The next day, the café was missing its most popular staff member—Tina had successfully taken the day off.
Early in the morning, she sent Eileen to notify the manager that she wouldn’t be able to work today and would only be back tomorrow.
To be precise, her body wasn’t completely incapacitated at the moment; it was just that she couldn’t stand for long, so staying at the café all day was out of the question.
However, not going to work was one thing. Tina figured that some hopeless romantic fool might be waiting for her every day, so she decided to stop by the inn and tell Leah to take a short break today.
But when she arrived at Leah’s room at the inn, no one was there.
The room was empty, so Tina went over to the window and glanced back toward the café, but Leah was nowhere to be seen.
“How strange, where did she go today?”
They had just met yesterday, and now she was missing—could this be some kind of “playing hard to get” tactic gone wrong?
Unfortunately for Leah, Tina wasn’t falling for that.
She wasn’t worried in the slightest; in fact, less contact with Leah meant less risk of exposure, which wasn’t a bad thing for her in the current situation.
Still, deep down, she couldn’t help but worry about Leah.
Whether out of their past friendship or because of the apology planned for a few days later, Tina had to make sure Leah was safe.
At that moment, Tina’s eyes happened to fall on a letter lying on the table.
She went over to take a look and finally understood why Leah wasn’t there.
“She’s probably at the Palace of Valencia. I can’t believe she dared to go there empty-handed—no fear of trouble at all.”
After reading the letter, Tina decided to stir up some excitement.
Sneaking into the palace wouldn’t be possible in her current identity; a lowly maid wouldn’t be welcome at a tea party.
But if she assumed the role of a Royal Attendant, attending the tea party would be perfectly legitimate.
Tina had a good idea.
It was necessary.
***
That afternoon, in the rear garden of the Palace of Valencia.
A grand banquet was spread across the open lawn, with kings from various countries gathered together at a single table.
Seated at the head was the King of Valencia, a middle-aged man with a robust build.
Familiar faces from neighboring nations sat to his sides; Leah had met them long ago—they were mostly rulers of small countries.
However, after scanning the crowd, Leah noticed the absence of the most important monarch.
No, to be exact, the emperor.
The empire located far to the extreme north, commanding about one-third of the world’s military forces, had not sent its aged emperor to attend the invitation from Valencia.
Though this was typical of him—he never cared much for useless banquets and auctions.
After all, Leah was probably just there to make up the numbers.
Among the kings present, she was the youngest, and even though the Kingdom of Keliviel was fairly strong in both territory and power, the elder monarchs had yet to acknowledge her achievements.
“Ahem, well then, now that everyone is present, let this tea party begin.”
The King of Valencia’s magnetic voice rang out.
“This time, I’m sure you all know the auction is just a name.
The real purpose is… Valencia has recently discovered a mysterious Crystal Mine, containing a type of Amethyst Crystal.
Can you guess what kind of potential these crystals hold?”
“A crystal is just an accessory, isn’t it? What use could it have?” a grumpy Orc King scoffed, unimpressed and feeling this trip was a waste of time.
“Could these crystals be used to make Magic Armor?” a Dwarven King showed some interest, thinking they might be useful to their people.
“Hahaha, yes, and no,” the middle-aged king added.
“You would never expect it, but these Amethyst Crystals contain Witch Power; each one holds a massive reserve of magical energy.”
At these words, the atmosphere in the hall seemed to cool noticeably.
Everyone had heard the word “Witch” and gradually grasped Valencia’s intention—
The power of the Witch was well known.
Ordinary people might master elemental magic, summoning magic, or psychic magic individually, but witches could easily wield and perfect all of these, even developing unique magic surpassing Legendary Magic.
And now, this power was contained within crystals, visible to the public eye.
If properly harnessed, future Apprentices could learn various magic types.
If used in equipment, it could produce Magic Armor with unparalleled resilience to both magic and physical attacks—its importance in warfare went without saying.
“So… what do you all think?”
The King of Valencia clapped his hands, and several Royal Attendants brought out jewelry crafted from the Amethyst Crystals for display.
“Take a look at this Magic Crystal Ring.
The crystal embedded in it is smooth and clear; as a mere accessory, it already surpasses 95% of similar items.
But what if I told you it can also be used as a weapon?”
He slipped on the ring, aimed upward, and released a concentrated beam of light.
“With just a slight activation, it can unleash the stored magical energy and amplify it to a tremendous effect.”
The kings, who had initially paid little attention, were now wide-eyed as they witnessed the crystal’s power firsthand.
If Valencia were to monopolize these crystals, the country could become extremely powerful in the future, potentially swallowing neighboring nations.
Yet this king chose to share the resources before full-scale mining even began—what was his true intention?
“Friends, I propose a cooperation.”
The middle-aged king paused.
“As you can see, Valencia is a land of wizards, but our mining and processing industries are underdeveloped—some might say barren.
Even with fifty more years, we wouldn’t be able to fully utilize or process all the resources.”
“But,” he continued, “I hope you can lend us some assistance. In return, we will share a portion of the crystals with you. How does that sound?”
By this point, the meeting’s purpose was clear: it wasn’t just an auction but a proposal for cooperation.
By collaborating with Valencia, they could gain access to this rare Crystal Mine, needing only to provide Miners, Blacksmiths, and other technical support.
“I think that sounds good,” the Dwarven King expressed his support.
“We can discuss the division of profits once we see the results.”
“Count me in.”
Another voice chimed in on Valencia’s side.
“And me,” more joined, eventually making up about two-thirds of those present.
“Keliviel is willing to provide Magic Scholars to research the crystals’ properties.”
Leah joined the momentum; securing special resources couldn’t harm her country.
After the votes were tallied, the tea party’s opening was officially concluded.
The King of Valencia laughed heartily, pleased with the support he had gained.
“Well then, that’s all for now. Please enjoy the afternoon tea.”
He ordered the Royal Attendants to bring out desserts and tea for the kings.
Leah noticed a large, clumsy figure among the attendants.
Somehow familiar.
Uncertain, she looked again.
The attendant, carrying a tray, was staggering as if completely untrained.
He walked right past her, then tripped over a raised patch of grass, spilling both himself and the food onto her gown.
Leah was about to scold him but, seeing the attendant’s embarrassed face, found herself unable to.
What was going on? Since when had her temper softened so much?