Sion is probably the first ever 2nd ML who really does not deserve the MC.
I felt pity for many MLs in many dramas/mangas/webtoons who suffered under the Second Lead Syndrome but this time we have a very priveledged sanctimonious self-rightous 2nd ML of a Prince and Mia our funny self-serving patty FL does not choose or forgive easily the prince who was one of the people responsible for her death in her first timeline!
It is so refreshing to see a MC who is not a sweet kind innocent subservient forgiving fool dedicating her life to take care of a very perfect powerful desirable dumb childish ML who killed her in the past!
I 100% agree that it's super refreshing that Sion isn't the ML given his involvement in her execution. I don't want to blame him entirely, since it is true the Mia and her father were terrible rulers and because of them and their poor policies and lack of concern for the common people a lot of commoners starved and died. But I'm also glad that it takes her a while to forgive Sion and even with that, she never considers him a romantic possibility. I do like him as a character though and his growth as a person is really great.
But #TeamAbel always and forever!
VOL 3 CONTINUED..........
Mia is continuing with her presidential campaign. She has to come up with campaign platform and promises, but only comes up with trivial things like 'expand the baths' or 'better food in the dining hall'. At the same time Mia, Rafina, Sion, Abel, et all continue to have meetings to discuss research into the Chaotic Snake organization. Sion reveals that one of Sunkland's spies have sent information that there's a strong possibility that one of the Four Dukes is a member of the Chaotic Snake. Mia thinks about how, in the original timeline, none of the Four Duke families helped her and the royal family during Tiona's rebellion + about how in Bel's timeline the Four Dukes turn against each other and plunge the empire into civil war and realizes that Sion's discovery might be right.
Shortly after that, Saphias Bluemoon (Bluemoon is one of the four Duke families) comes to see Mia. Saphias is a pompous, arrogant, and scheming coward. He offers to help Mia win the presidential election by digging up dirt about Rafina and/or spreading rumors about her to damage her good name. In exchange, he wants Mia to make him vice president if she become student council president. Mia refuses because (a) she's terrified of what Rafina would do if she found out Mia did something shady like that and (b) Mia suspects Saphias of being a Chaotic Snake member (he's not).
After being turned down by Mia, Saphias has a confrontation with Tiona who overheard everything and tells him that Mia isn't like him and will win fair and square without resorting to dirty tactics. Saphias is annoyed at being lectured by a "dirty outland noble" and threatens Tiona, but Abel shows up and tells him to back off. Saphias runs away with his tail between his legs; although he talks big game, he's actually a massive wimp and coward. He's such a wimp that although he looks down on commoners and with scold his servants, he's never ever hit them or had them hit because just the possibility of seeing any blood makes him faint. Anyway, Saphias is annoyed at being refused + embaressed by Tiona and Abel. Part of his annoyance is also because he counted his chickens before they hatched and wrote a letter to his fiance bragging about how Princess Mia promised him a seat on the student council if she won. He's really in love with his fiance and so is scared that she'll think less of him if she finds out the truth. While he's stressing he gets summoned to meet with Rafina.
At that meeting, Rafina reveals that she knows about the offer he made to Mia. Saphias panics and thinks it's over for him. After Mia rejected him she says to him "You're not fooling anyone". Mia was refering to her conviction that he's a Chaotic Serpent, but Saphia, who isn't, thinks back and assumes that Mia knew Rafina would see through him. Saphias takes his first step aboard the awe-of-Mia train. Rafina, says that wrong doers should be punished, however, inspired by Mia's mercy to the students during the Tiona tower incident, doesn't punish him since no harm was actually done and just asks him what Mia's reply was. When Saphias tells him that Mia said she'll win fair and square. Rafina says that of course she would say that but wonders why then Mia won't join the council with her instead of running against her.
We then get a chapter from Rafina's POV where she thinks about how what she had always wanted most was a close friend and peer. Because of her position as Saint of Belluga and Holy Lady, she's and object of reverence for all people. For that reason people have always treated her differently and kept their distance so she's never had a true friend. One time there was a noble girl who asked to be her friend and treated Rafina like a normal person and Rafina was ecstatic, but she eventually realized the girl was cruel and violent to her servants and that the reason she treated Rafina normally was not because she believe all people were equal but because the noble girl saw herself as just as exalted and above others as Rafina.
After that, Rafina gave up on ever having a friend, until she met the Saint and Wisdom of the Empire Mia. Rafina thinks about how just, wise, kind Mia who treated everyone as equals was the exact type of person she'd been looking for as a friend. However she also thinks about how Mia has no change of winning the election against her. Rafina thinks that Mia is running against her only to prove the fairness of the election and give legitimacy to Rafina's candidacy. Rafina is frustrated though, since she really wanted Mia to cheer her on by being part of her council. Rafina thinks sadly how exhausted she is between developing countermeasures against the CHaotic Serpents, performing her duties as a Holy Lady of Belluga, and president of the academy: "even the diligent Rafina was showing signs of fatigue".
......VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY
True, Mia is a very flawed person but she does learn from her mistakes and despite kinda becoming a better version of herself she still maintains her core selfish characteristics.
I think I am really tired of these typcial virtuous FL stereotype/archtype who always is inferior and suffers more than the ML. Despite being/trying to be smart or strong is always underminded by the sudden heroic efforts by the superior idealized ML.
Thank you very much for giving us such detailed spoilers :)
VOL 3 CONTINUED.............
The election continues. Although Mia has a core group of supporters, she's still far far behind Rafina. Mia tries to come up with campaign promises but none of her ideas are as good as Rafina's. She ends up basically just plagarizing Rafina, but is really salty about it, blaming Rafina in her head for taking all the good ideas. Mia ends up running into Rafina in the student baths and they start talking. Mia is being passive aggressive and tries to backhandedly insult Rafina by telling Rafina that she looks tired and that she can't imagine what it must be like to be in Rafina's shoes. Rafina then asks Mia to withdraw her candidacy. Rafina says that it's impossible for Mia to beat her based on the current polls and that it would be best for Mia to save face by withdrawing before the results are formally announced.
Mia: I'm sorry Miss Rafina, but I can't do that. I can't afford to lose.
Rafina: This is really quite upsetting. Because....I thought we were friends.
Mia: Don't you mean, BECAUSE we are friends? But then again, maybe I'm wrong...Since you seem to be perfectly fine with holding onto absolutely everything!
Mia is, of course, annoyed about losing. By 'because we're friends' she meant 'I figured you'd go easy on me and leave me some freebies because we're friends. how selfish of you'. But the unusual Mia Misunderstanding Machine is working in full gear as usual! Rafina totally misinterprets Mia's meaning. She thinks back to when Mia commented on how tired she looked and has a (TOTALLY INCORRECT) revelation that Mia is trying to take over the presidency to help carry some of Rafina's load. Because Rafina is stretched so thin between her duties as a Duchess and her duties as a Holy Lady fighting against the Chaotic Serpent, and her duties as Student President, she thinks Mia was trying to take over the only responsibility that she could (President). She also guesses that the reason Mia's campaign promises were the same as hers was because it was meant to reassure Rafina. Rafina thinks: "She wasn't trying to defeat Rafina; she was trying to send a message -- 'hand me some of your work so I can shoulder part of your burder'. The similarities between their platforms was for Rafina's peace of mind to show that she'd be leaving her duties in good hands"
Rafina then starts to feel guilty, thinking how Mia was trying to help her but she arrogantly said something like give up. "Could it be that for all my fixation on our friendship...I'm actually the one who failed to place my full trust in her." Rafina feels guilty and sad, thinking that she betrayed their friendship and that Mia was angry and wouldn't forgive her. But then Mia says that 'what are friends if not those willing to overlook the mistakes we commit in each other's company'. In actuality, Mia is panicking thinking that her outburst has made Rafina angry and she's trying to backpeddle. However Rafina thinks that this is Mia forgiving her and she starts to cry, moved that she's finally found a true friend.
The next day at the final speeches, Rafina announces she's removing herself from the race. Mia becomes the new Student Council President!
We then get a scene from Bel's future, but it's from the POV of Ludwig. Bel has fallen asleep during their history lesson and Ludwig is reminiscing about the topic he'd been teaching her: which was the the fall of Rafina. Apparently what happened in the future is that because Rafina was stretched so thin and so exhausted by all her responsibilities she overlooked an attack from the Chaotic Serpents. The Academy has a huge celebration called the Holy Eve Festival every year. Rafina anticipated the Chaotic Serpents would make a move during the festival, so she strengthened protections around all the students. However she never anticipated that the Serpents wouldn't attack the students but that instead they poisoned all the commoners who worked at the Academy. The Academy's staff were poisoned to death during the festival. Rafina's reputation was destroyed because the people accused her of having such good protection for the nobles but not caring about the safety of the commoners. Rafina was driven half mad by her guilt and that's how she turned into tyrant whose sole focus was eradicating the Chaotic Serpent at any cost.
Ludwig muses outloud "If only her Highness, The Great Sage of the Empire, had been there" and that's what Bel woke up. "Bel failed to hear most of Ludwig's musings at the time. Consequently she couldn't relay any detailed information, leaving Mia clueless about both the conspiracy of the Holy Eve Festival. Ludwig's overzealous expectations, therefore fell on the shoulders of a princess who had no idea she was even bearing them."
Cut back to the present timeline. Mia is trying to choose the rest of the members of the student council....
......VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY
VOL 3 CONTINUES...............
