There we were. Kal and I simply stood still, staring at each other. "You're a little close…" I groaned, annoyed by him even being there. 'Chances are he didn't hear anything we were talking about… But I guess it doesn't matter anyway…'

"It appears you have a guest that I wasn't aware of…" I sighed, looking back at my grandmother, who looked almost disappointed for some reason. 'What, did she think I would freak over seeing him because of what we were… No… Come to think of it, I probably would have a few months ago…' Looking down at my hands, I traced over where scales naturally sprouted from whenever I needed them to. 'I'm me again… But I guess it was silly to think I was the same.'

Despite nearly crashing into Kal, I could still see my brother farther down the hall behind him, giving a convenient way to not make things awkward as Kal remained silent and unmoving.

'What's with him?' I furrowed my brow, taking one last look before turning away and moving right along. 'I thought I could let my guard down, so I took off all my gear, but I guess I can't let my guard down… But I mean… It's not like we haven't been in weirder situations before. And it's not like the clothes I wear under my armor are revealing or anything… Whatever, I don't have the mental capacity to predict his response and personality, I need to focus on the empire.' "Hey, Air, what's the farthest you can shoot accurately? Oh, and I'd like to know the average accurate firing distance as well. In the mountain pass, there is about a mile of open space between the wall and the entrance to the narrow valley."

He was, of course, more than happy to explain, leading me away a little… Too quickly. "With my bow, I can shoot 5 miles, 2 accurately from elevation, 1 if it's windy. The mark of a trained archer is to be able to shoot a quarter mile accurately, and the war bows have a minimum capacity of half mile shots; they could shoot a bit farther, but not without a lot of drawbacks from how high the arrow would have to curve."

'That's surprisingly useful information… Generally speaking, we outrange them by quite a bit. Magic becomes exponentially more difficult the farther away you are from the manna, and quickly dissipates without constant reinforcement. That is outside of spells like meteor, which work through materialisation, but it seemed like only the sages were capable of that level…'

I looked back one more time to see Kal casually walk into the garden and close the door, regaining his composure. "Why is he here…" I whined, a small breath of relief leaving my body with a roll of my eyes.

"It isn't that uncommon for a teacher to meet the family of the students, at least those within the potential of marrying."

'I freaking knew it…' "He isn't even my teacher anymore… He traded me off to the commanders… Who are now my subordinates, by the way?" I shuddered, my eyes widening as I anxiously yanked on his arm to turn him towards me. "He's not here for Lu… Right?" 'I have talked about her with him before… Is this my fault? I'm overreacting… They wouldn't get married for years, but still… My baby sister is still a little kid, isn't she? And… The thought of her getting married first also makes me feel a certain way, too… Wait, but I don't want to get married, right?'

"Just what is going on in that head of yours right now?" He asked, calmly staring at me.

"That's uh… A good question…" Closing my eyes for a moment, I calmed my mind. "I thought I was easy to read." I finally said back with a grin

"Well, that's true. At least the pages that aren't written by a monkey."

"Haha… Aren't you afraid you'll hurt my feelings by talking like that? What if I started crying? What would you do then?"

He chuckled, scratching his head. "Sorry, my bad… A sophisticated monkey. One with a suite and a monocle."

"Not that either of those things make you smarter…"

"Well, if nothing else, it makes you look smarter, you might as well pretend, right?"

A sudden chill ran down my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?" He paused and looked back at me as my head started to spin. 'Pretend? Did I mess something up? Did he have to cover for me and not tell me? What would I have missed? I managed everything the best I could, construction is going properly, and I was also the one who predicted the war and set up fortifications beforehand, too… I can't think of anything I could have done better… Well, maybe the first battle at Kasesh was a bit of a disaster, but that doesn't mean I've just been pretending to–'

Another wave of chills flooded through me, my widening again as my body suddenly became compressed, held tightly against something warm that completely cut off my train of thought. "It's unlikely you, of all people, would ever break into tears, but if I did ever make you feel bad, I'd probably do something like this."

I felt my blood pressure drop as my body relaxed, and whatever spiralling train of thought I was having crashed. "Why would I want a hug from the person that made me cry…"

He let go and calmly stepped back. "I didn't say I would be doing it for you. Oh, and to answer your question, I just figure it's better for the poor little monkey in your head to look the part, you know? It might as well pretend to be smart. That way it'll be less of a shock to everyone around you when you finally take back control from it and pull off something ridiculous."

'I should have known he wasn't calling my stupid… Ironically, now I feel stupid though… His metaphors are still getting weirder… "Air…"

He calmly folded his arms, waiting for me to continue.

"Is it ok… For me to hug you? I've never had a brother before, so I don't know the rules…" 'There was that one time… But it's not like he'd say no when I was half dead and lost in a dungeon for hours on end…

He closed his eyes for a moment, raising his eyebrows, unable to respond.

