Chapter 266

Princess Mia, The Embodiment of Truth

“...Eh?”

Mia was stunned by the girl. Her hair was golden and soft and wavy. Every time a breeze moved it, a pleasant floral scent spread through the air.

She looked at Mia with a slight blush on her cheeks and a bright smile. But over time, her grey eyes began to show a bit of confusion. Which made sense, since Mia had been staring at her for a while without saying anything.

Oh no, that was a bad idea.

Mia suddenly came back to herself and quickly smiled back.

“I’m glad to meet you. I’m Mia Luna Tearmoon.”

She said this with a polite tilt of her head.

“I have to say, though, that it feels strange to meet you for the first time now, since the Yellowmoons are our relatives.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry. Even for Rina, this is a very sad thing. I wasn’t healthy when I was born, and I’ve been weak ever since... I couldn’t even go to a birthday party for Your Highness.”

“My, I see. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be nosy.”

Citrina laughed in a delicate way.

“Oh, you’re being too nice. All of that is old history now.”

She was happy. It was sweet, like a flower swaying in the wind or a bird singing in the trees.

It was a perfect look from a perfect girl, who seemed to be the perfect daughter of a powerful noble in every way.

She was sweet and friendly, and she smiled a lot. She had smooth edges and rounded corners, and nothing about her was sharp or rough. She was so nice that it was almost impossible to think badly of her.

That’s why Mia’s alarms were going off in her head.

Vring! Vring! After all this time, Duke Yellowmoon’s daughter wants to talk to me? This smells very fishy! In fact, everything about them seems fishy! Why don’t I even know this girl? What on earth is going on?

In both times, she didn’t remember Citrina. Don’t worry about Citrina; she couldn’t remember much about anyone in the Yellowmoon family. That was very different from the other three Houses, which all left a strong impression on her.

“After all, we’re only known for how old our family is, and we’re the weakest of the Four Dukes...”

She had heard someone say something like that at some point, but she couldn’t remember much else. There was almost no information about the Yellowmoons.

“Oh, by the way, I heard that Your Highness is interested in herbs. Is that true?”

Mia was surprised by Citrina’s sudden question.

“Hm? My, I’m shocked that you knew. Did Bel tell you?”

“No, she didn’t. Rina is also interested in wild grasses and flowers. I used to go on hunting trips in the Yellowmoon domain, and I read books to learn more.”

“...Really!”

Mia took another look at Citrina. She was sure that the girl was the kind of creepy person who stayed in her room all day and planned all kinds of bad things.

I didn’t think she was also interested in learning how to stay alive. That’s too bad. If we weren’t enemies, we might talk about how to stay alive during a revolution. That also sounds like a lot of fun...

She was a little bit sad when she realised this.

“Oh, and mushrooms, too,” the girl said. “They’re a lot of fun, right?”

With those words...

“My! Citrina, you like mushrooms?!”

...Citrina completely caught her bait.

“Yes. I’ve also been looking into mushroom stews, and I sometimes try new things with the mushrooms I pick. Stews are so great!”

“My! ...My! I’ve always wanted to try making stewed mushrooms on my own. Could you tell me when?”

Citrina flicked her rod up, and Mia came flopping out of the water on the end of the line.

“Of course. Then, let’s go pick mushrooms together.”

Mia’s spine tingled with pure excitement. She had never heard of such an idea before. Picking mushrooms in the wild was always dangerous, so no one had ever been brave enough to invite her to do it.

She almost smiled, and her level of friendship with Citrina went up to eleven.

What do you know? Maybe Citrina is just a nice girl at heart. Duke Yellowmoon, her dad, might be a useless conspirator, but she might not be a part of any of it...

Within seconds, her guard was lowered so far that it would take shovels to go any lower.

People see what they want to see and don’t see what they don’t want to see. Mia was a living embodiment of this truth.