While our mothers were chatting with each other, Evelyn, Noir, Valerie-chan and I walked around the garden with Kiara. Maria-chan, Anne, and the girls' personal maids were also following us from behind.

Unlike normally where I would be carrying Kiara in my arms, she's walking around on her own while holding my hand.

She seemed to be embarrassed being carried by me in front of everyone, so she refused it herself.

Ufufufu~ How cute~!!

"Wow~ It's even more amazing than I expected~ As expected of the garden Lorya-sama personally tended to~"

"Uhn! There's so many beautiful and colorful flowers here!"

"How fantastical..."

"Hehe~ Mom really loves flowers, after all. And she also frequently uses it for tea parties, so my dad and everyone in our household really put in effort in taking care of this garden. Kiara and I often play around in here, right~"

"Uhn!"

Kiara bopped her head as she smiled ever so brightly at me.

"How nice~ I would love to walk around alone with Alterisa-sama as well~"

Evelyn said with a slightly whiny and spoiled tone and looked at me with slightly pouting lips.

U-Ughh! W-What a devastating surprise attack!!

For a girl who exudes such incredible onee-sama aura to whine and act like a spoiled little girl trying to get my attention!

T-This is very dangerous!!!!

"Eeeehhh~? I want to play with Risa-chan in here too!"

"M-Me too...!"

Valerie-chan suddenly hugged my other arm and rubbed her cheeks on my shoulders, while Noir slightly tugged my dress and looked at me with those pure, sparkling, upturned eyes.

Kuhaaa!!!! A siege have been laid on me from all sides!! I-I can't hold it anymore!!

I pulled all of them into a hug.

"Of course~! I would love to play with all of you together here~!!! Aaahh~ You're all so cute~!!!"

"K-Kyaa~! Alterisa-sama~!!"

"Ehehehe~!"

"A-A-A-Alterisa-sama...!"

"Nee-chaa~"

I let them all go soon after. But for some reason, now we're al walking around very closely to each other.

I was still holding onto Kiara's hand, but my left hand was being held by Valerie-chan while Evelyn and Noir both wrapped their arms around mine.

I-It's becoming harder to walk, but I would gladly endure it!!!

I'm finally living the dream!!! To be surrounded by such cuties all around me, this must be heaven!!!!!

"Excuse me, Alterisa-sama. Hildegarde-sama and Karion-sama have arrived with their daughters."

Maria-chan notified my behind.

"Ah, is that so? Thank you. Then, let's go and greet them, everyone!"

""Yes~""

This time, seeing as they're about to greet another guest, Evelyn, Noir, and Valerie-chan let go of me and we began heading towards the entrance to the garden together.

When we arrived, we saw our mothers already greeting the two ladies that I remembered as Hildegard-sama and Karion-sama near the entrance.

Hildegard-sama, or Maya von Hildegard, is a marquess and wife of Alvin von hildegard who works under dad. Both of them has been friends with my mom and dad since their time in the academy too. Alvin-sama was in the same class as dad, while Maya-sama was my mom's junior by one year.

She is a very beautiful and slender noble lady who is wearing a hazel-colored dress with her long, blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She has a very gentle and soft motherly gaze.

Meanwhile, holding her hand was a little girl with a similar appearance as her. She has the same blond hair that is braided over her shoulders and is currently wearing a similarly style dress but in light yellow.

In contrast to her mother's calm and gentle gaze, her eyes seemed to be darting all over the place before it landed on us. She immediately froze in that moment and began hiding behind her mother while still peeking at us behind her mother's dress.

I've already met Hildegard-sama in the tea party mom and his friends held during the Kingdom's Founding Festival last year, but this was the first time I've seen her daughter.

Ufufufu~ She seems to be a very shy girl~ How cute~

Karion-sama, or Yulis von Karion, is a marquess as well and wife of Levi von Karion who also has a close relationship with dad and Roland-sama as a high ranking intelligence officer in the palace.

She is a very beautiful woman as well, but unlike Maya-sama's slender, top-model figure, she has a more curvaceous figure.