Mia decides on her student council cabinet: She decides to make Rafina and Sion the vice presidents, so that (a) they can do all the work and (b) if there are any mistakes then no one can give her a lot of flak because 'sunkland' and 'saint rafina' are also culpable. Abel is the president's assistant, so she can keep him near her. Tiona is secretary and Chloe (Mia's reading buddy and the daughter of the merchant that she made the insurance deal with) will be treasurer since they both helped out with the election. She realizes that the student council will basically be the same people in the anti-Chaos Snakes meetings and decides to make Sapphias assistant to the secretary. Mia still thinks he's a Chaos Snake and figures that this way they call all keep and eye on him and give him so much work he won't have time to plot anything.
Of course, Rafina totally misunderstands Mia's reasons for her choices. She believes Mia chose her, Sion, and Abel to send a message that Tearmoon, Sunkland, and Remno are joining forces with Belluga in the fight against the Chaos Serpents. And she thinks Mia chose Sapphias because, as Princess of Tearmoon she has to bring in at least one person from the Four Dukes and Sapphias, being the least likely to be a Chaos Serpent and also the easiest to handle cause he's kind of a simp, is the best choice. Mia becomes labeled as 'a very capable politician' in Rafina's head.
Meanwhile, Mia goes to tell Sapphias that she's giving him a position on the council. Sapphias is currently a hot mess, looking haggard and sloppy. Basically he'd been stressing out about making an enemy of Rafina, worried that she'd expel him, and also stressing about how to tell his fiancee he'd lied about being promised a position on the Council and what she'd think of him after. Mia tells Sapphias she's making him assistant to the secretary in what she thinks is provocative words: "I expect this appointment to be particularly challenging for you, so should you choose to refuse, I'll not hold it against you. With that said, I do believe this to be quite the opportunity." Of course she says all this thinking he's a Serpent.
Sapphias, however, thinks that Mia is being merciful and giving him a chance to redeem himself and prove his worth. Sapphias thinks: "He'd have a seat on the council, but he'd know he didn't earn it himself. Mia gave it to him. It was an act of kindness -- kindness that he was equally undeserving of. Her Hightness preserved my honor. She gave me another chance." Mia's loyal ministers gains a new member!
Elsewhere, the monthly Moon & Stars Tea Party (the one that is suppose to include Mia + the students/heris from The Four Duke family, but that Mia hasn't been attending because she's too busy) is happening. This time, the only people in attendance are Emeralda Greenmoon (who hosts the parties) and a girl named Ruby Redmoon. (The daughter of the Yellowmoon is the youngest of the heirs and only just enrolled in the Academy so she hasn't shown up yet). Emeralda and Ruby talk about how they have bones to pick with the princess. Emeralda especially is furious that Mia chose someone incompetent like Sapphias and a country bumpkin like Tiona to join the Student Council over her. Emeralda is so angry that her hands are shaking holding her teacup. Ruby is apparently annoyed that some knight she had her eye on was pached right out from under her (The Redmoons are a military family and actually have a large private army). Apparently the two of them are planning to stir up trouble for Mia
There was an important encounter that happened in Vol 1 that I forgot to mention in my summaries: Mia's first meeting with a fellow Tearmoon student named Rania. She's the third princess of Perujin Agricultural Country. Like it's name Perujin is mostly a country of farmers. It doesn't have much military or economic power, so is considered unimportant, however a significant portion of Tearmoon empire's food comes from Perujin. But Tearmoon nobles have really strong anti-agrarian mindsets. They look down on farming and farmlands and think that agriculture is something for peasants and slaves, so Perujin is refered to as "a country of serfs" by Tearmoon nobles.
Perujin's economy relies heavily on income from those exports to the Empire, so at her father's insistance, Rania often holds parties at the Academy and invites Tearmoon students for the purpose of fostering communication and introducing young nobles to the food and crops from Perujin. However, because Perujin is looked down on usually almost no one shows up to the party except for a few minor nobles who are forced to be there against their will and act rude. This time, Rania decides to play a prank by putting out among all the other snacks a plate of preserved cookies. Food preservation is a new technology in Perujin and she figures that the nobles won't notice, but at least she'll get a laugh knowing that they're eating stale food.
Then Mia shows up to the party. Rania is shocked that the Imperial Princess would actually show up and moreover that Mia is so polite and friendly to her. She then sees that Mia has picked up one of the preserved cookies and panics. She quickly admits to her prank of putting out cookies that were made three years ago and apologies. However Mia is in AWE at the fact that three year old cookies are still not only edible, but also still delicious. She declares that Perujin's food preservation technology is incredible and asks to discuss it more with Rania. Rania is amazed and moved that Mia is actually putting importance on Perujin technology and treating them as equals. Mia-itis spreads.
