Bound together.

After that, I went through some real trouble.

We’d been drifting from town to town with Papa, but no matter where we went, a horde of his old subordinates showed up, crying and begging him to come back.

Watching grown adults bow their heads, plead, and cling to us in tears—after a while, I couldn’t help but grumble to Papa.

“Since you haven’t been in touch, you’ve been worrying everyone. A simple ‘hello’ wouldn’t hurt, would it? Maybe then they’d stop chasing us?”

“Hmm… that stings, you know.”

The subordinates all burst into tears and thanked me. But when I called him “Papa,” they screamed, froze in shock.

“Elen, will you stay with Papa? I’ve got to go into enemy territory now.”

"Going into enemy territory, Papa, that’s quite the challenge, isn’t it? I’ll be watching with Ka-sama, so if you need covering fire, just call out. I swear on the honor of mother and daughter—though small, we’ll still send a little earthquake or two your way."

I said that, and Papa smiled softly, saying I was such a reliable little thing, then kissed my forehead and cheek. Then he hugged me tight. Uncomfortable.

I kissed his cheek back. Back home, that would’ve felt like a shock—first resistance, then awkwardness. Now I know how terrifying habit can be.

I waved goodbye to him, then teleported to where Mother was, in the Spirit Realm.

The place I arrived at was a vast hall, where the Spirit King’s throne stood. Mother sat upon it, seemingly watching everything unfold through a water mirror set beside her. So I thought, maybe no explanation needed. But—

"Cheating! I want to eat yakitori too...!"

Mother, shunned by the group, sulked.

Wait a second. Wasn’t it just a few days ago we ate those skewers?

＊＊＊

The moment Elen vanished, Lovell’s expression went blank. There he was—the Lovell everyone knew, said to lack all emotion, all joy, sorrow, or anger.

Albert, who had been by Lovell’s side for twenty years, was surprised by Lovell’s affectionate fatherly demeanor.

Lovell’s form hadn’t changed much in the past ten years—except for his hair and eyes. But the small child beneath the hood called him “Papa.” The voice gave it away: a girl. A strand of silver, bright as thread, slipped from the edge of the hood. Judging by her build, she was probably five or six.

They say there are no humans with silver hair in this world. Silver is the color of high-ranking spirits, after all. Lovell’s hair had changed to silver—was it because of the influence from the Spirit Realm?

I thought it was a mistake when my subordinates reported it. Even their eyes had changed.

I was skeptical at first, but when I heard one of them called out a name and Lovell panicked and fled, I started to wonder.

If it was a case of mistaken identity, they’d just say so. The more I thought about it, the more I realized—Lovell ran because he recognized the face. That’s when I decided I had to see him myself.

But then, when I actually saw it happen right in front of me, my brain couldn’t process it. It was too far beyond anything I’d expected.

“Lovell-sama!? The child…? Wait—transference!?!”

“…Go to the castle and greet me. After that, I’ll have nothing more to do with any of you.”

Albert snapped back to himself in an instant, staring at Lovell’s blank face.

There he stood—same face, same eyes, same hair, unchanged from ten years ago. The lord he’d known, even now, as if severed by a declaration of abandonment.

“We—Vanclift ducal family, and all of us—have been waiting for your return, Lovell-sama!”

“…Duke?”

“Ten years ago, you were elevated to dukedom, thanks to your deeds.”

“Father died in the Monster Tempest. And I wasn’t even there. So I got a title anyway?”

“…Currently, your younger brother, Sauvel-sama, is the head of the family.”

“So I don’t really need to go back to that side of things, then.”

No point in showing up after a decade. No place for him in that house. His younger brother—25 now, solid in age—had taken over the estate right after adulthood. That meant he’d been ruling the domain for nine years already.

In this country, women marry in their teens, men in their twenties. Given how often heirs have been missing, they probably pushed for marriage early.

And now, with Lovell absent yet still elevated in rank—there was only one explanation.

The family home likely housed his younger brother’s family, and something… questionable seemed to be going on.

“No, no! Please, do come back!”

“…Why?”

My hunch was spot on. Asking that question—so casually, so stupidly—was exactly how the chaos began.