: Nozomu Mochitsuki
: Tearmoon Empire: Volume 3
: J-Novel Heart
: 9781718371521
: 1
: CHF 6.00
:
: Fantasy
: English
: 301
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

Half a year has passed since the Remno revolution ended. Spring has rolled around again, bringing with it what Mia considers to be one of the most important occasions of the year - spring break. Freed from the duties of school and station, she's ready to seize the day! By which she means, of course, do absolutely nothing productive and lounge around in bed all day.
Her indolent plans are cut short, however, when her own granddaughter, Bel, is whisked backwards through time and deposited in front of her. Just when she thought she was finally done with worrying about the guillotine, she learns of the grisly future awaiting her, in which a war of succession rends the empire in two. Mia herself has been killed by poison, and Bel narrowly avoided execution by leaping through time.
As if that wasn't enough, she discovers that this terrible chain of events can be traced back to Rafina's tragic transformation into a dictator. Altering the course of history will, of all things, require her to defeat Rafina in the upcoming election for student council president!
Underprepared, polling abysmally, and trailed by a granddaughter who inherited all her, erm, Mia-est bits, she once again finds herself at a historical turning point... without the faintest clue of what she's supposed to do!

Chapter 3: Jam, Tea, and Chaos Serpents


“My, Miss Rafina! These cookies are absolutely delicious!” exclaimed Mia after taking a bite.

Whatever ill premonitions she may have had were quickly forgotten in the face of tasty sweets. Mia, after all, was not one to dwell. It was one of her virtues. Or maybe one of her vices. It was hard to tell sometimes.

“Are they now? I’m glad you like them,” said Rafina, bringing her hands together in an enthusiastic clap. She smiled pointedly before continuing. “By the way, about that Jem fellow you sent here to be placed under my care... I’d just like you to know that I’ve been takingvery good care of him. As you instructed, I’ve been giving him daily lectures.”

The poor man. Mia took a sip from her cup to hide a smirk.Hah. Serves him right.

The thought that she’d seen the last of Jem’s despicable face made her all the smugger, and she relished the moment as the savory aroma of black tea filled her nose.

Ahhh, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I feel better already. Silly me, thinking something seemed off. There’s nothing wrong here.

Seeing the satisfied grin on Mia’s face, Rafina gave a knowing nod.

“Aha, so you did indeed know about who he was working for. I expected nothing less from you, Mia.”

...Huh? Who’s working for who now?

Fortunately for Mia, Sion spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention away from the clueless expression on her face.

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Miss Rafina. The perpetrators were all my own people. They belonged to Sunkland’s spy agency.”

“Indeed, they were Wind Crows. White Crows, to be exact. Sunkland’s premier specialists in information warfare.” Rafina smiled. “All of whom were upstanding, purehearted people.”

“Upstanding and... purehearted...”

Even Sion lifted an eyebrow at that. Those were not the kind of adjectives usually associated with spies.

“All except Jem,” continued Rafina, pointedly keeping her tone light and playful, “who was a little different. Everyone else was quite happy to listen to me read from the scriptures, but Jem didn’t seem to appreciate it at all. He reacted rather negatively to my sermons.”

“Rather negatively?”

“Yes. His antagonism seemed quite visceral.”

That made Mia curious. All of the nations in this region were part of a single prevailing religious sphere centered around the Holy Principality of Belluga, which