We then get Mia's POV, where we find out that in the original timeline she also looked down on Perujin until the famine his and she realized how important Perujin was as a food supplier. Back in Tearmoon, Ludwig is talking to another government official / friend about how Mia attended a meet and greet hosted by Perujin. Poor Ludwig thinks that it was all thought out by Mia as a way to strengthen ties with Perujin and established a collaborative research project that benefits both countries by giving Tearmoon access to food preservation technology and Perujin access to funding and also reshaping the Tearmoon Empire's mindset about agriculture.
ANYWAY! Jumping back to the present in Vol 3, Mia is coming back from the first student council meeting and she sees that Princess Rania is waiting for her by her door.
......VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY (this one is even longer than Vol 3; buckle up)
VOL 3 CONTINUES...............
Princess Rania is there to ask for Mia's held regarding her elder sister, Princess Arsha. Arsha is an alum of Saint-Noel Academy who studied botany will attended because she wanted to make Perujin more prosperous. However their father, The King, doesn't take her studies seriously and wants to marry her off to a different country in order to improve international relations. Rania is hoping that Mia will ask Rafina to give Arsha a job at the Academy in the hopes that if Arsha can prove her worth at the Academy then the Perujin king will reconsider his decision to marry her off. Before Mia can reply, however, Anne comes in with an emergency message from Ludwig asking her to return to Tearmoon ASAP because there's an issue regarding the construction of the Princess Town school.
Mia heads back to the Empire. Along the way Bel pulls out the Princess Mia Chronicals book that she brought with her from the future. The book contains all the (deeply aggrandized) events from Mia's future. Mia realizes while skimming it that there's no mention of a school in Princess Town. However, when she asks Bel about whether there's a school in Princess Town in the future Bel confirms that there is and it's called Saint Mia Academy. Mia realizes that just like her diary from Vol 1, The Princess Mia Chronicals book updates according to changes that happen in the present. The book also doesn't mention anything about cold resistant wheat that Cyril (Tiona's brother who is suppose to attend Mia's new school) is suppose to invent. So apparently whatever issue Ludwig is calling her about it's serious enough that it could rewrite history so that Saint Mia Academy is never built unless she fixes it.
Mia arrives in the capital and meets with Ludwig. First he reports that her "prophecy" about a famine is proving to be true because the harvest for this year has decreased by 10% and shows signs that it will continue to decrease. Mia muses a bit on the reason for the nobility's disdain for farmers and farmland. Apparently Tearmoon was originally known as The Fertile Crescent because it's a rich land where it's very easy to grow crops. It was populated by an indigenous and peaceful farming people. The ancestors of the present Tearmoon were a hunting tribe and they used force to make the indigenous people into serfs and take the fruits of the land. They then justified their actions by saying that the indigenous agricultural people were cowardly serfs and not as good as them. That mindset was ingrained and passed down for centuries and generations of Tearmoon nobility. In other words, there is an unfounded contempt that "the person who does agriculture in this area is an incompetent person who is incapable of doing any other job."
Ludwig states that their stockpiling is going well as is the trade route/deal they set up with The Fork Road Company (merchant company owned by Chloe's dad). Ludwig then revealed that the reason he called her was because the school they were planning may not be able to open because all of the instructors that they had invited to teach at the school have declined. Also those who had originally agreed to support and help fund the school are now hesitating to cooperate. Ludwig says he isn't entirely sure what the reason is, but that he suspects that it's the Greenmoon family behind it and that it's being done according to Emeralda's instructions. Mia wonders what grudge Emeralda has against her.
We then cut to Emeralda who is waking up from a nightmare that leaves her badly shaken.
Mia had mentioned before that in the original timeline, none of the Four Duke families helped her when the rebellion happened and she was executed. They all either refused to help or fled the country. Emeralda's nightmare is a dream of what happened in the original timeline. We find out from the dream that Emeralda was FORCED to leave by her father. She had actually been planning to have a tea party for Mia to cheer her up because Mia was depressed by the unrest and famine happening. Mia smiles for the first time in a while and Emeralda is delighted at having made her friend happy. However the night before the tea party, Emeralda's father wakes her up in the middle of the night and tells her the peasants are planning to rebel and they need to escape from the empire. Emeralda argues that they can't leave; they have to warn and help the Emperor + she made a promise with Mia to have a tea party. "But I have a promise. Father, Mia looked so happy!" Her father tells her to stop being noisy and drags her out with Emeralda yelling "It hurts! Father, please let me go." The Greenmoon family escapes abroad. Even so, Emeralda kept trying to find ways to get back to the Empire to help Mia, all the way up until Mia is executed.
In the present, Emeralda dismisses her nightmare as just a bad dream. A servant arrives and reports that they've followed Emeralda's instruction and sabotaged Mia's plans to build a school. Emeralda is pleased by this and thinks that this is Mia's own fault. Emeralda is angry that Mia has been neglecting and ignoring her and the rest of the Four Dukes: "Even if I invite her to a tea party, she doesn't stay for a long time, and she doesn't invite me to a tea party, so I'm very, very, very dissatisfied."
