As all parents perhaps do, Polly tormented Myra until her face grew so red she appeared as a lobster.
Not able to endure it for much longer, Myra escaped the table under the excuse that they needed to hurry.
So, Cyril and she walked side by side into the forest, where the ruins supposedly were.
Morpho flew in the air, exploring nature. She dashed back and forth, chasing insects nearby with a hunter's glee.
"Ugh... Sorry." Myra sighed as she kicked a pebble on the ground.
"Polly can get a bit too enthusiastic sometimes... But I am glad I got to see her again."
They walked further and further, Myra's eyes observing the sky with a distant look.
"I needed it more than I realized after the last few days."
Cyril gave her a long stare, then switched to observing Morpho, who chased a dragonfly at this moment.
Suddenly a bird swooped in on her, its beak wide open as it pecked.
The red butterfly's body completely disappeared inside of the bird's beak.
"...!"
Startled, Cyril quickly raised his hand, about to cast a spell.
However, the next moment, the bird flinched in the air as its beak opened little by little.
Morpho, using her fragile-looking wings, pushed the beak open, escaped, and slapped the bird on the way out.
The bird faltered in the air as it flew away as fast as it could. What kind of butterfly was that?!
Morpho fluttered her wings as she observed the challenger's departure, her antennae twitching in triumph.
Cyril blankly observed it all, then slowly lowered his hand, giving a sigh of relief.
"Good job! You are strong!" Rhamn clapped with a proud smile.
Myra observed the red butterfly with widened eyes.
"Your butterfly is... not ordinary. In a good way."
"She's strong and brave enough to endure the archdemon's pressure to protect you."
"That's something she should never do again!"
Morpho flinched, then quietly landed on Cyril's shoulder.
Myra's gaze followed the butterfly landing on him, but at the same time it went somewhere beyond.
"…I wish I was strong like that."
What is this about?
Cyril frowned, staring at her increasingly bleak state.
The aftermath of her fight with Tom flashed on his mind, as well as the thief's terrified face.
"If you are not strong, then who is?"
"You."
"..."
Should I thank her? "She is not wrong."
His frown grew deeper, now mixed in with some genuine confusion.
"Myra, If you say you are weak, then what am I? You have defeated me in a duel."
"A month ago I had. Today I might. But in a year? I can't even imagine winning."
"Again, not untrue."
"I see."
Her words brought him a certain perplexed feeling. Despite essentially praising him to the high heavens, they weren't pleasant to hear.
The remainder of the road they've spent in silence.
...
A short walk later, a small building came into view around a turn.
It was a stone dome barely holding its shape. Plants grew on its walls, somewhat hiding it among the greenery.
"This is the one."
With a smile on her face, Myra sped up towards the ruin, observing it with nostalgia.
"This used to be my favorite place. Far away from all, just me, nature, and the mysterious."
She walked through the collapsed entrance and inside.
Cyril slowly walked in after her, scanning everything he could see on the way.
...It's too damaged.
The roof was full of holes, letting in beams of light that illuminated the sorry state of the place.
The walls were weathered, and the passage of time erased all hints of what used to be.
"Here, it was easy to imagine myself as a hero from the stories."
Myra wearily took a seat on a pile of rubble nearby and stared at Cyril as he walked around.
"It's just an old ruin, nothing special in the end... Though there is a mural behind the plants there."
She pointed to a specific wall.
Giving her a quick nod, Cyril approached the place and tore off the vines that grew over it.
It revealed a somewhat familiar sight.
A mural depicting a winged monster and humanoid figures around it.
This time, the monster was spewing fire from its mouth as the 'humans' cowered and ran away, some engulfed by the flames.
This seems like the next part of that mural?
"Wait, so it wasn't them transforming into a monster? It was them praying for help after all?"
Rhamn tilted her head, confusion in her red eyes.
"It looks cool, right?" Myra cut in with a smile.
"Apparently that civilization were mortal enemies with dragons. There are shrines like these placed everywhere."
"I knew you would be interested." She nodded with satisfaction.
Demons are enemies with dragons? Never heard anything like that.
"You'd think the Empire would have figured it out. The enemy of their enemy and all that."
"You've seen other shrines? What else do you know?"
Myra scratched her cheek and looked away. "I saw a few, but... I wasn't too interested, sorry."
...Maybe they aren't demons after all? No, Ophelia confirmed it. It was a time long before her...
Rhamn shrugged, her face calm.
"Doesn't really matter, does it?"
...I want to know more about their conflict.
"It won't help. Demons are demons, and humans are humans. That's the reality, and it won't change."
Maybe you are right.
He shook his head and turned towards Myra.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Myra took a deep breath and put her hands on her knees.
"So, Cyril. You said you trust me, right?"
He nodded.
"What I'll say next might sound ridiculous, but I am being completely serious."
She fidgeted in place, twirling a strand of her auburn hair as silence settled in an old ruin.
Only the sound of birds flying above them and wind rustling the leaves outside could be heard, as well as a certain someone's intensifying heartbeat.
