"Oh well, go rest for today. I don't think we'll achieve anything right now." Margaret went back behind her desk and sat down, relaxing fully in the chair.
"I'll tell someone about your punishment. This incident is now over."
Cyril nodded, not fighting the decision. He grabbed the spectating magic creatures from the ground and went out, the doors opening on their own as he approached.
That's that...
He sighed and descended the castle's spiral staircase, walking through the luxurious halls.
He spent quite a bit of time in that office, trying to learn illusion magic. The lessons were about to be over.
As soon as he stepped outside of the castle, a red blur flew from the sky, aimed straight at his chest.
However, before it could land, a scaly tail emerged from his jacket, acting as a shield.
Morpho landed on the scales of the snake, her insect eyes locking on the golden eyes peeking from the collar of the jacket.
But before they could go on, Cyril grabbed the tail and pulled out Atheris completely. She hung in the air, cutely blinking at him.
"That's enough." His voice was colder than usual, prompting them to calm down immediately.
"Atheris, I told you to stay home. Why did you not listen?"
The snake stuck out her forked tongue, acting cute and innocent, though it only made Cyril's face darker. And with that, she froze, shrinking back.
A vague feeling of guilt and fear transferred from her to him, as if they were his own. They always shared some emotions, and it made it more difficult for him to stay angry at them long.
However, this time he endured the feeling, narrowing his eyes.
"Never do something like this again."
She nodded up and down, fully feeling how serious he was. It did seem that she was convinced, so Cyril eased his strict gaze.
Atheris flicked her forked tongue in relief and cautiously slithered up his arm, trying to reach his jacket. But Cyril stopped her before she could disappear.
"It won't do. You've made a mistake, and you must reflect on it. As punishment..." He glanced at his shoulder, where a white tiger cub was watching with bated breath.
Good. An idea quickly struck him.
"As punishment, Tigris will carry you instead of me."
Atheris froze, her golden eyes slowly moving to meet the tiger's blue ones. Tigris reliably nodded to her, on his face an expression only an older brother could have.
Suddenly, the snake's face grew despairing.
"No discussions."
Before she could throw him a pity-filled stare, he dropped her on the tiger, where Atheris recovered and reluctantly coiled herself around his neck to keep herself stable.
Now it almost seemed like Tigris wore a blue scarf, making him one fashionable tiger.
"Oh, they look cute together. Not bad."
On his other shoulder, Morpho unflinchingly stared at the pair. Her antenna kept twitching as if it were dancing, giving the impression of a human wildly laughing.
Atheris glared at her, hanging on the tiger's neck, but it seemed to only amuse her further, as the red butterfly began fluttering her wings and lay on her side, simply uncontrollable.
At first she was quite upset when she found out the two of them visited the castle without her, but seeing them like this wiped it all away. Good thing she takes her training seriously!
Cyril imperceptibly nodded and looked ahead, ready to continue his walk. However, it turned out his small disciplinary action garnered attention from some of the other students nearby.
It also seemed like their lessons had ended already, and many of his classmates were now also leaving the castle, noticing him on the way.
They silently stared at him, even forgetting to hide their gazes. They had the faces of someone seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
Cyril calmly ignored them, walking away under their shocked stares.
A weird day...
...
After finally taking refuge in his dorm, Cyril put away all his things and lay on the bed, powerlessly staring at the ceiling.
Rhamn sat near him, glancing at the scarf-wearing Tigris with an endearing smile.
She then sassily looked over to him, smugness written all over her face.
"I wonder who would be stronger between Selene and Margaret? Is there any way we can make them fight?"
"I bet Margaret would win, hehe."
Cyril sighed, rubbing his temples in exhaustion. What the principal told him in her office directly clashed with Selene's teachings, and he couldn't say who was wrong exactly.
Selene's spell was quite powerful, making even a fragile butterfly capable of easily dispatching humans left and right. And once he started trying to keep his pride in check, his proficiency really did increase.
Moreover, he personally liked it more, and he accepted Selene as his official master.
"But Margaret is the second strongest mage in the Empire! I think by following her advice you would grow much stronger. Not to mention that it's the legacy of your mother! So the choice is obvious, I would say."
"A choice..." he muttered, finding the word bitter. The necessity to take a side felt frustrating.
It would've been nice to learn from both of them at the same time.
"Unfortunately, life is life." Rhamn shrugged with an absolutely joyous smirk.
He glanced at her smug red eyes with helplessness, then froze.
"...What?"
A slightly unusual question lingered in his mind, something he had wondered about in the past but never taken too far.
Technically speaking, are we two individuals or one?
The nature of their existence as a human with a 'living' heart, a product of human-demon union. He didn't want to delve deeply into it, but it might be important now.
"Uh..." Rhamn tilted her head, rubbing her chin in thought, "Both?"
Then I think we are capable of doing more than one person's share.
Cyril sat up straight, his eyes regaining their coldness in full.
"Clearly. That seems suitable... But how? Your progress in one spell will mean losing progress with the other." She went silent, reading his mind for a moment.
"Ah, we, right."
Yes. Since you like Margaret's view that much, keep it. Let's try inputting your pride into the spell instead. You should have plenty.
Eager to try it out, Cyril stood up and walked to the middle of the room. Rhamn materialized at his side, rubbing her hands with anticipation.
He raised his hand and stood still without doing anything for a moment.
Can you create the magic circle instead of me? That's when the process of imbuing emotions happens.
Rhamn curiously stretched her slender hand forward, overlaying it on top of Cyril's.
Suddenly, he felt his mana drain as it flowed without his control, shaping a red magic circle in front of him. It was a peculiar feeling, but he didn't dislike it.
The circle was stable as it drained more of his mana and soon disappeared.
Then, without any accident, on the wooden floor of the dorm grew a flower. It was almost shockingly easy.
It was a beautiful rose, its long stem covered in thorns. The flower swayed as if under a wind, looking as natural as it could possibly be. Somehow it appeared bigger than it actually was.
Success...!
Cyril and Rhamn stood silent, basking in their achievement.
Tigris, Atheris coiled around his neck, strolled towards it and smelled the flower. It didn't smell like anything.
He then turned towards Cyril and meowed, cheering for a succeeded task. Atheris hissed, her golden eyes narrowed in joy.
Morpho tried to land on the flower but fell straight through, recovering hastily in the air. The flower momentarily turned wavy and transparent before recovering its lifelike state.
She fluttered over to his shoulder, happily twitching her antennae. She was happy not only for Cyril but for herself as well. This meant they didn't have to make a choice that Rhamn told her about! That's good, she had a Master already!