Chapter 18: Princess Mia... Empathizes with the Cowardly

Phew... That was a close one.

After successfully rescuing the sweets with her vegetable cake presentation, Mia blew out a satisfied job-well-done breath. Then she picked up her cup and took a sip of her black tea. Or, she would have, had Rafina not immediately rained on her parade.

“Well then, now that’s settled... Shall we move on to the main topic, Princess Mia?”

Main topic? There’s more?

She stared at Rafina, cup held awkwardly before her. Her confusion was mirrored in Sion and Abel. Sapphias was equally befuddled, though that was hardly shocking. Tiona and Chloe, for some reason, showed no surprise. Regardless, all eyes turned to Rafina who, with a deliberate motion, presented them with a book.

“This is a manuscript of The Book of Those Who Slither. It’s the bible of the Chaos Serpents and their secret society of cultists.”

“Wha—”

Mia was stunned. Her eyes darted toward Sapphias.

“Miss Rafina,” she said in a low voice, “are you sure we should be talking about that here? I mean...”

She left the rest unsaid, though not unexpressed. Employing her high-powered gaze, she communicated her warning through the universal language of a wide-eyed look of panic.

Are you out of your goddamn mind?! There’s a Serpent sitting literally right there! What in the moons are you thinking?!

Her frantic transmission was ostensibly deciphered by the receiver, who nodded back.

“It’s all right. I know.”

Mia let out a breath of relief at this answer, only for the next one to catch in her throat.

“I think,” Rafina continued, “it’s about time we asked Sapphias to join our cause.”

She doesn’t know! Oh sweet moons she doesn’t know!

Only with a strained gulp did Mia manage to stifle a scream. Rafina kept speaking.

“He’s been very helpful while you were gone, you know? Of course, he still has some ways to go, but I think at this point, it’s fair to grant him our trust. At the end of the day, there’s never any guarantee that a particular person isn’t a Serpent, so we’ll simply have to work around that uncertainty.”

“Well, I guess that’s true, but...”

“Miss Rafina...” said Sapphias, his voice unsteady. “You... You’ll trust me?”

The beginnings of a tear was forming in his eye when a thought occurred to him, and he blinked.

“Wait... Secret society of cultists? Um, if you’ll forgive me for prying... Would that happen to have something to do with the, erm, rather voluminous number of excerpts from the Holy Book you’ve been having me transcribe lately after class? And the regular lectures you’ve been giving every morning, noon, and evening to that strange study group you had me join? The one with all those mysterious men.”

Rafina regarded him quietly for a moment before smiling. Her expression was like an early spring breeze, crisp but nipping.

“I’m trusting you, Sapphias.”

“R-Right...”

Mia, who watched their exchange from the side, shuddered at the smile.

Moons, she’s downright terrifying! So all this time, she’s been secretly testing him. I’ll bet she’s done a full background check on him already too.

The more she thought about it, the more Rafina resembled some sort of shadowy mastermind.

“So? What’s in the book?” asked Sion, evidently eager to pull the conversation back on track.

“Hm, put simply... Ways to bring a nation to ruin. A how-to guide for destroying a country, if you will. It describes the process to employ step-by-step and techniques for manipulating the minds of people to amplify the damage, among other things...”

“Wh-What a dreadful book...” Mia said in a trembling voice.

Having been a direct victim of the book’s teachings, the methods it spoke of carried a visceral horror for her. She shuddered as she gazed upon the object responsible for the hopeless devastation and ruin that had once befallen her empire.

“There are more, apparently,” added Rafina. “This is only one volume, which contains the chapter titled ‘Kingdombane.’ We know there must be other volumes with different material inside, considering this one isn’t the same as the copy that Belluga had previously obtained.”

She held out the book, which Sion took and flipped through, nodding to himself as he did so.

“And if we manage to get our hands on all of these, we might finally be able to peel away this curtain of mystery surrounding the Chaos Serpents...”