Her hips was especially amazing and it is accentuated even further by he rlight peach-colored dress.

She has a long brown hair that cascaded straight down gracefully to her hips, and a sharp, awe-striking and powerful gaze, almost on par with Lawliela-sama.

She seems to have brought her daughter as well. Sheems to be very young, most likely around Kiara's age, and she was currently being carried by Karion-sama.

In contrast to Maya'sama's shy daughter, Yulis-sama's daughter seems calm and dazed. When we appeared, she immediately noticed us and began staring at us quietly.

Uwaaahh~!!! She's really cute too!!!

Ufufufu~ A shy girl and a quiet girl~ BOTH OF THEM ARE SO CUUUUUUUUTEEE!!!!

Noticing her daughter's gaze, Karion-sama also turned towards us, her sharp gaze immediately trained on all of us.

But her gaze immediately softens after she recognized us and her lips curled into a bewitching smile.

"Oh my. It has only been a year, but you've all grown up so beautifully."

As the daughter of this time's tea party, I quickly make my way towards them with Kiara and curtsied.

"Thank you very much for your praise. It has truly been a while, Karion-sama, Hildegard-sama. I hope you have been well. Thank you very much for coming to this year's private tea party my mom hosted. We are very happy to welcome you to this very special tea party."

"Oh my~ Ufufufu~ You've become even more elegant than last year~ See? Didn't mom tell you~? She's a very kind girl, so you don't need to be afraid, okay Mellissa~?"

Oh~ So the name of Maya-sama's daughter is Mellissa huh~?

Ah! She's starting to come out of her hiding~!

Hello~ Don't be scared of me, please~! I'll definitely pamper you, so come to this big sister later, okay~? Hehehe~! You're so cute~!

"..."

Yulis-sama's daughter is still staring at us dazedly. But now, I can see the excitement and sparkles in her eyes! Her cheeks are also blushing ever so slightly!

Ah~! She's so cute too!

Yulis-sama-sama nodded her head slightly and then turned her eyes towards Kiara.

"I-It is an honor to meet you! My name is Kiara von Lorya, the youngest daughter of Duke Altair von Lorya and Duchess Lisa von Lorya! T-Thank you very much for coming!"

Both Yulis-sama and Maya-sama smiled at her and began praising her.

Ufufufu~ I'm so proud of you, Kiara~ Look, mom is also smiling brightly at us~ She seemed very proud and happy too~!

"Come on, dear. It's your turn now~"

"I-I-I-It is nice to meet y-you! U-Uhm! M-My name is M-Mellissa von H-Hildegard! A pleasure!"

Ah! She's hiding behind her mother again after curtsying. Ufufufu~ How cute~

"Stella, it is your turn now. Introduce yourself to these big sisters, okay?"

"Uhn... It is very nice to meet you... My name is... Stella von Karion..."

Stella said in a soft, flowy voice.

Ah~ She's so fluffy~ Not only her appearance but her voice too~ She's so adorable too...

"It's very nice to meet you too, Mellissa-sama, Stella-sama~! I hope we can get along very well in the future~"

I'll make sure of it! Ufufufu~

Then, Evelyn, Noir, and Valerie-chan also introduced themselves to the two little cuties. Ufufufu~ It seems like we're all going to get along very well~!

"Well then~ Now that we have finished our introduction, let's head back to the gazebo where we can get to know each other more, okay~?"

Mom said to the children group.

""Yes~!""

Just then, as we were about to return to the gazebo, a maid of ours rushed towards us from within the estate, grabbing our attention.

"My lady!"

"Oh my. For you to be rushing like this. What happened, Alisa?"

Alisa, our cute, young maid with brown hair that curled up just above her shoulder tried her best to catch her best the moment she arrived before us.

Then, she raised her head up towards mom with a frantic look.

"H-Her majesty the queen and her highness the princess have arrived!"

Oooh~ So it was Sonia-sama and Lily's arrival!

I thought there was a big trouble or something. She was acting so frantic.

Well, she is pretty new, so she might not know that Sonia-sama was also a member of this close knit group.

