Better bend than break. Chise asks Elias why he proposed marriage when he can’t comprehend what it means. Elias asks Renfred’s advice, assuming Renfred plans on marrying Alice to continue his sorcerer bloodline. Renfred is furious at the assumption since he is raising Alice as a daughter. Alice overhears and is upset, so she stays at Elias’ house with Chise. Alice is upset Renfred still thinks of her as a child to be protected, when all this time Alice thought she had been protecting him after he lost his arm to Cartaphilus. She asks Chise about Elias; Chise admits it is confusing as Elias is her master, technically her husband yet sometimes acts like her father. Alice goes to sleep, unsure what she actually wants from Renfred. Elias admits to Chise that when he proposed he thought having the same person be apprentice and spouse would be more convenient than two separate people. Chise accepts this but also explains neither relationship is permanent; apprentices graduate and spouses can divorce, but she is happier with Elias than without. Alice confronts Renfred but he persists in protecting her until she can be trusted to stop acting like a child. Meanwhile, two sorcerers enter the mysterious room to store an object with a dark aura.