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The tea party was set up in a park in Floria.

A table had been set up, decked with fruits and various sweets, surrounded by lush plants and a clear stream with blossoming lotus flowers. The guests were all in a good mood too, happily talking with each other.

…And then the queen joined them.

“Thank you again for graciously inviting us.”
“Th-thank you, Your Majesty…”

While Frey greeted her without much effort, Freya was clearly nervous.
The queen gave a wry smile seeing her fellow High Elves like that, and gave Freya a reassuring smile.

“Please, don’t be so stiff. This whole tea party is my way of thanking you, so there’s no need for such formalities… And more importantly, I’d really love to hear how my fellow High Elves are living in the outside world.”
“Ah…okay.”

With the queen’s help, Freya was finally able to relax and act like her usual self.

“But before we start… There’s a bothersome matter we need to settle, if we want to avoid souring our following discussion.”

The queen’s eyes sharpened and she stood up with her back straight.

“First… Thank you again, leader of the United Kingdoms, for lending us your strength to help my people.”
“It was my pleasure. If anything, I was just trying to help out someone I became acquaintances with.”

While the queen bowed to her, Crim tried to bashfully wave it away.

“And Lawran, I’m sure you already know what I want to tell you?”
“…Yes.”

When she raised her head, the queen addressed Lawran next, who still seemed a bit uncomfortable being there.

“I’m sure your eyes have been opened to a certain degree now. Even though I understand your desire to keep us secluded from the outer world, upholding our honor and pride with our own hands.”

The elves had endured a harsh past at the mercy of other species, so it was understandable that they had grown to despise others…but…

“And yet…we can’t allow that to continue that way forever. Eventually, there will be situations we won’t be able to solve on our own, don’t you think?”
“……Yes.”

Even if they pushed outsiders away, that did not mean that one day someone would not attempt to conquer their land. Or in other words, attempting to keep a completely neutral position meant that they would have no allies whatsoever on which to rely on.

…Especially someone who could aid their small country if they were attacked by hordes of bugs that could darken the skies.

“Knowing you…I’m guessing you haven’t even asked the United Kingdom’s leader what she’s trying to accomplish here, right?”
“Ah…”

The queen smiled as she prodded a little, and Lawran groaned audibly.
She had hit the bullseye… That much was obvious to the queen from that groan, and a quick glance in Crim’s direction. Even Crim realized she had not really talked with Lawran about that yet.

“Well, we’re all gathered here already, so it’s the perfect chance to talk openly, wouldn’t you say?”
“Y-Yes, happily.”

After that, Crim began talking about the events that led to her presence there, taking quick breaks to drink some tea or try the various sweets.

She mentioned how she acquired Castle Seyfert, and about the spirit Da’at Seyfert living there.

Then there was Belial, a devil she was chasing after.

And then…

“We’re currently trying to get to the Fairy Village we heard lies past here, as we want to know how the World Tree is holding up. That’s how we ended up in your village.”
“…What? That’s…that’s it?”
“Yes. If we can become friends then even better, but our goal doesn’t concern this place. We just want to help the World Tree Seyfert, as the spirit who named herself Da’at Seyfert requested from us.”

Crim explained everything while Lawran listened on, looking shocked like a pigeon shot by a peashooter.

“…I see. Then you never had any ambitions to take over our land.”
“Not at all. One of the rules of our United Kingdoms is that we’ll never use force to coerce another nation to join us.”

Crim had founded the United Kingdoms in an effort to keep peace in the continent. A campaign to use military force to invade and conquer other nations was frowned upon by her, as well as everyone else who joined her.

“…I understand. Your Majesty, I’ll leave further discussions in your hand then. And I’ll…”

He had to think about it for a moment.

“I and the rest of the traditional faction members will set up an auditing group to inspect relations between our countries… If I find just one thing out of place, I’ll make sure to report and sanction it, so be ready.”

By the end, he turned to look at Crim, giving her a warning before going, “hmph” and looking away, addressing the queen again.

“Would that be agreeable, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, that’s actually the role I was going to suggest you take. I know how distrustful you are of outsiders, so I can place my trust that you’ll be unbiased and thorough when carrying out your duties.”

Saying that, the queen elegantly took a sip of tea… And then looked at Lawran again, grinning a little, which made him groan.

“But ah… I might have been proven wrong as far as being distrustful goes… Have you perhaps had a change of heart already?”
“Your Majesty…?!”

Lawran’s cheeks turned bright red when he heard that, and the queen let out a cheeky chuckle as she glanced between Lawran and Crim a few times, like a child that had successfully pulled a prank.

“In light of this decision… Let me introduce someone. This is White Lily, I’ll have her and her guild stationed in this Flowery City to manage this alliance and other possible foreign relations.”
“Yeah yeah, I could already tell you wanted to push all of this work onto me, so I guess I have no choice!”

Then she mumbled and grumbled, “I’ll just think of this as a way to gain experience early…” But then regained her composure and stood up to perform a formal curtsy.

“As you’ve already heard, I’m White Lily. I’m happy to be here in Floria!”
“It’s a pleasure to have you, Miss White Lily… Or should I just call you Lily?”

Queen Florite stepped forward and held out her hand.
White Lily hesitantly shook it, after which…”Woah, I just shook the elven queen’s hand…” she mumbled while looking at her hand absentmindedly, the lingering feeling of the handshake still fresh on it.

“Nice to meet you… It seems you’re also kept busy all the time.”
“You know how this feels then…?”
“Yes… I guess whenever someone shows talent, they’re soon bombarded with work.”

Lawlan looked at her with empathy, and she drooped her shoulders while sharing in their pain.

Somehow, it seemed like they would get along just fine.
Crim did not fully understand what they were talking about, and the queen seemed rather entertained by it all… But all things considered, it was safe to say that an alliance had been established between the Lua Cheia United Kingdoms and the elves’ Flowery City of Floria.