Chapter 16: The Case of Mia, the Mushroom-Eating Saint

Following Mia’s incident in the kitchen, during which she’d eaten a poisonous mushroom and passed out, she was instructed to rest for three days. Fortunately, the prompt application of an emetic had made her retch her stomach clean, limiting the effect of the toxin. Though her dignity suffered gravely, she was nonetheless well on her way to recovery. This allowed her to assert that the entire episode had been the result of her own carelessness, thereby preventing it from blowing up into a major scandal that caused no end of problems for everyone. Had she not reassured Rafina of the incident’s accidental nature, there would be an army of anti-Chaos Serpent interrogation specialists marching toward the academy right now.

Which was all well and good, but...

“Ugh, I’m so bored. I’m so so bored,” Mia muttered while lying in her bed.

Her fast recovery had the unfortunate side effect of leaving her with far too much energy to be confined to her bed for three days. Making things worse was the fact that her meals had been changed to a bland diet meant for the sick, robbing her of the only thing she could look forward to. There, trapped in her room with nothing but her own good health, she understood what it meant for her world to turn gray.

Which probably painted her in too sympathetic a light, considering this was entirely her own fault. She was truly getting a taste of her just deserts. Her attempt to pass the time by rereading the story drafts her court author, Elise, had sent her had been duly thwarted as well when Anne had discovered her defying her medically prescribed bed rest and promptly confiscated them. In the end, she was left with nothing to do but waste away in boredom.

“Oh, I know... Anne, could you tell me an interesting story?”

Asking someone to tell an interesting story off the top of their head was, frankly, a pretty unreasonable request. Given her circumstances though, she figured Anne would indulge her. Surely, Anne, her most loyal of subjects, would have mercy on her. Which was why...

“A-Anne? Um...”

She was surprised when no answer came. Anne simply kept cleaning the room. After an uncomfortable moment of silence, she stole a glance at Anne, only for the maid to meet it for just a brief second before looking away.

“...Huh?”

Something was clearly wrong. Alarms began going off in her head as she continued to ask with growing unease, “H-Hey, what’s going on, Anne?”

Her second attempt failed again to elicit any acknowledgment. She realized that Anne seemed to be mad at her, but she had no idea why.

“Wh-What’s the matter? Did I do something to make you angry? I-I don’t...”

Though she had no recollection of wrongdoing, she nevertheless got up and hastily rearranged herself into a position of deference with her legs folded under her thighs.

I don’t know what’s going on! What do I do?

Normally, it would be unthinkable for an attendant to express such blunt displeasure toward their master. Mia and Anne, of course, shared a unique relationship that transcended their relative standings. Mia cared about Anne. She thought of her as a special friend and never held her to traditional expectations of attendant behavior. An overt expression of disapproval like this was hardly something Mia would take offense to. However, Anne had never indulged herself. Despite Mia’s lenience, she’d always behaved with the utmost respect.

Anne was a model attendant. A paragon of stewardly virtue. And she’d just ignored Mia. Twice. She was so mad that she refused to even acknowledge her. Flustered, afraid, and well aware that this was no laughing matter, Mia looked helplessly at her maid. A long, nerve-wracking silence ensued. Finally, Anne spoke.

“You...left me behind again...milady.”

Her voice was strained, and her gaze remained averted.

“Huh? O-Oh... Um, well...”

Mia was about to make an excuse about how Anne had looked tired at the time, but those words dove right back down her throat the second she saw the look on Anne’s face.

“When I heard you went deep into the forest and fell down a cliff... I thought my heart was going to stop.”

Anne turned toward the bed. Her eyes glistened with tears.

“A-Anne...”

The sight flustered Mia even more. This was, she realized, the first time she’d ever made Anne cry, and she had no idea what to do about it.

“And the stew too... I’m sure you have your reasons...and I trust you...so I won’t ask why you picked a poisonous mushroom...or why you put it into the pot...or why you had to eat it yourself...but...” Anne’s voice cracked, and along with it, her emotional dam. Tears gushed down her cheeks. Her breaths came in sobbing gasps, but she kept speaking. “If... If you ever...do something dangerous again... I’m going with you... I don’t care where...or what...but I’m going. I learned how to ride horses. If I need to use a sword, then I’ll learn that too. So...don’t... Don’t leave me behind anymore...”