Fufufu~ How cute~ She must've run so quickly after being told by Rosaria, who's welcoming all the guests at the mansion's entrance, to inform mom about their arrival.

"Oh my~ Is that so~? Ufufufu~ Then, shall we wait here and welcome them~?"

"Mm. Let's wait for her. We can't start very well start without her, lest she'll throw a tantrum again and I will be forced to handle it in the palace for weeks to come."

Mom and her friends all giggled at Lawliela-sama's grumble and waited for Sonia-sama and Lily to arrive to the garden.

Soon, we could see Rosaria leading a breathtakingly beautiful figure in a shoulderless, pure white dress with golden accents and flower patterns embroidered subtly all over her dress. The upper part of her chest was covered by a flower-patterned lace that went around her neck. Similarly, her hands were also covered by flowerpatterned lace gloves that reached her elbow.

On her head, a golden tiara that matches her golden blonde hair rested on top of braids that went around on either sides of her head before merging behind her as the rest of her long hair cascade down ever so gracefully to her hips.

Her beautiful cerulean eyes sparkled ever so brightly and her lips curled into a beautiful smile the moment she saw her best friends beyond the glass door entrance of the garden.

Walking by her side and holding her hands, Lily's expression also brightened the moment we made eye contact.

She's dressing up super beautifully too~! Just like her mom, she's wearing a pure white dress with similar flower patterns subtly embroidered all over them. But, it wasn't as revealing as her mom's. It was just a sleeveless dress, which is quite normal for us.

She's also wearing a little tiara on her head, but rather than a real crown, it seemed to function more like a hair clip for her.

Rosaria pushes open the door and made way for Sonia-sama and Lily to come in.

As they walked in, mom and all the other ladies immediately curtsied towards her and greeted her in unison.

""Greetings, your majesty, Queen Sonia von Derium and your highness, Princess Lily von Derium.""

Ah, that's right! This is how you'd usually greet a royalty! I was too used to mom and Sonia-sama running at each other and hugging for a greeting!

Stella was still in her mother's arm, so she couldn't curtsy, but Evelyn, Noir, Valerie-chan, Kiara, Mellisa, and I immediately did our curtsy and greeted Sonia-sama and Lily.

Still smiling ever so beautifully, Sonia-sama nodded and raised her hand, letting us rise back up.

There was a moment of silence after that.

...Eh? W-What's happening? Why is everyone silent?

Just then, Sonia-sama opened her arms, and mom, Maria-sama, Latis-sama, and Maya-sama immediately run towards her and hugged her.

W-What the-?! I-It suddenly became a group hug!!!!

Everyone of us children all looked at our mothers and the queen who suddenly started hugging each other in shock.

T-This... I-Is this normal for them?! Is mom and Sonia-sama's greeting between each other actually the normal one?!?!?!

"Hah... They never change."

"Isn't it fine, Lawliela. It's a private meeting. Let them have their fun."

"...I guess so."

Ah, Lawliela-sama and Yulis-sama were the only ones who didn't enter the fray.

Ooooh~ As expected of the cool beauties. They're so mature.

"Oh my~ Lala~ Yulis~ Come here~ Don't you want a hug~?"

"No."

"Eeehhh~ Don't be shy~ We're around friends here~"

"Hah... Only this once."

"It can't be helped. Stella, I'll put you down for a moment, okay?"

Lawliela-sama let out a deep sigh while Yulis sama seemed to have resigned to her fate with a smile on her face as she let Stella down to stand for herself. But both of them did as Sonia-sama requested and joined the group hug.

Hehehe~ Looking at them like this, I can't help but see them only as close friends, not a group of the most powerful and influential noble ladies of the kingdom.

These six ladies could move this enormous kingdom easily, but within this garden, they're just best friends having fun like the others.

Ahh~ I wish my relationship with my best friends like now could be like that too in the future~

My lips curled up as I looked towards Lily, Evelyn, and the others.

All of them, including Illya who's not currently here... I hope we could be like mom and her friends in the future.

No. I'll make sure of it.

I won't let some heroine ruin everything in our lives!!!







AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please vote and comment your thoughts~!