Where was Mia? Mia was being re-introduced to one of the two people that Abel wanted Mia to avoid at all costs—the (ex) protege of the King—Abel's brother, Prince Gain. For his part, Prince Gain would have been very happy to comply with his brother's wishes and avoid any contact with Mia. Gain was a beaten man and just wanted to be left alone. Really, Mia was the last person on the continent that he wished to see right now...or ever, really.

But, a life of wallowing in self-pity would not be in the cards for the first prince of Remno. Mia was on a mission—a mission to save Prince Gain! To accomplish that, Mia figured that the first thing she needs to do was to get Gain not to hate her, and to do that, she had to apologize for past wrongs.

With her plan mapped out, the two princesses began to walk in the direction of the First Prince of Remno. Gain thought he would be safe hiding in a corner of the room. He didn't think that the Princess would actually seek him out—otherwise, he would have loitered closer to the door. But, there would be no escape. His sister smiled and curtsied.

"Hello Prince Gain, this is Princess Mia, I believe you two have met before."

"Oh, Princess Mia. Yes, We have met." Dammit Clarissa! As if going to this stupid party was not bad enough. Now you are going to make me talk to her! Oh please, Great Lobo, please let this be short!

"I will leave you two, so you two get reacquainted."

No! Please don't leave me alone with her! Great, she left! Thanks a lot, sister! Now I have to talk to her!

"Hello Prince Gain, it is so nice to see you again."

Mia tugged at her dress and performed an elegant curtsy.

Dammit, she's expecting me to bow, isn't she? Gain performed an awkward bow at the waist.

"Yes, it's been a while." But, not nearly not long enough.

"This is a lovely party!"

"I guess if you like this sort of thing." Of course, if you like this show—it's all for you!

"There is food and people. What's not to like?"

"Well, I am not hungry, and this all so phony...oh, never mind!"

Mia had Gain figured out—well, sort of—Oh, he is upset! It's my fault he can't enjoy the party. I really do need to apologize.

"Prince Gain, I can tell you are in a bad mood, and I am concerned that I may be part of the reason."

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"What?", 'part of the reason?' You are the reason, you witch!

"I believe I owe you an apology. I spoke to Clarissa, and she seems to be under the impression that I exhibited some un-princess-like behavior that was upsetting to you. I am very sorry. Will you please forgive me?"

What the hell! She is asking me for forgiveness. For what? Destroying my life?

"I wasn't even aware that the Princess had done anything that she should apologize for." If I play dumb, maybe she will go away...

"Oh, that's a relief—princess Clarissa was under the impression that I had laughed in your face. I didn't recall doing such a thing. But if I had, you would be justified in being upset."

Even Clarissa knows! This is humiliating! How do you not remember laughing in someone's face, anyway? Well, I guess I have laughed in a lot of nobodies faces. Still, this is some trick, Princess! If I accept your apology, it is just admitting that you were able to hurt me. If I don't accept it, then I am admitting you are still hurting me! Either way, you win! I was never this evil! There has to be a way for me to win this!

That's when Gain had an idea.

"I am sorry Princess Mia." the prince that had never apologized to anybody for anything, decided that he would win the apology battle! He would claim victory by stating that he was the attacker and the Princess was the injured! "I am the one who owes you an apology. I am the one who got in your face. For a big man like me to get in the face of a small girl like you, that had to be very intimidating. I apologize for hurting you."

"Ha! Ha! Don't worry about it! I wasn't intimidated at all! You could never hurt me like that! Really, I thought you were sort of cute! But, if it makes you feel better—I happily accept your apology, and please accept mine. I hope we can be friends now!"

"Yes, of course...I didn't scare you at all?"

"Not one bit!"

"Well, that's good to know. And, you didn't hurt me at all..." aside from humiliating me in front of the school, causing me to lose the swordsmanship tournament, making me lose my chance to gloriously lead soldiers into battle, and losing my birthright to my brother—yes, aside from that you didn't hurt me at all!

So, congratulations, you win again Princess! I just wanted to be left alone—with just a little of my pride intact. But you couldn't even leave me with that! You are as bad as my father. Well, you can kick me while I am down, but I won't stay down. This means war!

And, thus did Mia's tenure as The Great Apologizer of the Continent came to an end—with a secret declaration of war from the recipient of said apology. It really wasn't the result that either Mia or Gain wanted, but, sometimes things just don't work out the way people want. Well, at least Mia's ability to instill a sense of purpose in the Remno princes remained intact—unfortunately for Mia, Gain's new purpose was for her own destruction.

Of course, Mia was not privy to Gain's inner thoughts and was quite sure her winning streak continued...

Wow! That went even better than my interview with Princess Clarissa! I really am great at apologizing. ... and he apologized to me! So, he was upset because he thought he had hurt my feelings! I knew he couldn't be that bad—he is Abel's brother after all. I bet his father is a sweetheart, too! Maybe I could help Abel mend relations with his brother and his father—we really should spend some more time with both of them.

Yes, Mia had just concluded that Gain was actually a pretty nice guy (which he wasn't), and he didn't need saving (he definitely needs something!). So, Mia decided on a new plan—since both Gain and Abel were such good guys, they should get along, and Mia was going to make sure that happened!