The trio headed back to Marice's home, arriving just in time to see the others disembarking the police aircraft by the river. And as they met up at the entrance of the condominium, a sizable crowd started to gather from the atrium square. Apparently, these people had been waiting for their return since the conference ended, so Liza and her team's presence would prove useful in keeping them at bay.

While most of the crowd were simply satisfied with taking pictures from where they stood, the journalists and content creators among them didn't feel intimidated in the slightest, rushing past unspoken boundaries just so they could bombard Marice and Mariella with questions.

Questions that pertained to the long-standing rumors about them and their clan. Questions that certain people had fabricated for the sake of drama and personal profit.

As she was forced to recount those stories, Marice slowly felt her blood climbing to a boil. She wanted to snap back at their provocations, maybe even scare them a little bit with magic, but she somehow couldn't muster up the effort to do so. She thought it was a certainly odd feeling, especially when she had been preparing for this particular scenario for years.

It was such a long hectic day for them after all, and she just wanted to get back home to finally get some peace and quiet. The others seemed to share the same sentiment as well, seeing how relieved they looked upon reaching their condo unit.

Closing the door behind her, Liza let out a sigh. "Sorry about that mess. I dunno why we didn't think of sending our guys here earlier!"

Richelle's grandma laughed softly as Mariella led her to the sofa. "My, you ladies have become superstars overnight."

"No, grandma," Richelle said, her eyes wandering the room. "Those people are just annoying. I hope they don't show up again tomorrow."

Liza nodded. "I hear you. We're gonna station some of our guys at the entrance so it doesn't happen again."

"But don't forget that the atrium food court is open to the public," Mariella said. "I'd feel bad if you restricted most people from entering just for our sake."

"Yeah, I'll pass that along to Captain Bernard."

"Thanks as always, Liz."

She yawned as she stretched her arms up. "I guess that's it, huh? Man, this day felt like it dragged on forever!"

"It sure did. You earned your rest too."

"I'll see you all in the afternoon then. If you need anything else, just speak with the captain downstairs." She gave them a thumbs up. "Good night, everyone."

As the rest of them wished her good night, Liza left the room. But just a second later, the door suddenly opened again with Liza poking her head inside. "And oh, Marice?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" Liza just grinned before closing the door once more. "Really? What was that about?"

Mariella laughed. "She's just happy seeing you taking this case seriously. They'll need all the help they can get."

"We're only giving them a helping hand, okay? This is a one-time gig, nothing more."

"Hmm, I don't know about that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She clapped her hands once, facing Richelle and the others. "Anyway, welcome to our humble abode! I already had your room arranged for the night, so please follow me!"

"A-Are you ignoring me?"

Mariella led them to her room, which had a folding bed prepared beside her queen-sized bed. "What a comfy-looking bed," Richelle said. "And it smells really nice in here too. Are you sure you're okay letting us use your room?"

"Of course!"

"But where will you sleep then?"

"In my daughter's room."

Marice's eyes widened. "What?! No! We're not sharing the same bed!"

Looking betrayed, Mariella stepped away from her daughter. "So quick! You could've at least hesitated!"

"It'll be too cramped!"

"Only because you have that hotdog pillow hogging all the space beside you! If you want a body pillow that much, use me!"

"I'd rather sleep on the floor!"

She covered her face with her hands, leaning on her side against the wall. "Why are you so mean to your own mother?"

"I'm not! You're just being selfish!"

"It's you who's being selfish! Even back then, I never got you to sleep beside me! You were always like 'Mom, I'm a big girl! I don't need you anymore!' whenever I try to spoil you!"

Katherine nodded as she stifled her laughter. "Ah, that's very much like Marice!"

"I know, right?"

Marice gave them an exasperated look before turning around. "Tch, fine! I'll sleep on the couch then!"

"Wait!" Mariella grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from taking another step. "You don't have to! We've already fashioned a solution to our bed problem, right Cocoa?"

As if on cue, Cocoa flew out of Marice's room. "Yep, yep! Come on, Marice! Have a looksie!"

Marice humored her familiar and saw the mattresses from the bunk beds placed on the floor. "What did you do?"

The hog familiar perched on her head, wagging its tail. "Space is gonna be an issue if you sleep together, right? So you guys will have more space if we arrange the mattresses this way!"

"It'll be like a slumber party!" Mariella said.

"A slumber party?" Katherine said. "Ooh! That's a great idea!"

"Oh, you want to throw a slumber party, Kath?"

Katherine started bouncing. "I do! I do!"

"Hold it," Marice faced the two. "If you wanna party, do it outside my room. I'm tired."

Mariella pouted, folding her arms. "Psh, you're weak, Marice! So weak!"

"Like I care. We have another busy day tomorrow."

"Oh, fine. I do have something else planned in the morning anyway."

She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"It's a secret! And no, it's not anything dumb like what you're probably thinking right now!"

"Really?" The two stared at each other for a moment before she broke the standstill with a shrug. "Well, fine with me. I'll start preparing the bath then."

"Can I take a bath too?" Richelle asked.

"Of course," Mariella said. "You too, Miss Spider. Your dress is cute, but you'll need something more comfortable to wear."

As everyone's attention went to her, the familiar crouched down and buried her face in her knees. Richelle just sighed. "Don't tell me you don't know how to take a bath..."

Marice shook her head. "I'll bathe her."

"She really is like a big baby, huh?"

"They're quick learners, but familiars need a fair deal of investment in the first few days of their lives. Screw that up, and they'll just end up as a liability."

"Then... are you going to adopt her or something?"