Meanwhile, Sapphias, who’d been receiving a quick briefing from Abel and Tiona, stared at the book with pale-faced disbelief.

“Chaos Serpents... You’re telling me these...people have been hiding in the empire all this time?” he said, pronouncing “people” with a tone often used by children talking about monsters under the bed.

The metaphor was quite apt, since in any other situation, monsters under the bed would elicit amusement, if not outright mockery. They were fictitious, after all, and should be treated as such, for there was real danger in fixating on an imaginary threat. But, this was no common tavern; this was the office of the student council. It was not a place for frivolous banter. Topics brought up in the presence of Saint-Noel’s student council had at times carried enough import to sway the fortunes of small countries. A trivial matter would not have made its way into this discussion. Even so, Sapphias couldn’t quite bring himself to take it completely seriously.

“Ha ha... Come on, you can’t be serious,” he said, chuckling as if seeking comfort in denial. “What, is this some sort of initiation? You’re trying to trick me, aren’t you?”

Fear was evident in his voice. Mia looked at him and felt...relieved.

Right?! Sweet moons, finally, someone’s reacting like a normal person. Everyone else was so calm that I was starting to think I was the crazy one. These people are all like “Oh, a book that destroys kingdoms? That’s interesting.” No! It’s not! It’s terrifying! And you’re supposed to be terrified of terrifying things!

As she regarded his blanched face, she felt a growing empathy for him. It was a phenomenon best described as...chickens of a feather, probably. As a result, her attitude toward him softened somewhat.

“If you really don’t feel up for it, Sapphias, it’s okay to back out. I can’t anymore, but you can still run away from all this...”

She had, after all, brought him into the student council because she thought he looked a little serpentine. In other words, she’d never been counting on him to begin with. If he wanted to run, then he was certainly free to do so. She wouldn’t stop him. Nor would she stop her princely sweetheart, or her loyal maid, or her reliable-but-a-little-too-preachy four-eyes... She wouldn’t stop any of them! In fact, she’d be right there with them, running as fast as she could!

Ugh... Running away sure is a tempting idea right now...

Her empathy for his cowardice ended up draining her of her own courage. To her surprise, his answer was not the one she’d expected.

“Run...away? Ha ha... Ha ha ha... It appears that I’ve been profoundly underestimated.”

He grinned at her.

“Eh?”

She gave him a blank look as he took a knee before her.

“As a proud Bluemoon and scion of the Four Dukes, I can hardly afford to flee while Your Highness is charging into battle. No, I will fight, Your Highness. As long as your banner waves, then so shall I stand at your side. For you, and for my darling, who surely cannot sleep easy knowing such villains abound. Please, Your Highness, I implore you to add me to your ranks.”

It was, for all intents and purposes, a pledge of allegiance, declaring himself to be a part of her faction. At last, the heir of Bluemoon, whose family represented one of the four pillars of Tearmoon nobility, had allied himself to Mia’s cause. During this moment of great historical significance, Mia...

Ah... So that’s it. I’m stuck holding the banner and charging forward now. I wonder if I’ll die by an arrow to the head this time... Ugh, that sounds so painful...

...Simply stood there as hope drained from her increasingly glassy eyes.

Chapter 19: Princess Mia... Speaks Passionately about Her Studying Technique (That Involves Overwhelming Through Sheer Numbers)

Mia’s days after returning to Saint-Noel proved mostly uneventful, as she steadily caught up on her backlog of work in the student council. Time seemed to fly, and before she knew it, the season had changed. One day, as she walked into the cafeteria in her dorm, her eyes fell on a menu schedule that heralded the arrival of summer.

“Ah, they’re starting to bring out the cold soup.”

The dormitories in Saint-Noel Academy afforded a degree of choice in diet. Dinner was the same for everyone, but students were allowed to choose from a menu of items for breakfast and lunch. The arrangement was to accommodate the wide variety of students in the school, who hailed from all sorts of countries, each with their own foods and preferences. It was also a convenient way to introduce students to the cultures of their peers. Those who were interested could, in fact, learn a great deal about world cuisines simply by studying their daily meals in the academy.