Facing Mia, she folded at the waist. Droplets of sorrow fell from her bowed head, splattering against the floor.

“Anne... You...”

Mia bit her lip. Words failed her. She pressed her eyes shut, trying to fight down the rush of emotion pushing against her face from the inside. A few seconds of stillness passed. Then, carefully, so as to not reveal the unsteadiness of her voice, she spoke.

“You...are truly my most loyal and trustworthy subject, Anne.”

The deep devotion her maid displayed moved her to the core. But she placed a metaphorical hand on her wavering core and held it steady...

“I...understand now. Your feelings, and the loyalty that drives them, are a gift I will hold dear in my heart for the rest of my life.”

She gave a grateful response. But a noncommittal one. No oaths were sworn. No promises made. For she knew that she yet walked a perilous road, and her life was still destined to end this winter. It would, to the best of her knowledge, be a messy death—one that might very well bring harm to all those close to her.

I hope it doesn’t happen, but if I do end up dying, I can’t afford to drag Anne into it too.

After everything Anne had done for her... After all the love and kindness she’d shown... She deserved better. Mia inwardly shook her head.

And there’s Bel too...

If she were to die, who would take care of her precious little granddaughter? A vision of her future self flitted across her mind—the self that had died of poison. It occurred to her that she must have gone peacefully, physical agony notwithstanding, knowing her children and grandchildren were safe in the care of people she could trust.

Okay, no, enough morbid thoughts. It’s not like I’m trying to put myself in dangerous situations. I should be fine. All I have to do that day is hole up in my room. Yes, it’ll be okay. I know it will.

Anne, meanwhile, just kept staring at Mia with tear-reddened eyes. There was no way she could have known about Mia’s internal struggle, and yet, her gaze was so piercing that...

“Please,” Mia said with a nervous chuckle, “don’t look at me like that. You know me. I don’t make a habit of flirting with danger.”

Her placating smile failed to elicit a response in kind.

...Those who found this conversation between princess and attendant to be poignant and heartwarming may wish to not be reminded of the fact that the whole affair had resulted from Mia’s unadvised enthusiasm leading her to eagerly snarf down a poisonous mushroom. If you are one of those people, consider yourself not reminded. No one was there to remind the two in question, anyway.

Three days later, with her confinement ended and her health restored, Mia thought she’d be ready to charge out and seize the day. Instead, she almost wanted to have another bite of that mushroom. That way, she could stay in bed instead of...attending Rafina’s tea party.

Rafina’s tea party!

Considering the timing of the invitation, she immediately realized that neither the tea nor the party was the primary purpose of the event; no, Rafina wanted to talk. On top of that, the island’s chief of security, Santeri, would be present as well. It seemed blatantly clear that she was going to get a serious dressing-down!

“Oooh, I’m in for it now... They must be furious!”

She recalled the sight of Rafina’s bloodshot eyes during the election and shuddered. The smooth sailing she’d experienced lately had caused her to grow complacent and forget a crucial fact: Rafina Orca Belluga was, in general, a very scary person. Reckless and arbitrary stunts that caused problems for tons of other people would undoubtedly evoke her unbridled wrath. And Mia had just gone and pulled one of them. To her credit, she’d at least managed to absolve the kitchen staff of responsibility, but that was cold comfort. It couldn’t possibly save her from the intense scolding she was about to receive.

“Ooooh, stupid me. Why’d I have to play with fire like that? Ugh... I need to think of an excuse...”

Her anxious muttering continued all the way to the site of the tea party which, strangely, happened to be the same private room in the cafeteria as the one where her ill-fated taste test had taken place.

“Excuse me...Miss Rafina?” squeaked Mia as she slunk into the room, only to stiffen at the sight of those present.

Rafina was accompanied by the ex-Wind Crow, Monica, along with a brooding Santeri, who glared at Mia as she entered.

Nope, this is definitely not going to be a chitchat session... Ugh, my tummy is starting to hurt again...

She reflexively rubbed her stomach, wincing at the stress-induced ache. Rafina frowned at her in concern.