"Well, no. I already have my own familiar. I'd rather search for her master and give her a piece of my mind instead." She started walking towards the bathroom. "Anyway, we might take a while in there, so you guys should go first."

"Oh, then I'll go first!" Richelle said.

"Don't take too long," her grandma said. "It's almost midnight after all."

"I know! That's why I volunteered first! I wanna catch up on Princess Roe's livestream yesterday!"

And so, once the rest of them had their turns, Marice and the familiar finally stepped into the bathroom. Marice wasted no time stripping away her jacket and bustier while the familiar just trembled in place. She realized how dangerous it would be for both of them if the familiar panicked and started thrashing about while bathing, so she thought she should prioritize calming her nerves first before anything else.

Fortunately, the shelf beside them had everything she would need, starting with the variety of scented beads she had made with alchemy. She grabbed a bottle and removed its seal, releasing a burst of lavender scent around them.

As the faint aroma got the familiar's attention, she handed the bottle to her and opened a convenience store flan to feed the beads with. Using the included spoon, she cut the flan into smaller pieces and slid it into the bottle. The topmost beads started to glow, liquefying the flan so that it could reach the rest of them. In the process, a steady stream of vapor wafted from the bottle, filling the bathroom with the relaxing scent.

Seeing how entranced the familiar was to the scented beads, Marice reached out to the digital panel to their left and adjusted the bathroom's lighting. The darker ambiance made the glowing beads pop out, slowly fading in and out like the holiday lights scattered all over the city. Marice smiled at the familiar's amazement, reminding her of the time she perfected the formula in making these scented beads.

That said, she still had no idea how custard became the catalyst for that particular base recipe. Custard desserts were good, but not exactly her favorite either. And she wasn't certainly craving for one when she added her blood into the mixture.

Katherine did have this habit of hovering over her shoulder while she practiced alchemy, so the crumbs from whatever she was munching on could most likely be the culprit. It wasn't really a big deal, but ordinary biscuits as a catalyst were way better in terms of upkeep costs.

In any case, seeing that the familiar had calmed down put Marice's mind at ease. She was making progress, but it was also crucial that she should let the familiar adjust at her own pace. With that in mind, she approached the shower's digital control panel to adjust the water temperature.

"You don't mind if I start? You can jump in once you're done ogling those beads." Marice smiled as the familiar cast a worried look on the bottle. "Ah, water's a non-issue. I wouldn't put them here if they were just gonna be spoiled that way."

The familiar returned a small smile as she approached Marice. "You wanna take a bath with it? I guess that's fine, but you might accidentally drop it." She snatched the bottle from her hands and placed it on a hanging shelf across the bathtub. "Here."

As she turned around again, she found out that the familiar's smile had already turned upside down. "Ugh, stop making that face!" she said, looking away from her teary puppy-like eyes. "I just don't want you to make a mess here!"

Looking even more dejected, the familiar cast her gaze downwards. She hugged her stomach as her body started to tremble, causing more of Marice's patience to slip away.

"Fine, how about this? Just put up with me for a bit, and I'll let you keep that bottle." The familiar's eyes widened as she pointed to herself. "Yeah, you can have it. I have an extra bottle of lavender anyway."

And just like that, all the gloominess on her dissipated in an instant, leaving her with a huge smile on her face. The sudden one-eighty caught Marice off guard, her heart skipping a beat. And as she felt her blood rushing to her head, the familiar began undressing, forcing her to walk away for a bit.

Unfurling her ponytail, she clutched her chest with her free hand and took a deep breath.

Ugh, what did I get myself into?

Thankfully, it was smooth sailing for both of them after that. They emerged from the bathroom half an hour later, all clean and refreshed. Marice somehow felt the need to give the familiar an extra reward, so she led her to the dining area where the others were having their midnight snack and gave her a glass of milk and some freshly-heated chocolate chip cookies.

The familiar was reluctant at first, unsure if the food was safe to eat, but seeing how Richelle raved on the quality of the cookies nudged her into trying one herself. And when she took a nibble out of one, her hesitation melted away as she stuffed the rest of the cookie into her mouth.

Seeing them enjoying their snacks so much lit up Marice's appetite, so she prepared a cup of instant noodles to give herself a treat as well. Not exactly a light snack one would eat just before bed time, but her habit of eating noodles or something similarly filling for her late-night experiments had left her body craving for them since the past year.

It was also a good excuse for her to slowly soak in the quiet and uneventful moment together with her mother and Katherine.

A moment that further reinforced the reality that she was finally home. A moment that made the trip to England all worth it.

Then came the next day.

Waking up, Marice found herself in the arms of her sleeping mother. She didn't mind the lack of personal space at first, but when she brought her phone's screen to her face, she gasped and started shaking her. "Mom, seriously?! It's already late!"

"Yeah," she replied, "and you're still snoozing here like you don't have an appointment later with Liz and her buddies..."

"No, I mean our breakfast!"

She gave her daughter a tighter hug. "Oh, don't worry. Kath's on kitchen duty right now."

Marice pried herself from her grip. "What?! No! What kind of host would let their guests cook their own food?"

"You literally just woke up and you're already this cranky. Maybe you should take a nap again, little missy."

"Mom, stop screwing around. I'm going to get angry for real if you keep this up."

Mariella pouted as she sat up. "Fine. I had my fill anyway."

"What are you mumbling about?"

She clapped and gave her a smile. "Nothing!"

"Then don't just sit there! We have to give her a hand!"

She dragged her mother to the living room, only to find everybody else already at the dining table. Katherine, who just plopped a mountain of garlic rice on the table, gave Marice a thumbs up. "Just in time! Come on, let's eat!"