During the past month, their days were the same.
After lessons, Cyril would study at home, then train in the field outside.
However, after today’s lessons, Cyril was attacked by the bane of all students worldwide: procrastination.
He fought it off while sitting in the chair and playing with Morpho.
The red butterfly would fly at him, while he would block her attacks with a hand.
Over and over again.
Morpho seemed to enjoy this boxing-like activity.
She was an active butterfly.
She was a simple insect, one who easily felt joy from mundane things just like a young child would.
If the sky above them was particularly clear, Morpho felt joy.
If, when flying outside, she found a funny-shaped stick, Morpho felt joy.
Every time she saw Cyril again after his lessons in the castle, Morpho felt joy.
And that feeling spread to him as well, whether he wanted or not.
This magical connection between them was bizarre, yet not entirely unwelcome for Cyril.
After all, if she felt joy, he would as well.
And she felt it much easier.
So Cyril looked around his room, trying to find anything that might improve the insect’s mood even further.
His dorm has barely changed since a month ago.
It was still just as neat and clean as he first arrived.
Only some new books have been added on the table.
But it somehow seemed more barren now than before.
Is Morpho fine with a room like this?
“Of course not!”
Rhamn suddenly appeared to the side, a determined expression on her face.
“I say we simply must brighten it a little, for her sake!
Let’s go shopping!”
Cyril froze.
Morpho landed on his finger, freezing as well.
They both looked at Rhamn, thinking about her proposal in more detail.
“You’ve sat in here like some hermit for a month already!
That’s enough!
We must go out and relax properly!”
You want me to become like Edmund?
Wasting time is not what I should be doing right now.
Cyril slowly shook his head.
He didn’t need to relax.
Achieving success was relaxing enough on its own.
“Is that so?” Rhamn mumbled, the corners of her mouth rising.
As if she were preparing to show her trump card, Rhamn’s face gained a malicious smirk.
With a theatrical flare, she pointed at the butterfly on his finger.
“Morpho, tell him!
You want to go, don’t you?”
The butterfly flinched at her voice.
Her wings nervously folded and unfolded as Morpho stayed quiet.
She didn’t want to ruin anything.
“There are so many sights there, so many things to do, so many tasty dishes to try.
You know the plants in the park?
You can buy a gorgeous potted plant of your own and place it right in this room!”
As if tempted by a malevolent spirit, the butterfly listened in a trance.
“As long as you boldly state your wish, Cyril will have no choice but to fulfill it!”
Huh?
Finally, the red butterfly succumbed to temptation.
She looked at Cyril in the eyes, antennae twitching in determination, and pleadingly asked to see the world outside.
Cyril’s eye twitched as he struggled to maintain his calm.
Those compound eyes were difficult to endure, the power within them simply unfair.
He looked away, giving a helpless sigh.
“Fine.
A day of rest won’t hurt.”
“Yes!” Rhamn and Morpho jumped in the air, celebrating at the same time.
Cyril observed the two of them, feeling the pure joy that the butterfly felt, and any lingering complaints he might’ve had practically melted away.
…
The shopping street wasn’t too far from the academy.
So Cyril made his way on foot.
Thankfully, his dorm was close to the gates.
Once beyond the walls, Morpho began excitedly exploring her way around.
However, she soon discovered an unfortunate thing.
It was a little too grey for her tastes.
The minimalistic buildings also looked boring, with frighteningly little green.
The academy was the best-looking place by far.
“The city center is a bit better.
We’ll take you there during the weekend,” Cyril calmly said.
On the weekend he’ll go to the Tower, and it would be convenient to visit the center then.
The butterfly happily nodded and landed back on his shoulder.
“Not only there!
There are so many interesting places in the Empire!
Museums, old ruins, parks, zoos, luxurious restaurants, amusement parks.
We must visit them all!”
Rhamn counted one by one with a dreamy expression on her face.
The longer Morpho listened, the brighter her compound eyes became.
“…Some time in the future maybe,” Cyril said with a helpless expression.
The Empire’s entertainment industry was quite developed.
With rapid advancements in magic, all sorts of unusual places began appearing.
Some of them sounded interesting, but he didn’t have that much free time.
“We’ll see.
For now, we’ve arrived here!”
After making another turn, Cyril entered a wide square.
At the very center of the square was a humble fountain, surrounded by many gazebos.
All kinds of shops, cafes, and other establishments faced this square, with countless people coming and going between them.
Due to its proximity to the academy, the majority of the people here were young humans just like him.
Not all wore their uniforms, but they were undoubtedly from Ailanthus.
They occupied the gazebos and sat near the fountain.
They were talking to their friends, showing off some things they bought and generally wasting their precious time.
The red butterfly on Cyril’s shoulder curiously observed each student in her sight.
A few people looked back at her.
A red butterfly wasn’t exactly a common sight, but it was nothing unexplainable.
There were plenty of beast tamers in the academy who used magic to control and enhance various creatures.
Even now, Cyril could see some weirdly colored wolf strolling with a human.
Besides, it is somewhat of a trend among the nobility to have exotic pets.
