Chapter 6: Princess Mia...Resolves to Play the Gracious Host!

Let us backtrack a little.

After departing Saint Mia Academy and arriving at Saint-Noel Academy, Mia eagerly made a beeline for the bathhouse to soak away her travel fatigue. Anne—in case anyone was wondering—had also made a beeline, except in her case it was to various acquaintances in the academy to promptly inform them of Mia’s return. An ardent lover of bath-fueled girl talk, Mia was more than a little disappointed by her maid’s absence.

“By the way, Bel, you were getting along with the kids back there, weren’t you?” she said as Bel followed her into the bathhouse.

“I sure was! They were so cute! Hee hee.” Bel seemed delighted to have gotten the chance to play the role of big sister. The sight of her grinning caused Mia to follow suit. “But the most amazing thing was just getting to see the place. It’s the legendary Saint Mia Academy, after all! I never thought I’d get to walk around in it. What an experience that was!”

“Ah. Well...I’m glad you liked the place so much. At least they were getting some proper work done there...”

Frankly, if she’d shown up and all they had to show for their efforts was a big expensive building and that wooden sculpture, she might have lost it on the spot.

“Still, the experiments didn’t look too promising,” she continued. “I’m sure Arshia and Cyril are trying their best, but at this rate, I’m not sure when we’ll actually get a couple of kernels of the wheat in question.”

Mia pursed her lips in thought.

“It seems like...I’d better stay on good terms with Perujin, as well as Chloe’s father.”

Ganudos Port Country was arguably relevant too, but as long as the empire remained functional, they should keep playing ball. Probably.

“Hm. A friendly visit to Chloe and Rania sounds like a good idea. I think it’s time to do some catching up with the two of them,” she murmured as she entered the changing room. “My! What perfect timing.” Her eyes lit up at the sight of a figure she’d just been thinking about. “Rania, it’s been a while.”

“Hm? Oh, Princess Mia! It sure has,” said a pleasantly surprised Rania.

“Are you here for a bath too?” asked Mia.

Rania grinned. “I am, but that’s beside the point. I’ve been meaning to try a form of bathing that’s popular in Perujin, so I booked the communal baths for my use.”

“Did you, now? Fascinating!”

Mia was, in a word, a bath nut. She loved leisurely soaks about as much as she loved food and sleep. Together, the three formed—in her opinion—the ultimate trinity of pleasure. Therefore, any mention of potential improvements to her bathing experience was going to receive her full and undivided attention. It was literally one of the things she lived for.

“I got some bath herbs from Chloe a while back that made a lot of smoke when I put them in the water. Is Perujin’s the same kind of thing?”

“Smoke...is not part of the experience. Actually, why don’t you just see for yourself?”

Rania gestured for her to follow, so she quickly slipped out of her clothes and stepped into the bath chamber. The moment she did, the humid scent of warm vapors entered her nose...along with something else.

“My, do I smell...fruits?” As she peered through the veil of steam, the pool slowly came into view. “Is that what I think it is...?” She squinted. “It is! There are fruits floating in there!”

A number of yellow oval-shaped fruits bobbed up and down in the water. Even with her extensive experience in forest survival, Mia had never seen anything like them—not that she’d actually seen a whole lot of fruits in the forest. There had once been a time when she entertained fantasies about subsisting on wild fruit in the forest, but she no longer did so. Her experience in the previous timeline had been a harsh reality check.

She now knew that finding edible fruit in a forest was nothing short of a miracle. As a result, she’d focused her knowledge acquisition on edible plants and mushrooms, along with a smattering of fish. Staple foods of the forest survival scene were second nature to her by this point. Compared to the average noble, she was arguably a minor expert. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it was still more of a hobby than anything, so she hadn’t applied the same rigorous approach of exhaustive memorization as her other studies.

“What are they?” asked Mia.

“They’re called southstar lemons. They grow in an area further south of Perujin, and they’re really sour.” Rania, who’d followed her in, picked up one of the floating fruits and held it out to her. “Here, see what it smells like.”

Mia sniffed it as instructed. “I see. It has a very sharp scent.”

“Southstar lemons are often used as seasoning in cooking, but it’s said that they can relieve fatigue if you put them in a bath like this.”

“My! Then what are we waiting for? Let’s give them a try!”

