A loud noise and someone is thrown through the massive wooden doors. The unexpected event catches almost everyone by surprise, except Safix, who elegantly raises her left hand, pointing it at the body flying towards Mandipha and Aine, creating a dome-shaped barrier.

The body collides with the barrier, where the individual coughs from the impact, falling to the ground.

“Uncle Alber!” Mandipha exclaims in shock, standing up to go to him.

“Don’t approach!” Commands Alber, Mandipha’s maternal uncle. His stature is slightly taller than Kemiro, measuring two meters in height; his body is toned with perfectly sculpted muscles.

“It seems you forgot whose house you’re in at the moment.”

Kemiro enters the room holding another of Mandipha’s guards by his neck with his left hand. The young guard tries to break free, but Kemiro’s grip remains firm, not hurting but impossible to escape from.

Confused, Mandipha only looks apprehensively at Kemiro, who maintains his enigmatic smile. Using all her exceptional analytical ability to understand this development, she reflects: “Kemiro isn’t violent without reason. Surely, Uncle Alber was the one who started this confusion. However, Kemiro never reacts to any kind of provocation, I’ve already proven that. So, he must have a reason to react. But what could it be?”

“I’m curious,” Kemiro introduces, interrupting Mandipha’s focus. “Of all the provocations you could have used to test me, how audacious of you to tell me, the owner of this house, that I must wait to be announced!”

Kemiro continues to enter the room with calm steps, but every fragment of the doors he steps on is crushed as if they were dry leaves.

Even though he’s wearing a long-sleeved shirt, his muscles, which don’t have volume like Alber’s, emanate enough vitality to condense the cold air of the environment.

“Haha! I knew the rumors of you being a complete cripple were a bunch of nonsense.” exclaims Alber, wiping the blood dripping from his mouth, while the pain in his face makes him reflect: “My guard was up, and yet I couldn’t react. For a moment, it seemed like I was frozen. Is this some kind of Law or his Pair?”

"Looks like you're competent, even without the help of your Pair!" Alber taunts.

"Please, you don't need to try so hard just to pry for information. Here’s a piece of information on the house. Azarthine is not present at the moment." Kemiro raises his right hand to Alber, waving it in provocation. "How about that? Nothing to worry about, right? Why don't you come here? I've always wanted to know how soft the fur of you Hauveron House members is."

A vein appears on Alber's forehead, irritated by Kemiro's malice in provoking the Hauveron House members where it hurts most: being treated like animals. However, Alber had already gotten some answers he was seeking. Sighing, he says:

"No. I'll apologize, as it wasn't my intention to disrespect you in your abode. I just wanted to be sure that my sister and niece made the right choice. That said, excuse me, but could you release my apprentice? You've already proven your capabilities."

Lifting the young guard, who weighs nearly a hundred kilos, above his head effortlessly, Kemiro scrutinized the guard, and everyone present noticed how Kemiro's smile intensified. Then he says:

"You may have started this mess, but I'll decide when it ends."

For the first time, the young guard showed signs of suffocation when Kemiro injected some of his Ma’Jia into his body, causing everyone from the Hauveron House to be startled, including Aine.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Alber shouts, agitated. "Do you dare go against the decree of the Royal family and harm someone from my House?"

"Haha! Don't be so dramatic. I'm just following the customs of the Hauveron House." Kemiro's comment left the members of the Hauveron House frozen in surprise.

"Customs? What are you talking about?" Alber asks, visibly surprised.

"Among the commandments of the Goddess Maranshipha, it is said that one must establish their position through strength, for one cannot reign while the other does not submit. Also, that abandoning a family member in need is to mock Maranshipha herself, right?" Kemiro pauses, analyzing Alber's expression, noting the emotional look that Alber quickly suppressed. Kemiro continues, "Ah! I hope my gentle punch didn’t really hurt you. If it did, I’m sorry." Kemiro said with a falsely sincere expression.

“Gentle?” Alber reflects. “I've never heard such much nonsense in my life! I was thrown like a rag doll.” Feeling frustrated, Alber says, "You're not wrong. Those are two of the sacred principles for us. But where, in this situation, do your actions fit with not abandoning a family member?" The air around Alber heated up as he intensified his spirit, causing a red energy to emanate from his body. With a serious look, he stares at Kemiro and exclaims, "I hope you aren't treating our sacred principles lightly; otherwise, I'll have to punish you."

Feeling anxious, Mandipha can only watch the situation unfold without interfering, as any interference in a dispute among Hauveron House members is considered disrespectful. However, she still felt relieved, thinking, “Since the announcement of our engagement, Kemiro has never shown much interest in me. For almost a year, I’ve tried to get closer to him without much success. I was already losing my confidence as a woman. But discovering that he has knowledge of our principles to the point of applying them is proof that my efforts haven’t been in vain. But there still remains the question of why he decided to show such resolve now. What could have happened?”

"I can assure you that mocking others' beliefs is not among my interests. But I’m a bit sad that you're excluding me like this." Kemiro turned his attention to Mandipha, who slightly flinched when he winked at her with a provocative smile, saying, "We’re practically family already, aren’t we?"

Everyone present is caught off guard by Kemiro’s unusual attitude. Especially Safix and Mandipha's older sister, who showed expressions of displeasure. Mandipha’s sister, in particular, wore a grim expression, noting that Mandipha's interest in Kemiro had been piqued even more, as evidenced by the erratic way the tip of her tail moved.

“The audacity of this boy! He's more interesting than I ever imagined.” Alber reflects, controlling himself to not smile.