"That probably didn't make sense… What I mean was…" 'I'm not even sure if I know what I meant… Maybe I really do need a break…' "It's something like… I mean…"

He sighed and hugged me again. "Well, we are family… Even if you're only now deciding that…"

"That's not what I meant…"

"Well, what did you mean then?"

"It feels awkward being this close to you because you're a guy…"

"Hm… I wonder if that's because you were mostly around only Mom when you were growing up."

"Please don't psychoanalyze me…" 'Why is he still holding on…'

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"It is true that there are things you can do with Mom and Lu that I won't help you with, like bathing, for instance. But this much is fine. Though you should probably stop this bad habit of yours, walking around in just your sleepwear."

"Cool… You can let me go now…"

"Unfortunately for you, I won't be doing that."

"What? Why not…"

"Awkwardness comes from lack of experience, so in order to build up experience, we are going to stay like this for a while."

"That's annoyingly logical of you… But what about dinner…"

"It's not like our legs are broken."

'Well… We are almost there.' "So… What…"

He started inching his feet in the direction we were going, and for some reason or another, I followed, moving like we were tied together by chains and trying to get to a key to unlock them. 'This is the stupidest thing I have ever done…'

We finally got to the door to the dining room, and without thinking, I casually reached out and opened it, finding our mom on the other side, awkwardly staring at us as confused as… Well, as confused as I was. 'The doors in this building are cursed…' I suddenly felt a small chill. 'Wait… Will she even recognise me?'

"What's with you two, getting married?"

Airsidh jumped back like he had just burned his hand on the stove, and my whole body suddenly chilled over as an annoying loneliness sank in. 'It really is like I have the instincts of an infant… One that was just dropped… I wasn't sucking out his manna, was I?' I growled, letting go of my scowl and turning back to her, suddenly becoming nervous.

Before I could work myself up enough to say anything, she was already smirking, staring at my brother, as if enjoying the fact that she made him jump. "Speaking of witch. I know you've been around a lot of boys who seem to be interested in you, Siya… But don't get carried away, you're still too young to be dealing with that sort of thing."

Still feeling cold, but relieved she recognized me, not to mention happy to see her, I went up and gave her a hug as well. 'I like what she's saying… But if she recognized me, the context here was a bit… She could have been joking? Still, I should probably make sure. I'd have to change even more laws if I'm wrong… But this culture is weirdly obsessed with bloodlines.' "Mom, is incest ok?"

She flinched as she pushed me away with a deep scowl, holding my shoulders tightly. "Where did you learn that word…"

"Uh… Sorry?" 'Wait, I just asked a genuine question, though.' 'I'll take that as a no.' "Please don't be mad…"

"Do I have something to be mad about?" She asked firmly. "Airsidh…" Her voice growled like a dog, expecting him to explain. Although I wasn't entirely sure why when I was standing right in front of her… Then again, he was the one I always asked for explanations…

"Leave me out of it. Shouldn't you be looking at her?"

'Now I feel even more abandoned…' Her eyes almost made me flinch, stepping farther away. 'Where did I hear it? On earth, somewhere in my past life… I can't say that, can I? Independent study? That… Sounds way worse… "I… uh… I don't remember how I learned the word…" 'It's not a lie… So my ears aren't twitching, right?'

Letting out a heavy puff of air, she folded her arms. "No, it's not something we do here." She said bluntly. "The most important thing for nobles when considering marriage is producing strong heirs. Not to mention… It's gross."

"So, slaves are bad, incest is gross… But killing babies because they are allergic to wine, that's ok…" I slowly rubbed my brow. 'If it's so serious, then why would you make a joke about it…' Suddenly feeling really annoyed by her and Airsidh, who practically threw me away, I decided to teach them both a lesson, pausing time to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to do.

With a heavy sigh, I walked back over to Airsidh and wrapped myself around his arm. "But mom, what if… We're in love."

It took everything I had to get through my dramatic lines without either laughing or gagging. I almost felt like I watched a part of her soul leave her body before her scowl became fiercer as she approached.

"You…" Airsidh said coldly. As he reached towards me with his other arm, I ducked away under and behind our mom just in time, and in an instant, I was free. 'You shouldn't make jokes about things if you don't want other people to do the same.'

"Mom… Mom, I can explain! She was just joking!"

Holding him in the air by the color, she looked like she was about to punch his head clean off, but paused just in time, his face scrunched up with a look of pure fear as he raised his arms out to the side and closed his eyes. "Siya, is that true?" She asked, looking back at me.

'Maybe… I went too far?' "Uhm… Yeah…" I timidly nodded.

She slowly set him down and straightened out his shirt, letting out another heavy breath and suddenly giving a weak smile as if relieved that she just survived a heart attack. "Please don't make any more jokes like that…"

"I won't if you won't…"

"Fair enough…" She sighed.

'It's hard to believe she's raised four kids…'

"Siya…" Airsidh growled, his brow twitching as he slowly raised his head.

'He's mad? He doesn't get mad… I actually made him mad?' Chills covered my whole body as I instinctively started stepping back again.