...Of course, this kind of flexibility also made for plenty of headaches when updating the menu, as the student council had recently discovered.

“It’s been pretty cool so far this year, so I hadn’t noticed...but it’s almost summer, isn’t— Hm?” Something stirred in the back of her mind. Something she’d forgotten. “Summer...summer... How odd. I feel like I’m forgetting something about summer...” After some thinking, she arrived at an answer. “Ah, that’s right. It’s almost time for summer exams. Which...well, I mean...even if my grades aren’t so great...as long as I pass...”

At Rafina’s behest, Saint-Noel operated with policies much more stringent than other schools attended by noble students. Poor exam scores could very well impede progress through the grades. Students who failed, simply failed. They were offered no mercy, no matter their rank or familial status. The bar for failing was, however, set fairly low, and it wasn’t like Mia was horrible at studying. With some effort, she was capable of memorizing enough at the last minute to tide her through her exams.

“As long as I have my sweets, I’ll be able to focus... That’s right. I’ll just get through it with the power of sweets again...”

Fate apparently found her optimism disagreeable, and it promptly made its stance known by having her run into Rafina at the cafeteria.

“Hello, Mia. It’s almost time for the summer exams, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I just realized that myself. They felt so far away, and then suddenly they’re almost here. Time sure flies.”

It started out as a casual conversation.

“I’m thinking of bringing it up with the student council next time, but lately, many of the students’ grades have been slipping. Some quite significantly.”

“My, that’s not good at all,” said Mia without a lick of irony or self-awareness.

Her own grades were easily one of the slipperiest of the bunch.

“Which is why— I know you’re very busy, Mia, so I’m sorry for adding more to your plate, but I’m thinking of having the student council run a campaign.”

“A...campaign?”

“Yes. We’ll take the grades of students who did well in the exam and post them in the hallway to motivate everyone else to improve.”

“Ah, I see. That sounds interesting. I hope it goes well.”

In the previous timeline, Mia’s grades ranged somewhere between “not good” and “abysmal.” Having been a permanent resident of the lowest third, she naturally assumed the campaign would have nothing to do with her.

“Now, while regular students are certainly free to set their own goals, for those of us in leadership roles, I believe there is a certain obligation to act as role models.”

Mia wrinkled her nose. She was sensitive to metaphorical smells, and this conversation was starting to take on a very fishy one. Somewhere in her head, an indicator flipped from green to yellow.

“U-Uh, I’m not sure I follow...”

“Well, the crux of the matter is that every year, the members of the student council have their exam grades made public. We announce them to the student body in an official statement.”

“...Eh?” It took a few seconds for Mia’s jaw to remember how to close itself. “Y-You mean, it doesn’t matter how good...or bad our grades are?”

“Yes, exactly. Of course, I have every confidence in your academic abilities, Mia, but it’s just that you’ve been so busy lately, and I was a little concerned you hadn’t found the time to keep up with your studies. I know you’ll probably prove me wrong, but you know, I thought I’d give you a heads up, just in case. Oh, but even if your grades slip a little, as long as you don’t fail, nothing much will happen, so don’t worry too much about it,” she said, her face set in a reassuring smile the whole time.

Mia was not reassured. Panic began to set in, because flawed as she was, she still retained a sense of pride. Or maybe that just made her more flawed. In any case...

I-If I end up getting terrible grades... Well, Abel’s a good person so he’ll probably assume I wasn’t feeling well or something, but Sion... Oh, Sion is going to have a field day...

To be clear, the only thing on the line here was her ego. Heads weren’t going to roll, nor would she be thrown in a dungeon. Her mind sought refuge in those magic words that had served her so well—It beats dying by guillotine... It was her tried and true method for dealing with failure and embarrassment.