Seemingly unbothered by Kemiro’s words, Alber demands:

"Stop beating around the bush and answer me!"

"Okay! However, I’ll let him answer for me."

Kemiro placed the young guard on the ground and gave a light tap on his chest. The guard immediately vomited a mouthful of blood.

"Almer, are you okay?" Alber asked with a trembling voice. But before he could approach, he stopped when he heard Almer's question.

"But how... How did you do that?" Almer asked, after using his Intention to analyze his body and understand what Kemiro had done.

"It's like tangled earphone wires. First, you have to know where the ends are, and from there, untangle both sides together. In the end, just give it a final 'pull.' Nothing too complicated. Why don't you try transforming?"

Everyone in the Hauveron House shuddered, worried about Kemiro's words. Alber was the first to react:

"What are you talking about? Almer, don't do this. You know the consequences!"

Even hearing Alber's words, Almer could only gulp, looking at Kemiro, as if trying to find an answer.

For the first time, Kemiro's expression shifted from a smile to a confident look, saying:

"You already have the answer; why are you asking? Hesitation only obstructs progress."

Clenching his trembling hands, Almer said nothing, only closed his eyes, sighing. Soon, he began to emit a pure energy, like a flowing stream of water.

"Almer... Eh?"

Noticing the energy, Alber tries to react and stop his apprentice from continuing. However, the flow of energy intensified to the point where Almer's body is covered, causing Alber to freeze.

The glow around Almer is distorted, and his humanoid form began to dissolve like melting wax. The mass took on a quadrupedal shape. The glow starts to fade, and soon a figure resembling a white tiger emerges.

"Al... mer?" — Incredulous, Alber whispered.

The tiger, Almer, looked at Kemiro with an intense mix of emotions, but before he could say anything, he noticed Kemiro's enigmatic smile again, now nodding his head toward Alber.

"Uncle Alber." Almer said, with a voice struggling to suppress his emotions.

Mandipha was the first to react; silently, she went to Almer, hugging him with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Congratulations! Almer, congratulations!"

As if coming out of a trance, all the members of the Hauveron House go to Almer, hugging and congratulating him.

Except for Kemiro, those present were surprised by the sequence of events but did not understand the significance of Almer's transformation.

"Interesting," Kemiro reflects, “according to my research, those who worship the Goddess Maranshipha are blessed and develop animalistic attributes. However, those who, for some reason, cannot fully transform are considered unworthy, especially for a direct descendant of the Hauveron House.”

While reflecting on this almost religious moment, Kemiro's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Mandipha approaching him silently. Her eyes were still shedding tears full of emotions. Mandipha said nothing, only hugging Kemiro tightly. Resting her head on Kemiro's chest, she says in a low tone:

"Whatever the reason you were able to cure him, it doesn't matter. Even if you don't understand, what you just did here is something I'll be grateful for my whole life."

Kemiro did not return the embrace, merely allowing Mandipha to act as she wished. He reflected:

“To think that something as simple as rearranging a few internal points of Ma'Jias’ flow would yield such a positive outcome.”

Turning his attention to Mandipha, who is practically a head shorter than him, Kemiro noticed Mandipha's delicate round ears, resembling the ears of Almer's bestial form. Lowering his head, Kemiro uses his right hand to support Mandipha's ear, which was turned backward, guiding it forward while whispering:

"Don't worry. I can think of one or two ways for you to thank me for a lifetime."

Mandipha's body trembled slightly as she quickly lifted her head, looking up, only to see Kemiro's gray eyes up close, almost being entranced by the swirling circles of his Akrava.

"If you keep staring at me like that, I'll have to kiss you." Kemiro whispers.

Finally realizing the situation she was in, Mandipha tries to pull away from Kemiro. Unintentionally, she ends up using her superhuman strength. However, before she could even process the shock of using such a level of strength, astonishment overtook her emotions as she realized that Kemiro did not move or tremble, remaining firmly stuck in place effortlessly.

Caught off guard, her analytical abilities clashed, and her mind became a mess, trying to analyze the situation. Mandipha could only blush intensely as she stammered words, trying to escape.

In contrast to the turmoil in Mandipha's mind, Kemiro was reflecting seriously:

“Well, even after much reflection, I haven't found an answer to escape this arranged marriage. But I still don't understand why the Hauveron House would offer their Priestess for an arranged marriage to someone from a supporting house. Anyway, I know well that it's impossible to escape my family with my actual strength. But perhaps... perhaps I might find some happiness in this farce.”

Deceiving himself with sweet lies, Kemiro just smiles, noticing Mandipha's desperation to escape his embrace, unable to find words.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Mandipha's older sister, unnoticed until now, inserted her face with a distorted expression of anger between them. She glared at Kemiro, ready to tear him apart.

Surprised by the palpable hostility, Kemiro's eyebrow twitches. However, he simply took a step back from her, bringing Mandipha, who did not resist, along with him.

"Kyaah!"

Surprising Mandipha, Kemiro embraced her tenderly, smiling at the older sister while saying with a confused tone:

"I don't understand what you mean by saying that. What's wrong with a couple hugging each other?"

"Aawuu!"

Mandipha freezes with the unexpected development. Veins popped out on her sister's face as her smile and hostility escalated to another level.

"Ha-ha-ha! I understand! Perfect! Let me gift you then. You can choose which of your sides you'll get beaten first!" Releasing her Ma'Jia, the sister charges at Kemiro.

The servants were left confused by the sounds of furniture and walls being broken, combined with desperate screams and Kemiro's laughter echoing through the night.