Athanasia can already levitate small objects like her own teacup. But like most kids, she lacks patience and already has big dreams. I dunno, considering where she started at the beginning of the series, this is pretty crazy progress. Then again, magic isn’t real, so I’m just talking out of my ass.

Once again, thanks to Lucas’s help, Athanasia goes to see Ijikiel despite the mage’s initial refusal. Lucas is so easy to manipulate despite being a centuries old mage. As for the princess, she wants to say her goodbyes to the duke’s son since their last meeting ended so abruptly. This time, however, she comes tumbling down a chimney. It’s not the most elegant entrance for a princess, much less a so-called angel. You almost wanna accuse Lucas of being a jerk, but hey, Ijikiel is indoors. How else are you going to show up in front of him? Smash her through the windows?

When Athanasia looks around the room, she sees books strewn about. Lucas is obviously preparing to leave his home for years and years to come, which is daunting for an adult so I’m not even sure how this kid is coping so easily. Hell, I’m kind surprised the kid does his own packing. You’d think the son of a duke would have servants fuss over him. I’m not a parent nor will I ever be one, but the thought of sending my kid away from me seems heartless. I hated traveling when I was a pet owner. Every night, I would go to sleep dreading that I might come home to bad news. I can’t imagine how much more anxious I would’ve felt with a kid instead of a pet.

Athanasia’s narration reveals even more information about the previous timeline. For instance, Ijikiel’s supposed to fall in love with Jennette and marry her. I mean, he can still marry her in this timeline. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that. If anything, it’s not being sent away that’s a problem. Athanasia herself seems like more of an obstacle than anything else. In fact, her presence alone is already making the kid behave oddly. I mean, why do we have to be all secretive like this? If you have an angel in your room, just introduce your “sister” to the angel. What’s the big deal? You’re not cheating. You guys are freaking kids! It always takes me out of a story when kids don’t act their age. Doing a poor ass job of hiding her anyway.

Again, Athanasia’s narration chimes in with more revelations. Jennette isn’t actually Claude’s daughter. Her mother was simply a former fiancee who spurned the man for not being the crown prince. I like how the story brushes over the fact that she ended up marrying another heir who would eventually go missing. I suppose Athanasia simply doesn’t know what might have happened to said heir (wouldn’t he be her uncle?), but still… In any case, it’s clear that without his actual daughter to love in the previous timeline, Claude replaced Athanasia with Jennette.

For some reason, Lucas tags along this time, and upon seeing Jennette, he wonders out loud if she might perhaps be a “chimera,” a child who has been altered by black magic. If she’s as nice as Athanasia thinks she is — and she does show up in the OP with everyone as if they are all good friends — then it does seem like Jennette has a rather pitiful fate. Doesn’t know her real dad, also has a mom who died shortly after childbirth, clearly being used as a pawn due to this “chimera” thing Lucas keeps harping on and on about, loses her big brother figure in this one, etc. Naturally, Athanasia can’t help but empathize with Jennette. One thing for sure, don’t marry into the royal family, ’cause something bad is sure to happen to you.

All these sad, melancholic thoughts spurs Athanasia to go see her father. As she embraces him, she asks him directly if he’ll always love her. Normally, this isn’t a strange question; I’m sure plenty of kids ask their parents that. But if you gotta do it in a story, this just means that at some point down the line, some plot development is going to sever between the bond between the two of them. This is classic foreshadowing. Right now, Claude’s love for his daughter might seem ironclad, but anything could separate then. He’s been clutching his chest in pain, so maybe he falls ill and into a coma. Even worse, he could just outright die. Maybe someone makes an attempt at Athanasia’s life, and he sacrifices himself to protect her. Or he could figuratively die, i.e. losing his memories. The possibilities for tragedy are unfortunately endless.

Seems like we’ll get another significant time lapse in next week’s episode. Athanasia will be 14 soon, and Lucas creepily ages up with her. I really hope he doesn’t end up being a love interest, ’cause he’ll never rid himself of those grooming allegations.