Allen sets out on an overdue trip home to the eastern capital—not just to his students’ dismay, but to his own as well. He’s been hiding his failure to become a court sorcerer from his parents, so despite his sister’s assurances, he finds himself dreading their reunion. Family problems are far from the only troubles awaiting him in his hometown, however—simmering tensions between the city’s large beastfolk population and its haughty human aristocracy are about to boil over, and hard-liners on both sides take a dim view of Allen’s status as an adopted member of the wolf clan. Meanwhile, the disgraced Prince Gerard hasn’t learned from his last defeat, and his rumored rebellion threatens to pull the tutor into a deadly web of conspiracy. Will the unexpected addition of Tina, Ellie, Lynne, and (of course) Lydia be enough to see Allen through his most physically—and politically—dangerous adventure yet?