Rei had once been an all-knowing, all-powerful magus. In principle, there was nothing in this world that could surprise her. Nothing like that existed, nor could it ever happen—even after she was severed from the Root.
But now, something truly shocking and unexpected had actually occurred.
In the apartment's dining room.
Seeing Ciel and Ayaka sitting across from her, eating the freshly prepared breakfast, Gray—who hadn't seen them in a long time—smiled and said, "Long time no see, Sister Ciel, Sister Ayaka. I never expected you'd come here. I'm quite surprised."
"Because we don't have anywhere else to go for now."
Ciel answered while eating breakfast. There had been food on the plane, but it was barely edible. Compared to that, Gray's breakfast tasted far better.
"I'm no longer part of the Church. Moreover, I've been helped by your older brother and am indebted to him. Until I can repay that debt, I probably won't have a place to go."
"I see… What about you, Ayaka?"
"I'm more or less in the same situation."
Ayaka, when asked, momentarily averted her gaze from the person sitting across from her: "I suddenly ended up here because of the Marshall Wizard. If I want to return, I can only ask the Marshall Wizard for help. Originally, I came to London with Naoki because I wanted to look for him at the Clock Tower."
"But now I'm a little… hmm… not too eager to go back…"
Rubbing her temples with a headache, Ayaka turned back to the person standing beside Naoki across the table: "Sister… what are you wearing? And earlier, I heard you call Naoki 'Master'… What have you done to my sister, Naoki?"
"It's not me who did something to her. If anything, you should ask your sister."
Naoki put down his noodle chopsticks.
"Well… I guess I need to explain from the beginning."
After gathering his thoughts, Naoki explained in detail about himself and Rei.
Starting from ten years ago, when he went to Blackmore Cemetery and obtained a copy of Logos React from Zepia. Then, he learned Puppet Magecraft from Touko. Later, he won the Holy Grail War in a parallel world, using the Greater Grail as an energy source for Logos React and charging it with the leyline of Fuyuki City…
"—Then, two years ago, before I left, I planned to retrieve the Logos React stored within Fuyuki's leyline. But when I returned, the Logos React had already transformed into Rei's form."
"She herself claims that, after being defeated back then, her soul and consciousness didn't perish with her body but managed to escape into the leyline. She naturally entered the Logos React, and when she awoke, she had already merged with it."
"Since then, she's been following me. She says it's because I helped her greatly back then, so she wants to repay me this way—well, if you call it repayment, it's true enough."
Only now, that repayment had taken on a different flavor. In fact, Naoki himself now felt slightly afraid of her "repayment."
After listening to Naoki's explanation, Ayaka finally understood her sister's current situation. The heart that had initially shattered slightly upon seeing her sister become a maid now healed a little: "I see… Sister, you've done something for me again without my knowing. Actually, I myself could repay Naoki too."
"Ah… Ayaka, that part…"
Rei, who had just been touched for a moment because her sister understood her, heard the second half of Ayaka's sentence and immediately changed expression. But before she could say anything, a somewhat indistinct voice came from outside the door.
"Oho, oho, oho, so that means… little Sajyou also wants to become our King's personal maid?"
Along with the voice, Merry appeared before everyone's eyes. And whether intentional or not, she was only wearing a shirt—one that wasn't properly buttoned. Half her shoulder was exposed, seemingly for someone's benefit.
Come to think of it, Naoki remembered that shirt was his.
Seeing this suddenly appearing beautiful woman with white hair, Ciel and Ayaka—both meeting Merry for the first time—froze in place.
(She's incredibly beautiful…)
(A super gorgeous woman… ugh, I can't compare.)
Unlike Ciel, who didn't care much about appearances, Ayaka had, over the past few years, started to care about her looks like any normal girl. Initially, she'd been fairly confident in her appearance and often dressed according to fashion magazines.
But the moment Merry appeared, she felt utterly defeated!
"Good morning, everyone. Sorry, last night I got too carried away with my fantasies in my dreams. When I woke up today, I couldn't help but reminisce again."
Walking past them as if no one else existed and greeting casually, Merry immediately sat on Naoki's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
This sudden physical contact shocked Ciel and Ayaka deeply.
"Eh… eh? T-this…"
"English people really are as bold and open as rumored."
"These two are exceptions." Rei corrected Ciel's misunderstanding. She reached out, grabbed Merry's collar, and pulled her away from Naoki. "Merry, I know you want to be close to the Master, but the Master is still eating. Restrain yourself a little."
Wiping saliva from the corner of her mouth, Merry smiled: "You say that, but Rei, you're also holding back pretty hard, aren't you? I hope I won't have to buy a new bed at the furniture store tomorrow."
"You don't need to worry about that. I'll take responsibility for fixing it."
"Good." Brushing aside Rei's hand still gripping her collar, Merry looked at Naoki: "So you've finally decided to come back, my dear King? After the Mystic Eye Collection Train ended, you immediately flew to Japan with Touko. I thought you'd been kidnapped."
"I remember I called… So, shall I keep you company tonight?"
Naoki asked hesitantly.
The corner of Merry's lips slightly lifted: "That's a very tempting offer. Unfortunately, tonight is Rei's turn. So I'll take tomorrow—so, are these two girls here your new little sisters you've brought home? I just heard little Sajyou also wants to become your personal maid?"