Cut back to Ludwig and Mia's conversation. Ludwig reports that the Greenmoons have been inciting the other noble families who are annoyed with how Mia has been favoring the commoners over the nobles. Mia asks about the stances of the other Four Dukes. Redmoon and Yellowmoon family have remained neutral, however the Bluemoon family recently provided a large amount of financial assistance to the project (Sapphias is now solidly Team Mia). However, even if they have funding they still don't have teachers. Mia then remembers her conversation with Princess Rania about Arsha and has a lightbulb moment. Instead of Saint-Noel Academy, she can invite Princess Arsha to teach botany at HER school. "A person who can teach botany is indispensable for Cyril to develop a new type of wheat."
Mia tells Ludwig about her idea to invite a Perujin Princess as an instructor and Ludwig goes so far into Mia-Is-Amazing Delusion overdrive that he literally starts to tremble with amazement. Ludwig thinks that Mia wants to invite a Perujin Princess to teach in order to reform negative ideas about farming and agriculture by educating the young people of the country. "Mia in Ludwig's eyes suddenly had shining wings in the shadow of the moon on her back. Proud to be able to work under the direction of such a supreme being ... Ludwig laughed cheerfully." Mia says that there's still the problem of who will be headmaster of the school and Ludwig says that he may know someone: "There is one person ... To be honest, I was reluctant ... But when I heard Mia's resolution, I made up my mind." Mia asks who it is and Ludwig answers "He is...my master."
......VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY
VOL 3 CONTINUES...............
Ludwig's master is known as a wandering old sage named Garv. Over the years he has taken sever pupils, with Ludwig being the most distinguished. Ludwig says that Garv would be the perfect headmaster for the school, however the problem is that Garv hates nobles and royals which is why he didn't not put forth the suggestion before. However Ludwig believes that Mia can convince Garv. Ludwig manages to track down Garv's location and finds out that he's current staying in the Lulu's forest (the one that Mia put under her protection to protect the tribe and prevent conflict). So Mia and Ludwig pack up and travel to the forest.
While there they visit Viscount Bellman. Bellman was the nobleman who originally was driving the previous conflict with the Lulu's so that he could annex the forest (which is on the border between his territory and the territory of Outcount Rudelvon--Tia's father). However Mia resolving the conflict by making the forest her personal territory Princess Town in his territory has given Bellman the honor and prestige that he was trying to gain by expanding his lands (being responsible for building something for the royal family + having the princess and emperor visit his region regularly is a supreme boost to hsi social status) so now he is firmly Team Mia. Bellman is the one in charge of building Mia's school so he briefs her on his progress. He also announces that he's started plan to have a giant solid gold statue of Mia built in front of the school. Mia IMMEDIATLEY vetos that idea because (a) the cost and (b) it's embaressing. Bellman is confused because the statue will bring her glory but Mia says the greatest glory would be the accomplishment talented and well educated people that her school would produce. Mia is, of course, thinking of the cold-resistent wheat that Cyril will produce, but her words move both Bellman and a visiting official from one of the Empire's ministries.
Immediately after we see that official meeting with Ludwig. It turns out his name is Balthazar and, like Ludwig, he was a disciple of the wiseman Garv. Ludwig smugly asks Balathazar what he thought of Mia and isn't she dazzling. Balthazar agrees that he was impressed by Mia's wisdom in stopping the construction of the gold statue. Ludwig is confused as to why that's what impressed Balathazar the most, since it's obvious that one would stop the construction of such a money sucking project, however Balathzar reminds him that many rulers in the past have been blinded by their desire for self aggrandization: "At that age ... and even though you have that kind of beauty, you're not dominated by your desire to promote yourself ... I under why you're devoted to her." The two of them then meet up with Garv and tell him that Mia is different from other nobles and royals. Garv is skeptical, but since it's a request from two of his disciples, he agrees to meet with Mia however he says he's going to test her. It turns out the test is one from an old fairytale, in which the protagonist must put down their pride and visit three times to seek for help.
The next day Ludwig takes Mia to the small hut in the forest where Garv is staying, however Garv isn't there. Anne and the her guards are offended that the Sage would be so rude as to stand up the princess, but Mia decides to wait for him to come back. Mia waits for several hours with no problem: "Fortunately, Mia knows how to kill time in dungeon life. At that time, I used to count the number of stones in the dungeon for many days ... ――It's better than that time. That's right, let's count the number of grasses in that area and wait ... One, two, three ...". Finally the sun goes down and Garv still doesn't show up so they decide to stay in the Lulu's village for the night and try again the next day. Anne and the guards are all still outraged, but Mia is delighted. That's because she thinks that Garv's rudeness will give her leverage over him to get him to agree to her request to teach at her school.
