Serulia's delight at seeing Cæ was viscerally real. Her light blue eyes, normally reserved and detached, lit up with joy while her expression beamed with ecstasy. Her voice grew a little higher-pitched and even gained a slightly more feminine charm to it.

Her family, having known her since she was a child, widened their eyes with shock at her reaction to seeing him, turning to Cæ with a stunned gaze.

Her mother, a mature woman with long hair that reached her knees, smiled knowingly as she quickly understood what was happening. Her knowing gaze returned to her beloved daughter, who simply averted her gaze from that of her mother as the dark skin of her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

Her father, a gallant, tall man with an intimidating muscular body, slowly stepped forward as he gazed at Cæ with a grim gaze, sizing him up in silence. The thick but neatly trimmed salt-pepper beard only added to his masculine presence, making his heavy gaze bear down on Cæ like a mountain. His golden hair was like strings of sunlight, reflecting the light of the morning Sun beaming through the window. His face was covered in old scars, giving them perhaps the only feature that they shared in common.

He had an equally regal and rugged appearance, standing several inches taller than even Cæ when he arrived before him.

The air grew tense, Cæ calmly exchanged a gaze with the patriarch of the Vritra Family. Then, rather unexpectedly, the man's expression softened with a hint of appreciation. Cæ's eyes widened as he slightly lowered his head, bowing to Cæ as he brought his hands together in a gesture of respect and gratitude.

"…My name is Leonul Ed Vritra, and as father to my daughter, Serulia, I would like to express gratitude on behalf of my entire family to you for saving my precious daughter. You have my eternal gratitude."

His voice was heavy while his accent was even heavier, much more so than that of Serulia's. He pronounced r like a dirt bike in the mud while his sentences ended with a low tone inflection, as if he was divining a prophecy of the future.

Cæ simply gazed at him with a serious expression. "…Please raise your head, sir. I was simply doing what I ought to her as her team leader and friend."

The man raised his head, gazing at Cæ with an expression of approval. "You have my apologies for my earlier behavior. My family and I had come rushing to Colohen City in our absolutely fastest custom-built magiplane that I did not have the time to look at the profile of the man who saved my daughter's life."

"It's alright," Cæ gracefully accepted the man's apology with a hint of appreciation.

It was refreshing.

Considering that he had just gotten a heartfelt and voluntary apology from Silian just five minutes prior, it was uncanny, especially when Cæ was certain that the man before him was a master mage.

He didn't know it for a fact, and it wasn't a logical inductive guess either.

He couldn't quite put his finger on why he thought so.

But he could sense it vaguely.

"Having said that…" Leonel's tone grew serious. "Might I inquire why you are here?"

"…I wanted to speak with Serulia, but I apologize for barging in on your private time with your daughter." Cæ's tone was unusually courteous, contrasting sharply with the intense or stoic tone he normally adopted. "I will speak with you another time if need be."

Serulia might not have seen it, but her family would definitely realize that he was interrogating her when trying to pry into what she remembered. That would make them suspicious, which was the last thing that Cæ needed.

"It is fine," Serulia blurted quickly. "I don't mind. I wanted to speak to you right away as well."

Her family stirred with a hint of surprise at those words, as their gaze flew back and forth between Serulia and Cæ with a hint of realization.

Or misunderstanding, rather.

"No, you should spend some time with your family, Serulia," Cæ gently refused her beckon. "We will have all the time to speak together once you're discharged and return to the team."

"Oh come on now," she insisted. "We barely got to speak for ten minutes before you called away."

"I think you should come in as well and spend some time with her." Her mother's voice was both mature and gentle, making it almost impossible to refuse her.

She smiled at him with appreciation. "Come, you can sit right next to her."

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Her father and brother shot her a disapproving glance, but remained silent. They had already been rude to the savior of their daughter once; it would be dishonorable to be even more irritable with him.

Cæ remained silent for a few moments before heaving a resigned sigh. "Very well, my lady."

He entered, immediately finding two guards at the side of the doors on the inside. Their presences were surprisingly stealthy while their power, in the estimation of his instincts, was of a senior rank.

CLACK

Cæ closed the door behind him, walking to Serulia before taking a seat near her. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." She smiled at him. "I was not even particularly injured beyond being knocked out unconscious. Seriously, it was not that big a deal for all of you to come here in person so urgently."

She huffed at her family. Her mother smiled knowingly while her father seemed to stagger at her words, as if they pierced his heart, while her older brother heaved an exasperated sigh.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," Cæ remarked politely, turning to Serulia with a pointed gaze. "You're lucky to have such a family who cares so deeply about you that they're willing to drop everything just to be with you, you know?"

Her expression fell a little. "You are correct…"

She turned to her family with a sincere expression before speaking in her native tongue of Durmenese.