Mental respite, however, would not change the inevitable reality that after running the planned campaign focused on motivating students to improve their falling grades, the leader of the organizing body, the president of the student council herself, would have terrible grades. Well, even if they weren’t terrible, mediocre grades still wouldn’t do her reputation much good. And when the whole of the school learned of her performance...

I’ll be the laughingstock of the whole school! Sweet moons, I’ll die of humiliation!

Worse yet, it was customary for the student council president to deliver a speech before the summer break. She could offload the writing to someone else—Rafina, maybe—but she still had to read it herself. And she would have to do so shortly after having her terrible grades exposed to everyone present.

Th-The way they’ll look at me... Oh merciful moons! And I thought the election speech was stressful. They’ll skewer me with their gazes alone!

As it turns out, her guillotine-based assessment standards needed some work; a situation could be better than dying at the guillotine and still be utterly unbearable. It might not be as lethal, but she definitely didn’t want to end up the object of everyone’s ridicule. Furthermore, she’d be letting down a lot of people, among them a certain someone who’d willingly given up the president’s seat and handed it to her in trust...

“Again, I have no doubt you’ll be fine, Mia, but...” said Rafina with a terrifying smile.

This was, Mia realized, not about her ego anymore. She’d unwittingly wandered into the lion’s den and was now at risk of waking the beast. One wrong move, and she’d step on its tail.

I-I’d better tread real carefully... she thought, as Rafina’s face started to look uncomfortably leonine.

“O-Of course I’ll be fine!”

She decided to bluff her way out for now and gave her fist a confident shake. The motion shook a few drops of cold sweat off her back.

“Lovely! I suppose that leaves Sapphias as the only remaining concern...”

Seeing that she was no longer the person of interest, Mia quickly muttered a goodbye and bounded out of the cafeteria, abandoning Sapphias’s fate to Rafina’s whims.

After returning to her room, Mia promptly reviewed the scope of the exams.

“Ugh... There’s so much to study... Too much, actually! There’s no way I can memorize all this!”

Now, this might come as a surprise, but when it came to taking exams, Mia’s approach was not, in fact, to rely on hunches and pure luck. Crossing her fingers and hoping she guessed all the right answers was hardly a method that befit the princess of a mighty empire. As a proud member of Tearmoon royalty, her tactics were appropriately imperial—the equivalent of overwhelming foes through sheer numbers, otherwise known as...mass memorization! It was time for the indiscriminate commitment of material to memory! Important or not, if it was testable, it was going in the memory bin. With her trusty cakes and cookies at her side, she’d fight on, wading through the ocean of knowledge until she remembered every last piece.

For everyone who’s ever written an exam, it should be obvious that this wasn’t going to work. And it never had. She’d used this method to prepare for plenty of exams in the previous timeline. Every time, she’d lose focus and slack off, leaving a bunch of important concepts unstudied, which always cost her dearly in terms of grades.

That said, it should be noted that she was doing much better in the current timeline. Thanks to Anne’s support, her results during the last exam were actually within the top quarter of students. This time round, the problem was that she’d missed a lot of classes due to her trip back to Tearmoon.

“...I’m in for a hell of a time.”

If she wanted to do well, she would have to memorize everything that could come up. The thought alone was enough to make her gulp in dread. She was, however, not the only one who was having a hell of a time. Beside her, her smaller roommate groaned in similar misery.

Bel had been glad that her enrollment in Saint-Noel went smoothly, but to her dismay, she quickly found herself scrambling to keep up with the pace and difficulty of her lessons.

“Hnnngh, something’s not right. I’m pretty sure Mr. Ludwig taught me this before, so how come I can’t remember anything? Ugh, it’s not fair!”

...Does something sound familiar?

“Aaaaah, this is so hard! Grand— Miss Mia, isn’t there some way to make this easier? Some sort of shortcut? Maybe a special studying technique? If I could just memorize all of this, I feel like I might manage...”

Mia regarded the teary-eyed Bel.

It’s like looking in a mirror...

In a moment of clarity, her eyes grew distant and dispassionate as she regarded her sniveling granddaughter with a newfound objectivity. It was, she decided, a rather unseemly thing to be whining about.