"You think you can just get away with something like that?"

"You… You wouldn't hurt me, right? I'm your adorable little sister…" My voice nearly broke as I started shaking, manna flooding into my muscles. 'His voice is so calm… But that's not his normal face… This is bad…'

"Come here, you little pipsqueak!"

I quickly put all my mana into agility, my skin hardening and tightening as a survival reflex, small scales growing under my clothes. It was nothing like before, when I even grew a tail and wings, but it was still a significant boost. Even in my weakened state, there was no chance anyone could catch me. Every time he dashed towards me, I left just as fast, scurrying around the room and circling our mom so that she stayed between us. "M-mom help!"

"You dug this pit yourself, didn't you?"

"I thought you loved me!" My voice broke as I narrowly dodged his grip, ducking to the side and bolting around her again as my heart rate continued to increase, as my hair barely sifted between his fingers, dodging his closing hand.

He tried to follow, but he was suddenly ripped out of the air by our mom's hand. "Do you not love me?" He asked bluntly.

She rubbed her forehead before slowly putting him down again. "Sorry, Siya…"

I let out a yelp as he rushed towards me again. "You traitor!"

She just chuckled, "Well, you had this coming anyway." She said, starting to enjoy the show.

My whole body shuddered. "What's coming? What's he going to do to me!" 'If it's going to be like that, then I'll just use you more directly.' After dodging again, I rushed across the room and slid slightly on the floor, my feet burning from the friction as I grabbed onto her, keeping my head poked out from behind so as not to let my eyes off him. My whole body was trembling with adrenaline, and my heart was pounding so hard it moved my body with every beat. My breath was burning my lungs with how fast it moved, and my eyes wouldn't stop twitching, taking in every possible angle of danger.

"It's not like he's going to eat you…" She said softly, her eyebrows pushing together as she looked back at me.

"You don't know that!"

He paused, slowing down and lifting a hand to his forehead. "First you claim we're in love, and now you're calling me a cannibal?" His face returned to normal as he calmly stepped closer. "

"I never said we were in love. I asked what would happen if we were. Pay more attention!"

"Seriously…" Ignoring me entirely, he raised his eyes to our mom. "Do you think it's stress?"

"What the! Of course it's stress! Have I ever not been under stress? And you get way stronger from eating dragons, don't you? Everyone wants that."

I gripped our mom tighter, trying to back away at the same time as he continued to slowly close the distance. 'He's trying to trick me… I can feel it… I'll keep the manna in my body circulating, and make sure he never gets too close…'

He sighed. "You don't really think I'd try and eat you, right? That kinda hurts honestly…"

'To be fast, you have to be loose. Concentrate… Focus.' I eased up on my grip and slowly swallowed, my eyes seeing everything in hundreds of frames per second. "You specifically? Well, you wouldn't try it while I was alive, at least."

"You really don't think very highly of your big brother, do you?"

'Three more steps…' "Well, it's not that… It's more like…" 'two more…' "You're just…" 'One…' "Not usually this easy to read…"

As his foot planted, his entire body tensed, and in the same moment, I bolted away, narrowly escaping his grip and sprinting clean across the room again. 'My body's at its limit… Putting everything into speed means no endurance…'

I tried to catch my breath, holding a four-point stance like a cheetah ready to run straight out the door if I needed to.

"You're looking kind of tired. Still think I can't catch you?"

My whole body trembled, and in an instant, he took off again, but just as I moved, someone suddenly grabbed my shirt from the back and lifted me off the ground. 'That's it, I'm done…'

I watched him close the distance in slow motion, only to get chopped in the head so hard the ground cracked as he instantly hit the floor. "You need to calm down…" A voice said.

Without realizing it, I had curled up like a scared cat, but at the sound of my grandpa's voice, I slowly began to relax again. "Are you feeling alright, girl?"

I was breathing so hard I couldn't even respond at first, shaking as he set me down, taking a knee by my side as my legs collapsed under me.

'Shouldn't… You're asking him that?' "I-I-uh- Fi… Finne…" 'He's so big… No, I shrank? I'm not back down to my other form, though, so… I just burned too much energy? I'm not that much smaller… But my stomach is painfully empty… My skin is so hot… is that steam coming off of my body?'

"Are you sure?" He asked cautiously, holding my shoulders.

As I calmed down, I caught my breath, breathing in more through my skin and finally reaching a point where I wasn't hyperventilating. "I'm a little light-headed and cold… But I'm alright…"

"I guess summer was a bit short this year… It's a bit old, but here, wear this for now." He grabbed a coat off a coat rack that looked like it hadn't been touched in ages and wrapped it around my shoulders before giving me a pat on the head and scooting me towards the table. "I'm sure a hot meal will help warm you up even more. Come on now."

I glanced back at Airsidh, still motionless on the ground. 'Mom might not play favorites… But grandpa sure does… I wonder… What would he have done if he had actually caught me? I hope he's not still angry…'

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