"Miss Ruby, stop it," Rita said when Ruby started peeking through the small opening in the door. "We agreed to give them some time alone, right?"

"I know, but I'm curious!" Ruby said, getting her eyes closer to the door opening.

Tania looked interested too, but Altea held her clothes. "Stop it," she warned her. Her twin sister Sania also held her clothes.

"Sorry," Tania said, disappointed.

"Miss Ruby!" Rita said, more desperately. "Please..."

"Okay, okay, geez!" Ruby said, finally giving up. "I can't see or hear anything anyway."

"Good," Rita said, relieved.

Then they waited. While waiting, each of them stole glances at the other group. Curious, and sometimes when their gaze met each other, they either looked away or glared in hostility.

"If your princess hurts Aurora, I won't forgive any of you," Ruby said.

"Miss, you don't really need to say that," Rita hurriedly whispered. "The goal was to become allies with them! Remember?"

"I'm just giving them a warning," Ruby said.

Altea said sharply, "Why don't you look in the mirror? You guys are the ones who are always one step away from using violence."

"What did you say?" Ruby said, angry.

"Miss, calm down," Rita tried to defuse the situation, but both girls were staring at each other, looking like they were going to attack each other at any time.

But then the door opened.

"Sorry to make you guys wait," Aurora said. "We have already made a decision."

"That's right," Serena grinned, getting closer to Aurora. "Aurora and I are best friends now--"

"No, we're not," Aurora said, pushing her away. "We have decided to formalize our cooperation as allies--what exactly are you guys doing?"

Aurora finally noticed Ruby and Altea's standoff.

"It's...nothing," Ruby said, backing down.

"Yes, it's just...it's nothing," Altea said. "Anyway, Princess, is that true?"

"Of course! We're best friends--"

"No, we're not," Aurora said.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"That's not it," Altea said. "Are you really forming an alliance with them?"

"Yes, well, we still need to discuss more details, but yeah," Serena said. "I'm already in agreement with Aurora that we will be working together. In exchange for my guns, they will help us survive against the Kingdom of Samalanra."

"It's kind of regretful that you need to sell your ability like that," Altea said. "But if that's what you decided, Princess. But...can we really trust them?"

"Of course," Serena said. "Aurora and I have reached a better understanding. We're practically best friends now."

"Just from that short talk...?" Altea asked, unable to believe her.

"Hey, time is irrelevant," Serena said.

"But best friend? That's just..." Altea's voice trailed off, looking disappointed.

"Yes, what about us, Princess?" Talia said, looking displeased.

Salia nodded, looking sad.

Serena blinked. "What are you guys talking about? To me, you guys were already more like family than anything. Are you guys jealous? You guys are jealous, right?"

"You should have told us that sooner!" Talia hugged her with a huge smile on her face.

"Eh, I thought you guys already knew," Serena said.

Surprisingly, Salia did the same, hugging her from the other side but didn't say a word.

Serena then glanced at Altea. When their eyes met, Altea immediately looked away, a little blushed.

"Come on, you can hug me too," Serena offered, smiling at her.

"No, I'm fine," Altea said, embarrassed.

"Boo, you're no fun," Serena said.

On the other side, Ruby grabbed Aurora's clothes.

"Aurora," Ruby said. "Is it true? Did you successfully convince her to join us?"

"I'm not really convinced her or anything," Aurora said. "But yes."

"Oh, come on, no need to be humble," Ruby smiled.

Rita nodded.

"No, I really mean it," Aurora said, not comfortable with the praise. "Anyway, there's plenty of things to prepare now."

Ruby looked at Aurora, confused. "Prepared for what?"

"A demonstration," Aurora said. "I told you yesterday that you would see it yourself, right? Whether this gun thing will be useful or not."

"Okay," Ruby said. "What do we need then?"

"First, let's talk to Prince Casper to prepare the location, and then the materials," Aurora murmured.

A few hours later, they gathered in an area close to the pond. The day was quite hot, so Aurora and the others decided to have some cold drinks while waiting. Prince Casper prepared a few test dummies and brought a few of his trusted knights who were going to be trained on using guns. Even though it didn't seem like he explained it to them because they looked confused.

"Miss," Lyra said, running toward Aurora full of energy. "I got all the materials you asked for!"

"Great job," Aurora praised her maid.

"Thank you," Lyra said, looking happy. "But this bag is really amazing! It can fit so much stuff and yet it doesn't feel heavy at all," she said while putting the bag she held on top of the table.

"Well, of course, that's because that bag is a rare item that utilizes elf magic," Serena said proudly.

"Still, to lend it away just like that..." Altea said.

"Stop it," Serena said. "What's the point of being allies if you can't even trust them that much?"

"Right, sorry princess," Altea said.

Aurora checked the contents of the bag and, after making sure that all the materials were there, passed the bag back to its original owner.

"Alright, let's begin the demonstration," Serena said, opening up her bag. "First, let me line up the materials on the table. For now, I'm going to create four types of guns."

Everyone moved closer, and Serena looked excited. Aurora had heard that the elf kingdom was lacking the materials Serena needed, which limited her abilities, but she seemed to be having fun now.

Aurora noticed that Serena was starting to move her hand as if touching something in the air, but there was nothing there.

"Are you using some kind of status panel?" Aurora asked.

"Oh, you can see it?" Serena said, surprised.

Aurora shook her head. "No, not really, but-"

Serena smiled. "This is my skill: [weapon crafting]."

Serena touched the air, and the materials on the table started to shine. They looked like they were melting together and changing shape. In no time, there were four guns on the table.

Aurora was not an expert on guns, but she knew a little bit about the basic types of guns thanks to some games she had played.

She first looked at the twin-barrel shotgun on the left side. It was useful for spread and close-range encounters. The sniper rifle was for long-range, the submachine gun was for fast fire rate and high capacity, and the simple handgun was weaker overall but more easy to carry?

"Oh, so this is a gun?" Prince Casper said, getting closer. "It's the first time I've seen something like this, and they have pretty different shapes from one another."

"That's because they have different purposes," Serena said. She then excitedly explained the differences and specialties of each gun.

While Serena was busy, Altea had already stood beside Aurora.

"Do you need something?" Aurora asked without looking at the silver-haired elf.

"What did you do to our princess?" Altea asked.

"What's up with that question?" Aurora said. "I didn't do anything to her."

"Liar," Altea said. "There's no way she accepted you that easily. You must be brainwashing her or something."

"Brainwash, huh?" Aurora said, amused by the idea. "If I could do something like that, why would I bother talking with you guys?"

"Probably... you need to be alone with your victim to activate it," Altea said, giving a random guess.

"Your princess was the one who suggested for us to be alone," Aurora said. "Doesn't it seem more likely that your princess had a secret plan instead of me?"

Altea couldn't argue with that.

"But..." she said. "But I still don't trust you."

The elf maid then left.

***