Mia spends the night in the Lulu village where the chief and the rest of the tribe welcome her with a feast. She reunites with the chief's grandson (the little boy she saved in the slums). The boy is also offended on Mia's behalf at her being stood up, but Mia pinches his cheek says it's alright since it gave her a chance to see him again, which makes him blush (the chapter with the banquet and reunion is called 'Younger Killer Mia' XD). The next day she returns to the Old Sage's hut, but again he's not there, so Mia decides to wait for a second day (in order to wrack up his offenses to use against him). Ludwig offers to put his coat down so she can sit, but Mia chooses to stand because its more respectful to wait while standing. Ludwig says she doesn't have to go that far, but Mia replies "Im standing and waiting this way because I need to do it. I've decided it's worth it. " Ludwig is moved that Mia puts so much trust in his opinion (she hasn't met Garv so she's going entirely on Ludwig's recommendation of him) and reaffirms his vow to realize Mia's plan.
Meanwhile, unbenknownst to them, Garv is watching them all from a nearby tree. The next chapter is from Garv's perspective. He narrates about his old age and how his life is like the seasons and he is currently in his winter months. The cold season of dead leaves, but it is also the time to prepare for the arrival of a new spring. After a fulfilling spring, summer, and autumn of learning and experiencing the world, he wants to use his winter so that many young people could have a fulfilling spring. Specifically he's thinking about Ludwig and giving him a final lesson. As it turns out the Three Visits test was not for Mia, but a lesson for Ludwig, intended to let his disciple Ludwig measure the true nature of the wisdom of the empire. If Mia was angry and demanded to execute Garv for his rudeness, her true tyranny and pride would be revealed. But if she listens to Ludwig and visits three times, that shows that she is flexible enough to listen to the voice of her vassals and also generous enough to fogive rudeness. Either way, Garv has no intention of helping her, but only plans to use his life (the risk he might be executed for disrespecting the royal family) to help give Ludwig insight into the person he's chosen to serve.
However, Garv is struck by the resolve and sincereity Mia shows in waiting for him. "Many people misunderstand that time is not free. Especially if it belongs to the Imperial Princess. It is no exaggeration to say that one minute and one second has a golden value. Nevertheless ... Her Highness is 'just waiting'. If Mia was waiting while reading a book, she would spend half her time 'waiting' and half 'reading a book.' But ... Mia is just waiting. However, she is spending her time just to meet the wandering sage." Garv then sees Mia frequently looking at the place where he is hiding. Garv then thinks that Mia knows that he is there and watching them and yet she chooses to wait anyway. Garv is stunned and admiring and thinks ""... I see, it's wonderful, Ludwig. I was the one who misunderstood." Garv then decides that he's thankful for this meeting and maybe his winter isn't over yet.
Of course, Mia didn't ACTUALLY know that Garv was hidding there. She was just passing time by counting the leaves on the treetop where he happened to be hiding.
......VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY
VOL 3 CONTINUES...............
(note: this is one of my favorite parts; such good Ludwig development and insight into Mia's character)
Mia and Ludwig head back to Garv's hut for the third day, however this time they find Garv waiting for them when they arrive. Mia is disappointed that he's shown up, since the longer Garv makes them wait the more leverage she has, but decides that two days of making her wait is enough to guilt him into doing what she wants. Garv is dressed formally and greets Mia very politely, apologizing for his disrespect and even kneeling. Mia start to tell him she's come to ask a favor, however he cuts her off and says "I am honored to serve you." Mia is shocked and tells him he doesn't even know what she's asking yet, however Garv says that no matter what her order is he'll accept it, even if it's to be a spy in a foreign country or fight on the front lines of the army; "Now, please tell your vassal what your highness wants." Mia is stunned, but she's a natural adapter so quickly recovers and tells him she want him to be the headmaster of the school she's building.
Garv is shocked that this is her request. Ludwig jumps in and explains that Mia is building a school that will educate all talented children, regardless of whether they are nobles or commoners and that she'll also allow the children in the orphanage to attend for free. Garv looks at Mia in admiration and Mia soaks it up, of course (Fu! You can praise more! Feel free to praise me even more, alright?). Ludwig says that's not all, that Mia also wants to use the school to reform the empire's anti-agricultural ideas and for that reason she's inviting a Perujan princess to be a teacher. Mia, of course, is shocked by this news since she didn't have that goal in mind at all, but she goes along with it because if Ludwig says it it's probably right + Garv looks even MORE impressed and awed by this. Garv says "I never thought this old bone, who was just dying, will be given the opportunity to be part of such a noble endeavor ..." Mia calls him Wandering Sage, but Garv says that she could call him Garv because how could he be called a wise man compared to the Wisdom of the Empire. Mia repeats her request for him to be headmaster of her school and he bows deeply and says he would be honored. They all then go back to the Lulu village and have a celebratory feast.