Unbeknownst to Cæ, she apologized to them, surprising them even more. The fact that Serulia changed her mind with a single remark from Cæ was something they didn't think was even possible with their daughter.

It had been less than a minute since he entered the room, and they could already sense how much he meant to their daughter. Her father stiffened, folding his muscular arms, rendering the strips of cloth wrapped around his upper body tight, while Serulia's brother frowned.

Her mother smiled with a hint of excitement as her eyes swam between the two of them, before lingering on Cæ as she sized him up.

Cæ, on the other hand, grew uncomfortable.

He didn't know what Serulia had said, although he could guess.

On top of that, he could feel the attention of her family converging on him with different attention. Her father's red eyes were unnerving; if looks could kill, then Cæ would definitely be dead. Her brother, a lean, young man who looked about as old as Cæ did, was openly suspicious, trying to gauge what Cæ's intentions were with his little sister.

Her mother gazed at him expectantly and with an evaluating eye, as if she were trying to picture what her grandchildren would look like.

"We're going to need a new member," he remarked, turning to Serulia. "With… her gone."

"You mean Miranda?" Serulia huffed as her expression darkened. "You do not need to tiptoe around the topic. I am not fragile enough that the thought of her would send me into a spiral of PTSD."

A small smile uncharacteristically cracked at the edge of his mouth for just a moment.

"You are strong, Serulia."

His tone was earnest.

"You will need to be, for what is to come."

Those words caused the atmosphere to grow heavier as everybody understood exactly what he meant.

Leonul sharpened his red eyes with a deep severity. "We will need you for what is coming, young man. To ensure that justice is inflicted upon the wench who tried to kill my daughter."

This, all of them were in agreement with. However, Cæ knew that the burden fell on him the hardest; his testimony would make or break the case the hardest, for only he could prove the lethality of the magic used.

"I am willing to help," Cæ replied. "But I'm afraid I cannot do it free of cost."

His words displeased the two men in the room.

"You would ask us for money to help our daughter get justice?" Serulia's brother sharpened his gaze.

The air tingled with tension.

The atmosphere darkened with peril.

"Yes," Cæ came cleanly without any hesitation or shame. "To elaborate, I'm saying that while I treasure my friendship with Serulia, I have my own life filled with my own goals and ambitions that I must achieve no matter what. This criminal case threatens my life, as I'm sure you know why. It is also taxing and demanding. Now, if, god forbid, something had happened to Serulia, then I would absolutely help you. But she's alive and well, not to mention safe, for it was Miranda losing her temper in the heat of the moment, not a prepared assassination attempt."

Leonul's red eyes bore deep into Cæ's with a serious glint to them. "And because she's alive, well, and safe, you believe that our desire to get justice isn't enough for you to sacrifice time and energy, and risk death."

"Yes, Your Excellency," Cæ replied formally and respectfully. "That is exactly what I'm saying."

The man huffed, narrowing his eyes. "I did not take the man who leaped in to save my daughter to be such a coward."

"Father!" Serulia glared at him.

"Did I utter an untruth?" the man raised an eyebrow. "You have my gratitude, but you have just stated that you fear death enough to abandon justice, do you not?"

Cæ remained calm despite the blunt accusations. "Not abandon, but monetize. As I said, I'm willing to do it, just not for free. I do not believe that making sure that Miranda gets what she deserves is worth the crime, is worth everything that I will have to sacrifice and risk."

"Hah…!" her brother snorted, sharpening his gaze as his eyes bore deep into Cæ's eyes. "So you're no different from anybody else who tried sucking up to Serulia. You don't care about her, you just want to get close to our wealth and try to profit off of it."

"Stop!" Serulia snapped, glaring at her brother before breaking into fiercely intense Durmenese. Cæ didn't understand what she was saying, but her tone made it clear that she was extremely displeased.

Her brother fired back, gesturing at Cæ with a scornful gaze while continuing to spew a whole slew of words.

"Enough." Her father's deep voice halted the debate before turning to Cæ with a serious gaze. "…Very well then, young man. We will compensate you financially. Name your price."

Cæ smiled uncharacteristically. "…I don't want the cash directly, I have something else in mind."

The head of the Vritra Family sharpened his eyes. "…just what do you want?"

"It's rather simple…" Cæ remarked. "I want you to become a highly generous private investor in my upcoming business."

"…"

All four members of the Vritra Family present there stared at him like he had lost his mind.

"Your upcoming… business?" Serulia's brother murmured. "You are a student of the magicademy, are you not?"

"Yes, and I'm working on a new project," Cæ replied with a more confident tone. "In return for helping you get justice, I want you to become a highly generous investor in my business."

A smirk cracked at the edge of his mouth as even Cæ couldn't help but find what he was doing to be quite humorous.

"That is the price of your justice."

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