Louise Sara Rault found herself wondering why the world started to make less and less sense the moment she stepped into the crimson ship called the Nagare. It was the very ship that she received the Crown Prince of Holfort and his companions from during the start of the school year. The vessel itself and everything on it was apparently managed by a machine intelligence that introduced itself as 'Control'. The gigantic Lost Item was owned by the first impossibility that she experienced aboard the massive, yet paradoxically empty, vessel.

Leon Fou Bartfort.

The moment she beheld the smile of the boy who shared the name and face of her deceased younger brother, Louise felt her breath catch in her throat as the butterflies in her stomach threatened to make her sick.

In a way, she was grateful for Serge's idiotic display as it distracted from her pallor and took her mind off the boy for a few moments.

It wasn't fair!

Why did he have to look exactly like her Leon? Why was he so gentlemanly and nice? Why did he have to brew such perfect tea? Why did he already have to be engaged?!

When she scolded her stupid adopted brother for his actions, she was challenged and later assisted in her scolding by the second impossibility.

Noelle Zel Lespinasse.

One of the twins that her father inexplicably spared when he led the purge of their treasonous house. Not only did he spare them, he even facilitated their transition to a commoner lifestyle from the shadows.

He even went so far as to fabricate new identities for them as Noelle and Lelia Beltre. They became a pair of commoners who lost both parents in a tragic accident and became wards of the State. All so they could still attend Alzer Academy as students and receive a proper education.

It rankled her that the two of them were just handed everything and never even wondered who their actual benefactor was. It irked her further that her father very explicitly requested her to watch over them and ensure that they were not targeted by any of the other great houses. Louise felt a touch of satisfaction in the way she went about her protection by making sure that Noelle was thoroughly harassed for the past year by her followers.

To think that she would befriend Viscount Bartfort's sister and be invited to spend the summer with them as well. Yet another thing that was just handed to her.

The third impossibility was none other than her own adopted younger brother.

Serge Sara Rault.

It had been so long since the boy broke her heart and burned nearly all the memories she had of her Leon. He was such a sweet child whom she thought she could one day treasure as much as she did her Leon.

One act of spite was all it took for the two of them to be at odds with each other ever since. How dare he? How dare he?! Her family took him in and gave him the name Rault! Her father positioned him as the next heir of the most powerful house in all of Alzer! How did he show his gratitude?! By taking out his anger over his perceived neglect on her Leon's memory.

Louise loved Serge, she truly did. But what he did was unforgivable.

Over the years, she had accepted that Serge truly hated her as much as she hated him and did all she could for the two of them to stay away from each other.

That he would befriend the Crown Prince of Holfort and his comrades was unexpected, but useful. That they would find a Sacred Tree sapling only for the fool to give it away was beyond infuriating. That he would choose to befriend and provide his personal protection to Noelle 'Beltre' was baffling and irritating. At least that meant that she no longer had to associate herself with the girl.

The true moment of impossibility in regards to Serge happened the night before they arrived in the territory of Viscount Bartfort's family to pick up another passenger. Louise was preparing for bed when she was surprised by the knock on the door, even more so by the person on the other side.

"What do you want Serge? As you can see, I am about to go to sleep. Don't you even have the sense to realize the time?" The bile and spite was all too easy to dispense thanks to all the practice over the years. That he did not rise to her provocation already raised alarms in her mind.

"Can I talk to you, Louise?" The way he asked made her cautious. The next word he uttered left her stunned. "Please?"

She did not know what his game was, but she still ended up letting him inside her quarters. She watched him pace around for a moment before quickly losing patience. "Well? Out with it."

That was when Serge slapped himself using both hands. He saw her shock and chuckled.

"Sorry, I had to stop my brain from thinking stupid things." He said with a grin. One that was quickly replaced with a look of seriousness that she had never seen on his face before.

Louise couldn't place the feeling it elicited in her.

"I don't care about Leon Sara Rault, I never knew him." Whatever that feeling was, it was quickly replaced with white hot fury. She was about to give Serge a piece of her mind when he continued talking. "But I shouldn't have taken out my own pain on the memories of him that you cherished so much. No matter how much those memories made me feel that you'd never love me as much as you did him."

Louise's words turned into a lump in her throat and she stumbled backwards until she ended up sitting on her bed. What in the world was Serge saying?

"I can't take it back, no matter how much I want to. I just want you to know how sorry I am for doing what I did." His apology was something she never thought she would ever hear. Why would she expect it? Didn't he hate her? Why would he ever regret his actions?

"And? Do you expect me to forgive you?" Louise managed to force out despite the turmoil she was experiencing in her hammering heart.

Serge shook his head without any hesitation. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but the way you looked after I burned all his pictures has been haunting me ever since. It's the single biggest regret of my life."

Louise could feel her breathing go ragged. She ignored the stinging in her eyes in favor of glaring at the foolish man who was making her feel such emotions.

"Why even go through all this? Why now? What's the point?" Her voice was hoarse. She could barely see him now with how blurry her vision was.

