As a recap page, all spoilers below have been unmarked. You have been warned.
- Lucy: You were right, though. It was her idea to cut it this way. She wanted us to look… close. So no one could doubt I was hers. I don’t mind so much, looking like her. It feels like I really have a family.
Seiji: You said she just kept you hidden – You didn’t know she was your mom?
Lucy: I didn’t know I had a mom until she found me after the test. If I hadn’t entered, I may never have. Before this, I just… lived with my master, I guess. He found me delirious and sick in the street when I was thirteen. And I don’t remember anything from before that.
Seiji: Wow. You’re a secret baby, an amnesiac, and some kind of magic thief. You’re, like, three tragic backstories deep.
Lucy: It’s the burden I bear.
We open some time after the events of Sunday evening at Joe's flat. For the first few days he brings breakfast to Rin Soga, now a husk, as she asks him increasingly frustrated questions about her condition. He reminds her that Isra Karim specializes in studying husks. This is evidently a sore spot for Rin, as she shifts into a more wolfish form with glowing eyes to refuse. Joe doesn't press the issue, but he does point out that she won't find any sort of solution here.
Rin expresses doubt that Joe didn't know what would happen to her when he took her in after she collapsed, suspecting aloud that he had planned all along to bring yet another husk to the bakery for Isra to study. Joe feigns confusion, but Rin's known ever since she saw Su-Yeong's lovely goat cupcakes that someone who could bypass the Magister's Seal without damaging it had snuck the husk from the island — and Joe, a sweetheart who just now proved that he cares more about helping husks than about the law to kill them on sight, is the obvious candidate. She makes a set of increasingly personal comments about Joe's sympathy for husks until she finally strikes a nerve by speculating that he's got a death wish to join his late partner.
While Joe starts to berate her for crossing the line, she impassively examines her own paw-like hands. She surprises him into silence by admitting he's right: since she won't find any sort of cure at his place, runs a risk of being seen by January, and has overstayed her welcome, there's no reason for her to stay any longer. Joe tries to talk her out of leaving, but she laughs at him as she changes into a stage three form and boasts that with her experience and power level, she'd like to see someone try to kill her. Promising not to implicate Joe for showing her mercy, she teleports away.
We cut to Seiji and Sylas walking along near the beach together, idly kicking rocks. Sylas, who's been summoned to Lapointe's house for unspecified reasons, teases Seiji for tagging along. Seiji tries to brush it off but lets slip that he's been bored out of his skull ever since Sunday, since he hasn't seen his mom and she usually provides him with something to do. Sylas tries to press him for details, relating to him on the level of his mom being bedridden, but hits a nerve. Seiji defensively denies concern for her wellbeing and insists she'll be fine.
To lighten the mood, Sylas invites Seiji to sleep over at his place until Rin gets back home. He starts reminiscing about the last time they spent the night together. Seiji's mood sours further as Sylas talks about the poems he's written for Philomena, including one he's working on now - does Seiji have any good rhymes for "delighted?" Seiji bitterly suggests "unrequited," which causes Sylas in turn to get defensive. They have a brief argument about Sylas' pursuit of someone who's clearly never going to be interested. Seiji insists that Sylas deserves better, but because he's unwilling to be honest about his feelings, Sylas assumes he's making fun of him. Recalling his father's insistence on courting Philomena, he brushes Seiji off as not understanding his problems.
Lapointe's footman, Matthew, shows up midsentence and his familiar informs the two that as Lapointe did not specifically invite Seiji, he is not welcome. Seiji tries to argue, but Sylas tells him to just wait on the beach until he's done. Seiji does so, watching the waves while Junko makes fun of him for mishandling the earlier conversation and for not telling Sylas how he feels. He brushes her off, believing it's pointless to try and pursue a relationship with Sylas since he's convinced he has to date Philly.
Junko distracts him by pointing out that there's someone who kinda looks like Sylas on the balcony of one of Lapointe's rooms. Seiji goes to investigate and recognizes Lucy as the magic thief from Saturday, asking what they're doing at Lapointe's house. Trying to keep their cool, they tell him they live there. He teleports up to yell at them — after all, he's been coming to Lapointe's place since he was a kid, and he's never seen Lucy. Lucy tries to get him to shut up, since he shouldn't be here and they're technically a secret. He asks if Lapointe is their aunt, commenting that he knew they resembled her. Lucy's conflicted for a moment, but decides that having a conversation with someone who's hanging half off a balcony is a little too ridiculous and proceeds to try and yank Seiji to their side - over the planters of roses.
We cut away to Sylas' business with Lapointe. Matthew leads Sylas to a room where his father and Lapointe are arguing. Antoine wasn't expecting Sylas, and takes exception to Lapointe spilling the beans about their affair. Sylas is furious with his father for cheating on his mother and Antoine berates both his wife and his son for being, in his eyes, useless. Lapointe smugly leads Sylas away, where things don't get better for him. She tells him that she sees him and Seiji as a waste of time compared to Emilia and her other biological child — to the extent that she threatened to ruin Antoine's life if he ever treated Emilia the way he treats Sylas. As far as she's concerned, Sylas is worse than useless as an heir, so there's no value in treating him with any respect.
