Chapter 23: That Which a Lounging Mia Forgot —So That This Time, We Can Finally Be Good Friends—

“Hmm... I feel like I’ve done everything on my list...but I also feel like I’m forgetting something...”

The Holy Eve Festival was two days away. There wasn’t much time left, and the list of things she could plausibly do was growing shorter. As what were potentially the final hours of her life waned before her eyes, Mia rolled from one side of her bed to the other, then back again. In other words, she was lounging the day away. Was it because she’d decided to live in the moment? No, not really. That was just her behavioral pattern. When presented with downtime, the creature known as M. Princessus would always choose to lounge.

There was a knock on the door, Sion’s voice followed it.

“Mia, do you have a moment? I’d like to talk to you about something.”

“My, Sion coming to the girls’ dorm? That’s not something you see every day.”

In one smooth motion, Mia rolled across her bed and leapt off, sticking a solid landing on the floor. Then, she looked down at herself and her wrinkled roomwear.

Hm... Ah, who cares. It’s just Sion.

So much for marriageability. Regardless, she opened the door and greeted him with a bright smile. Sion jerked back a little, momentarily astonished by her attire.

“I...see that you were getting some rest. Do accept my apologies for intruding,” he said, lowering his head.

He’d obviously mistaken Mia’s somewhat disheveled appearance for a sign that she’d just gotten out of bed. Which wasn’t wrong per se, but incorrect in his assumption that “just got out of bed” meant “had been sleeping and was woken up.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ve come all the way here, so it’s clearly something important. Anne’s not here today though, so you’ll have to do without tea, I’m afraid.” She bid him in. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“It’s about one of your subjects, actually. Ludwig, specifically. I’d like to ask him to do something.”

“Ludwig? What do you want him to do?”

“Long story short, I’d like him to see if he can locate that Wind Crow agent I mentioned before. The one who disappeared while operating in Tearmoon.”

“A Wind Crow who disappeared in the empire...”

She didn’t say it, but her expression all but screamed ...Eh? Who are we talking about again?

“Even you don’t remember, huh. I guess it’s not exactly surprising, considering it was just a passing mention. It’s the person who informed us that the Serpents are in contact with one of your Four Houses.”

“...A-Ah, right. That person. Yes, I remember now.”

She nodded vigorously to give the impression that it was all coming back to her. Of course, nothing actually came back. Nothing could. Mia’s brain was really good at forgetting things she didn’t have to remember, and her bar for “have to remember” was pretty high.

“But why look for this person now?” she asked.

Sion proceeded to explain his reasoning, which she found convincing.

“I see... It’d definitely be a big help if we could get someone like that on our side. Good idea, Sion. Brilliant as ever, aren’t you?”

“Ha ha, remember how I said I’d earn the chance to redeem myself on my own terms?” He grinned playfully before dismissing his own facetiousness with a shrug. “Which is certainly a suitably lofty goal, but here I am asking for your help again. Frankly, it’s embarrassing how little I can do on my own, and being stuck here in the academy isn’t making it any easier...”

“Well, that seems a tad harsh on yourself. I think you should give yourself more credit. Anyway, what exactly do you want Ludwig to look into?”

“These.”

Sion handed her a piece of paper. She read it over and frowned.

“...Hm? Max, merchant... Bisset, butler... Thanasis, local official... What are these supposed to be?”

“These are the fake names and identities our man has used before.”

“Huh... Interesting. This is it though? Don’t you have a description of what he looks like?”

“Unfortunately, no. He’s known to be a master of disguise.”

“Ah. Well, I guess that’s to be expected...” murmured Mia as she regarded the page.

I have to admit, this is pretty impressive. What Abel said was true then. Sion really has been working out a way to fight against the Chaos Serpents. Oh!

She clapped once as a thought occurred to her.

“Sion, do you mind if I pick your brain about something?”

“Hm? Sure. If you think I can help you figure something out, then by all means,” he said, one eyebrow raised in interest.

She nodded in satisfaction.

