(Alice POV)

"My little cuties, do you want anything else?" (Macho maid)

"No thanks....we are fine." (Rine)

After being kidnapped by the macho maids we ended up eating here. Although this felt like an uncommon and bizarre place, the staff and customers were very kind. And if you focused your sight very ve~ry strongly and lady luck was on your side you would be able to find some female costumers between the sea of muscles.

With the pastries healing my mind I was able to recover enough sanity points to act like a normal person, but for some reason, I could hear Azazel muttering "JOJO, this is JOJO right? The staff over there are doing a JOJO pose right!? Wait... what is JOJO?" time to time. This was worrisome, did he had previous experience with macho maids?

"Alright cuties, if you need anything else ring the bell on the table. Before I forget about it, the special dishes of the day are the "wedding ring", the "white blossom", the "maiden's tear" and the "Forget me now"." (Macho maid)

"What is wrong with those names!?" (Fari)

It seems that this place rea~lly took a serious blow on Fari's mental health, as her cheerful character was falling apart. The macho maid wasn't bothered by her overreaction and with a cheerful voice, he(?) showed an image of the dishes.

"Oh my, these dishes are the representation of the maiden's feelings related to love and marriage." (Macho maid)

"If that's the case then I get the reason behind the first two names, but why do the latter ones have an ominous name?!" (Fari)

"Of course, my dear, love can bring beautiful emotions to the lives of the maidens, but it can also bring great pains and sorrows. This is why we honor those feelings by pouring them into our pastries. We do this so the maidens can enjoy, endure or vent all of their feelings while eating." (Macho maid)

Contrary to the extravagant names, the amount of dedication this store poured on the pastries was incredible, to the point to make us see this store in a new light. We felt for the first time that the macho maid in front of us was a maiden with a man's body.

"The "wedding ring" represents the bond between the pair and the proof of their eternal love, one that only could be separated by death. The "white blossom" represents a maiden in their wedding, on this exact moment the maiden looks like a white flower blooming under the light of happiness. The "maiden's tear" represents the tears dropped by the maidens, those tears posses the happiness, sadness, anger, or any strong emotion inside of a maiden's heart.

And finally, the "forget me now" represents the deep desire inside of a maiden's heart to "forget or to be forgotten". When the love ends, no matter if it ended on good or bad terms, both parties still retain the memories inside of their hearts. So, we use this dish to help the maidens to get in peace with those memories, what they do with them depends on the maiden.

As for their appearance and flavor, I'll explain in the same order.

The wedding ring is a donut with the appearance of a wedding ring with every decoration being edible, it's usually decorated with white chocolate and sugar crystals.

The white blossom is a coup of vanilla ice cream accompanied with white chocolate petals and a cherry at the top.

The "maiden's tear" is a cheesecake shaped like a tear, half of it has a wonderful blue color while the other half has a red radiant color, each of them representing the emotions of the maidens, also the red color has a raspberry flavor while the blue color has a blueberry flavor.

And finally, the "forget me now" is a set of coffee and crepe, the crepe is made with the sweetest chocolate, strawberries, cream, and the secret ingredient of the house, while the coffee is small but heavily concentrated. With this combination, the sweet crepe represents the sweet moments of the love and the coffee the bitter separation and sadness, but at the same time is an impulse for a new beginning." (Macho maid)

Hearing the explanation left us without words. It was as if these words resonated with each one of us. I don't know anything about love so I was only amazed by the macho maid, but Rine, princess Talia, and surprisingly, even Fari and Lapis were in deep thought.

"Little cuties, you don't have to take this topic too seriously. Everyone has their own trials, so if our desserts can help you then our intentions will be accomplished." (Macho maid)

"Then... I want a "Forget me now" please" (Rine)

"....It would be two please" (Lapis)

".... Three …please" (Fari)

Whoa...… I... we never expected for them to ask for the same dessert at the same time. Feeling a depressing air the princess and I took a distance from them. We weren't the only ones taken back, as the face of the macho maid was twitching and the entire store fell in painful silence. I could see that with all of her(?) willpower the macho maid looked at me trying to take my order. 

"A-And you little cuties? What is going to be your order?"(Macho-maid)

"A maiden's tear please" (Alice and Talia)

How many times my identity has to be in danger, thanks to our overlapping voices my heart was beating fast, as they barely had any distinction between them. Hoping that nothing was leaked I tried to stay calm even though the princess was strongly looking at me. 

"OK then I'll be right back.... Oh, silly me, how could I forget to present myself. Sorry for not saying this before, it’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Rosa and I'll be at your service" (Rosa)

Between the chaotic mood, the words of the macho maid... Rosa, made everyone's mind blow away. A beat later, Fari went berserk as her last shard of sanity was destroyed.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE A CUTE NAME!?!?! JUST WHY!?!?" (Fari)

"CALM DOWN FARI!!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO SHAKEN!!!" (Alice)

"YOU ARE JUST AS SHAKEN AS ME!!! DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!!" (Fari)

I need to be honest, it wasn't just Fari that went crazy from this sudden revelation. Hearing a very cute name from a very macho maid while having my guard so low completely destroyed my sanity. 

"You two are noisy! Just shut up for a moment!" (Lapis)

I didn't see the punch of Lapis, but I felt it right on the top of my head. Thanks to her training Lapis gained a good amount of strength and adding that she wasn't holding back this time the punch hurt a lot.

The usual Lapis would threaten or yell at Fari and me whenever we were quarreling or being noisy, but this time, maybe because she was as confused as us, she opted to use violence. Of course, Rine and the princess Talia were shaken as well, but they somehow managed to control themselves from going wild. 

"Don't look at us like that, you are technically a noble as well. In fact, Lapis please calm down, I can't afford for you to be infected as well, I don't want to be alone." (Rine)

"Your words are very rude you know?" (Alice and Fari)

"See? please fix that attitude before complaining again." (Rine)

I couldn't tell if Rine was being serious or she was joining into this mess, but seeing her genuinely worried at Lapis's condition told me she wasn't joking.

"Pffffff." (Talia)

"Talia?" (Rine)

IT took one laugh to make us laugh too. Thanks to the therapeutic shock given by the macho maid... Rosa, and the sudden laugh of princess Talia, the long-desired peace returned to the table. 

"I'm sorry, but seeing you and Rine joking around and acting like that is an amusing sight. I'm also happy seeing Fari joking around without hiding any pain or guilt just like before. Now I can rest in peace knowing that all of you are doing fine." (Talia)

Now that you mention it, they were acquaintances with the princess before we met right? Just a glance at their faces showed how touched they were by her words. Because this was a topic between them, I tried to leave the table with the excuse of going to the bathroom, but before I left I was stopped by princess Talia.

"Please don't leave just yet, I'm sure these girls can smile and laugh again thanks to you. I'm very grateful for your support, so please take care of them in the future" (Talia)

The aura surrounding the princess was heavy, as she was entrusting me a precious treasure. Maybe because of political reasons she isn't allowed to demonstrate who much she valued her friendship with them, but seeing her asking me to take care of them was enough to see how much she loved them.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of them even if you didn't ask me to do that. After all, they are my precious friends and teammates." (Alice)

"Is that so..." (Talia)

I believe everyone was swayed by the mood as I was stared by an unusual yet gentle gazes. I wasn't used to be looked like that, so I couldn't help to feel a little shy.

"Don't worry Talia-mama, our husband will take care of us for the rest of our life."  (Fari)

"Ma-Mama!?" (Talia)

"Husband!?" (Alice)

"Ha... And there you go. You can't resist the impulse to break the mood, right?" (Rine)

A~nd just like that the serious mood was destroyed, but it wasn't bad in a way.

"Putting aside the silly Fari, I need to ask you something Alice." (Talia)

"What do you want to know? I'll try to answer it if I can." (Alice)

"I'm very sorry for the discourtesy I'm going to show, but please tell me... Who are you?" (Talia)

The change of the princess Talia was so fast that I couldn't react in time. The soft and innocent air surrounding the princess Talia changed into the air of a dignified princess, it was as if her previous attitude was just an illusion. I could feel that her eyes were looking at me without overlooking any of my reactions, I knew for sure she wouldn't allow me to lie. This put me in a tough situation, my real identity was so extravagant that it could turn upside down the entire Holy kingdom.

"Of course, As you know my name is--" (Alice)

"I know what you are doing so stop with the pretentious and innocent answer, that trick wont work on me. I had my eyes on you since that dinner in the castle all those months ago and the more I know you, the more I grow suspicious of you.

If you refuse to talk it's fine for me, but then I'll refuse further cooperation with your team and I'll ask to return all of you to the Cross kingdom, no matter how important this is for you or what Lady Fayna says. " (Talia)

This is bad, very bad, she immediately cut all of my escape routes in one sentence. I could refuse her but then this would make our chances to qualify for the tournament almost none. I could feel a cold sweat crawling through my back as princess Talia was looking at me, trying to get answers.

"Now, what are you going to choose Alice? I'm fine if you choose to keep silence even after hearing the consequences, but keep in mind, even if you refuse to speak here I'll eventually find who you are. I can guarantee that" (Talia)

"Excuse me for being rude princess Talia, but aren't you a little agre---" (Rine)

"Don't even try to intervene Rine, this is the same for Fari and Lapis. If you try to stop me one more time I'll cancel your mission immediately, keep that in mind." (Talia)

Now even my only aides were tied, could this be really where my secret is out?

"Bu-But princess, this is an open area..." (Alice)

"As I expected your identity is a delicate topic. It doesn't matter, I have deployed a sound barrier, so no one outside of it will hear this conversation" (Talia)

Ou shit. My words literally told her "I have a huge and dangerous secret~♪ please make me spill the beans~♪". I didn't know if I needed to feel sad by my slip of tongue or amazed by the relentless pursuit of the princess. Resigning myself to my fate, I looked at the princess while feeling regret of not being more careful.

"Then princess Talia, the thing is..... How do I say this..... I think I should call you si---" (Alice)

But at that moment, as if the world decided to be kind to me just once, the glass of the shop shattered and a black shadow approached at our table with fast movements, aiming his attacks towards me and princess Talia. Knowing that their objective was the princess I got in front of them with a light sword ready to parry when unexpectedly the black shadow was blocked by a bigger black shadow... It was Rosa.

"Oh my... don't by so hasty my boy, your mama didn't teach you how to treat a lady?" (Rosa)

After being blocked by Rosa the black shadow took a step back and made a signal with his hand, a moment later the shop was surrounded by black shadows, it seems that my secret was safe for now. I'm grateful for the world's help... but why is the help a dangerous raid?