The next day was Tuesday, October 28th.
Cyril woke up peacefully without any interruptions. He saw no unusual dreams this time, which led him to be slightly disappointed.
"Good morning!" Rhamn enthusiastically exclaimed.
There was nothing else he could do but prepare for the start of the day.
...
He went through his usual routine and soon, dressed in his academy uniform, he was standing in front of the villa.
In front of him were the magic creatures.
Morpho was already feeling better. She was not so weak as to give up after only this much. In fact, her spirit was raised higher than ever.
Such a combative and positive mood ended up influencing Cyril as well, and he wore an unobvious smile.
Though he never had any doubts about her.
Even yesterday, if she didn't go easy on Atheris, she would've easily won.
"Oh?" Rhamn playfully said next to him, "Even with the ability to see the future, Atheris would lose?"
Not like she was doubting Morpho. But this was a perfect opportunity for her to raise their mood. Cyril was somewhat on edge lately.
She didn't even use the Heavenly Dragon's Judgement technique. With it, even if Atheris saw her attacks, she wouldn't have been able to react in time.
The snake that was quietly coiled around Cyril raised her head and looked around. Strange, it felt like someone was slandering her?
"Hmm, who knows?"
Cyril shook his head and turned towards the serpent in question. There was something he needed to do.
"I am sorry, Atheris, but you can't go with me today," he calmly said.
Cyril felt it was time this clingy serpent tried to be more independent. Besides, there was Combat Training today and he didn't feel like fighting Myra with a living creature on his body.
Not to mention he would need to pass through the changing room before that.
I doubt I can hide Atheris while changing...
He already had a bad enough reputation. Scaring everyone with a snake didn't seem worthwhile.
Atheris took the news as expected. Her eyes seemingly enlarged, becoming watery. One couldn't help but take pity on this cute creature.
Cyril resisted this ultimate move with all his mental fortitude, and in the end turned to the side, afraid of staring any longer.
"You have to. Try to get along with the others in the meantime," he said with a frown.
What happened yesterday wasn't a big deal in his opinion. But it could lead to something worse.
We need to foster a good relationship between them. They are siblings, after all.
"They will never be enemies to each other, that's for certain." Rhamn didn't have a shred of doubt.
Seeing her special attack fail, Atheris froze, not able to come up with other solutions.
"Alright, I am off," Cyril deliberately announced and walked away.
Tigris and Morpho waved goodbye in their own way, while Atheris was still too stunned to do anything.
...
When she recovered, Cyril was already gone.
Morpho has long flown away on her own training, leaving Tigris alone with the mean snake.
He first considered going back into the villa and pestering Ophelia for some snacks before attempting to cast illusion magic.
With Cyril's new discovery, he was eager to conjure something up from his dreams.
Just as he decided to do so, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the mean snake.
Atheris was staring at the ground, unmoving. There was seemingly a dark cloud above her.
Even her usually menacing golden eyes appeared weaker than ever.
Tigris at this moment felt pity for this youngest. Perhaps he should do his duty as an older sibling and help her?
With a proud spring to his step, he slowly walked towards Atheris.
Once nearby, he roared, attracting her attention.
The golden eyes suddenly became more threatening, looking at the kitten as one would at their prey.
Tigris's whole body stiffened, his bravado lessening a fair bit.
Cautiously, he conveyed his friendly intentions through more meows.
Atheris looked at him unblinking, not reacting for several seconds.
In the end she flickered her tongue and reluctantly slithered closer.
Having succeeded with this goal, Tigris happily started leading the way towards the kitchen.
...
"Another steak?" Ophelia familiarly replied without even turning her head while organizing the kitchen.
In familiar motions she opened the fridge. It was full to the brim with all kinds of ingredients and foods.
Tigris found it a bit strange, since he never saw anyone restocking this place, yet it was always full. However, he couldn't complain.
Ophelia threw a steak out of the fridge to the side, and he caught it with a jump. He was getting more and more proficient with this action.
"Good luck in your endeavors," Ophelia quietly said as one would to another human.
At this moment a hissing sound went off, which made Ophelia freeze in her movements.
Stiffly she turned her head, noticing another magic creature by Tigris's side.
"I can't believe it. How am I like this?" Ophelia muttered to herself with some obvious disappointment and sighed.
Then, she took out another piece of meat and cautiously placed it on a plate on the ground.
Atheris slowly ate the whole steak in one gulp. Despite her eating a sizeable chunk of meat, there was no bump appearing on her body.
Ophelia quickly left after saying goodbye. There were other things she needed to take care of in parts of the house that weren't here.
Tigris happily finished his meal and turned to look at the youngest.
Atheris's golden eyes didn't look too happy still. It looks like he needed to try harder than that...
...
Just as Tigris was trying to tell a story of how he visited a zoo once, Atheris finally couldn't handle it anymore.
She raised her head, her eyes regaining their menacing glint, and, without even looking at the startled tiger, slithered out of the house.
Despite her small size, she was quite fast. In no time at all, she was gone.
Tigris nervously observed her departure, too stunned to react for a few seconds.
It was obvious what she wanted to do.
He couldn't believe she could just go against Cyril's words like this. They clearly were told to stay.
As expected, this snake was trouble!
Still, Tigris couldn't just abandon her like this. Someone needed to look after the youngest.
After only a brief hesitation, he ran after her.
Besides, this way he has a perfectly valid excuse to enter the castle himself~
It's only a pity that his speed wasn't that good...
He ran out of the house and covered a bit of distance but didn't even see a shadow of the mean snake.
Just as this thought went through his head, a scream was heard up ahead.
Tigris no longer had any concerns and simply followed the screams filled with surprise and fear.