“No, Bel, there is no shortcut. It’s your own fault for not keeping up with your studies on a regular basis.” Her words carried the weight of experience. “And now you must suffer the consequences. We must all reap what we sow, Bel. Every last one of us.”

Her eyes were somber, and her voice took on layers of sagely, subtle nuance, all of which seemed to have been lost on Bel.

“Hmph. Easy for you to say, Grandma, since you’re the Great Sage of the Empire and everything, but just so you know, for people who are bad at it, studying is like torture.”

“Of course I know that. But even so...” She grabbed her granddaughter’s shoulder and squeezed, her hand shaking as if she were struggling to contain some powerful emotion. “There are times when we must, when we have no choice...but to stand. And to fight.”

Then she tilted her head as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

“Hm? Wait...” She lifted an eyebrow at Bel. “What are you getting so upset about? No one’s forcing you to ace the exam, and it’s not like your grades are going to be posted for everyone to see...”

“I got a ten on my last test, and they told me if I don’t improve my grades, I won’t get to have summer break... They said it’s the worst mark Saint-Noel has ever seen.”

“Wh-Wha— How?!” Mia exclaimed, dumbfounded at Bel’s confession. “T-Ten?! How in the moons did you get a ten?!”

For context, Saint-Noel’s tests were generally marked out of a hundred, so...yeah. Even Mia had never reached such lows. Granted, she wasn’t exactly a committed slacker either. She simply didn’t have what it takes to sit back and snooze while everyone else was studying furiously to improve their grades. The same applied in class; she only ever half-listened, which by definition also meant she only ever half-not-listened. True delinquency took guts, and Mia’s were in short supply. As a result, she’d never even come close to achieving the extraordinary feat of being able to count her score on a test with her fingers.

This girl must have nerves of steel. How is she not suffering a nervous breakdown with a mark like that? At this rate, they could probably post her mark for everyone to see and she’d just shrug it off.

She’d started to feel a growing sense of respect for Bel before she caught herself and hastily discarded the sentiment with a shake of her head.

No, failing a test epically is definitely a bad thing. Plus, I was the one who asked Rafina to enroll her. If she keeps this up, Rafina might start giving me dirty looks.

More than anything else though, she couldn’t help but worry about her granddaughter’s future.

“This can’t be allowed to go on. I’d better do something for her...”

So, she grabbed Bel and headed for the door. From personal experience, Mia knew that she had to get out of her room, or the sheer proximity of her bed and its ever-present allure would sap her of all motivation. Furthermore, her trusty maid was currently out working and unavailable to provide support. Without Anne’s watchful eye, there was no way she’d get any studying done in her own room. When the chips were down and it was time to crunch, this was the one place she had to avoid at all costs.

“All right, let me teach you then. The trick is that you have to win through sheer numbers. Memorize everything, so you can deal with whatever they throw at you,” she explained, proposing a strategy that was more or less the same as having no strategy at all as she led Bel toward the library. “Every so often, you recharge with some sweets, and then you keep going until you’ve covered everything that can come up on the test! That is the key to victory.”

Mia’s studying technique, you see, was just brute force, plain and simple.

“Hey, Mia. Here to do some studying?”

A voice called to her at the entrance to the library. She stopped and turned to identify the speaker.

“My, Abel! How have you been?” she said, brightening immediately. “I was actually hoping to help Bel do some studying. Are you here to prepare for the exams as well?”

For some reason, Abel hesitated and scratched his cheek sheepishly before answering.

“Uh... Well, I mean, I’ll probably do that too, but...it was more for this.”

He handed her a small stack of papyrus.

“Oh? What’s this?”

“It’s a summary of the material we covered in class. You’ve been gone for a while and, well...they taught some stuff that wasn’t in the textbook, so I put this together. Not that I think you’ll have any trouble catching up on your own, of course, but just in case...”

His cheeks began to fill with color, and he looked away, only to have his attention pulled back toward her when he felt her hands close over his.

“Oh, Abel, you’re so...” She looked up at him through her lashes, eyes moist with emotion. “Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.”

“Y-You don’t have to thank me. It wasn’t much. Besides, it’s not like you’ll need them—”

“No, I do have to thank you, Abel. Because I mean it. From the bottom of my heart...”

They shared a long, silent moment, each enraptured by the other’s gaze. Bel, who’d been observing this whole interaction, decided it was an excellent opportunity to excuse herself.

“Well, I don’t want to disturb, so I’ll just go somewhere else...” she mumbled, the excuse directed at no one in particular.

She turned around and began to step slowly away from the two, only to let out a strangled croak when a hand promptly closed on the back of her collar.

She doesn’t hesitate, does she? thought Mia as she hauled her granddaughter back.

Admittedly, there was something to be respected about Bel’s decisiveness when it came to escaping. It reminded her of herself. Nevertheless, her grip on Bel’s collar tightened. She needed Bel to stay here...for reasons not entirely related to making the girl study.

I can’t have her running away on me. Otherwise. I’ll...I’ll be left here by myself with Abel!

Whereas the Mia of last year might have grinned at the thought of a private study session with Abel, present Mia dreaded the situation. Gone was the charming but callow youth whom she could tease. Granted, her past attempts at being the unflappable adult in their relationship had only met with moderate success, but it was the thought that counted. She at least went into each interaction feeling like the relative adult.

Now, thanks to all that sword practice he’d been doing with Sion, he was quickly maturing in both air and physique. His features were sharper and his muscles more toned. The thought of being alone with a burgeoning Prince Charming, as gentle as he was handsome... Well, the thought never got anywhere, as it tended to melt her brain in seconds. At best, she’d mumble something to the effect of My, how odd... My chest feels tight...and my face is so hot... before beginning to swoon.

In other words, she’d lost all Abel immunity and was now terminally susceptible to his charm. Bel was her only hope of maintaining some semblance of composure, so she nabbed the girl as soon as she’d begun to flee.

“It’s quite all right, Bel. You’re not disturbing anyone. You can stay right here where I can see you and study with us.”

Bel let out a sullen groan.

“Hnnnngh... You’re so mean, Miss Mia. You’re meaner than Mr. Ludwig.”

Mia regarded her granddaughter and, for a brief, uncomfortable moment, saw herself in her pouty protests. She promptly put it out of her mind.

In any case, I can’t afford to have Bel leave, or I’ll be stuck here with Abel... Just the two of us... Which actually sounds quite wonderful but augh! My heart isn’t ready! I-I think it’s still a little early for us to be taking the next step in our relationship...

Whether or not the scenario she imagined could be classified as a “step” was debatable, but for Mia the romantic amateur, the prospect of sitting together in close proximity was simply too risqué.

With Bel in tow, Mia and Abel made their way into the library.

“Ah, Princess Mia.”

Chloe, seated in a corner, waved at them. Mia waved back and walked over.

Phew. That makes four of us. The chances of being left alone with Abel are close to zero now.

She snuck a glance at Abel, who didn’t seem particularly bothered by Chloe’s presence. Without the slightest hint of disappointment, he’d returned the girl’s greeting.

Hmph, you could have at least been a little disappointed. Don’t you want to spend some alone time with me?

Do not mind the contradiction. After all, it is the nature of a young maiden’s heart to be a pain— intricate and nuanced.

“What brings you here today?” asked a curious Chloe.

Mia recomposed herself and answered.

“We’re here to do some studying.”

“Oh, you are? So am I.”

“Ah, what a coincid— Well, not really, I suppose.” Considering it was exam season, it could hardly have been less of a coincidence. “May we join you?”

“Of course. Go right ahead.”

Chloe shifted her seat to the side before giggling a little.

“Hm? What’s the matter?” asked Mia.

“Oh, please excuse me. It’s just... This is the first time I’ve ever studied together with friends like this.”

“My, is that so? Are we disturbing you?”

“No, not at all! I’m glad, actually. It always seemed like a fun thing to do.”

Just then, two more voices joined the party.

“Ah, good afternoon, Your Highness.”

“Greetings... Your Highness...”

Mia looked up to find Tiona approaching. Beside her walked Liora Lulu.

“Good afternoon to you too, Tiona. And Liora as well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. I recently paid a visit to your village, did you know?”

“You did? Wow... I had... No idea.”

“Yes. The chieftain has gotten a lot better at speaking the imperial language. He seems to be getting along well with his grandson too.”

Just as she was beginning to settle into a comfortable pace of casual banter, an alarm went off in her head.

Wait! I know where this is going! We’ll just keep talking and talking and get no studying done!

She’d fallen into this trap plenty of times in the past with her entourage of girls. While the library was in principle a place for quiet study, one could hardly expect a gathering of young and like-minded friends to abstain from hushed chatter. Where there were rules, there was the irresistible thrill of skirting them—to test how far they could be bent—and Mia’s group would be no different.

Hm, what should I do... She considered her options. Within a fraction of a second, she had her answer. I know! I’ll drag Sion into this too!

Her solution: sabotage. If she couldn’t get any studying done, then neither would Sion. Nor his attendant, for that matter. She had to drag in Keithwood to prevent him from helping Sion.

If everyone in the student council gets terrible grades, then Rafina won’t be able to single me out!

In true Mia fashion, she immediately gave up trying to get any proper studying done. Instead, she focused on damage control through the age-old method of spreading out blame.

“In which case, I should get a hold of Sapphias as well...”

He’d sworn to follow the banner of his princess, so if that banner fell, then he’d better fall with it. What was a pledge, after all, if not held through both life and death? And so, she proceeded to pull the rest of the student council onto the sinking ship that was her study group, because nothing says friendship like drowning together.

For the record, Mia came out of the exam ranked fifteenth in her grade—easily her best performance to date. This historical achievement owed a great deal to Abel’s notes, whose efficient and accurate summaries of all the relevant content reflected the engrained diligence of his character. Equally vital was Anne, whose patented sleep-learning technique proved extremely effective in bolstering Mia’s knowledge. It was the lowest mark in the student council, but it was more than good enough.

“H-How disappointing. I’ve been so busy and had to spend so much time away from school that I couldn’t perform at my best,” Mia said, trying very hard to keep her grimace from turning into a smug grin. “If only I had time to prepare properly. I should have been able to score higher. What a shame.”

The awkward grin-grimace on her face ended up completely misleading Rafina, who regarded her twitching cheeks with concern.

“Gosh, you must really be disappointed...”

She went so far as to ask if Mia would like to retake the exam on a later date. Mia, unsurprisingly, declined the offer.

“No, that would be unfair. I’m not satisfied with my grades, but they’re the ones that I got and therefore the ones that I deserve. I’ll simply have to live with them.”

Rafina held her gaze for a second before murmuring, “Such integrity... You’re truly incredible, Mia...”

As for Bel... She averaged around forty—a valiant effort considering her previous performance, but still very definitely a failing mark. As a result, she ended up spending her summer break at school taking remedial courses...which she didn’t actually mind all that much. Compared to life in a ruined capital, her time at Saint-Noel was like paradise.

“Why would I be upset? I get to stay in such a wonderful place. I even get to drink hot chocolate everyday,” she said with conviction when questioned about the matter. “Anyone who’s this lucky and still complains probably deserves to have something bad happen to them.”

Unmentioned was the fact that her grades had initially left her crestfallen. She’d been looking forward to spending her break with Mother Elise and was quite devastated to learn that she’d be stuck at summer school the whole time. It was Lynsha who, in a flash of brilliance, pointed out that staying at Saint-Noel would mean having access to all-you-can-drink hot chocolate every day, which immediately reversed Bel’s mood, thereby proving the old adage, like grandmother, like granddaughter.