Dreamlike Tear

Despite the multiple negative premises due to the first part of the day, Marina was able to focus on her projects until late at night without being disturbed. The daughter of Ien had ended up concentrating solely on her notes and had collapsed onto her bed without even changing. Usually, her dreams were filled with nightmares, a sign of the nefarious influence of the hidden goddess in collaboration with Tefine, the goddess of sleep. However, that night, she managed to sleep like a rock.

Her rest was interrupted the following morning by a sweet voice with moderately high tones.

"Sleeping Beauty, it's time to wake up," called one of her stepsisters.

Marina slowly opened her eyes to avoid being blinded by the sunlight. In front of her, a smiling Blendbreed greeted her warmly.

"You made it! I thought Tefine had imprisoned you."

Michela carried her fourteen years with enchanting grace, Marina thought. Her green eyes shone like hidden gems in a lush forest, radiating curiosity and liveliness. Her wavy brown hair framed her face gently, flowing like soft waves of the sea, giving her a spontaneous air. She wore casual attire—classic jeans hugging her legs and a gray shirt adorned with a print of the number seven in elegant Roman numerals. Resting on the tip of her nose was a pair of steel-framed glasses, adding to her look as a typical daughter of Ien. They also gave a touch of maturity to her young face.

"No nightmares this time. Could you close the curtains?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Of course!" she replied as she was already heading toward the windows. "Sorry, I didn't mean to blind you."

"It's fine," Marina said, getting up. "But why did you wake me up?"

Her roommate moved toward the bedroom door and suddenly swung it open. Standing at the threshold was a smiling Blendbreed whom Marina had come to know very well.

Her intense gaze was what distinguished her the most. Her deep brown eyes, as rich as the earth, reflected a great determination, revealing a fiercely courageous soul. Her straight, long black hair cascaded down her back like a mantle, framing her lean face. She, too, wore fitted jeans and a dark orange shirt with the number eleven printed in Roman numerals. Draped over her shoulders like a cloak was a leather jacket adorned with a few metal spikes. On her, it looked less like a piece of clothing and more like a suit of armor proudly displayed.

Her face twisted into a disappointed expression. Having turned sixteen, she had been granted the opportunity to spend a year at Daffodils Academy as an "abroad" experience. The period had undoubtedly enriched her knowledge and broadened her perspective on the Mortal World. However, Lilia had not felt particularly at ease. The daughter of Torari, the goddess of vengeance, had immediately requested permission to return to Lilies Park.

"Come on, two months away, and you already forget about me?" she teased, brushing her pitch-black hair back with a hand.

Marina's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran to hug her friend. "Lily!"

The two embraced each other, jumping excitedly for several moments. After finally letting go, Marina smiled and looked at her friend. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

"Lilies Park and Lilia Rossini. Lilia Rossini and Lilies Park. We're two inseparable things," the brunette declared. "Listen, how about this—breakfast picnic, and I'll tell you everything?"

The two daughters of Ien nodded.

"Perfect! Then hurry up and get dressed, Marina. We'll be waiting for you," Lilia concluded.

After giving the Blendbreed some time to get ready—which, in her case, only meant rinsing her face and putting on her usual house clothes—the three friends headed toward the forest. The daughter of Ien rarely visited the clearing, as it reminded her of her childhood home. However, she pushed those memories aside and decided to follow the other two.

Leaving the Seventh House, the girls made their way toward the beach, following a path that cut directly through the forest. They walked for approximately ten minutes before finding a small hill where they could settle down.

Michela took off her glasses and sat on the ground. "Oh, finally! I couldn't walk another step!" Then, she pulled a small notebook from her pocket and started doodling.

Marina lay down on the grass and closed her eyes peacefully. Her stepsister took the opportunity to start sketching her face.

Lilia spread out a cloth to avoid getting dirty and sat on it. "So, Marina… tell me a bit."

The blonde reopened her eyes. "About what?"

"Mimì told me you spent the whole day yesterday with a Blendbreed," the girl smiled mischievously, "and not just any Blendbreed, one personally introduced by Mr. D'Agostini himself."

"Good thing I tried to be discreet for once…" muttered the young daughter of Ien before returning to her sketchbook.

Marina rolled her eyes. "Listen, I was just showing him around. It's not what you think."