Mia promptly scooted to the shower area and washed herself off. In defiance of the common perception of pampered princesses who were bathed by their attendants, her motions were practiced and efficient, exuding the air of a seasoned bath-goer. Within minutes, she was clean and ready to soak. So she did, lowering herself into the warm embrace of the pool’s water while letting out that guttural groan of ooof shared by bath-loving grandparents everywhere upon initiation of immersion. She...might have been becoming a bit too seasoned in the bathing department.

Heat permeated through every pore in her body. Tension drained from her muscles. She felt as if all her accumulated fatigue was seeping out of her. It would do well to remember that although she might have looked like a teenager, she was actually over twenty years old on the inside. As a working adult, she had to deal with adult problems, like stiff necks and sore backs— Wait, that doesn’t happen to twenty-year-olds. She was still in some of the peachiest years of her life!

...Which pretty much meant there was only one other explanation: she was just plain out of shape.

In any case, the soothful sensation delighted her. These fruits are a marvel!

“It feels so nice, Miss Mia!” exclaimed a smiling Bel soaking beside her.

“It sure does. I’d never heard of floating fruits in a bath before. Fascinating.”

Mia picked up a southstar lemon that had drifted near her. She smiled at the ovoid fruit. “I have to say, Rania, I’m surprised that Perujin royalty are fond of baths too. I had no idea you’ve been doing this kind of research...”

Rania, the last to get in, shook her head. “No, taking baths isn’t very prevalent among Perujin royalty either. We just wash ourselves and call it a day.” She smiled. “This is...more of an export item. In order for our country to grow wealthier, we’re always researching new crops and finding ways to sell them. It’s the Perujin way.”

For some reason, Mia couldn’t help but feel that there was a tinge of sadness in that smile.

“Phew...”

Mia stretched in the pool. After soaking in the pool, she’d taken a dip in the cool water before jumping back into the hot. The cold reset her body’s senses, allowing her to fully appreciate the pleasure of immersion in warm water again. Like a veteran wine taster, she was applying the principle of palate cleansing. Mia was a bath sommelier!

“This...is some good stuff! Very good. I’m calling it right now. This is definitely going to take off.”

Thus concluded Mia the bath sommelier in her review of southstar lemons.

“It sure is, isn’t it, Miss Mia? I hope we can do this again and have Rina join us next time,” said Bel who, following Mia’s lead, had just returned from her own dip in cool water. She sunk into the pool and kicked at the water playfully. Judging from the sheer delight on her face, Mia’s fondness for baths had made its way through two generations of trait inheritance.

“Yes, we can bring Rina next time, but please behave yourself, Bel. One must be proper and ladylike in her bathing conduct,” pronounced Mia. Presumably, guttural ooofs were fair game in her definition of “ladylike.”

“Okay! I’ll try hard to become a proper lady like you, Grand— Miss Mia!”

No one was present to point out the irony in the exchange. In the Bel-Mia comedy duo, neither was a straight man. There were no laughs to be had here. It did make for a lot of innocent smiles though, which was nice.

“...Wait.” That was when Mia realized something was wrong. They weren’t a duo. There was a third person with them, and she hadn’t spoken in a while.

Is it just me, or does Rania look a little down?

The Perujin princess sat on the side of the pool with only her slender legs in the water. Her eyes were downcast, and though she occasionally kicked up a few splashes, it seemed more an idle motion than a deliberate gesture of amusement. Granted, the risk of over-soaking was inherent to hot baths, resulting in discomfort and dizziness. Figuring Rania had probably slightly overstayed her welcome in the pool, Mia was about to go back to savoring the all-encompassing warmth when an alarm went off in her head.

No, hold on a minute. Something about her seems off.

It was the vaguest of feelings—something she couldn’t put her finger on. However, this was Rania Tafrif Perujin, the person whose assistance she desperately needed to overcome the famine. The slightest rift in their relationship could be fatal. Her chicken sensor, calibrated to squawk at even the faintest hint of danger, had begun to throw a fit. Not wanting to run a-fowl of its warning, she opened her mouth.

“Uhh... Rania?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, I’m glad you’re enjoying the fruit bath,” she said with a start, hiding her thoughts behind a smile. “And it’s not just the bath. I have new sweets too. Whenever you have time, I’d love for you to come and give them a try. I think you’ll really like them.”