"Because Bartfort made me realize something more important than my pride preventing me from admitting my wrongdoing or the fear of talking to you about this." Bartfort? Was it Marie or Leon? Did it really matter?

"And what is that?" Louise choked out. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight embrace. For a few precious seconds, all she could feel was warmth and a heartbeat that was as frantic as hers.

"That I still love you, Louise. I don't think that's really ever going to change." With those words and one more squeeze, Serge let her go and left her room.

Was it really a wonder why she had been unable to look him in the eye since?

Beeping noises and flashing lights shook Louise back to the present as the scene of an island in flames dominated the bridge's screens.

Thankfully, Control informed them that there did not seem to be any civilian casualties that it could detect. How it could even do so was just something she chalked up to it being a Lost Item.

After everything she had experienced in the Nagare so far, the massive and evil looking black Armor that flew towards the incoming monsters didn't seem so impossible to Louise.

…

"Are you sure you don't want us out there fighting alongside you yet?" Jilk worriedly asked over the comms.

"The Nagare and I can slice a path through these chumps just fine. I need you five fresh once we get to my estate so we can defend it as well as we possibly can." I explained and they all accepted my reasoning well enough. I understand how antsy they were, I would have been too in their shoes.

"How the fuck did a bunch of monsters manage to take down all these soldiers and Armors?" I heard Greg ask while I crushed a bunch of man-sized bats with Black Getter's hands. That was actually a good question. Most of the monsters weren't even Armor sized.

"It may be possible that they were all caught unawares." Julius posited as I turned to another swarm of bats.

"Getter Gatling!" I yelled out and started blasting the airborne monsters that were converging at the Nagare.

"It's pretty hard to miss this many monsters." Chris countered with a pretty obvious point.

I continued shooting, not bothering to think about where all the ammo was coming from, as the boys discussed the situation further.

"Do you guys think that the monsters manifested amidst this force?" Brad's suggestion made us all clam up even as the majority of airborne monsters surrounded the Nagare.

[Getter Beam]

And then they were gone. It sure was convenient to have the Nagare around!

"That suggestion has very serious implications." Jilk muttered. The implication being that someone may have intentionally manifested the monsters on the island itself. Was this Zola's doing then? Why would she destroy the army she brought along?

"We can figure all that out once we secure the island and its people." I said as my mansion finally came into view. The signs of combat were obvious around the estate, but the manor itself looked untouched. The three military grade armor surrounding it may have helped.

Leon, it appears that there is someone on the Mansion's roof.

I adjusted the camera and couldn't help but gape at what I was seeing. "Control, why the hell is Livia on the roof of my house with her rifle?!"

Unknown. She had previously left the Redgrave estate days ago with the intention of visiting her family. I have no inkling as to why she is here.

"So Angie and Hertrude aren't here?" I looked around anyway to see if either of them were around.

Affirmative. My drone is still with them and they are presently enjoying horseback riding at the Redgrave estate.

"And Clarice should be helping Mylene at the palace." I recalled what she and Mylene discussed a while back. I just shook my head when Livia stood up and stated waving at us with a big smile on her face. "Just what is that girl thinking?"

It is likely that she wanted to surprise you when we arrived.

I snorted. "Well, I'm definitely surprised."

Prince Julius and the others are deploying. I have outlined the best defensive positions for them to take while we take stock of the situation.

"Thanks Control." I watched as the boys started filling in the gaps that the three Armors couldn't cover.

The trio of Armors are trying to contact us.

"Put them through. I want to thank them anyway." The crackle of a radio signaled that the connection was successful.

"We had a feeling that you'd show up sooner or later, Sir Bartfort." I blinked at the voice that greeted me.

"I recognize that voice. You were one of the guys from Elven Island!" He was one of the escorts we had and helped us with the whole Broken Kin incident.

"Gabriel, Sir Bartfort." He reintroduced himself, the Armor he was piloting waving at Black Getter. He then indicated the other Armors with him. "Marshal and Ortega are in the other two Armors."

"How did you three get involved in this mess?" I asked due to the improbability of us meeting again under these circumstances.

"Standard patrols, sir. Our ship picked up a distress call from this island. Lots of screaming that monsters just came out of nowhere and were everywhere all at once. By the time we got here, nearly all the defenders were already dead." Well, it looked like Brad was onto something after all.

"What about your ship?" I looked around and couldn't detect any military vessels around. Was it sunk? But there wasn't any wreckage.

"Went in as bait and led as many of the flyers away from the island as it could. Cap'n is probably having a fun time kiting them everywhere. They should be back soon." Gabriel said with a chuckle. Their ship was probably fine if he was being this casual about it.

"I think everyone on the island right now has been crammed inside the manor. From what the administrators told us, they were holding a big feast in the honor of the workers when the attack hit." A feast? Right before the attack? That seemed suspiciously convenient.

"The little lady you were with on Elven Island showed up in the middle of all the fighting and started picking off all the small monsters that we were having a hard time hitting. She's damn scary with her magic and gun." I sighed at those words. Of course Livia's first reaction to all this was to start blasting. Anne probably helped her too.