The characteristic throb soon filled Cyril's sharp hearing as he waited with crossed arms.
…Is she alright?
The sound got so loud, it seemed like her heart wanted to burst out of her chest to tell him the news directly.
"Well?" Cyril mumbled, almost as if to check up on her.
"We don't have all day!"
Finally, Myra took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
"In ten years the Empire will be destroyed."
Huh?
"Huh? Is that a threat?"
He froze, having underestimated the magnitude of this conversation.
"...Why do you think so?"
Myra clenched her fists and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Because I saw the future."
Cyril remained silent, listening to that ever-loud heartbeat. It sounded like complete nonsense, yet he wanted to believe in it for some reason.
Sweat trickled down Myra's forehead as she carefully gauged his reaction. At his silence, she continued speaking.
"It-it was like flashes of things to come suddenly filled my mind."
"I definitely know it's real! It's not- I just know it will come true." She stammered, as if with each sentence she was beginning to doubt her own words.
"Alright," Cyril muttered. That one word silenced Myra completely.
"Why was the Empire destroyed?"
"And why should we care? The Empire is not really the whole world."
Myra replied immediately. "It was demons."
"Ah, that's why."
Demons.
Suddenly no longer a simple spectator, Cyril took her words more seriously. Though he somehow had a feeling she would answer this. It seemed fitting, somehow.
With a heavy heart, he cautiously made a guess.
"...Was I present in that future?"
The butterfly on his shoulder folded her wings, making herself as unnoticeable as possible.
Myra observed his expression without speaking.
The heaviness in Cyril's heart intensified the longer the silence lasted. Soon, his own heartbeat echoed in his ears.
"...You were."
He tensed up, fingers clutching his arms.
Finally, Myra evaded his eyes. She turned her head at the ground, her auburn hair hiding her face completely.
"You were- you were a knight, the best one. A real hero fighting to save us all."
What?
"A hero? Are you sure?"
"That's what I saw," Myra whispered, her face still aimed at the ground.
Cyril slowly turned to look at Rhamn.
Rhamn, her bright red eyes widened, shrugged. He expected a villain maybe, given his obvious connection. But Myra's theory sounded easier on the ears.
"...What happened to me? I seem to have failed in that future?"
Myra shook her head, her fists still clenched.
"I don't see that part. I've heard- I saw- I saw rumors that demons used some vile trick, but I don't know what kind."
Cyril sat on another pile of rubble nearby, not minding the dust on it. The red butterfly on his shoulder tapped his face, her antennae twitching in excitement.
Myra clasped her hands, her head still lowered. Her heartbeat never went down throughout this conversation, not even for a moment.
…
"Maybe she is delusional? She did hit her head."
You don't believe I can be a hero?
"I always believe in you. Myra is just too unreliable. She doesn't even dare to look you in the eyes as she spins this tale."
"Something doesn't add up."
"Do you believe me?" Myra cautiously whispered after minutes passed.
"...I do."
"But why?"
There is something in Myra that makes me trust her... I am not sure what it is.
He knew it was foolish and unlikely. Myra's whole figure at this moment was as far removed from the word 'reliable' as it could possibly be.
Still, some part of him just believed in her words, or maybe he simply wanted to.
Myra finally raised her head, on her face a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"I originally thought that, with this knowledge, I could change the future for the better."
She massaged her temple, the smile disappearing.
"However, the attack on the Tower shouldn't have gone like that."
"There was never an archdemon there, not to mention two. They shouldn't have done anything for the next three years at least."
She slumped her shoulders, her hands resting on her knees.
"Something's changed. The future is different now."
"I just- I just don't know what to do. There is no way I can handle this."
Her whisper gradually became quieter until it almost became a whimper as something glistened in the corners of her eyes.
Cyril sat there, expressionless. The butterfly on his shoulder intently stared at Myra's slumped back and arms that lacked their usual strength.
At this sight, Cyril was experiencing a peculiar emotion, a certain bitterness that wiped away any worries about himself.
"It's disappointment." Rhamn's cold voice echoed in the dome as she looked down at Myra.
"You thought she was stronger than this."
Why would I be disappointed? What, she should've destroyed all demons on her own by now?
"Don't attack the messenger~"
Cyril glanced back at Myra, not saying anything. She buckled further under his stare.
The two sat like this for a moment, prolonged silence between them.
Suddenly, a red butterfly flew in the air and landed on Myra's auburn hair.
"Morpho?"
The butterfly gently tapped the girl's head with her insect legs.
"Eh." Myra slowly sat up straight, and Morpho flew up, energetically fluttering in front of her face.
"Is she... trying to cheer me up?"
"...Looks like it."
Cyril got up as well, walking closer.
"Since you worry about being weak, just get stronger."
"Just...?"
Myra's eye twitched a little as she stared him straight in the eyes.
"Yes."
His cold blue eyes met her tired black ones.
Myra's complaint remained in her mouth as she continued staring.
"Just listen. I'll help."