Arthur returned home late at night, he and Ari had spent the entire day arguing with Chloe about not doing all the work for her and forcing her to do some research. He opened the door to see Sabine and Tom with someone else at the table. A woman with long white hair, pink petal earrings, pink eyes, and who wore a sleeveless black shirt with matching pants and shoes. She sat there, staring at him, like she knew what he was thinking.

Arthur backed up, slammed the door closed, and screamed. That woman was none other than the Mage of Flowers, Merlin. The woman who raised him, tormented him all his life growing up, and completely humiliated him multiple times in the last Grail War in front of his master. He slammed the door back open, grabbed her by her shirt, and shook her to get something out of her.

"Why do you always do this to me?! Every time I try to live a normal life you show up and screw me over!"

"Yeah, like what? It's not my fault your father dipped out and I had to raise you all by myself." Merlin took him by the collar and did the same.

"And who's fault is that?! He wouldn't have left if you didn't tell him all that stupid stuff about me before I was even born!"

"I did that to keep you safe, do you know how hard it was even talking to the guy?"

"I wouldn't know! I never knew him!"

"Do you want us to leave you alone?" Sabine asked when the two had gone back and forth for ten minutes straight yelling at each other.

"We're done," Merlin sat back down. "Look Arthur, as much as I hate to say it, you're a big boy you can make your own decisions. I can't do much, besides a few things."

"What are you here to do anyways? I'm sure you didn't come all the way here just to lecture me."

"I need to talk to you and Marinette. In private please."

Merlin leaned against the wall of Marinette's room. She told them about the Mages' Association and how they were going to act against Shirou. He was stalling the war by letting everyone do their own thing and had been hiring some of the masters to do some work for him, work that wasn't just grocery shopping. There had also been multiple reports of a strange figure walking around that looked like a person with a black cloak and the servants all made a run for it when they saw it.

Lord El-Melloi II deduced it had connections with Shirou, since it appeared anytime he was outside of the Church or when he sent Assassin out. El-Melloi sent Merlin out to see what was going on and to put a stop to it. If Assassin was getting involved, then it meant bad news, Kaede Einzbern was documented for his assassination of those of high power and if he wanted to, everyone in Paris would be dead thanks to his chemical experimentations. Add Assassin to the mix, and things were much worse.

Merlin continued by saying that there were some events planned with Prince Ali, who visited Paris every so often, and that he was a prime target for someone like Kaede. Especially since Ali was bringing with him a relic he found in Fuyuki. Merlin herself wasn't allowed to fight in the war, just make sure Shirou wasn't up to any tricks or Ali wasn't killed in some event involving Assassin. Which was normally Ruler's job, but since she was out of the count, someone else had to take her place.

Unfortunately for Arthur, Merlin didn't know how long she would be around. She also had plans to live with Arthur and Marinette while she was working on the case, making Arthur more uneasy about her staying. She assured him it would be fine, one more servant in the house wasn't going to kill anyone.

"Husband," Tamamo asked from the seat next to Adrien as they ate dinner.

"Would you please stop calling me that?" Adrien asked.

"How long do I have to wear this?" Tamamo played with her hat.

"Please keep it on."

"I do find it strange she wears a hat or a large bow inside all the time." Gabriel commented, "is there something you don't want us to see?"

"No father, I would never hide something from you." Adrien stuttered.

"Husband? I think Husband is tired! Let's go to bed!" Tamamo grabbed him and dragged him upstairs.

"I still don't trust that girl," Nathalie said.

"I don't either, but she said she wasn't going to leave his side until she was dead." Gabriel sighed, "I'm sure there's more to her story than being a fan of his, and he knows."

"That was too close Tamamo." Adrien closed the door to his room and locked it.

"Husband, why don't you tell your father?" Tamamo asked.

"About what?"

"About your superhero thing."

"And risk losing my freedom? I can't have that. I like going to school, I like seeing my friends, I like going out. If father knows I'm hiding something, he'll take away all that."

"I'm sorry Husband. I didn't think about that."

"Go to bed Tamamo."

Tamamo took off the extensions to her outfit and let her ears and tail get some fresh air. She was wearing those for so long that they were starting to bother her. She curled up on the couch in Adrien's room and reverted to the attire she wore as a servant. She looked out the windows before they blacked out to keep people from looking in, she had an easy life in the Agreste Mansion, but didn't exactly like it. She was a servant after all, she was supposed to be fighting in the Grail War, she as supposed to be risking her life for her master to protect him and fighting for a chance at a wish from the Holy Grail.

She finally fell asleep when she was done thinking to herself. Adrien looked down at where she was sleeping, she was much more like a fox than a human, which was probably why she liked having fox ears and a tail. She was sweet girl, despite her differences to other people. And that was something Adrien liked, she was honest with him and treated him respect. She also didn't know him before, so wasn't infatuated with him solely because he was a famous model, and he liked that she treated him like a normal person.