“Does your stomach still hurt?”

“Oh, um, no,” Mia responded hastily, “not that much...”

She trailed off as another thought occurred to her.

Wait, maybe I should have said I still don’t feel good. That might have earned me enough pity points to avoid a serious scolding. Ah, but then again, saying I’m perfectly fine makes it sound like not much damage was done, so maybe I’ll get off easier that way instead? Mmm... A hard call...

As both the offender and the victim, Mia found herself in an exceedingly awkward position. Unsure of what to say, she stared broodingly at the ground. Her silent contemplation was broken, to her surprise, by a gentle prompt from Rafina.

“Please, don’t push yourself, Mia. Here, take a seat. I’m terribly sorry to have asked you here today. I know you’re still recovering. If it’s any consolation, I’ve prepared some tea and sweets that are easy on the stomach, so feel free to try some of them if you feel up to it.”

“A-All right... I think I will, then. Thank you...”

Mia lowered herself into a chair and let out a short sigh. Monica, now a maid, promptly poured out some tea for her. It had a strange, herbal fragrance. She took a sip.

Aaaah... How relaxing...

She let out a longer, more peaceful sigh. Her nerves calmed enough for her to start plotting out a course through the hazard-ridden maze that was the impending conversation.

Okay, first things first. I need to apologize. No matter what I do, there’s no way I’m escaping blame. In that case, I should apologize as sincerely as possible. Just keep saying sorry over and over to buy enough time for me to figure out my next move.

With her approach decided, she turned to Rafina.

“I am aware that apologizing will not make my actions any more acceptable, but nevertheless, I am sorry for my irresponsible behavior,” she said, lowering her head deeply in repentance.

Rafina listened intently, nodding.

“Irresponsible behavior... Yes, that was certainly very irresponsible of you,” said Rafina, nodding solemnly. Then her face contorted with grief. “But it was us who forced your hand...and for that, I am equally sorry.”

For Mia, who was preparing to launch her second volley of time-buying apologies, this reaction caught her off guard.

“I can imagine how difficult a decision it must have been,” Rafina continued, “and the struggle you must have gone through...”

“Eh? Uh... I, well...”

Mia nodded along, trying to decipher the meaning of this statement.

Well, I mean... It’s true that if Rafina or the others caught me doing it, they’d stop me, so I had to work fast to sneak it into the pot and then sneak it into my mouth... In that sense, I guess you could say they “forced my hand.” As for the struggle... Well, I did have a hard time deciding whether it was a poisonous mushroom when I found it. Maybe that’s what she means?

She couldn’t quite figure out what Rafina was getting at. A moment later, however, inspiration struck.

Aha! So that’s it! I know what she’s thinking now. She’s feeling responsible for the fact that in the process of trying to treat everyone to delicious mushroom stew, I had to act on my own without consulting anyone. Obviously, if I didn’t think they were going to stop me, I wouldn’t have done everything in secret. I would have asked for a second opinion from Citrina, and I wouldn’t have needed to be my own food taster.

Mia felt like a path had revealed itself before her. It was a narrow, winding thing, but it was a way out of this maze...

I have no choice! Narrow or not, if this path leads out, then I’m going to charge down at full speed!

She nodded with the weight of hardened resolve.

“As a matter of fact, it was a very difficult decision, and I did struggle.”

First, she made sure to emphasize the fact that her decision regarding the mushroom’s potential toxicity was not made easily. It was an ordeal. She’d put in a whole lot of pity-deserving effort. Furthermore...

“And I did it with everyone’s best interests in mind.”

...She drove home the point that her intentions had been altruistic. She’d done it for the benefit of everyone else. It definitely wasn’t to satisfy her own cravings! No, sirree! There was no selfishness involved here whatsoever!

Thus she went, playing one pity card after another, hoping to win the “extenuating circumstances” game. It was, frankly, quite shameless. But shame didn’t pay the responsibility bills, so she carried on, shooting surreptitious glances at Rafina to gauge her response. To her delight, it appeared to be working.

Miss Rafina doesn’t seem nearly as angry as I thought she’d be. I...I think I might actually have a chance of getting out of this!