Some even raised monsters.
“Although Morpho is not a pet.
Anyone who calls her that will have their arms broken.”
How merciful.
“Indeed.
I am sparing them the death penalty.”
Cyril shook his head, ignoring the malicious whispers.
Then, he looked at the many shops around, trying to see past the crowds.
They were here to get something for his room to brighten it, but he wasn’t exactly sure where to start.
What should he buy to achieve that outcome?
I’ve never been shopping before.
“Me neither.”
“…”
“Let’s just go around at random!”
Sure.
So, with an inquisitive butterfly on his shoulder, Cyril began exploring the shopping area.
…
Their pace was slow.
They visited store after store, leisurely exploring what this place had to offer.
Acting on nothing more than Rhamn’s and Morpho’s whimsy, Cyril bought quite a lot of different things.
The bags in his hands kept increasing in quantity.
There was a great variety of snacks, an action figure that Morpho had taken a liking to, and a few small pillows, among other things.
They even visited a pet store.
As unfortunate as it was, some of the local products were suitable for someone of Morpho’s size.
Morpho herself was attracted to the terrariums she saw through the window.
After all, her size allowed her to use one as a sort of personal room.
So, they bought a single box-shaped terrarium with an open roof.
It had fake plants inside that would brighten their dorm room at least a little bit.
Good thing they had a delivery option.
I don’t think I can carry much more…
Cyril thought as he observed the number of bags lying by his side.
Due to Rhamn’s strong insistence, they were now sitting outside a cafe close to the fountain, taking a break from walking.
“We should do things like this more often.” Rhamn sat opposite him, her arms supporting her chin as she observed the butterfly on the table.
Morpho was eagerly sipping on a tray of sugar water.
The cafe provided it on their own initiative, eager to please an eccentric customer, perhaps.
…We have a lot to do.
We can’t get distracted too much.
Cyril took a sip of his coffee with such thoughts.
Once he lowered the cup, he saw a complaining gaze from Rhamn.
“Do you really need to become a Knight?
It doesn’t seem that interesting to me.
Besides, I feel it’s incompatible with our style.”
Cyril froze in place, coffee almost falling from his hands.
He narrowed his eyes, giving Rhamn a glare.
Style?
“Yeah, you know, we are too cool for that.
Leave being a Knight to some idealistic loser.”
…Whatever you say.
He placed the cup on the table, feeling profoundly helpless.
Perhaps by ‘cool,’ Rhamn meant unapproachable and emotionally distant.
He knew how he came off to other people.
It was true that few Knights carried these traits.
Still, he knew of them, and they were popular.
He wanted to achieve the same success.
Morpho observed Cyril’s actions and, with a twitch of her antennae, started to slowly move closer to the cup.
“Hmm.” Rhamn pursed her lips, her red eyes brightening.
“So you want to become famous then?
That’s a bit more interesting indeed.”
If you want to put it that way, sure.
In the Empire, everyone knew of Knights.
They were akin to heroes here, saviors of the people.
There were books, novels, and even plays made about their exploits.
Whenever kids were playing with each other, they all argued who would get the Knight’s role.
They all wanted to be heroes.
At least, that’s how it was during Cyril’s childhood.
That slowly changed in recent times.
Nevertheless, becoming a Knight seemed like the perfect tool for fixing the Thorne family’s reputation.
That is my goal.
Cyril was a part of this family, whether he wanted it or not.
So, he had to do something.
That was all there was to it.
“Right.
How exciting.”
…What are you trying to say?
“Nothing.
As long as that’s what you really want,” Rhamn wistfully mumbled, looking away from his gaze.
Before the frown on his face could become deeper, she continued.
“Speaking of reputation, I don’t think it will be that hard.
Did you know you have a few fans already?”
What?
His attention successfully taken away, Cyril’s blue eyes froze in surprise.
How come you know and I don’t?
“When we eat in the cafeteria, it can get quite noisy, but I am a good listener.
Some girls from a different grade were discussing you.
They were a bit weird, but the point still stands.”
Rhamn spread her hands to the side.
On her face was a complex look of ‘I am acting helpless about it but am actually incredibly pleased.’
“With your face and the position of a top-grade student, being popular would be easy~”
I see…
He hasn’t thought about it in this way before.
Feeling a perplexing mix of emotions, Cyril raised his cup of coffee.
Just as he was about to take a sip, Cyril noticed a butterfly now sitting at the edge of the cup.
“What are you doing?” he quietly whispered, keeping his hand still.
Morpho looked into his eyes.
Her compound eyes sparkling with curiosity, she twitched her antennae at the dark liquid inside of the cup.
She wanted to drink coffee.
Cyril remained still, thinking about it for a moment.
Caffeine was actually toxic to insects.
He remembered hearing it from Rose.
With that stray thought, he placed the cup on the table and nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Morpho fluttered her wings in excitement.
For the past month, Cyril came to learn that Morpho wasn’t exactly a regular butterfly.
“Who could’ve thought?”
She was stronger than she looked and was capable of eating solid foods.
She shared his meals, so a bit of caffeine wouldn’t harm her.
