Where there is light, it must surely give birth to shadow...
Even within Lunatear, the glorious capital of the mighty Tearmoon Empire,
there was a place from which people averted their eyes. Overlooked by a
stretch of the city walls was the Newmoon District, the slums of the imperial
capital. There lived the poorest of the poor, for whom food was scarce and
illness fast and fatal. Those who fell sick could often be found abandoned on
the streets. It was a place where the workings of civilised society had all but
vanished, save for a small church and an orphanage.
A young girl walked through the forsaken district, her beautiful dress almost
comically out of place among the broken roads and crumbling buildings. She
was none other than Mia Luna Tearmoon, the beloved daughter of the
Tearmoon Emperor. With a slight spring in her step, she hopped from place to
place, gazing curiously around at her surroundings.
"Your Highness, it is dangerous for you to be too far ahead. I must ask that
you remain behind us..."
Beside the young girl were four armed guards; along with her maid-in-waiting,
Anne, and her newly-persuaded ally, Ludwig. In order to explain why such an
eye-catching group of people was in a place like this, the narrative clock would
need to be rewound a few hours back.
"Well then... it would appear that this problem... is indeed one that needs to
be solved."
Thanks to the sweets that Anne brought, Mia's mind was sharper than ever.
After reading over her diary again, she'd found an entry that caught her eye.
"The plague... I remember having eggs thrown at me because of this."
A few years from now, the capital would be devastated by an outbreak of
disease. It was a terrible incident that even Ludwig wasn't able to predict.
Ultimately, ten percent of the population would succumb to the epidemic.
According to the rewritten diary, the empire's finances — which were just
beginning to improve after Ludwig's efforts — would be dealt a crippling blow
by this disaster and would spiral ever downwards thereafter.
"Hmmm, I know that we can't simply ignore it... but how does one go about
preventing a plague?"
As a rule, Mia was not a fan of hard work. When push came to shove, she
could shut herself into the Grand Library, but that never lasted long. Plus, she
fundamentally hated the thought of studying and looking things up. What
should she do, then?
"Well, let's keep things simple for now — when in doubt, ask for help."
The solution was easy; if she didn't have the answer, she'd just ask someone
to give it to her. After all, she now had access to a convenient source of
knowledge.
"Miss Anne, we are heading out."
"Where are we going, Princess Mia?"
"To speak with the stupid four— I mean, Ludwig."
"Ah, the gentleman from the other day... In that case, we'd better get you
fixed up and looking nice and pretty."
Anne's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm all of a sudden.
"Is that so? I personally think I look quite nice as is..."
Mia was currently clothed in a chic black dress that she often wore in her
room. While it might be a tad bland for the ballroom floor, she considered it
perfectly suitable for a casual meeting.
"That won't do at all! This is the perfect chance to catch his eye and leave an
impression! We can't have you passing it up! Now, come on, Princess Mia. Off
to the dressing room we go."
Grudgingly, Mia allowed herself to be dragged into the dressing room, where
Anne promptly enlisted the help of a nearby veteran maid to coordinate Mia's
clothes. They decided upon a light blue dress embellished with blossoms of
ashmoon cherry. Its skirt was trimmed relatively short in a design that
simultaneously emphasized the charms of the wearer and allowed for freedom
of movement.
"My, I've never seen this dress before."
Considering the fact that Mia owned enough dresses to fill five rooms, there
was no way she could keep track of every single one. Inevitably, there were
plenty of dresses that she outgrew without ever wearing.
"You look great, Princess Mia," said Anne with a smile before starting to tend
to Mia's hair. She ran a comb through the lustrous argent strands over and over
until they were smooth as silk. Then, she held them in place with a hairpin
adorned with a rainbow-colored gem.
When Mia looked in the mirror and saw the hairpin, her eyes narrowed a
little, and she whispered, "My, that's..."
"What's the matter, Princess Mia?"
It wasn't Mia but a veteran maid in charge of the dressing room who
answered.
"That was an offering from a certain wealthy merchant last year. Her
Highness was most pleased by the gift."
Anne laughed cheerfully after hearing the wardrobe maid's story.
"So that's where this came from. It's perfect for this occasion, then."
"I suppose so..." replied Mia, a hint of sorrow creeping into her voice.
To be honest, I don't really like this...
It wasn't the hairpin's design that she minded. She was actually quite fond of
how it looked. However, due to a certain reason, she couldn't wholeheartedly
appreciate wearing it. For a while, she debated whether she should refuse the
ornament.
But for going to see the stupid four-eyes, I suppose this is enough?
In the end, she chose silence.
To Be Continue...