“This is purely to fulfill my own intellectual curiosity, all right? It’s entirely hypothetical. But let’s assume you only had two days left to live. What would you do with them?”

Hit with this zinger of a philosophical question, Sion nevertheless crossed his arms and made a sincere attempt to formulate an answer.

“Two days, huh... That’s not much time, so there’s not much that can be done. Let me think... First, I’d probably formally thank the people who’ve obliged me with their assistance before...” he said in a soft, contemplative voice. “After that... I think I’d go to the people whom I, through my own immaturity and stubbornness, have caused trouble for, and apologize to them.”

“My! You have people like that in your life too?” exclaimed an astonished Mia.

Sion grimaced.

“A couple, yes. If, in the course of life, one feels they owe no gratitude or apology to anyone around them, it is surely a sign of profound conceit,” he said before qualifying his stance with a shrug that said “That’s the way I see it, at least.”

I see... Well, in his case, I guess that’s true. She found herself concurring with his statement. Unlike me. I haven’t caused trouble for anyone, so I don’t have to do any apologizing.

Correction: she concurred with his statement with respect to him. Profound conceit indeed.

“Hm, but... I suppose that is a way to look at things.”

She turned to face him and straightened, then inclined her head in a deep bow.

“Allow me to express my gratitude for you, Sion.”

“Hm? What’s this now?”

“I heard from Abel that you were concerned about me, and you’re doing all sorts of things to try and lighten my burden. I do appreciate it, and I’m sorry to have made you worry.”

With a tsk, Sion averted his gaze and scowled at the wall.

“Damn it, Abel and his big mouth...”

He let out a defeated sigh before turning back toward her.

“Okay, look, just so you don’t get the wrong idea, this is all part of my effort to redeem myself for my past failures. In other words, I’m doing this for myself—”

“I completely understand. You’re doing this solely because you want to. Still, I must thank you, because I’d feel very bad otherwise. And so, I have done so. You did your thing, I did mine. All for our own sakes. That’s all this is.” Then, she smiled. “I’m just doing what I want to do too, so don’t mind me, all right?”

For what seemed like a long moment, Sion observed her without a word. Finally, he exhaled. It was a soft breath, but long, coming from the bottom of his lungs.

“Ah, damn it... Why’d I tell Abel it was his job to cheer her up...” he muttered in a voice inaudible to all but himself.

Little did Sion know...

Owing Sion a favor makes me nervous. Tilting my head and saying thanks, meanwhile, is totally free! And it makes us even! Of course I’d thank him! I’d thank him every time!

...Mia’s thoughts on the matter were far less sincere. Moreover, he also didn’t know that a few of the words he’d spoken would etch themselves into her mind. Was there truly no one to whom she owed gratitude or apology? If not in this life, then the past? The question would remain with her, looming over her mind like a faint beacon whose light would eventually lead her to the one thing she’d forgotten.

After seeing Sion off, Mia penned a quick letter to Ludwig before diving back into bed.

“Oof, I’m pooped.”

The heavy labor of filling half a page with words had left her exhausted. She stretched her limbs, then sank into her mattress like a limp noodle.

“Apologizing to people I’ve caused trouble for, huh...” she murmured with her face buried in her pillow. “I guess he has a point. That does feel like something I have to do if I want to die without any regrets. The problem is, I don’t have anyone like that...”

The previous timeline was one thing, but in the current one, Mia had been living a life of continuous redemption. The chef who was supposed to be fired was now happily working as head chef at the imperial court. She’d even put in a good word to her father for his faithful service. Newmoon District, which had previously gone completely neglected until it was too late, was now benefiting from constant reformative efforts. The once-desolate townscape was steadily showing signs of renewed life. One by one, she’d fixed the mistakes she’d made in her past life. Once, she might have sinned, but she’d now redeemed herself.

So why, then, did Sion’s words gnaw at her conscience?

