“Mama Dari! Look! This has to be a bad omen!”
Milea Nanira’s voice, more commonly known as Mile, rang throughout the corridors of the Cloud Palace. Her voice was piercingly loud, bouncing off the walls made of chewy pink chewing gum. In her hand, a toy magnifying glass made of cloud crystal pointed toward the ceiling, framing the face of a chubby brown cat hanging limp and resigned in her arms.
The cat’s name was Miu. His body was so round, short, and golden brown that he looked more like a furry waxy potato than a hunting animal ready to defend its territory.
“Milea Nanira.”
That voice was calm and cold, yet powerful enough to freeze the whirlwinds outside the window. Mama Dari, the most respected Head Fairy in the entire Cloud Realm, stood behind her desk, beautiful and graceful. The translucent wings on her back gave off the faintest silver shimmer. Her sharp eyes stared at Mile from behind her monocle.
“How many times have I told you? Don’t run through the palace corridors. And put Miu down. He looks like cake batter about to spill.”
“But this is an emergency, Mama! It’s super important!” Mile took three steps forward, chest puffed out proudly in her know-it-all confidence. Her curly brown hair, tied into two ponytails, bobbed and danced from side to side. “Just look at Miu’s left ear. Today, its angle is off by two millimeters to the right! Based on Mile’s in-depth observations as the number-one aspiring detective in—”
“Mile…”
“…this is clearly a sign that the afternoon clouds won’t taste like caramel later! They’ll be… bland! Bland like my auntie’s boiled water!” Mile cut in without stopping, panting by the time she finished her long sentence.
Miu merely yawned wide, revealing his pink tongue, then let his head roll back onto Mile’s chest.
“Meow,” he said lazily, sounding exactly like a potato dropping onto a pile of mattresses.
Mama Dari let out a long sigh at the antics of her adopted daughter and gently massaged the bridge of her nose. Caring for a human child she had found seven years ago in a picnic basket caught on a cloud branch certainly required an extraordinary amount of patience. Mile was unbelievably chatty, thought she knew everything about the palace, and was far too sensitive to tiny details that even the senior fairies didn’t care about.
“Miu’s ear is crooked because he just fell asleep on the Fairy Queen’s silk pillow, Mile,” Mama Dari said flatly, sliding a parchment scroll across her desk.
“Not because of some natural phenomenon. And this afternoon’s clouds will still taste like vanilla caramel.”
“Aw, you don’t believe me, Mama,” Mile grumbled, her lips jutting out several inches at once. Her perceptiveness caught the change in Mama Dari’s expression. “But you’re hiding something too, aren’t you? Your right hand has been gripping the edge of the desk more tightly than usual. And your silver robe smells like… cooking oil?”
Mama Dari’s fingers suddenly froze above the parchment. Her eyes glittered with surprise, though she kept her expression as cold as ice. This child… She’s incredibly perceptive, Mama Dari thought.
“Don’t make things up,” Mama Dari replied quickly, straightening her robe with an elegant movement. “Your task today is to clean the chewing-gum powder from the backyard garden, not interrogate the Head Fairy.”
“But I can totally smell the savory scent!” Mile narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to the desk with her magnifying glass. “Fried onions! That’s so weird. There aren’t any fried oni—”
Crash!
The door to Mama Dari’s office was suddenly shoved open with tremendous force. A fairy soldier rushed in, panting hard, his wings flapping in a panic and creating a small gust of wind that sent several papers flying around the room.
“Mama Dari! It’s terrible! A major disaster!” the soldier shrieked.
“Speak calmly, Captain Fliff,” Mama Dari said sternly as she rose from her chair.
“The Fairy Queen… The Fairy Queen’s hair suddenly turned into instant fried noodles! And the main fountain… the water has turned thick green and smells like avocado juice!”
Mile’s eyes went wide, sparkling with extraordinary excitement. She wasn’t scared at all—in fact, she was thrilled! She immediately raised her magnifying glass high into the air.
“See, Mama?! Miu’s potato ears never lie!” Mile cried triumphantly. “Detective Mile’s first case officially begins!”
Miu merely sighed softly in her arms, as if he already knew his relaxing afternoon nap had just been ruined.”