Just as she began to feel a sense of relief...

“Hmph, all due respect, Princess Mia, but lord knows you’ve gone and made all our lives harder.”

Santeri interjected in a severe tone, fixing her with a frigid look. The attitude he took toward her would have been unacceptable in Tearmoon, but unfortunately, they were in Belluga. Here, the Holy Lady reigned supreme. Not only was Mia’s authority limited, but her actions were by all measures deserving of reprimand. Having messed up so badly that there was nothing she could say to excuse herself, she had to humbly accept any criticism thrown her way. So she kept her head down, her mouth shut, and her posture suitably hunched to convey the image of someone in deep repentance.

“Yes, you discovered that poisonous mushroom,” he continued. “That’s to your credit. Allowing such a vile thing to exist here is an oversight on our part. But your actions have done irreparable damage to the reputation and legacy of Saint-Noel’s student council. You do realize, I hope, that had we been less fortunate, this could have blown up into an international incident between Belluga and Tearmoon?”

She accepted his castigation meekly, knowing she was in no position to rebel. Had Ludwig found out about her antics, he probably would have given her an earful as well. Though this had all been kept under wraps, with only a select few privy to the details, it would be nothing short of a disaster if word somehow got to Mia’s father. A war or two would be getting off easy. That was why Mia figured her only appropriate gesture was to resign herself slump-shouldered to the fate of being raked over the coals. Which was why...

“As the person responsible for maintaining peace and order on Saint-Noel Island, as well as the one charged with upholding the academy’s reputation, I simply cannot overlook such destruct—”

“Silence, Santeri.”

...She absolutely did not expect to hear the functional equivalent of “shut your damn trap,” least of all from Rafina. A mousy glance toward the Holy Lady revealed a pair of intimidating eyes. Anger flickered brightly in them, and they were locked on Santeri.

“Are you truly so dense? Do you not understand the meaning of Mia’s actions?”

“...The what?”

This unexpected outburst sent Santeri’s jaw to the ground. Which was nothing compared to Mia, whose jaw went through the ground. What in the world was Rafina talking about? If Santeri had no idea, then Mia had less than none.

“Throughout this entire incident, Princess Mia has been the very model of a saint. Do you not see the integrity and virtue with which she conducted herself?”

“...Eh?”

Mia blinked at Rafina, then Santeri, then Rafina again. It didn’t help, so she just kept blinking.

“A-A saint? What do you mean?” Santeri asked (unwittingly for Mia’s benefit as well).

Rafina regarded the bewildered man and, after a moment, spoke in a quiet voice.

“Santeri, do you truly believe Mia acted out of selfishness? That she did those things with the intention of benefiting herself?”

“Are you...suggesting that she didn’t?”

Rafina nodded solemnly.

“Yes, of course. Isn’t that right, Mia?”

The sudden mention of her own name triggered Mia’s knee-jerk reaction, in which she mimicked Rafina’s solemn nod and agreed with whatever had been said. Frankly, she hadn’t the slightest clue what Rafina was going on about, but that wasn’t important. She was a wave rider, and this was undoubtedly a wave. In classic Mia fashion, she ceded control to the forces flowing around her, allowing them to tug her as they pleased.

Seeing Mia’s meek expression of affirmation, Rafina smiled with satisfaction.

“As I thought. Mia wouldn’t possibly do something so selfish and foolish. Nor did she mean it as a joke or prank. Think about it. Don’t you think it’s strange how she just happened to bring us on a mushroom hunting trip, and there just happened to be poisonous mushrooms in the forest for her to discover? Not only that, but she then ended up selecting a weakly poisonous one to bring back with her, dropping it into the pot of stew without any of us noticing, and then eating it herself. What are the chances of that, hm? Are we to assume this was a string of coincidences? Does that sound even remotely plausible to you?”

“W-Well, I suppose not... Looking at it like that, it seems...intentional.”

“Intentional. In other words, she ate the poisonous mushroom on purpose. Does that sound like a normal thing to do?”

“N-No, I don’t believe so...”

With Santeri having admitted that Mia’s behavior was peculiar, Rafina gave him one final push.