“That’s right.
While she may look like a butterfly, Morpho actually isn’t one, so normal rules don’t apply to her.”
Cyril observed Morpho, who was currently slowly lowering her insect head inside of the cup.
…Then what is she?
Rhamn lightly shrugged.
“Someone very beautiful and unique.
Morpho is Morpho.”
I see.
There were special creatures in this world who adapted to the presence of mana, gaining unusual, often nature-defying, properties.
They were called monsters.
If someone asked, Morpho could be explained as such.
As Cyril was having similar thoughts, Morpho finally took a sip of the mysterious black liquid.
Then, she instantly bolted up in the air and began making wobbly circles.
“What’s wrong?!” Cyril stood up from the table, a frown on his face.
Before he could ask Rhamn any questions, the butterfly landed back near her tray and greedily sucked in sugar water.
As he felt profound disgust emanating from her, Cyril sighed and sat back down.
“She just didn’t like the taste~”
Cyril ignored her and retrieved his own drink, continuing like nothing happened.
They sat in the cafe for a bit, slowly enjoying their weekend.
Truthfully, he too didn’t like coffee that much.
He only bought it out of curiosity.
…
As they sat in the cafe, the people around them came and went.
The crowd in this square was surprisingly dense.
There were faces he never saw before, vaguely familiar faces from Ailanthus, and a single face he was very familiar with by now.
There was someone he actually knew here.
“Hey!
Cyril, is that you?
What a coincidence!” an auburn-haired girl enthusiastically approached.
“Myra,” Cyril mumbled as she approached.
Somehow, he didn’t expect she would be the type to spend her time here.
Before he could say anything else, Myra casually approached his table and took a seat on her own initiative.
“Hi, Morpho.” She waved towards the butterfly, now sitting near them.
The red butterfly waved back to her with a flutter of her wings.
“I didn’t expect you would enjoy shopping.
Why are you here?” Myra asked.
Rhamn crossed her arms, glaring at the auburn-haired girl in suspicion.
“Why is she everywhere we go?
Is this commoner an actual stalker?”
Cyril endured the malicious whispers in his ear.
Still, it was true that Myra seemed to follow him as much as she could when they were in the academy.
He stared into Myra’s eyes and decided to ask directly.
“Are you following me?”
Myra’s mouth opened wide open.
After a moment, she urgently waved her arms in denial.
“No!
It was just a coincidence today, honest!”
“‘Today?'” Cyril mumbled, continuing to stare at her with his blue eyes.
Myra covered her face with a palm, as if to shield herself from his gaze.
He heard her give a long sigh filled with helplessness.
She is a bit silly today.
“Only today?”
Myra suddenly moved, pointing somewhere behind him.
“Look there!” she said, her face a perfect picture of someone desperately trying to find a distraction.
“…”
Cyril silently drank the rest of his coffee.
Is she serious?
I am not falling for this…
“She is serious.
Morpho says she is pointing at the two of our classmates arguing.”
Oh.
Finally, he looked in that direction and indeed found two people he knew.
In fact, just this morning these two fought each other in a very brief duel.
Cedric and Leo stood there, the atmosphere around them not exactly harmonious.
Instead of his usual smile, Cedric carried a frown.
With something close to anger in his gaze, he glared at Leo.
Leo Arken stood with his arms crossed, barely holding back a smirk.
Before he could focus on their conversation, Leo strolled away, deeper into the alley.
Cedric clenched his teeth and hurriedly followed after him.
“Let’s go after them!” Myra whispered.
Having somewhat succeeded in her ploy, her face now carried an excited expression.
“Why should I?” Cyril replied.
It was just two students absorbed in socializing.
Their business didn’t concern him.
Myra’s intrigued expression gave way to an awkward pause.
She scratched her auburn hair, as if trying to fish out an answer.
“As future Knights, isn’t it our duty to stick our nose into things?”
Cyril silently stared into her eyes, his expression flat.
He wasn’t convinced just yet.
Myra hesitantly continued.
“…Aren’t you curious what will happen between them?
It could be fun.”
“…”
Morpho fluttered her wings on his shoulder, clearly eager to go.
The butterfly’s eagerness then spread to him, making him look forward to it more than he would usually.
“I guess I am a little bit curious,” Cyril said after a moment.
“Me too, I suppose.”
“Great!
Let’s go then!” Myra raised a fist in celebration.
She hurriedly got up from their table and went after Cedric before he disappeared.
Cyril calmly picked up his bags and walked after her.
He stared at her back, his blue eyes narrowed.
Her denial of stalking him today seemed genuine.
Did she then go after Cedric today?
He didn’t believe she was here just to enjoy her day.
Myra was a good training partner.
Despite a few hiccups with the theoretical subjects, she was one of the more agreeable people in his class.
However, Cyril didn’t understand what she found in Cedric.
This wasn’t the first time she paid attention to him and Leo.
“She is a commoner after all.
Would make sense for her to be attracted to another one of her kind.”
Does it?
“Who cares?
Let’s focus on the matter at hand.
I hope Leo has something juicy in store for Cedric~”