"Is the tea not to your taste?"

Alicia lifts the cup to her lips, relishing the distinct taste of mint on her tongue. Across the table, you level her with a stare, eyes sharp and observant. You're clearly not a person of many words.

When you don't reply, her lips twitch into a smile.

"Would you care for some sweets, then?"

The Great War has been going on for a long many years, poisoning the blood between the Kingdoms of Morium and Lucedvia. Alicia has never truly held anything against Lucedvia, even when they rolled her late husband in on a casket.

(Sometimes still, Alicia mistakes shadows at her bedside for his looming figure, blinks away tears at the sight of candlelight she thought was roaring flame.)

She understands your frustration. Even though peace talks have only just begun, the duty of hosting the Ambassador, which belongs to the Royal Family, has been relegated to the widowed Duchess of Blueport. It's nothing less than a direct insult to your Kingdom.

You don't seem to like her very much. Still, Alicia holds nothing against you: she'll try her best to make you feel welcome. She calls for a replacement of the snacks; maybe scones just aren't your thing.

Or, maybe, it's her mask.

She exhales. She doesn't mean to hide anything from you, really. She wears her porcelain mask out of consideration for others. After all, nobody wants to see her hideous burn scars.

"I'd like if you could tell me what's on your mind," Alicia tells you gently, "I only intend to make you feel welcome, and if there's something you find distasteful, I'd like to know of it."

Truly, it is a beautiful day. It would be a shame for it to be sullied by misunderstandings. She watches your face contort imperceptibly, and tightens her hold around the handle of her teacup. What is that emotion? Rage? Indignance? Frustration?

She hesitates, before, "...We're no longer enemies."

A half-truth. The two Kingdoms are operating under a fragile treaty; this illusion of peace could be shattered at any moment.

(Maybe it really is a pipe dream. Hoping that, after all these years of meaningless bloodshed, peace will win.)

Alicia manages a tentative smile.