After the feast, Garv and Ludwig sit together talking. Ludwig then tells Garv that he wants Mia to become Empress of Tearmoon. Garv agrees that Mia would be a great empress who could turn the empire in the right direction. However, he has a question for Ludwig: "Is it because of her wisdom that you push Her Highness to be Empress?"
Ludwig confirms that of course that's reason. With her wisdom, Mia would surely lead the empire well. However, Garv reminds him that intelligence can also be used for evil. Garv tells Ludwig that fools are not the only ones who do evil. Fools can do evil things, and fools can do good. Similarly, wisdom can be used for both good and bad things. Garv then asks again, "Why do you serve her? Is it because of her wisdom? Or does it come from something else?" Ludwig is surprised and caught off balance by his Master's words and isn't able to give an answer.
That night, Ludwig has a dream/memory about the original timeline. It takes place before the rebellion, but after the plague and famine that struck the empire. Ludwig hates Princess Mia for her incompetence and idiocy, but is reluctantly working with her to try to rebuild the country. In the dream/memory, Ludwig and Mia are visiting a village that didn't suffer from the epidemic but the village people are still hungry and starving. After visiting the village, Ludwig and Mia are in her carriage together and Mia says that she wants a cake and that even if there's no bread, there has to be cake somewhere. Ludwig tells her that no, because both cake and bread are made from wheat. Mia is surprised, because she didn't know that and Ludwig is annoyed at her ignorance. Mia is disappointed and says that she wishes she had a whole cake. Ludwig goes from annoyed to disgusted, but then Mia says "if I had a whole cake it would be enough to at least share with the children, if not everyone in the village".
Ludwig freezes, shocked that she was thinking of sharing. He then asks Mia, "Your highness, what would you do if I said I could prepare a cake that was only enough for one person." Mia asked what kind of person it would be enough for, like a big soldier maybe, but Ludwig says it would be just enough for her. Mia considers the question seriously and then, after groaning, says "In that case, I can't help it. I'll put up with a bite. Oh, but I wonder if strawberries are bite-sized? Because I want the strawberry. So ... " Mia continues to mutter as she continues to consider the question, but Ludwig is shocked again over the fact that she's worrying. He thinks, "If you're a hypocrite, you wouldn't worry and would just say you'd give it all to the people. If you're a proud and selfish princess, you wouldn't worry, and would just eat it yourself." However, Mia is worrying. After that she said she would take the strawberry and give the rest of the cake to others.
Ludwig thinks about other nobles who are unwilling to give to the people and just horde food for themselves endlessly, because they want to have a surplus for themselves. Compared to them, Mia is saying that as long as she has enough to eat she'll share her excess with others. Although it's not perfectly altrustic, it's still way better than those nobles who selfishly horde and horde without limit or compassion. Mia is offended by Ludwig's shocked expression and asks if he really thought that she would keep a whole cake for just herself after seeing the starving village and Ludwig says, "I didn't think for one second you wouldn't eat it all yourself." Mia calls him 'rude glasses' and sits back to sulk. Ludwig, however is still thinking on this revelation.
He muses on the fact that although Mia is proud and complains about him, she always listens to his suggestions. Even though she's a coward, instead of fleeing the empire she stayed and is striving to rebuild the country. Even though she's ignorant and hates Ludwig and his lessons, she still does her best to learn what he's teaching and never repeats a mistake twice. Ludwig starts to look at her in a new light and recognize that despite her failings she is making an effort and thinks he wants to see this stupid princess' efforts be rewarded. He starts to dream of a better empire and thinks he wants to help and advise this foolish princess to become better and do his best as her vassal to improve the country. That became his most fervent wish, "that's why when Mia was decapitated, he ..."
Ludwig wakes up from the memory/dream and thinks how ridiculous it is, since the Princess Mia in his dream was NOTHING like the Wisdom of the Empire Princess Mia he serves in the current timeline. He tries to laugh it off, but something in him tells him not to laugh and that the "dream" is something very important. He realizes that although the Princess Mia is his dream and the "real" Princess Mia are totally different, their core is the same. He thinks of the time that Mia went to the slums and held/saved the dirty, starving child. "If a child is lying down in front of you, it's natural to help it. You should do it morally, and you should do it even if you consider the eyes of others and make a computational judgment. But whether it's a calculation or wisdom ... even if you know it's necessary ... But how many aristocrats will help the unclean and vulnerable? Even the commoners themselves hesitated to enter the slums. But Mia did it. It is Mia Luna TearMoon that does that."
Ludwig realizes that this is the essence of both the Princess Mia in the dream and the one in the current timeline. If someone is suffering in front of her and she has the power to help, Mia will always help. Ludwig realizes that this is the part of Princess Mia that makes him want to serve her. He suddenly feels like he has reclaimed an important dream. "Oh, I .... not to the wisdom of the empire ... but to serve Princess Mia herself and work as her arm ... I feel like I've always dreamed of it."