“My! New Perujin sweets! Count me in!”

A host of fancy treats began to float through her mind. She envisioned novel Perujin cakes, innovative cookies, and a long line of silhouettes with question marks on them, representing even more wonderful delicacies that surpassed the limits of her imagination. She wiped a line of drool from the corner of her lips.

“I’m pretty confident about the lineup this time,” Rania added. Then, she asked in a hesitant tone, “By the way...is my sister doing well?”

“Hm? You mean Arshia? Of course. I met with her before coming back to Saint-Noel, and she looked great. Groundwork on the fields is done, and she’s started experimenting by planting different strains of wheat. Oh, she’s pretty popular with the kids too. They really look up to her,” answered Mia.

Just then, inspiration struck.

Aha! I know what this is about. Oh, Rania, I’ve got you all figured out. Your sister has gone to Tearmoon, and you’re feeling lonely now! That’s why you looked a little down.

Having ostensibly solved the Case of the Sad Rania, Mia gave her a tender look of understanding. “The two of you are really close, aren’t you?” she said with a gentle giggle.

“N-No, that’s not true...” Rania replied, though her embarrassed smile betrayed her words. “It’s just that...she’s my big sister. And I’m proud of her. I’m not worried about her or anything, but sometimes...I just wonder if she’s, you know, doing okay by herself in Tearmoon. If she’s taking care of herself. I mean, she writes to me, but...”

“Mm-hm, an understandable sentiment. Say, Rania, would you happen to have some time after this?” Mia asked as she contemplatively crossed her arms.

“Huh? I...guess so?”

“Good. Come to my room then. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about some things, so let’s have a nice long chat over tea.”

Frankly, it would have been easier for Mia to just stay here and tell Rania about her sister. However, given Rania’s VIP status, she figured it couldn’t hurt to put some extra effort in. Thus, Mia resolved to play the gracious host. The plan was to offer Rania plenty of tea and sweets, then slowly relay Arshia’s circumstances, allowing ample time for the food and drink to take their euphoric effect on her mood. Improving her impression of Mia would surely lead to smoother relations between Tearmoon and Perujin.

Indeed, Mia’s friendly offer was, in fact, entirely political.

“It’s been so long since I’ve gotten to enjoy Perujin sweets! And you have new ones? Moons, I can barely wait!”

Okay, maybe half political. A quarter, at least. The rest was her sweet tooth talking.

Rania blinked a few times in surprise. Then, her expression brightened. “All right, let me go get the sweets.”

After concluding her bath, Rania promptly fetched the sweets and headed to Mia’s room. She brought a Perujin creation known as sunblessed delights, which were made using sun-dried fruits from her region. These treats were sent with her under explicit instruction from her father to “go and advertise these in Saint-Noel.”

Her father’s words echoed in her mind. “It’s all for the prosperity of our country.” His teachings had been drilled into her from childhood. They grew crops, sold them to more powerful nations, and thereby enriched their country. That was the Perujin path to prosperity, and Rania, in her duty as a princess, was to dedicate her life to it. They would continue to do this, year by year, generation by generation...until the day they could get back at those greater powers. For as long as she could remember, she’d obeyed her mission. But...

Did Princess Mia...see right through me?

The way Mia had looked at her in the bathhouse lingered in her memory. There’d been something penetrating about her gaze. Something gently admonishing in her eyes. Her smile had seemed all-knowing. Then, she’d invited Rania to tea.

“She noticed. No, she probably knew all along...that I’ve been feeling down.”

Rania took a long breath. Then, she opened the door to Mia’s room.

“Ah, good timing, Rania. I just got the tea ready. Shall we begin?” Mia said, her smile friendly and disarming. Her expression seemed deliberate, as if she were trying to cheer up a dejected friend. “Oooh, are those the new Perujin sweets? Quickly, show me!”

Her voice was bright, brimming with unfiltered excitement. It sounded so sincere, as if she truly was eager to try the sweets.

“We call them sunblessed delights. Here, take a look,” said Rania, holding out a plate. “They’re made from fruits, but in this case, the fruits have been dried, so they keep for a long time. It also dilutes the tartness and makes them much tastier.”