“Why then? Why would she engage in such abnormal behavior? She had to have a reason. An objective,” she declared with utter confidence.

“An...objective? What was it?”

Santeri and Mia both asked the same question, albeit the latter in the form of internal monologue. With bated breath, Mia waited for Rafina’s climactic reveal, during which she would—for the first time—learn of her own hidden motive.

“Her objective...” said Rafina, “is the reformation of our security measures for the Holy Eve Festival.”

“What?! What do you mean by that? What problem is there with our security measures?” Santeri exclaimed indignantly, his tone projecting unwavering faith in the quality of his own work.

“I do believe Mia has already answered your question. She has, on this island where poison supposedly cannot be brought in, not only acquired it, but added it to a pot of stew in a place that shouldn’t allow for such things to happen...and she even managed to eat it herself. Does this not seem like a security problem to you?”

“It...”

He hesitated for a moment, then promptly shook his head.

“Very well. I will acknowledge the value of her discovery. We did not expect there to be poisonous mushrooms growing on the island. However, even accounting for the possibility of obtaining lethally poisonous mushrooms here, overcoming the guards and protocols we implement on the day of the festival to actually use the poison is a different story. I don’t believe the two to be comparable.”

Santeri’s counterargument failed to move Rafina, whose expression remained grave.

“True... Adding poison to the banquet feast is likely impossible. The food there will be consumed by our students, and we have strict measures in place to ensure their safety. But...what of their attendants? Is their food safe?” Rafina’s contemplative eyes fixed themselves on Santeri. “Between the food served to us student council members today and the food that will be served to attendants on the day of the Holy Eve Festival, which of them is subject to stricter scrutiny?”

Potential assassins did not limit themselves to operating solely on the day of the festival. To account for this, stringent security measures were always in place to ensure the day-to-day safety of people like Rafina and her council members. Therefore Santeri had no choice but to admit that the latter—security around food served to attendants—was lax in comparison.

“But... Hm, attendants, you say?” He frowned, puzzled by the suggestion. “I suppose it’s possible to add poison to the food prepared for attendants...but for what purpose? What assassin would bother to do something like that?”

“If the assassin’s motive was the murder of influential authority figures to incite chaos in a nation, then you would be right. Targeting attendants would be meaningless. What if, then, their motive was instead the defamation of the academy? To do, as you so aptly said, ‘irreparable damage to the reputation and legacy of Saint-Noel’?”

Indeed, like Santeri had said himself, a scandal of this nature would leave a lasting stain on the student council’s image.

“Suppose that a number of attendants from various nations were killed here in Saint-Noel,” continued Rafina. “What would happen then? Belluga is currently rallying neighbors to fight against the Chaos Serpents. Such a grievous blunder seems liable to severely fracture our unity, does it not?”

She closed her eyes. Her voice grew quieter, but firmer.

“Mia saw the danger, but she knew she had to demonstrate it. Prove it. So she did...using her own body.”

“What? Impossible... An imperial princess wouldn’t go to such lengths to...”

Santeri, eyes wide with shock, spun toward Mia, who did not expect the conversation to veer so suddenly in her direction. She froze for a second, trying to decide how she should respond. Figuring it was safer to err on the side of honesty, she began to wave her hands in denial, only for Rafina to answer in her place.

“She would. Because she’s Mia. If someone had to get hurt, she’d rather it be herself. That’s just the kind of person she is...”

As someone who definitely wasn’t that kind of person, Mia sort of felt like she should say something to the effect of “You give me far too much credit. I’m not like that at all.” What she actually did, though, was keep her mouth shut and hands off. Being pulled along by forces greater than her, after all, was the foundation of Mia’s tactical philosophy. If Rafina said that’s how she was, then that’s how she was! No ifs, ands, or buts!

“As I’m sure you’re well aware, Santeri, it is stated in the Central Orthodox Church’s Holy Book that there is no greater love than the willingness to forfeit one’s life for a dear friend. We preach this teaching day after day, but how many can put it into practice? How many, when faced with a security flaw that can lead to fatal poisonings, would without the slightest hesitation choose to expose its danger by personally eating a poisonous mushroom? And for whom? Attendants. Commoners. Those whose interests are so often neglected... Who, Santeri? Who would do that?”

