Chapter 427

A Perujin Night

After Mia’s welcome dinner was over that night, King Yuhal and his wife went back to their chambers.

“Didn’t the fall of that poor merchant earlier make it hard to understand what was being discussed?” asked the worried queen. “Is everything going to be okay?”

Yuhal sighed and gave her a nod to make her feel better. “I believe it will. In fact, I think Princess Mia left things open on purpose so we could think about it...”

Shalloak’s fall was definitely a big problem, but there was no reason for her to follow him. After the initial disturbance stopped, she could have easily picked up where they left off and pushed him for an answer. She had instead left the party.

“I guess she is sure that her idea is the best...”

“No, I don’t think so, Dad.”

Yuhal turned around when he heard an unexpected voice and saw both of his daughters standing at the door.

“Arshia... Rania...”

“Please excuse our sudden entrance.”

Even though they caught him off guard, Yuhal wasn’t too surprised by their look. He was sure that they would stop by before the night was over.

“Father, can we have a moment of your time?”

“Yes, you may. Maybe you’ve come at the right time. I’ve also been wanting to talk to you both.”

He told his girls to come in, and then he bent his head to look at them.

“...I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the treaty with Tearmoon.”

The treaty between the two countries had been in place since the beginning of Perujin. As a reaction to the Tearmoon Empire taking over the Fertile Crescent, the Agricultural Country of Perujin was made. The tribe of hunters who had been living on the land took control of it, and the farmers whose houses and fields had been taken over became serfs. People who didn’t want to be ruled by the kingdom went south to live in more free places. There, they started the country of Perujin.

The people who started Perujin thought that Tearmoon would eventually try to take over their country if nothing was done to stop it. So, they tried to make a deal with Tearmoon before it did so. They asked that their authority be recognized in exchange for Tearmoon getting the right to a certain amount of their wheat every year. The deal was made when the first Tearmoon emperor agreed to their terms.

Yuhal couldn’t figure out what the emperor hoped to get out of this deal. He could have said no, but he chose instant annexation and slave labor instead. Even so, the deal was made, and Perujin was able to keep its freedom, but it had to give Tearmoon more power. In effect, the founders gave up one part of their sovereignty to keep the rest. Since then, Perujin had to depend on Tearmoon, which let Tearmoon keep getting cheap wheat from them, but never enough to leave them without food. It was a long-term form of exploitation, but both sides agreed to it.

This was always a closely guarded secret that only the royal family and a small group of close friends knew about. If the people’s anger toward the empire ever got bad enough to start a war, that would be the end of Perujin. The troops of the empire would march in. It would be a quick and decisive invasion. In the end, Tearmoon would have gotten bigger, and Perujin would be a relic of the past.

Her words had a sense of honor. A self-assurance that was more than just pride. It was a strong sense of self-worth that came from the Perujin people, their generations of hard work, and the clear worth of what they had done.

Yuhal blinked. He couldn’t help but feel that Rania was giving off a faint glow. There was, in a way. Rania got some of the Great Wisdom of the Empire’s brightness as they walked up that golden slope together. Now, even when Mia wasn’t there, it still gave off a lasting glow.

Yuhal stared at her for a long time with his eyes wide open. Then, he smiled just a little bit.

My girls are all grown up now...

He retreated into his thoughts. As princesses of Perujin, Rania and Arshia were both doing a great job of doing what they were supposed to do. His girls did their fair share. What about him?

Rania asked her father, “Father, do you know what Princess Mia said at the opening ceremony for Saint-Noel Academy?”

Yuhal gave her a quizical look. The Bread-Cake Declaration was what she was talking about, and he knew about it.

“I do. She talked about how nations help each other out when there is a famine. To be honest, if it came from anyone else, I’d worry about how real they were,” he said.

Arshia continued Rania’s point by saying, “Princess Mia is a rule-breaker in every sense of the word. It’s like we all think in a box, but she thinks outside of it. She wants to help people. Not just her own, but everyone on the continent, and everyone the same. I was going to say no when she first asked me to teach at her school. I agreed because I understood that my dream had never been to keep people from starving in Perujin. That would never be enough...”

When Arshia looked him in the eye, he couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time. Gone was the young girl who tried hard to hide her desire to be rebellious. The person in front of him was a researcher who, despite being young, carried the weight of her big task with confidence.

Arshia went on, “I still remember the day Princess Mia became a light for me. And when I heard about her Bread-Cake Declaration, I felt her light again. Her leading light helped me figure out what my real dream should be.”

“The Bread-Cake Declaration... The need for cold-resistant wheat and a spokesperson... The emancipation of Perujin as a country...” Yuhal spoke in a thoughtful way. “Huh, a new way to go... I finally think I get what Princess Mia wants from us and what you two are trying to say.”

He laughed then. It wasn’t his normal laugh because it didn’t sound forced or weak like it usually did. This one came from the heart and was full of the joy of a child.

“Interesting. It’s a lot of fun.”

Getting involved with Mia when he could have freed his country from Tearmoon’s control seemed a little backwards. But...

“Nope, that’s not it... We’ll be free, for real. Both from problems in the present and from things left over from the past. No matter what, we must change the way things are. So, putting our faith in Princess Mia should be...well, to say the least, interesting.”

He felt something in his heart that he hadn’t felt in a long time: excitement. Soon after, hope and expectation came. He felt like a kid making plans for a joke.

“All right. Then I have to ask Princess Mia to do something for me in return...”

His girls looked at each other puzzled, not sure what he meant.