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Chapter 19 - To New Lands

In the middle of all the kingdoms and empires was a small country known as

the Holy Principality of Belluga. Its holy nature came from the fact that it was

the home country of the Central Orthodox Church, the religion which had been

observed across the entire continent from days of old. Though it had no military

power whatsoever, it nonetheless possessed an unparalleled amount of

influence. The existence of a certain school within its borders was, in a way, a

testament to its power.

Saint-Noel Academy was an elite school that gathered children of nobility and

royalty from all across the land. Future rulers of neighboring kingdoms, who

one would assume would be raised with the utmost care in their ivory towers,

were instead all sent to one place where they received six long years of

education. From this fact alone, the authority that the principality commanded

was obvious.

And that was exactly where Mia was headed this spring.

"Wow! This is amazing!"

As Saint-Noel Academy came into view, Anne let out a cry of excitement.

After a week of bumpy roads in the carriage, they were finally here. Mia wore a

tired smile as she watched Anne marvel at the sights outside, her face pressed

to the window.

"You're not going to last very long if you keep that up, Anne. Don't wear

yourself out now."

"But, but, Milady! It's amazing! Look! The sea! It's the sea!"

"Actually, that would be a lake," corrected Mia as she followed Anne's gaze.

The small forest they were currently passing through was beginning to thin.

Up ahead, the fresh green of their wooded road gave way to the shimmering

surface of a vast lake. Known for its abundant natural beauty, over a third of the

principality was taken up by the Noelige Lake. At its center was a large island,

upon which stood the academy. With its beautiful white walls and castle-like

appearance, the building looked like it had popped straight out of a fairy tale.

While she could understand Anne's delight at the sight...

I must admit, after seeing it every day for almost five years, it gets a little old.

After all, she'd already attended this school in her previous timeline. While

she had no complaints about the academy's environment, it no longer roused

any excitement in her.

"Wow..." said Anne as she let out a deep breath. "I'm honestly impressed by

how calm you are about all this, Princess Mia."

Mia made no comment. She merely smiled back and then closed her eyes.

These next six years are going to be crucial.

Before coming to the academy, she'd carefully scrutinized her diary and

contemplated how she was going to spend her time here. In the end, she

decided to give herself two rules that she had to follow.

Rule number one: avoid danger at all costs. In particular, she was going to

stay the hell away from anyone who'd had anything to do with sending her to

the guillotine.

Rule number two: in the hopefully unlikely event that her attempted reforms

in the Empire failed and that tragic revolution repeated itself, she was going to

require a lot of help, which meant connections. To that end, she needed to

make as many useful friends as possible.

She had it all figured out.

The most important thing is to stay away from dangerous people. Like the old

saying goes: discretion is the better part of valor.

In her mind, she recalled the faces of her mortal enemies — those two hated

people who'd brought about her ruin...

And thought nothing in particular of them. She didn't want to fight them, and

it wasn't like she craved the sweet taste of revenge or anything. In fact, revenge

didn't sound very sweet at all. It sounded like a lot of pain and suffering. Mia,

being the lazy pacifist that she was, found neither of those appealing. This was a

case in which her first rule applied: don't get close to anything dangerous. After

all, if they never got to know her, they wouldn't have any reason to hate her,

either.

With that said, to be completely unprepared would have been extremely

foolish. If push comes to shove, I want to be ready. Which means I'll need

connections, and I'll have to make them as inconspicuously as possible. Who,

then, should I approach first...?

Just as Mia was losing herself in her thoughts, the carriage came to a stop.

"Ah, bugger..." muttered the driver in a bitter tone.

"...Hm? Is something the matter?"

"Ah, Your Highness, my apologies. You see, I was about to move our carriage

onto the boat that will get us to the island, but some other kingdom got in front

of us and took our spot."

"Huh... And?"

"Normally, they should be allowing us from the Empire to go first. Allow me

to go and put them in their place," said the driver as he rolled up his sleeves.

Mia sighed softly.

"...It's fine. I don't mind."

"B-But, what of the Empire's image..."

"I'm sure the Empire's image would be far better served by not squabbling

over such trifling matters as the order in which we board a boat. Regardless,

there's room for us both," said Mia, a hint of ire entering her voice.

The driver's attitude made her want to squeeze her own head in frustration.

He'd intended to make a huge fuss over who reached the island first. It was so

petty and frivolous and, honestly, embarrassing. But the most embarrassing

part was the fact that in the previous timeline, Mia had done just that. To make

matters worse, the affair had ended with her whole carriage falling into the

lake. She couldn't help but cringe at the memory. All in all, it had been a terrible

experience. She'd been wearing a stately dress that she was particularly fond

of. Being stately, it had a lot of fabric, which soaked up a lot of water, which got

very heavy, which meant she almost drowned... Even after she'd somehow

struggled her way onto shore, she still had to endure a round of riotous

laughter from all the onlooking students.

Remembering it was pretty painful, but watching her own humiliating actions

being replayed before her was even worse.

How terribly embarrassing... If I could, I'd go and slap some sense into my

stupid past self!

"A-Are you okay, Milady?"

"Oh, yes, don't mind me. I'm simply a little tired from our long journey,"

replied Mia as she opened the window.

The cool lake breeze felt good on her flushed cheeks.

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