While this is going on, Seiji's conversation with Lucy continues. They explain to Seiji that Lapointe is their mother, that they're the result of an affair that she had with their father because the two couldn't publicly be together, and that they had to be hidden away to protect Lapointe's career. Seiji isn't impressed with this story — in his experience Lapointe is heartless, controlling, and manipulative. He points out that she's already being controlling with Lucy — she's gotten them to cut their hair to match hers even though it was cuter when it was shorter. Wait, did he say "cuter?" It's too late to take it back, and Lucy's immediately and obviously pleased, so he rolls with it. Lucy admits that Lapointe did get them to cut their hair, but they see it in a more positive light — it makes them feel like they're part of Lapointe's family, something they've never had before.
It's at roughly this point that Lapointe and Sylas reach the balcony where Lucy and Seiji have been conversing and the scenes converge. Lucy and Sylas are surprised to see each other, and Lapointe is angry that Seiji is present. She immediately starts fussing over Lucy, preoccupied with the idea that Seiji might have been bothering them. Lucy protests this and Seiji turns to Sylas to try and relieve the tension. Sylas is still rattled from Antoine and Lapointe berating him, though, and he brushes Seiji off, telling him to go home. Irritated, Seiji teleports down to Junko, but not before kissing Lucy on the cheek. Giving Sylas one last upset look, he and Junko teleport away.
Lapointe continues to rant about Seiji and fuss over Lucy until Sylas reminds her he's still there. Lapointe regains her composure and introduces Sylas to Lucy as their half-brother. Lucy is, to Sylas' surprise, thrilled… until Lapointe tells them that Sylas is the reason she wasn't able to publicly claim Lucy. Sylas protests this as obvious nonsense, but Lapointe keeps going, blaming him for Antoine being too irritable at the moment to be introduced to Lucy. Sylas, having had enough of Lapointe's cruelty, brusquely teleports home to his mother, leaving Lucy disappointed they didn't get a chance to talk more.
Back on the beach, Junko chides Seiji for hitting on Lucy to get a rise out of Sylas. He transparently denies this, but Junko's not done.
- Seiji: What’s Sylas got to care about?
Junko: That you’ve been flirting with his sibling?? Seiji??
Seiji: Don’t be gross?? Emilia’s like, ten??
Junko: Jeeze, I really took all the brains with me when I jumped outta you.
He immediately notices the appearance changes, which she brushes off as a new look she's trying. She asks what he's upset about, and he complains that he feels he's pissed off just about everyone. Having overheard Junko mentioning how upset Lapointe would be if he pursued a relationship with Lucy, she presses him for details. He reluctantly tells her, without naming names, about Lucy's existence and that he halfheartedly flirted with them. Rin makes the connection between this secret kid of Fidelia Lapointe and Antoine Dubois who's Seiji's age and uses they/them pronouns and the magic thief on the run who's Seiji's age, uses they/them pronouns, and bears family resemblance to both Antoine and Lapointe. Laughing, she tells Seiji he should pursue a relationship with Lucy, then tells him she won't be home for a few more days, as she has business to take care of. As she leaves, Junko belatedly realizes that Wolfe is nowhere to be seen.
We cut away to Lucy in their bedroom, looking pensively into a dressing mirror. Lapointe leans into their room and encourages them to take a nap so they don't get too stressed out from the events of today. Lucy, flustered since they're unused to affection, agrees, and Lapointe cheerfully leaves their room… only to turn around and see that Rin Soga, openly in tier two husk form, is standing right behind her.
In summary: Rin Soga and Joe Rothart clash when the latter attempts to take care of the former after she turned into a husk. Seiji's presence complicates Lapointe's plans for introducing Sylas and Lucy to each other as siblings through their father, Antoine. Rin, discovering from Seiji that Lucy's the magic thief the guard has been trying to find, confronts Lapointe in her own house.
Tropes:
- Aura Vision: Husk vision is heavily tinted with the husk's own magic color, with magical things like magicians' eyes, focus stones, and familiars being the only things that register with their real colors.
- Beast Man: The first page of the chapter resolves chapter eight's ambiguous conclusion: yes, Rin turned into a husk.
- Berserk Button:
- Neith and Isra Karim for Rin. Husks already have a worse temper than baseline, but when Joe suggests turning to them for treatment, she flips out and angrily insists she'll never ask either of them for help.
- Insulting Thierry for Joe. Rin makes several digs at Joe, but his breaking point is when she asks if he hopes a husk will kill him too.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Husks have accelerated hair growth, especially when their tempers are triggered.