“Hm, hm. I see, I see.” Mia regarded the plate’s contents with narrowed eyes. “They look...sort of like shriveled fruits. To be honest, they don’t look all that tasty...”

“Try one.”

Mia did as told, taking her knife and fork in hand and carefully cutting off a piece to place in her mouth. As soon as the piece touched her tongue, her expression blossomed with pure bliss.

“Aaah... It’s so sweet! And there’s a gumminess to it that enriches the flavor.”

“We made sure they’re sweet, of course, but we also put a lot of effort into preserving the fruit’s natural flavor. The scent, especially, I think is something worth appreciating.”

“It absolutely is! They’re completely dried out, but the flavor is still there. How did you manage to do that? Some sort of secret drying technique?”

“Well, sort of. It’s not as simple as just leaving it out in the sun. I’ll tell you that much. The process is pretty complicated.”

“I see.” Visibly impressed, Mia examined each of the sunblessed delights in turn before giggling. “I must say though, you’re quite the saleswoman, Rania. Just listening to your explanation made them look tastier.”

The compliment proved effective, and Rania couldn’t help but giggle as well.

“I’m glad you like them.”

Mia went through two more delights before finally leaning back and taking a satisfied sip of tea. Then, with a sense of deliberateness, she said, “Now then, let’s talk about Arshia... I believe you know she’s working as a lecturer, but as a matter of fact, I’ve also entrusted her with another very important task.”

“...What kind of task?” Rania hadn’t actually heard from Arshia about what exactly her job entailed. The letters had mentioned that she’d been ordered by Mia to work on a certain project and that her days were very fulfilling, but also that she couldn’t disclose any details about the project, even to family.

Arshia had to abide by a confidentiality clause, but surely, the same didn’t apply to Mia. After all, Mia was the one who issued the clause in the first place. If she was willing to talk, then all was well. Thrilled to finally have the chance to find out more, Rania regarded Mia with intense fascination.

“I asked Arshia to work on developing a new strain of wheat...that can resist the cold.”

“‘Wheat that can resist the cold’?” parroted a baffled Rania. “I guess I do remember father talking about how this year’s weather is also worrying, but...cold-resistant wheat? Does that even exist?”

Rania’s upbringing as a princess of Perujin engrained in her an intimate understanding of the degree of devastation a sun-shy year could wreak. Without enough of its heavenly blessings, grains would be small and hollow, with no sign of any kernels. It was common sense in Perujin that whenever a year like that came around, the only choice was to simply throw one’s hands in the air and give up.

They understood the principles of selective breeding. In fact, they applied them constantly in pursuit of strains that tasted better and produced more kernels. Never, however, had they conducted any research into a strain that could withstand the occasional cold wave that would decimate yields. The very thought of such research had not so much as crossed any of their minds.

Mia, meanwhile, looked Rania in the eye and declared, “It can exist. And we’ll make it so. I guarantee it.”

There wasn’t a shred of doubt in her voice. How could she speak with such conviction about a thing whose existence was yet unfounded?

Wow... Princess Mia really trusts Arshia, doesn’t she?

Because it wasn’t unfounded—it was rooted in Mia’s unwavering trust in Rania’s sister. A quiet breath of awe escaped Rania’s lips. The development of a strain of wheat that could grow well with limited blessing from the sun meant people would stop going hungry. Hadn’t that been her sister’s dream? Arshia had spoken about it frequently, almost incessantly, when they were young.

“...Must be nice.” Before she knew it, the words had slipped out of her.

“Hm? What was that?” said Mia, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, sorry, don’t worry about it,” said Rania, catching herself. However, she soon grimaced and added, “It’s just that Arshia’s out there doing great things... Things that are useful, and good for everyone... And seeing that, it makes me wonder what I’m doing with my life. More and more, I feel like I’m wasting my time. It all seems so meaningless...”

“My, that seems overly harsh of an opinion. It’s not like you’re doing nothing, right? I mean, look, you’re helping Perujin sell its delicious sweets to another nation as we speak. The way you describe your products makes me feel like I need to buy a few crates every time. Doesn’t that sound like a perfectly worthwhile endeavor? It does to me.”

“I...guess so.”

Mia’s compliment failed to brighten Rania’s mood. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about enriching the people of Perujin through commerce. No, that certainly did have value. The way her father did things, though... His attitude... Lately, it had begun to bug her. She couldn’t help but hear the subtle undertones: only Perujin’s prosperity mattered—every other nation’s was irrelevant. There was something vindictive about it, more ego than compassion, as if prosperity was merely the means, and getting back at greater powers was the true end. More and more, she’d begun to feel that everything she did was simply abetting this dubious goal. And now, juxtaposed against her sister’s efforts to prevent poor children from starving... It was all too much. She felt so...

Small...and hollow. Is this it? Am I going to be stuck doing such pointless work for the rest of my life?

Rania was questioning her own way of life for the first time. She looked at Mia, wondering how much easier it would have been if this girl had conformed to the stereotype of her station. If only she’d been proud, arrogant, and a fundamentally awful person like powerful princesses were supposed to be. Then, Rania could spite her without a second thought. She thought of Arshia, wondering how much simpler it would have been if she’d obeyed their father and married herself to some foreign royalty for the good of their country. If only she’d dedicated her life to Perujin’s prosperity alone...

But neither of them lived up to these stereotypical expectations, and their respective dignities only served to highlight the pettiness of Rania’s own struggles. It forced her to question herself. Was the delivery of national comeuppance its only purpose? Was her raison d’être simply to spite Mia and the Tearmoon Empire? And if it was...would she ever be able to look her sister in the eye again?

Rania’s hesitant tone prompted a contemplative “hmm” from Mia, who then said, “I see you’re not convinced. In that case... Oh, here’s a thought! How about you spread the word of Arshia’s wheat development to other nations? She does the research, and you handle the marketing.”

“Huh?” Rania blinked in surprise at the sudden suggestion.

“You recognize the value in her work, after all,” Mia continued. “Why don’t you help her by promoting it to the people around you? You’ve certainly got a knack for generating interest in things.” She clapped her hands together, as if profoundly satisfied by the genius of her own inspiration.

“This is quite the excellent idea, if I do say so myself!”

“You want me...to help Arshia?” Rania murmured, trying to process the implications.

Then she did know. She saw right through me, she thought as she regarded Mia. She already figured out what was troubling me, and now she’s offering me a solution...

That, Rania figured, must’ve been why Mia had been so insistent on trying the new Perujin sweets at this tea party. By listening to her give her spiel on the sweets, Mia could praise her eloquence and use the context to give her a suggestion. It was all a setup, but an effective one, for it weaved a coherent string of logic that led to a convincing conclusion—she had what it takes to help her sister in a meaningful way.

Then again, maybe I’m overthinking this, and that wasn’t her intention at all. But even then...

She felt like she’d found a path forward—no, the path forward—that would allow her to follow her heart...and be proud of herself while doing it. It would be work that she both could do and wanted to do. Work she could show her sister with glee instead of shame.

For the first time, Rania began to think seriously about her life.

Now, it hardly bears mentioning, but Rania was definitely overthinking things. Deepness of thought and Mia did not go together.

Even if Arshia and Cyril successfully develop the new wheat strain, there’s the problem of where we’ll plant them.

Mia wanted to lower the cost of wheat. To that end, she needed to increase the total supply in circulation. Assuming they managed to produce cold-resistant wheat, she’d need to plant a lot of them. The Rudolvon and Gilden lands alone would probably be insufficient. Even adding in all the fields around Saint Mia Academy didn’t seem like enough. Ideally, they’d grow the new wheat all over the empire. That, however, would entail persuading a whole lot of Tearmoon nobles, and frankly, Mia couldn’t be bothered to deal with the sheer density of their skulls. The issue of increasing domestic production was something she’d have to solve sooner or later, but given the choice, she’d rather solve it later. For the time being, it was far easier to hand seeds to neighboring nations like Perujin and ask them to grow the things.

“You want me...to help Arshia?”

“Absolutely. I think you’ll find the work to be very meaningful. Don’t you agree?” she said with the brightest of smiles.

Her goal was to spread the new wheat throughout the continent. That way, the price of wheat being imported into the empire would inevitably fall. She was, in essence, borrowing the land of other nations to lower the price of wheat in her own.

If I get Rania on board, I’ll save myself so much effort! Mia beamed. Things were going her way, and sweets were entering her mouth. Life was good.