When Annan returned to the Mansion, he found Ai Alice visiting—though Martin was doing the eating, and Alice was doing the watching.
"Would you like some?" Annan asked Ai Alice.
Martin looked up resentfully. "We're always so generous with other people's precious things..."
Ignoring him, Annan saw Ai Alice shake her head and asked, "Were you waiting for me?"
"Did you get anywhere with Sienna's family?" Ai Alice asked.
"I didn't expect Sienna's family to have ties to the Montreal family... But her mother didn't seem very pleased to see me."
The chances of getting help from the Waters Family seemed slim.
"Right after you left, news came from the Academy. Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"
The familiar routine made Annan reach out and tug Ai Alice's cheek. "Michael, is that you?"
Ai Alice reacted a beat too late. By the time she came to her senses, Annan had pulled his hand back. Looking at the red mark on her cheek, he suddenly frowned.
Why do I keep doing such intimate things without thinking?
Annan blamed the Succubus curse. In unfamiliar Siltovis, he couldn't find anyone who could lift it for him.
Ai Alice didn't seem to mind. A faint pink blush merely spread across her cheeks.
"The bad news first."
"The magic competition between Siltovis Academy and Salz Academy has been canceled."
"And the good news is about the Fief?" Annan guessed.
"Yes. The Siltovis Magic Tournament has become the Empire's Championship Tournament. Every magic academy and warrior academy will take part." The red mark on Ai Alice's cheek made her look a little less serious than she sounded.
"As long as you place, you can get a Fief."
Annan paused. His script, renamed from "Salz and the Magic Stone" to "Annan Potter and