Recently Li had been building up frustration.

She had thoroughly vented that frustration.

As a result she was able to enjoy her meal feeling refreshed.

“Sister, play with Sonia (me).”

After finishing dinner, Li was relaxing in a calm atmosphere.

Just as she was thinking it might be time to head to the open-air bath, her little sister toddled over.

Li patted her sister’s smiling head and lifted her onto her lap.

“Sonia, I am about to take a bath.”

“Sonia will go in too!”

Her sister replied instantly.

Looking toward her younger brother, Li called out.

“Mertezio, will you come in with us too?”

“N-No thanks! I already had a bath!”

Her brother’s face turned slightly red.

Perhaps he had reached that age where he started feeling embarrassed.

“We are going to the open-air bath, so come anytime if you feel like it.”

Their mother, who had been watching the exchange, spoke up.

“Then let us go to the open-air bath.”

The three of them left the dining hall and headed toward the open-air bath.

The duck toys Li had made earlier were floating in the bath.

A thoughtful servant must have prepared them.

They were Sonia’s favorite.

Li rinsed Sonia’s body with warm water and then stepped into the bath.

Since she had been working continuously, her muscles had apparently stiffened without her realizing it.

The warm water relaxed that fatigue.

“Fuu…”

When Li sighed, a similar sound came from her mother.

Sonia was already completely absorbed in the duck toys.

At that moment Li felt a bit playful.

She used a small bit of magic to create a flow in the water.

The duck toys began moving.

“Sister! Look! They are swimming!”

Her sister looked at her with sparkling eyes.

“Hoh,” her mother reacted.

Soon the group of ducks began moving in formation in zigzags.

“Amazing!”

Sonia clapped her hands happily.

Watching her, Li glanced at her mother.

She was grinning.

“Li-chan, you come up with interesting things.”

“It was just a small idea.”

“Hmm but this is actually rather difficult. You cannot just move the water.”

“Really? I thought it might be good practice for Sonia.”

“It might be difficult until she becomes a little more accustomed to magic.”

Even while the mother and daughter chatted leisurely, the ducks kept moving.

Now they were circling around Sonia’s body, moving in irregular yet coordinated patterns.

“Then how about something like this?”

The moment Li said that, a small dolphin made of water leaped up in front of Sonia.

“A fish!”

“Ah, something like that should be fine.”

Soon small kittens and puppies made of water appeared around Sonia.

“Kyaaaa!”

Sonia screamed.

Her excitement had completely surpassed its limit.

“Sister! Mother!”

Their mother smiled gently.

The way she looked at Sonia was full of warmth.

Meanwhile, Li herself had switched into full performance mode.

Her pent-up frustration had been released.

She was in a great mood.

That feeling ignited Li’s sense of showmanship.

“Sonia, I will show you something even more interesting.”

Li snapped her fingers.

Colorful spheres of light appeared around the open-air bath.

The softly glowing lights instantly gave the bath a fantastical atmosphere.

When Li moved her fingers as if conducting, a water column about ten meters high rose up.

With another motion of her fingers the column vanished smoothly back into the bath.

Next a wall of water of similar height appeared with a loud splash.

Under the influence of the glowing lights it looked like a rainbow-colored curtain.

After a moment it collapsed back into the bath with splashing water.

It was a water show.

Li herself had never actually seen one in person.

She simply manipulated the water based on vague memories of videos she had once seen.

“I see, I understand.”

At that moment her mother spoke with eyes sparkling just like Sonia’s.

A massive water column erupted with a booming sound.

Sonia was no longer simply surprised.

She stared in stunned amazement.

Her mouth hung slightly open.

“Hehe... then how about this?”

Li created a gigantic dragon made of water.

“Oh my. That is interesting.”

Not to be outdone, her mother created a legendary phoenix.

Even though it was made of water, the strange bird somehow blazed with flames as it soared into the night sky.

From the ducal townhouse, Li’s father and younger brother watched the water columns rising from the open-air bath.

The dragon roared.

The phoenix soared through the night sky like a king.

“Father... Sonia will eventually...”

“Yes... probably... though it might already be too late.”

They did not say it aloud.

But they both understood.

This was how it was passed down.

The legacy of mages with loose screws in their heads.