The next morning began very similar to how things usually are.
Cyril woke up, went through his morning routine, wore his spare uniform, and cooked the meals for others.
Tigris, for some reason, refused to eat right away, preferring to stay in bed for a while longer.
While confused, Cyril covered his meal with a plate to preserve it, all while under Rhamn's joyous gaze.
With everything finished, he grabbed his things and was about to head out for lessons when he encountered a slight problem.
"Hiss!"
Atheris tightened the coil around him, refusing to go down, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
"Atheris, I need to go study. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to be inside the castle just yet."
The snake stubbornly shook her head, the coil becoming even tighter.
She is quite strong...
Cyril endured the pressure around his chest, sighed, and softened his voice.
"Please, consider my situation as well. There's not much I can do about it," he whispered, gently patting the scaly body.
Atheris momentarily relaxed, gazing at him in thought. Soon her eyes lit up.
She quickly slithered around his body and got into the jacket of his uniform, hiding from sight.
"..."
Cyril awkwardly stood for a second and moved in front of the mirror. The young man within the reflection looked back at him, with no sign of any serpent.
"She is so smart! Yes! You can carry her like this!"
Maybe it will work...
He stood in front of the mirror, observing his uniform in detail.
"Fine, let's go."
Cyril nodded, grabbed his things, and went towards the door, but he soon stopped.
Two piercing gazes were glued to his back, preventing him from taking another step forward.
Morpho silently stared at him from the table, her emotions as deep as the ocean.
But more explosive was Tigris. He lay on the bed, raising his head to glare at them.
Soon he jumped from the bed and quickly ran up to him, pawing at his leg in complaint.
This isn't fair, they never went with him to the regular lessons before!
Cyril crouched down and petted the tiger.
"Sorry. Atheris was just born, have some patience for her as an older sibling," he calmly whispered.
As if hearing some magic words, Tigris instantly calmed down.
The mighty tiger, who was no longer the youngest, raised his chin up to the heavens and nodded, his whole body exuding magnanimity.
Cyril nodded with a subtle smile and turned to look at the red butterfly still silently observing them.
Morpho won't be so easy to foo- to convince.
At this moment the red butterfly moved her wings and fluttered away, seemingly uncaring.
"Morpho is mature. She'll understand."
If you say so.
Cyril waved them goodbye and stepped outside his dorm.
...
Cyril walked through the gorgeous halls of the castle, passing through crowds of other students.
So far the stares he got didn't seem to notice anything different about him today.
It works.
On the way a scaly head peeked out from his collar occasionally, looking around the castle interior. Thankfully no one noticed her.
Even when Cyril entered the faculty office to report his damaged uniform and get another one, no one suspected a thing.
So, hiding a cute snake, he reached the auditorium for their first lesson of the day, Demonology.
He took his usual seat and read the textbook to pass the time.
Soon Rose and Myra sat near him, familiarly preparing for the lesson as well.
"How's everyone doing today?" Myra said, relaxing in her chair with a carefree face. She seemed to be in a better mood today.
But quickly, her face turned slightly confused as she looked at him.
"Cyril, did your jacket... move?" she hesitantly asked. Perhaps because today's topic of the lesson was going to be fleshworms, she had the illusion of something crawling under his skin.
"Sorry, Atheris adjusted her posture slightly. They happened to see it..."
It's fine.
Cyril shot a brief glance around the auditorium. Other students didn't seem to pay them any attention. He hesitated before replying. He had a peculiar urge to tell them about a serpent that had now appeared in his life.
So, without thinking too much about why, he motioned for the two of them to lean closer, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and pulled it open.
"...?"
His sneaky actions only fueled the tension further. Rose and Myra leaned forward, their faces filled with curiosity.
As the two girls watched with bated breath, suddenly a snake's scaly head poked out.
She cutely flicked her forked tongue, her golden eyes scanning them with curiosity.
"Ah!" Rose exclaimed, leaning back with such force she almost fell from her chair.
Her shout attracted the attention of other students, though they quickly looked away once they saw who it was, unable to notice the snake from their angle.
"Hahaha! What a wuss!" Rhamn laughed with glee, pointing at Rose's still pale face.
Truth be told, Cyril expected such a reaction and felt only a little guilty for wanting to see it.
What surprised him was that Myra didn't look scared at all, despite a snake suddenly rearing its head right in front of her face.
Myra blinked a moment, letting surprise pass, then smiled, her eyes narrowing.
"Oh, you've got yourself a snake!" She half-whispered in excitement, reaching with her hand to try and touch the serpent.
Atheris's eyes immediately narrowed, as if staring at her mortal enemy. She hissed threateningly, warning against approaching any closer.
Myra's eyes didn't lose any spirit, still reaching out without any fear.
At this moment Cyril got a peculiar image in his mind.
Atheris would lunge forward at the hand, but Myra would easily evade her fangs and grab the snake behind her head.
It was a strong inkling, bordering on premonition.
Sure enough, Atheris soon lunged forward, and Myra began to evade just like how he saw it.
However, Atheris moved along with the hand as if anticipating it, countering Myra's dodge.
"...!"
Myra's eyes widened in a panic, but the sharp fangs of the snake never reached her skin.
She quickly moved her other hand and grabbed the snakes head, successfully stopping the attack at the last second.
Cyril's hand froze, about to reach the snake in reflex, and he sighed in relief.
"Don't worry about me," Myra said, proficiently clasping the jaw of the serpent shut. "I actually used to catch snakes for fun back home."
"Of course she did."
Myra nodded with the reliable smile of someone proud of their own achievements.
Atheris struggled in Myra's grip, but after a fruitless few seconds, her eyes immediately changed.
They went from fierce mode to cute mode, turning to look at him as if she were some innocent baby.
Cyri slowly grabbed the snake, taking her back.
"You can't do that," he coldly said into the pure and innocent golden eyes, trying to endure their pity-evoking effect.
"Atheris didn't even want to use her venom there. It was a normal, harmless bite!"
Rhamn tried to negate her actions, but he ignored her.
Just as he wanted to say something more to scold the snake, someone unexpectedly cut in.
"It's not its fault. I basically provoked it!" Myra said as she saw his harsh glare. "A snake will bite if you ignore its warning and get too close, that's just how it is."
She shrugged, staring at the scaly head poking out of his jacket without any negativity.
"She is sensible today. Indeed, that's just how things are." Rhamn nodded in satisfaction.
"...Is that so?" Cyril interrupted his glare, letting the snake breathe a sigh of relief.
Atheris flicked her forked tongue, cautiously going back in the jacket.
They grew silent until Rose was finally brave enough to move just a bit closer, though still a certain distance away from him.
"Did you get a snake because of Theches?"
"...In a way."
Rose grew speechless, only rubbing her forehead in response. She always thought Cyril was a serious person, if not a little cold. But the more she interacted with him, the more she felt that was not exactly the case, for better or worse.
As Rose was absorbed in her own thoughts, so was Cyril.
Before Atheris attacked, I saw an image of it happening... It was almost like a premonition of the future... only wrong.
"That's-!" Rhamn appeared sitting on the table in front of him, a finger raised in the air.
"-because this is Atheris's other ability! Let's test it after lessons!"
He stared at her in surprise, then back at the snake hiding in his jacket.
Just as he was about to ask some questions, the bell rang, signalling the beginning of the lesson.
So he decided to think about it later.