“Eh, it’s probably just me. If anything, I probably have way more people I have to thank. There’s Anne and Ludwig... Abel and Sion... Chloe, and Miss Rafina too... And I guess Tiona counts—”

She froze as a realization suddenly dawned on her. These thoughts she was having felt strangely...foreign. She was at the end of her life, and of all the things to pop into her mind, it was saying thanks to all her dear friends? It happened so naturally too, as if it was simply a part of who she was. Heck, even Sion’s name appeared in the list, and he’d been her archnemesis! She no longer felt even a speck of animosity toward him. The same was true for Keithwood and Liora. What bad blood there had once been between her and them, it was all gone now. Well, Dion was still as scary as ever, but ignoring that one anomaly...she’d managed to forge genuine bonds with everyone else. They’d become good friends.

But for some reason, there was one relationship among those that felt a little different, as if there was still some lingering friction there. A sense of distance. They were friends, yes, but not quite good ones.

Tiona... Something didn’t feel right between her and Tiona, and it was keeping them from forging a proper bond. What was it...? The answer came in an instant. It took the form of a memory she’d long forgotten. Visions flashed before her eyes, accompanied by phantom sensations. Her palm stung. A girl stared at her, eyes wide with confusion and shock. There were the grating jeers from her obsequious entourage as well as...

“You pauper of a noble! Who do you think you are, getting so chummy with Prince Sion, huh? Learn your place!”

...Her own voice, so scornful and cruel. It was a scene from her past life. She’d forgotten it for so long, but it had come back to her at last.

“Aaah... Yes, now I remember. There is something I need to apologize for. What I did to Tiona before... I have to say sorry to her...”

In the previous timeline, Mia had witnessed a burgeoning friendship between Tiona and Prince Sion. Her loneliness and frustration, deepened by Sion’s total disregard for her, had led her to act on her worst impulses. She’d struck Tiona. Across the face. She could almost still feel the stinging in her palm. It was, she realized, the one thing she hadn’t yet been able to make up for. A mistake yet unamended, because...

“It’s something that went away on its own. Without me doing anything...”

It was an incident lost to time. Swallowed by the current of history, its absence left her with one sin that her temporal reset couldn’t wash away; there was nothing left to wash. Of course, objectively speaking, Tiona was one of the people who’d sent her to the guillotine. It could reasonably be argued that a smack across the cheek was fair payback. At worst, they were even.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t about reason. Mia was acutely aware that what transpired that day had embedded itself into her heart like a thorn, and no amount of logic could take it out. What hurt, hurt. Especially with her death drawing near, what she could feasibly do in the time left to her was quickly growing limited. This was not the time for fragile egos. She needed to act.

“Now that I think about it, I never did manage to develop a genuine friendship with Tiona, and I feel like it’s all because of that incident.”

If her second chance at life had for all practical purposes nullified that sin, then her successful avoidance of her guillotine fate should have signaled the end of her antipathy toward Tiona as well. Mia no longer felt any ill will toward the girl. If anything, Tiona had given Mia a lot of help both in Remno and during the election.

“It wouldn’t have been the least bit surprising if we’d become really good friends, but somehow, somewhere, it felt like there was a rift between us. And now that I’ve figured out why, I need to do something about it, because I won’t be able to die in peace otherwise.”

At long last, she’d found the answer. Of course, she’d never be able to apologize to the Tiona she’d actually wronged. Doing so to the present Tiona, who had no recollection of being slapped, would probably just confuse her.

Well, so what if it did? That didn’t matter. After all, when it came to Mia, it was always Mia First, which was currently amplified by her commitment to living in the moment. Moment-living-Mia-First-ism didn’t give two sticks about how other people felt. She was going to have her way.

“I need to make proper amends for what I did to Tiona, because that way... If I do die on the night of the Holy Eve Festival...and by some miracle, I get another chance at life... That’s when I’ll be able to say with confidence, ‘this time, we can finally become good friends.’”

Mia nodded, feeling a long-teetering weight settle into place at last.

“Well, now that’s decided, there’s no time to waste.”

The next day, she promptly went to see Tiona, bringing a big box of fancy pastries with her as an apology gift. Let it be known that she definitely, absolutely, indubitably did not do so because she wanted to eat them herself.