for myself since I’m here.”

“Oh? Today’s just full of surprises, isn’t it? I thought for sure you were going to just say hey and leave.”

“Eh, Father’ll get angry at me if I skip too many of these.” Ruby shrugged helplessly. “Have to say though, sure didn’t see that coming from Her Highness. From announcing that she’s running for student council president to making Miss Rafina drop out of the race at the last minute, the whole sequence of events was just one jaw-dropper after another. Wonder what’s gotten into her?”

She took a sip from the cup that had been set down in front of her and let out a sigh of pleasure.

“Perujin black, I assume? Those Perujins sure know how to make some quality tea. I guess being descended from serfs has its perks.”

“Hmph, who cares where it’s produced?” said an increasingly petulant Esmeralda. “All that matters is that whatever is delivered to me is always of the highest quality. Where it comes from is of no concern.”

“Hm? Is it just me or are you in a bit of a mood? What, did Mia becoming student council president rub you the wrong way?”

“No, it did not rub me in any way. I don’t care for it.” She paused for a second before adding, “That said, I do think she has terrible judgment.”

“Terrible judgment? How so?”

“Well, how can anyone with good judgment pick an incompetent dolt like Sapphias over me? And not just him, but a country bumpkin like Tiona Rudolvon too. It’s unforgivable. Ugh, I can’t even... This is so terribly upsetting.”

Her hands shook with anger, sending little ripples across the surface of her tea.

“Hey, some honest advice for you. Don’t stir up too much trouble, okay? Not that I’ll stop you if you try, but yeah.”

“Oh? You won’t stop me if I try?”

“Nope. I, for one, do not appreciate it when a knight I have my eyes on is poached right out from under me.” She smiled at Esmeralda, though there was no humor in the expression. “Point is, you’re not the only one who has a gripe with the princess.”

And so, the young successors of the Four Dukes, each with their own motives and calculations, began to put their respective plans into motion.