As she gently closed the door behind her, the colonel was the first to break the standstill. "We've tried at least." He stood up, offering his hand. "I apologize for keeping you three this long. Thank you, and welcome home, Miss Marice."

The trip back home only took them twenty minutes, but Marice felt like it was even longer than the flight they just took. Not a single one of them uttered a word, which bothered and impressed her at the same time.

As they entered a six-story condominium by the river and left the truck, they were greeted by new and familiar faces at the atrium square. Marice thought of not spoiling the mood any longer and decided to put on a smile for everyone. Her act lasted for a few minutes until the feast started and found her cue, retreating back to her home on the fifth floor of the compound.

Finally.

Taking off her cap, she let her eyes wander around the living room until her eyes fell on a pair of gift-wrapped boxes on the coffee table. Her face soured for a bit before dragging her feet to her room next to the balcony.

And as she was about to enter the room, she tripped, falling down face first on the floor. She grumbled as pain swelled in her forehead.

Right. I forgot about that sodding ledge. I could've sworn I told Mom to have it removed.

Oh well.

Curling up on the floor, she could feel heavy steps approaching from outside.

"Marice, I heard something fall over! Are you okay?"

When she got no response, Katherine rushed to her room, only to find her unmoving curled form on the floor.

"Gyaah! Marice!"

And then, she tripped, causing a bigger thud than the last.

Marice sighed. "Dumbass."

"But you fell first."

"I wasn't referring to you."

"Huh?"

Marice faced Katherine. "How's Mom holding up?"

"She's back to normal," Katherine said, turning on her side. "On the outside at least. Are you worried?"

"Of course I'm worried."

"Are you still mad from earlier?"

"Just... frustrated at myself right now."

"You can just apologize, you know?"

"Like, right now?"

"Yup."

"But I don't know if..." Her gaze fell to the floor. "Ugh, this sucks."

"You're the bravest person I know, so I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake to you."

She paused. "Was that sarcasm?"

"You dummy! I was trying to cheer you up!"

Just as she flopped on her back, she noticed the two stuffed animals peeking outside. "Hey."

"Master Marice," the cat familiar said, "are you feeling well now?"

"Yeah, sorry for making you worry."

The hog familiar landed on her stomach. "Did you two fight again?" she asked.

"No, not really."

"It's about that, huh?"

She sat up, taking the hog familiar in her hands. "My temper got the best of me, but I couldn't help it. This sideline of hers isn't going to make our lives any better."

"To be fair, it's not like anything's changed."

"But it's even worse now that she's getting herself involved in police work."

"Master has her quirks," the cat familiar said, "but she is no fool. An overbearing presence has appeared recently within the metro, riling up the denizens within neighboring realms."

"A presence?"

"Rumors say it is demonic in nature, rivaling the powers of a grand lich or a wraith. Perhaps even an archdemon."

"You guys know how stories like that get blown out of proportion. People just can't keep their mouth shut for their own good."

"Yes, but the rumors have been creating tangible ripples regardless. The sooner it gets resolved, the better."

She narrowed her eyes. "Am I supposed to buy that excuse?"

"Well, it's entirely within your prerogative to decide whether to believe me or not. You should know your mother more than anyone else after all."

She fell silent for a moment. "At this rate, I'm gonna have to keep her on a leash or something."

Katherine sat up and started unbuttoning her trench coat. "I'll help out as much as I can too, so don't worry."

"That's why I'm concerned. She's only going to grow bolder with the two of us around."

She paused as she took off her belt next. "Then how about we go investigate together?"

Marice was about to fire back a retort, only to hold her tongue at the last second. "It ultimately boils down to that, huh?"

"Great! I should tell Miss Liza about this!"

"What?! No! She'll only pester my mother even more!"

"She's gonna find out anyway, so you might as well go all the way."

She let out a deep sigh. "No use stressing over it, I guess."

"So are you ready now, Marice?" the hog familiar asked, wiggling her spring-like tail. "We can't have the guest of honor sulking in her room now, can we?"

"W-Wait. I'm not ready yet...!"

"Just give her a tight hug and say you're sorry."

"You think that would work?"

"Of course, she's your mother after all. She's been yearning for your warmth ever since you left."

She made a small smile before standing up. "Cassava, what's mom doing right now?"

The cat familiar's ears twitched. "She's currently serving desserts."

"Already? How long have we been here?"

Katherine got to her feet as well, putting her coat and belt on the wall hangar. "Come on, Marice! I'm gonna stuff my ether tank to the brim, starting with that scrumptious-looking roasted pig!"

"In hindsight, I'm kinda glad we gave them a head start."

"Let's go! Hurry!"

And so, they returned to the party and indulged themselves in the rather lavish buffet. Marice had been craving for a steamy bowl of bulalo since forever, so she picked that first to share with Katherine. Then she filled up her paper plate with a big helping of fried rice, a hefty chunk of lechon, and spring rolls.

Katherine, on the other hand, loaded up three plates for herself—one plate for a mountain of rice, the other two reserved for the main dishes. And when the pot of kare-kare on the adjacent table caught her attention, she didn't hesitate to grab a bowl of that as well.

Once the two of them started to dig in, the guests couldn't help but gawk at them as they worked through their food. Too hungry and exhausted to even worry about them, Marice felt her soul being soothed with each sip of the warm beef soup. Katherine in front of her was surprisingly taking her time with her food, tasting each dish one at a time.