The military ship that Gabriel was talking about showed up a few minutes later and helped secure the island. They had detected the Nagare and decided to return and link up after they finished off the monsters that pursued them. The soldiers inside were deployed to help put out the fires and look for possible survivors. The boys and I split up and helped the soldiers sweep the island for any remaining pockets of monsters, wiping out any that we found. Gabriel and his team stayed behind to continue protecting the manor and the people within.

Once all that was done, I returned to the mansion. I helped Livia off the roof by letting her step onto Black Getter's hand. When I got out of the cockpit to join her, my lover embraced me and gave me a deep kiss.

"Surprise!" I couldn't help but laugh at how she still tried to sell her surprise. Her face then shifted indicating that Livia tagged out.

"I would suggest speaking with your half-siblings inside. They have been rather enlightening after I spoke to them." Anne took over and spoke with barely restrained disgust. We both got off Black Getter's hand as people finally started coming out of the manor.

"Viscount! Thank goodness that you are here! We all thought the worst when we saw the fires in the distance!" The man I remembered as one of the foremen who were in charge of renovations around the island greeted me. Other workers and their families started greeting me in sheer relief.

"It's going to be okay. Me and the army are here. Even Prince Julius and the other heirs of the founding houses have been helping wipe out the monsters." I yelled out for everyone to hear, indicating the ships as well as the very distinct Armors of the boys. The people started happily talking about their ordeal finally being over.

A small shuttle from the Nagare landed in the estate grounds. My mother came out first along with Carla as they started managing the crisis. I left them to it since they were clearly better at it than I would have been.

Marie, Kyle, Yumeria, and my guests from Alzer emerged soon after. Serge and Noelle were gawking at Black Getter while Louise chose to remain with Marie. Though I did see Louise glaring at Noelle when the other girl wasn't looking for some reason.

"Where are Rutart and Merce?" I asked the foreman I spoke to earlier.

"Inside your study, my Lord." I have a study? I blinked at that. Livia seemed to notice my confusion and started tugging at my arm with a giggle.

"I'll take you to them." Thank you Livia! We made our way through the manor. It was the first time I saw the inside of it now that it was finished. It looked pretty cozy, actually. Shame I had to stay at the Academy dorms for most of the year. We stopped in front of a set of heavy double doors. Livia opened it and inside were my half-siblings.

"Leon!" Rutart Fou Bartfort happily greeted me. He was a year older than Nicks and was already out of the Academy by the time I enrolled. Still unmarried though. His blonde hair and blue eyes showed far more Zola than I was comfortable with.

Speaking of.

"What took you so long?! What if something happened to us?!" Merce Fou Bartfort yelled at me, fury etched on her face. Yep, she was definitely Zola's daughter. She was actually even older than Rutart, making her the eldest among all us siblings. She was also unmarried. Her hair and eyes made her look every bit like a younger version of her mother. This was not a good thing.

"What was that, Merce?" Livia sweetly asked, making her presence known. Both my older half-siblings flinched and Merce quickly raised her hands.

"I'll be good!" She squeaked out.

"So, either of you want to explain just what the fuck has been happening on my island?" I growled out, no longer having the patience for this nonsense.

"It was Mother's idea!" They both quickly said at the same time.

Of course it was.

Rutart and Merce proceeded to tell me everything. Zola gave them several strange looking boxes and instructed them to be distributed to their soldiers. The boxes were supposed to summon a few weak monsters that would cause a ruckus but be quickly put down by their forces. That would show that the two of them would protect the people when their very Lord couldn't.

Unexpectedly for them, the boxes dispensed far more monsters than their soldiers could defend against. The situation quickly deteriorated from there. Only the timely heroism of Gabriel's patrol ship bought them enough time to establish a meaningful defense. Livia showing up was just icing on the cake. Considering how scared they both were of her, she must have shown how displeased she was over what happened here.

"Stay here. You'll go with the army later and tell them what you just told me." They were about to protest but quickly shut up thanks to a glare from Livia. Hopefully, Mylene can use this to possibly squeeze some useful information provided that Zola hadn't gone to ground just yet.

Livia and I went back outside where I saw my guests actually helping my mother with the still scared citizens. Marie was also there healing the people who had minor injuries, probably from the panic. Kyle and Yumeria were assisting her whenever they could.

"Leon! Looks like everyone is safe. Good thing there was a celebration going on when the attack hit, huh?" I turned to the voice and saw Serge and Noelle walking towards us.

"Do crazy things like this always happen here?" Noelle asked with clear uncertainty.

"Crazy? This isn't crazy." Livia pointed out before humming in thought. "Well, not to us. Not recently."

I chuckled at their reaction to her words and decided to properly introduce her to them. "This is Olivia, one of my lovers. These are my guests from Alzer, Serge and Noelle."

"It's nice to meet you!" Livia greeted them with a sunny smile. She spread her arms wide, her rifle rattling on her back as the clamor of people worrying about their futures sounded all around us. "Welcome to Holfort!"