As someone whose purported virtue and integrity was reaching incredible new heights, Mia sort of felt like she should get off this dangerously tall wave. What she actually did, though, was keep her tongue still and mouth closed. If Rafina said that’s how she was, then by the moons, that’s how she was!

Mia is someone who would gladly eat poison mushrooms to keep others safe. She’s selfless and kind. I never knew this side of me existed, but Rafina said it’s there, so it must be!

In order to keep her thoughts in line with Rafina, Mia began engaging in self-hypnosis. She wasn’t particularly good at it, but she was trying.

“The truth of the matter, Santeri...is I actually brought up this issue with the student council. I explained that I have some safety concerns about the Holy Eve Festival, at which point Mia told me to leave it to her. As soon as we returned from our trip, she suggested that we invite you to our stew party, so I asked you to join us in the kitchen.” Rafina placed her hand over her heart. A sense of quiet acceptance entered her voice. “That’s why...this whole incident is my fault. If anyone deserves to be blamed...it’s me.”

Selflessness, huh... Now there’s a word that brings me back...

Rafina’s voice began to grow distant as Santeri felt himself pulled into the past. Old memories of his days spent in the military began to resurface.

Ever since he was a child, he’d been a devout believer in the Holy Book. Those around him, impressed by the piety he displayed, had great hopes for him as a future member of the clergy. The path he eventually chose for himself, however, was that of a guard in the Belluga army. Guards, whose duty was to use their own bodies to shield dignitaries from harm, were in his eyes the very embodiment of the Holy Book’s teachings on the spirit of self-sacrifice.

So he devoted himself to his duties, and his diligent efforts ultimately saw him promoted to the prestigious position of Saint-Noel Island’s chief of security. He could in perfectly good conscience say that for the past few decades, not a day had gone by when he hadn’t striven for excellence. He took pride in his work. But when... When had that pride begun to take on a hint of arrogance?

I see now... I see where I went wrong. I’d always considered my job of protecting people as my way of following God’s teachings. But what began as the means...has turned into the ends. I used to see my work through God, but at some point, I started to see my work as God...

Which, to his profound dismay, had led him—Santeri Bandler, devout observer of the spirit of selflessness—to force a young girl who hadn’t even come of age yet to sacrifice her own health for their interests. The shame that accompanied this realization was crushing. He hung his head under its weight. Turning toward Mia, he said, “I see now that I’ve been a stubborn fool, and my stubbornness has forced you to endure much suffering, Princess Mia. There are no words to express the depth of my regret.”

Then he turned to Rafina, and lowered his head in an equally deep bow.

“Lady Rafina, I ask that you formally dismiss me from my post as chief of security... I am also ready to accept any and all punishments you deem appropriate.”

“I’m sorry, Santeri, but there will be no such thing. Your request is denied.”

His solemn resolve to face the consequences of his failure was, to his bewilderment, rejected.

“...Why? It was due to my actions that Princess Mia was forced to eat the poisonous mushroom. For that, I must take responsibility—”

“I do commend your willingness to accept responsibility and resign. If you feel guilty for what you have done, then the desire to seek punishment is certainly understandable. But punishment is not what Mia desires.”

Then Rafina turned her gaze toward Mia.

“Huh? Uh... That’s, um, right...”

A bout of panic gripped Mia, who hadn’t the foggiest idea what anyone was talking about. The conversation had left her so far behind that its form had long since disappeared into the horizon of discourse, leaving her floundering for direction. In an attempt to calm herself down, she picked up the cup of tea in front of her and took a slow sip. The soothing liquid helped her flittering thoughts gather into coherency.

Well, I guess I would feel pretty bad if this fellow got fired because I decided to munch on a poisonous mushroom... Especially if people found out that I actually did it for a pretty stupid reason. That would make me feel very bad...and look even worse.

Coward Tactics 101: always prepare for the worst. If Rafina ever discovered that there was, in fact, no grand plan of selfless altruism and she was made to fire one of her loyal subjects entirely because Mia had pulled a brain-dead stunt, there would be...consequences. Angry Rafina consequences. That was the stuff of nightmares! Just thinking about it made her tummy ache again.