For a moment, the atmosphere within the square was strained due to her sudden disappearance earlier. But Katherine's constant praise to the food caused the more spontaneous individuals among the guests to start chiming in. Not a minute later, more of them joined in on the conversation, each proudly declaring their contributions in the buffet.

And to keep the ball rolling, Marice found her opening and made a playful remark on Katherine's voracious appetite, earning the laughter of everyone around them.

As they grew more comfortable talking with the pair, they started to ask them all sorts of things, like the everyday life in London, the university they attended, and even down to the details of their apartment. They also took special interest in Katherine, not just because she was a foreigner, but also because of her mechanical body.

Things like "How much of her body is still organic?", "Is she waterproof?", or "Can she plug herself into an electric outlet to get more energy?"

Questions she also had asked her when they first became friends, which made her somewhat nostalgic. And just like last time, it was amusing to see her stumble with her answers.

After a while though, the conversation eventually steered to her direction, which caused her to panic a bit. But compared to how inquisitive they were to Katherine, they only asked her about her studies in alchemy and necromancy, which made her somewhat thankful.

She could only assume that her mother had already briefed them about her sensibilities earlier, and she hoped that it wouldn't make them think that she was a snob. To make it up to them, she tried her best to placate their curiosity with great enthusiasm, even showcasing some spells she had learned from her elective subjects.

And before she knew it, it was already forty minutes past midnight. As everybody else settled down and chatted among themselves, Marice finally got the chance to approach her mother by the buffet tables.

"Mom, need any help?" she asked before letting out a big yawn.

Mariella turned around and placed a hand on her waist. "Oh, I'm pretty much done here. Ramil and his crew will clean up the rest." She smiled. "How about you? Turning in already?"

"In a few."

"Aww, you sure get tired easily at your age."

"It was a sixteen hour flight, Mom."

She chuckled. "I know, I know. What about our princess over there?"

Marice yawned again, looking at Katherine. "She said she'll join me once I go upstairs."

"Oh, okay. I'll just hang around with Regina for a while." As Marice didn't respond, Mariella leaned towards her. "What's wrong? Something on your mind?"

"Nothing. I just remembered a dream I had during the flight..."

"What kind of dream?"

"About Kath..."

Mariella grinned as she glanced at Katherine. "Aww, dreaming about her? How sweet!"

Anticipating that exact reaction, Marice grumbled. "It was... more like a nightmare if I'm being honest. Couldn't sleep after that, so I ended up finishing this one visual novel that I've been holding off for a while now."

She blinked, slowly pulling back. "Sounds like all that graduation crunch is finally catching up with you, huh?"

Marice put on a more cheery expression. "I guess so. There's something else I wanna talk about too..."

"I'm all ears."

She paused, taking a deep breath. "About earlier. I'm sorry for shouting at you. And in front of so many people too."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was my fault for keeping it from you in the first place."

Sensing the growing awkwardness, Marice inwardly scrambled for a response. "N-No, I was the one who overreacted. I'm really sorry..."

Mariella shook her head, fiddling with the pair of scrunchies on her left wrist. "You know, after being gone so long, I was afraid that you'd change a lot."

"What are you on about? We talk almost everyday."

"I thought you were keeping secrets from me despite seeing each other online on the regular." She folded her arms under her chest. "It's terrible, isn't it? Doubting you for so long, and yet I'm the one doing things behind your back."

"No, I'm just worried about you gathering too much attention. We're already lucky enough as it is that everyone has gotten tired of milking all sorts of stories about us."

"Indeed," the green-haired woman sitting nearby uttered. "Even those arrogant mages who kept pestering your mother for a blood duel finally gave up as well."

"So I've heard. You'll have to give me a list of names later."

She grinned, propping her chin. "Do you really not have that much confidence in your own mother?"

"I-It's not like that." Marice crossed her arms and clicked her tongue. "Could you please not eavesdrop, by the way? We're in the middle of something here."

"Oh, how could I not when the two of you chose to have your heart-to-heart moment next to me? Buuut," she took a sip of her wine, "that means you really trust me, right? I am honored, scion of the celestial gods."

"Tch. Stop calling me that."

She chuckled. "Oh, no need to be modest. You are still an heir of your clan, regardless of what you and everyone else think."

"Yeah, right. You're sucking up to the wrong person if you wanna get all buddy-buddy with them."

"Ah, you wounded me! Even if we weren't already friends, it'd always be in my best interest to take care of my clients." She paused for a moment, staring at her wine glass. "Then again, you are a necromancer, so I suppose dying isn't an issue to you now?"

Marice furrowed her eyebrows. "Being a necromancer doesn't make death any less horrific."

"Is that so? I've heard that turning yourself into a lich isn't as bad as most people say. Who wouldn't want an immortal body?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, who wouldn't want to hang out with a reanimated corpse?"

"It's not that bad. A perfect reanimation is good enough to fool most people."

"Did you actually consider studying necromancy for that brand of immortality?"

She sighed. "You're in your twenties now. You'll come to understand sooner or later."

Marice responded with a heavier sigh. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye now."

"How unfortunate. If you have the time later, let's chat a little more in my shop. I'd love to hear all the adventures you went through back in Europe."

She nodded. "Thank you for looking after Mom, Miss Regina."

Regina grinned. "You're making me feel old, you know? Just call me Regina."

She then faced her mother. "Don't stay up for too long."

"Yup! And don't forget to open the gifts I bought for you two!"