Chamuka hanging from the window by water streams, Astrid collapsed with her hand on the back of her neck, and Tan, who suddenly appeared carrying Luka over his shoulder.

“……”

Leticia had no idea what she should do first.

Should she help Chamuka down? Or should she support her master? Or should she check if Luka was alright? Or should she…

“Leti, wouldn’t I be better for you than someone like Chamuka?”

Tan, who now referred to Chamuka not as brother but as “that thing,” ran over to Leticia and pleaded.

It might have been cute ten years ago when he was half his current size, but now he had grown much too large to be considered cute.

While Leticia had grown steadily, the Basilintes had not just grown—they had evolved.

“Marry me. That one over there has no words, no expressions, and no fun anyway.”

“……”

Did I ever say I would get married? Or did I say I would choose a marriage partner from among the Basilintes?

Leticia now even doubted her past self.

However, no matter how much she thought back, she couldn’t remember saying such things, so she calmly decided to deal with Tan in front of her first.

“I don’t want to marry anyone right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I have many other things to do.”

For now, there’s the immediate task of resolving this chaos.

First, Leticia gently lowered Chamuka from the window back into the room.

Then she slapped some water onto the unconscious Luka to wake him up, and sat down right next to Astrid, who had collapsed on the sofa.

After all, Astrid generally felt better the closer Leticia was to her.

She clung to Leticia’s shoulder, trying to recover from the shock of her failed child-rearing.

“Get off her, Mother.”

“Leti, can I lean on your other shoulder?”

“……”

Astrid remained silent, giving her children a look that roughly meant, ‘Shut up, you ill-mannered things.’

Leticia patted Astrid’s back and sighed.

“Both of you, please stop talking. The more you talk, the more depressed Master seems to become.”

“I haven’t said anything to Mother.”

Tan, who had quickly sat down at Leticia’s feet, looked up at her and said.

“It was all Chamuka. Not me. And if you have a lot to do, wouldn’t it be better to be two rather than alone? Marry me. Hmm? I listen well to what Leti says- Ack! Chamuka!”

Chamuka kicked Tan, who was clinging to Leticia’s feet, sending him flying.

Tan rolled with practiced ease and landed on all fours.

Tan’s blue pupils contracted as he glared at Chamuka. The low growling sound scratching his throat seemed more beast-like than human.

Seeing her second son looking like a beast and her first son seriously confronting his brother, Astrid hugged Leticia, her mental stabilizer, tightly and showered her sons with a deluge of water.

Then she tied up her two soaking wet sons with streams of water and shoved them into a corner.

Since hanging them from the ceiling seemed to worry Leticia, this time she quietly placed them on the floor.

“Leti, I’m hurt…”

“Shut up, Tan.”

Of course, she immediately regretted her decision when she saw her sons, tied up tightly and sitting on the floor, yet still running their mouths.

“Both of you, be quiet. Before you show our guest an even more embarrassing sight.”

Luka, whose status had suddenly changed from intruder to guest, wiped his face that had been dampened by the water slap.

He had felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck while having a silent staring contest with the prince, and when he regained consciousness, he found himself in the midst of a chaotic family quarrel.

They were clearly Chamuka’s family.

A boy who looked similar to Chamuka except for his bright blue eyes, and a black-haired woman with the same blue eyes as the boy.

So, this was the new family Leticia had made…

Hmm.

Luka pondered the conversation between the three that he had overheard after waking up.

Hmm.

…They all seemed out of their minds.

Why did you make this choice, Leti?

Luka asked Leticia with his eyes, and Leticia, avoiding his gaze, introduced Astrid and Luka to each other.

“Master, this is my brother whom I was separated from ten years ago. Luka, this is my master.”

“I am Luka Borba. I heard that you have been raising Leticia for the past ten years—”

“Raising? No, that’s not it.”

Astrid smiled kindly and wrapped her arm around Leticia’s shoulders.

Unlike her kind smile, her eyes looking at Luka were cold.

“Leti is my disciple, so of course I should raise her. I will continue to raise her for another 100 years. This adorable baby droplet is my disciple, my child, and mine.”

“……”

“Rather, I should be the one thanking you. For being her family before our baby came to me.”

Anyone could see that Leticia and Luka looked different, except that they were both beautiful.

Nevertheless, Astrid didn’t ask why the siblings didn’t resemble each other at all. Whether they were blood-related or not, if Leticia said they were family, then they were family.

Instead, Astrid, with heightened vigilance, stared at Leticia’s former family, who might take Leticia away from her.

“So why are you here? If you have business, it would be better to resolve it quickly and leave. We’re going back home now.”

In response to Astrid’s behavior, which clearly conveyed the message “get lost” with just her eyes, Luka briefly averted his gaze, only to receive the “get lost” look from the brothers sitting on the floor, and then fixed his gaze on Leticia, his only ally in this place.

“I came because I have something to say to Leticia.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about our matter…”

“Our? Why are you and our Leti grouped together as ‘our’?”

She looked like she could kill someone with just her gaze.

Leticia grabbed Astrid’s arm, which had become sharply hostile, and tried to calm her down.

“He’s referring to what happened when I was separated from my brother ten years ago, Master.”

Leticia explained everything to Astrid, from the great fire at the Borba Troupe ten years ago, to being disguised as a fake prince and sent to Basilinte, and then coming to the capital after the curse on Basilinte was lifted, and finally discovering the true culprit behind the Borba Troupe fire.

Astrid, who had initially been angry on Leticia’s behalf, grew silent as the story continued.

Rather, Luka objected, questioning whether it was okay to reveal all this, but Leticia paid no heed.

She no longer wanted to keep secrets from her family.

After hearing the whole story, Astrid asked Leticia.

“So, Leti. Do you want to take revenge on the Emperor? Together with that man?”

Leticia nodded.

Seeing this, Astrid gently stroked Leticia’s head and whispered.

“Whatever you want to do, your master supports you. But why do you need to take revenge with that man? Leti, my dear. You know the power you possess.”

A magician born with the greatest talent since the founding of the Herta Empire.

In fact, if Leticia were to actively move, she could end her revenge right now.

“You could easily storm the imperial palace alone and kill the Emperor. So why, why must you follow that man’s methods, devising complicated schemes, unnecessarily gathering allies… Why must you kill the Emperor in such a way?”

Luka flinched, not having known that Leticia was such a powerful magician.

Meanwhile, Leticia’s eyes wavered, seemingly confused by Astrid’s question.

“…I don’t know.”

Astrid smiled brightly.

Guiding a disciple who has lost their way is precisely the role of a master.

“If you kill the Emperor, another Emperor will fill that position. And that other Emperor will use spies to create more victims like your dead brothers and sisters, just like the previous Emperor.”

“……”

“Is it the Emperor that our Leti wants to eliminate, or this vicious cycle?”

“The vicious cycle. I, that is, I don’t want to eliminate the Emperor…”

Leticia finally realized what she wanted to do.

“I want to overthrow the imperial family.”