I need to set things up so it won’t be too bad even if I get exposed. Otherwise, the sheer stress of worrying will probably do me in. At the same time, I do want to keep a lid on the whole thing if I can. After all, if I can get away with not being found out in the first place, then that’s even better...

After a quick bout of mental calculation, she put on the gentle smile of a saint.

“Miss Rafina has forgiven me for my sin of deciding at my sole discretion to eat a poisonous mushroom.”

First, she went for a classic fait accompli opening; by preemptively stating that she’d been excused for her behavior, she hoped to establish it as fact and remove any incentive to pry further into its motivation.

“Though I do not believe she has wronged me in any way, Miss Rafina nevertheless seems to be burdened by a sense of guilt. Therefore, I feel it necessary to formally address the matter. I hereby forgive Miss Rafina for whatever she feels she has done to cause me harm.”

Next, she began sealing off her opponent’s potential moves. In particular, she wanted to make sure Rafina didn’t spend too much time dwelling on her supposed transgression and end up getting some weird ideas. This matter was done. Dead and buried. Under no circumstances should it be exhumed for further scrutiny. It was the equivalent of sweeping the elephant in the room under the rug, but by the moons, she was going to get it done! When it came to covering up inconvenient truths, Mia was second to none. Then, as the final stroke of her three-hit combo...

“And if both Miss Rafina and I are to be forgiven, then it is in no way fair for you alone to shoulder your sins unabsolved. We should, in my opinion, all share in this forgiveness.”

Concluding this affair by shoving all the blame onto Santeri was a great way to sow the seeds of trouble. Those made to take the fall would harbor resentment. It would fester within them, nourishing those baneful seeds, until one day, when the conditions were right, they would sprout. That revitalized resentment might then push them to dig up the inconvenient truths of the past.

In other words, it could come back to bite her, and she did not much appreciate the sensation of figurative teeth on her delicate rump. Explicit elucidation of truths was the opposite of what she wanted. Mia’s ideal was for everyone to engage in collective fudging, covering the truth with so much buttery obfuscation that nobody could pick fact from fudge if they tried.

Sitting atop the elephantine bulge under the rug, she nodded with satisfaction to herself. Then she turned to Santeri, only to realize that his face looked...strange. Like the rare melting of snowy permafrost, his frigid expression gave way ever so slightly, ceding a glimpse of the soft earth underneath. Smelling a whiff of opportunity, Mia hastily added a few more words.

“There’s one thing I’d like to make clear though. I have nothing but the utmost respect for your work...”

Flattery first. Always flattery first.

“And I look forward to seeing your continued dedication to your work as you strive for even higher peaks of excellence.”

Then, the seeds. Not of trouble, but hope. Santeri’s job was directly connected to Mia’s life. Its importance could not be understated. The more passionately he felt about it, the better.

It feels like he’s a little more willing to listen right now. I think I might actually be able to convince him to keep taking good care of the island’s security. In fact, if I can get him to be even more motivated, maybe he can prevent me from getting assassinated...

Coward Tactics 102: prepare early and prepare extensively. Anything that could increase her chances of surviving the Holy Eve Festival was worth doing, and she made sure to do it.

“You...look forward... So I see...” For a long moment, Santeri’s expression was distant, almost blank. Then he said, “I see that you do indeed deserve to be called a saint. I shall take your words to heart and draw on their virtue to further fulfill my professional duties.”

He took a knee before her and solemnly made this oath.

Santeri Bandler ultimately devoted the entirety of his life to the security of Saint-Noel Island. The chief of security, though aged, was known for his eagerness to solicit advice from younger colleagues, and always gave their words serious consideration.

“I’ve been made aware that there exists those with more wisdom than me. I also know that at my age, experience often works against one by stiffening the mind. That’s why I must seek the advice of the young. Though they have less experience, their minds are more flexible, and what they have to say is worthy of serious thought. By considering every viewpoint, I expand my own field of view. Only then can I hope to prepare for all possible eventualities.”

The old man’s creed became the guiding principle of Saint-Noel’s security force, resulting in an island safer and more peaceful than ever before.