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The Long-Awaited Time
“Mia, how was the banquet?”
A recognisable voice entered her ears just as Mia was considering the notion that she had perhaps eaten a little too much due to her bloated stomach.
Rafina was standing just behind her when she turned around.
“Oh, Rafina-sama!”
Mia hurriedly got up from her seat. After their initial welcome when she had arrived, she had been too preoccupied shaking hands to talk to her. Well, shaking hands, dancing, and stuffing her face with cake with Sion and Abel. She was busy, that much is clear.
Mia immediately assumed the smile of a customer service representative dealing with a very important client, but she was still concerned that Rafina wouldn’t find that line of reasoning particularly persuasive.
Rafina sat down and motioned for Mia to follow suit. She then lowered her voice and leaned forward.
By the way, Mia, I don’t think I got an invite to your birthday party. I sincerely hope my presence didn’t create any issues.
“Huh?” Mia’s mind went blank for a second. She remained speechless as Rafina spoke.
“Could it be that you didn’t want me to attend and didn’t send me an invitation as a result?”
Rafina looked up and questioned.
“Ever since I arrived here, I’ve been thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the more frightened I got. I might not be welcome here after all. Apparently, I was the only one who wasn’t invited.”
“Uh
” Mia’s back was covered with sweat and goosebumps at the same time.
Rafina had a point. She was the sole member of the student council who wasn’t formally invited. Chloe wasn’t either, but her status as a commoner prevented her from attending. Everyone else was there, including Sapphias, Abel, Tiona, and Sion. Rafina was the only noble who hadn’t received an invitation to the celebration.
Rafina was the last person Mia invited to her birthday party! If the two of them didn’t know one other extremely well, there wouldn’t be a problem. Sending Rafina an invitation in that situation would appear too overtly political. In that scenario, it could even look better on Mia as a sign of humility and principle to purposely leave her off the guest list. Rafina would have thought so, at the very least.
But they were acquainted. In fact, really well. In this case, their friendship—which is generally a blessing—was a curse because it meant Mia had essentially refused to invite a friend to her birthday celebration. There were only a few possible interpretations of that, and none of them were constructive.
Her wweating increased and the chills intensified.
“U-Um
” Mia remarked in a shaky voice, “You, um, seemed so busy, Rafina-sama. I-I wanted to not annoy you. Since you would have to travell quite a distance to get here, I didn’t want to obligate you with an invitation. Without a doubt, it wasn’t because I didn’t want you to attend. Never even occurred to me. In actuality, I’m glad you’re here! I’m literally shaking with joy.”
She was largely telling the truth, to be fair. Mia has never wanted to stop Rafina from coming. She simply chose to leave out the part where she sort of forgot to send her an invitation since she got sidetracked by other things.
Straight into her eyes, Rafina looked.
“Is it possible that you forgot?”
Mia’s face expression was frozen. Fortunately, it came in the form of a smile, which was able to hide the other possible expression—absurd fear.
Eeeeek! This is not good. This is terrible! M-I shouldn’t dwell on how I forgot because Miss Rafina has been known to read minds on occasion. I didn’t forget, I promise! I most certainly didn’t forget! No forgetting of any kind has taken place!
Until she began to believe it, she desperately repeated the mantra to herself. Yes, Mia didn’t disregard Rafina at all! She decided not to invite Rafina since she thought she was too busy.
I didn’t forget. I didn’t forget. I didn’t forge—
A chuckle cut off Mia’s mental chanting as she let her guard down.
“Oh Mia. I’m just kidding. You didn’t need to treat it seriously, really.”
She flashed Mia a friendly smile, but something about her eyes gave Mia the impression that it was only partially sincere.
Oh no, I made a terrible error. I’ll now have to invite Miss Rafina each and every year. Also
 She presumably left the academy before Barbara arrived, so I’ll have a bit of explaining to do.
She had written Belluga a letter (read: list of justifications) together with Barbara in which she made a point of stating unequivocally that she had no desire to assist the first emperor’s agenda.
I must immediately bring her up to speed if she didn’t have a chance to read the letter. She must hear the same speech I delivered to Duke Yellowmoon in particular so that she won’t demand that I bear responsibility for the first emperor’s foolishness. Is there a nice location nearby where we might conduct this discussion?
She considered her alternatives as the banquet was coming to an end.
“Mia-sama
”
She noticed Esmeralda standing over her when she looked up
“Esmeralda, my. I didn’t have time to express my gratitude for your attendance today.”
No need. Of course I’m here—it’s my best friend’s birthday celebration!”
Esmeralda smiled brightly, “I have to go now, but do look forward to the celebration we’ll be holding at the Greenmoon residence. Oh, and could you please let Miss Rafina, Prince Sion, and Prince Abel know that they are all invited as well?”
Mia spent five days touring the several key noble domains outside the capital city for her birthday festivities. There was no predetermined list of locations. Her annual trip was chosen after taking advice from the Moon ministries. She was required to attend all of the Four Dukes’ dinners after the five days, which were hosted by each of them individually. Therefore, it was not surprising that Esmeralda, a member of the Greenmoon family, had invited her to a subsequent gathering.
I’ll be staying in the capital for a while because, if I remember correctly, the Greenmoons normally host their feast at a villa in the city rather than their primary residence.
A thought occurred to her, and she clapped her hands.
“Oh, I had a thought just now. Could you help me, Esmeralda, with a favour?”
“Let’s hear it then, shall we?”
Esmeralda grinned with delight at being trusted.
Mia gave her a casual look and said, “I’d like you to keep your promise this winter.”
“My
promise?” A brief frown was followed by understanding. Her demeanour became more tense, and her cheeks clenched slightly.
Mia gave her reassurance and smiled softly. “Yes. Remember the tea party you promised to throw for me?”
She referred to a promise made a few months prior on the isolated island, but whose origins went much further up the arcane streams of time.
“You were going to treat me to some delicious, sugary cakes,” she remarked. “Please bring Citrina, Ruby, and Sapphias as well. There, at the event, we’ll make a joint oath.”
She paused, giving her subsequent statements more emphasis during the void.
“We will take an oath to serve the empire and ensure the welfare of all of its subjects.”
Esmeralda’s eyes widened, and there was more silence.
This particular moment had been long-time awaited for Esmeralda. She had patiently awaited the full realisation of her goal since she was the assembly’s inception. Finally, the stars were arranged in a circle around the moon and were about to become one.
Author’s Note:
Part 3 will end with this week’s post.
After a week off, we’re planning to start Part 4