The next morning he goes back to Garv and Garv asks him if he found his answer. Garv asks again "Why do you push Princess Mia to be the Empress?" Ludwig replies that even if Mia makes a mistake, it's because she doesn't know and she is always willing to correct it. "Even if she loses her way, I will let her know, and she will not make the same mistake again." Garv congratulates him on finding his answer and Ludwig thanks him for his teaching.
Ludwig and Mia then head back to the capital.
......VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY
I posted summaries of what happens through the rest of Vol 1 + Vol 2 in a chain here: http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/6212655/
Continuing with Vol 3......
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The Vol starts off several decades in the future. A girl named 'Bel' is being told to flee by someone she refers to as 'Mother Anne'. The girl thinks about what terrible fate the Empire has fallen into and how things would never have gotten this bad if the person known as The Great Sage of the Empire was still alive. The girl flees from assassins who are persuing her, carrying a biography about the Life & Times of Princess Mia. As she's running, she thinks sadly about how "Aunt Tiona, Aunt Chloe, Mr Ludwig, and Uncle Dion" are all gone. The assassins corner her and the girl is afraid but then she remembers the voices of her love ones telling her to 'hold that proud name close to her heart'. The girl looks bravely into the face of her attackers and declares "My name is Miabel! Miabel Luna Tearmoon! She who inherits the noble blood of the Saint and Great Sage of the Empire, Mia Luna Tearmoon." Suddenly the biography of Princess Mia starts to glow and Miabel dissapears.
We then skip back to the present timeline. Following the events that happened in Remno Kingdom, Mia and the gang are back at the Academy. They're assembled by Rafina for a meeting and during the meeting she tells them about her findings regarding the Chaotic Serpent. Basically, they're a demonic cult who want to destroy all order and plunge the world into chaos and to that end meddle and sabatoge with the affairs in various countries. Everyone (Rafina, Sion, Abel, Tiona) agree to band together to try to stop the Chaotic Serpent and of course Mia gets dragged along (with everyone else of course misunderstanding and assuming that she's spearheading things).
A couple of nights later, Mia wakes up one day in her room and finds a girl in a blood stained torn gown in her room. It's Miabel! Miabel reveals that she's Mia's granddaughter from the future. Miabel is in awe of this legendary grandmother of hers, naturally, since she never got to meet Mia because by the time Miabel was born, Tearmoon Empire had been destroyed. Miabel was raised by Anne, Anne's author sister, and Ludwig, who are the ones who told her how the Empire fell to ruin. Apparently, after the Emperor died, Mia didn't inherit the throne (a woman being Emperor had never happened before ever in the history of the empire, so for Mia to inherit it would have been a huge struggle....future Ludwig says he's sure Mia had her own reason for not trying to become Emperor, but we know our Mia probably just thought it was to much bother). Since Mia didn't inherit the throne, that meant the next emperor would be chosen from one of the Four Dukes, which resulted in a massive power struggle/civil war that tore the Empire apart. At that point, they tried to make Mia emperor to put an end to it, but before they could Mia was poisoned and died. Apparently the poison took 30 days to kill her and our Mia, of course, panics at the news and thinks that's even worse than the guillotine!
Mia asks why Sion and Rafina didn't intervene and Miabel reveals that in the future something happens that causes Rafina to snap. She declares herself Empress Prelate of Belluga, militarizing the country and creating a holy army to wage war against the Chaotic Serpent. She even demands that other countries swear allegiance and basically stares a Crusades like venture, aimed at eradicating all heretics. King Sion opposed her, creating two rival factions. This also contributed to the chaos in Tearmoon since half the Dukes sides with Rafina and the other half with Sion. Mia asks what caused Rafina to go so crazy, but Miabel says that although Ludwig covered it in their history lessons, she can't remember.
Anyway, Mia now how has a new goal which is fix the future and not get poisoned to death!
She gets Miabel enrolled in the academy by implying the Miabel is her illegitimate half sister. During that conversation, Rafina ask Mia to join the student council. Mia of course DOES NOT WANT TO AT ALL. However, after the meeting with Rafina, Miabel tells her that she remembers Ludwig saying that if Mia had run against Rafina in the student election and won then the flow of history would have changed. Miabel can't remember any details of how or WHY it would have changed, which frustrates Mia, but Mia acknowledges that Ludwig is never wrong so if he said it it must be true.
Mia thinks that maybe SHE doesn't have to run, she just has to get Rafina to loose. She tries to convince Sion to run instead, but Sion mistakes it as Mia giving him the change to regain his honor after the Remno incident and refuses out of pride. He and Abel then both say they'll support Mia running for President. Tiona also hears about it from Sion and both she + the students who bullied Tiona but were spared being expelled because Mia interceded with Rafina all also pledge to support Mia's candidacy. Mia is backed into a corner and now has to run against Rafina for school president!
VOL 3 TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUMMARY