Part 2: The Lodestar Girl III

Prologue: Bel and Her Small Piece of Happiness I

It was a summer that Princess Mia Luna Tearmoon would not soon forget. On invitation from Esmeralda Etoile Greenmoon, the proud Etoiler whose father was one of the empire’s Four Dukes, she went on a cruise, which turned out to be quite the adventure. After a night on an uninhabited island spent sheltering from a sudden storm, Mia and her friends found themselves separated from their ship. Then, after a second night, they woke up with one of their members missing...

At that, Elise Littstein put down her pen and pursed her lips.

“Hm... To be honest, I don’t know about this...”

She was currently in the process of consolidating all the stories that her sister, Anne, had told her, and phew, they were something else. Next, Mia’s group would venture underground and encounter the vengeful ghosts of cultists which, through Mia’s heroic efforts, they’d manage to fend off. After that, they would do battle with a colossal man-eating fish before successfully pulling off a daring escape. Which all made for gripping content, but...

“Isn’t this a bit too...exaggerated? I mean, I don’t doubt that Mia would, theoretically, have the guts to stare down vengeful ghost-cultists and the brains to subdue them, but claiming she’d performed a literal exorcism is a little much. Same goes for this big fish she fought. It just...strains credulity.”

Her sister had claimed the thing was the size of two Emerald Stars, but Elise found it difficult to believe that a fish could be twice as big as a ship.

“She must have been scared to death when it happened. The shock alone was probably enough to mess with her memories... I’d say this colossal man-eating fish was at most the size of one Emerald Star. Especially considering how Mia apparently punched it into submission. Anything bigger would be, well...not really punchable.”

Elise considered herself a strict nonfiction writer. As a scribe of truth, she deemed it important to avoid exaggeration as much as possible and relay only that which was rooted in fact. To that end...

“I do want to include every last detail of her incredible feats, but hyperbolic reporting will only hurt my credibility as a writer. My accounts need to be authentic and trustworthy. For this part, it’s probably best to play it safe and include only the more plausible events... I think I’ll make the battle with the colossal man-eating fish the main story and reframe everything else around that...”

“Mother Elise? What are you doing?”

A voice, young and sweet, roused her from her thoughts. She turned to the speaker.

“Oh, Bel, you’re up already? Good morning.”

Before her stood a young girl with beautiful hair the color of white gold. Her features were deeply reminiscent of those of the late Great Sage of the Empire. The girl, Miabel, pattered over to Elise, and regarded the pen on the desk with a curious expression.

“Are you writing about grandmother?”

“Yes, I am. It’s my job to make sure future generations will know what she accomplished.”

She almost added “and to protect you,” but swallowed the words at the last minute. So many had already perished doing the same. Miabel’s mother... The loyal soldiers of the Princess Guard... It seemed unnecessarily cruel to remind the poor girl that Elise herself might follow in their footsteps, so she kept the thought to herself.

Still, one of these days, I have to tell her. She has to...be ready. The enemy is close. Too close...

“Which part are you writing about now?” asked Miabel, getting on her tippy toes to rest her chin on the desk and examine the words on the page.

Elise gently stroked her head, smiling at her endearing behavior.

“Right now, I’m writing about the summer she went to a deserted island.”

The gesture would have been unthinkable during normal times. Miabel was of imperial blood. She was to be served and revered. The regal sphere of her head was definitely not something a commoner like Elise should dare to intrude upon with her hand. But these weren’t normal times, and Elise did so both frequently and without hesitation. Mostly, it was to give Miabel a loving pat, but sometimes, it was to hold her in place for a scolding. Elise didn’t enjoy the latter, but she did it anyway. That had been the arrangement, originally established by Mia’s loyal subjects, Ludwig and Anne.

“Miss Bel has lost so much. First, her mother. Then the rest of her family. Everyone who should be giving her the love that she needs is gone...and that’s just too much for a child...”

Their voices echoed in her head as she affectionately ran her hand through the girl’s hair. She always treated Miabel with respect, but she made sure to temper it with occasional admonishment. That had been their compromise—to afford Miabel not a servant’s deference but the honest love of a parent. Elise followed their example. She was well aware that she had to be more than a simple retainer to Miabel, for blind loyalty could never replace what she’d lost. Furthermore, she knew that Mia Luna Tearmoon—the Great Sage of the Empire she’d loved so dearly—had not been one to be bound by the rules of polite society. It was clear how Mia would have wanted her granddaughter to be raised. Anne knew it, Ludwig knew it, and Elise knew it too. What Miabel needed was every last drop of Elise’s honest, unconditional love.

Which she gave willingly.

“Apparently, Mia was caught in a storm, and she was stuck spending a few days on this island. One night, her friend Lady Esmeralda Etoile Greenmoon disappeared, so...”

Her eyes scrunched into narrow crescents of pleasure, Bel enjoyed the sensation of Elise’s hand running gently along her head while she waited for Anne to bring hot milk. This was a precious time—a profound moment of happiness that she would come to treasure above all else.