"What do you mean…?"

Michela glanced at her. "Don't think I didn't notice how you looked at him yesterday at the dining hall. You even sat at his table."

"Mimì!" The daughter of Ien blushed. "Not you too!"

"Okay, now this is getting interesting," the brunette grinned. "So, whose son is he?"

"Please, Lily, Dalia even told me I'd make a wonderful sister-in-law!"

Her two friends burst into laughter while the blonde simply hid her face behind her hands.

This was what she loved most—when they were together, they seemed like normal teenagers.

Marina had deliberately ignored the last question. Talking about Shirei felt strange, especially given the role she had been assigned by the divine Aena.

"Okay, okay, sorry, Mari. Lilia, how about we talk about you instead?" Michela suggested, shifting the attention away from Cragar's son.

"Right away!" the brunette replied enthusiastically. "So, Daffodils Academy is absolutely awful!"

Marina furrowed her brows. "How so?"

"They forced me to act 'feminine,' so to speak. I wasn't allowed to get dirty, couldn't play soccer, had to learn how to cook, and…" She took a deep breath, as if she were about to breathe fire, before blurting out a simple exclamation: "Gods! Disgusting!"

"Seriously? People like that still exist?"

"And just to spite them, I did the exact opposite. Now, I'm obsessed with Formula 1 racing!"

"Same old sexist stereotypes. I hope some deity cuts off their—" Michela looked up at the girls after a few seconds of silence. "Oops, sorry."

"Don't worry, it slips out sometimes," Marina reassured her before turning back to Lilia. "I can only imagine how freeing it must have been to escape from those awful restrictions."

"The scariest part is that I was actually starting to get used to it. Oh well, good thing I'm back," Lilia said, brushing off the issue.

"You shouldn't wish death on anyone, but they're definitely not good people."

Marina decided to stand up again. "So, they didn't let you fight?"

"They did, but they were obsessed with grace and elegance. 'A warrior must be like a deadly butterfly' and other nonsense like that."

"Good thing you're back," the two daughters of Ien said in unison.

Marina's attention was suddenly caught by a blonde boy walking back along the path they had taken earlier. Squinting, she recognized the slightly uneven gait of her dear stepbrother, who always had a smile plastered on his face. Michela spotted him as well and started waving frantically until he noticed them. Lorenzo quickly approached.

"Hey, girls, I was looking for you. Lilia, it's great to see you again."

"Thanks, Lorenzo. How did you find us?"

"I talked to Michela earlier, and she mentioned she was planning a picnic in the pine forest," he said, gesturing toward the area nearby. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened two days ago, in case you haven't heard yet."

Marina eyed the small device in Lorenzo's hands with distaste.

A few years ago, a project had been launched to bring technology into the Otherworld—unfortunately, with mixed results. While some of these devices provided invaluable assistance in research and daily tasks, their usage was still severely limited. Any 21st-century technology would stop functioning the moment it left the Mortal World.

That said, notable progress had been made in recent years: every Blendbreed in the park was given a phone when traveling to the Mortal World, and all of them had access to custom applications designed to maximize their well-being.

She had often caught glimpses of Lorenzo scrolling through the illustrated manual written by the former representative of Corgi's children—the main man behind the entire project. She vividly remembered GodTok, a social media app made exclusively for Blendbreeds.

It was the young daughter of Ien who nudged her stepbrother, snapping her back to reality.

"Alright, Lore, explain everything—detail by detail. I'm curious."

"Okay, is this another scandal?" Lilia asked. "Let me check if there are any paparazzi around…"

At that moment, Shirei suddenly materialized among them. Everyone present screamed in fear, but the violet-eyed boy remained rather impassive and simply commented, "Did I do something?"

"Ghost!" Marina jolted backward before calming herself. "I mean, Shirei. No, don't worry. Good morning."

"Good morning, Marina."

Lilia stood frozen, shifting her gaze from the boy to the girl, utterly stunned. Marina noticed both a flicker of terror on her face and a glint of pure hatred. The daughter of Torari, along with everyone else, eventually settled down. The brunette shot a glare at Marina, a clear message of disdain. Lilia had never approved of her friendship with Dahlia due to the bad reputation surrounding Cragar's children—she certainly wouldn't accept Shirei. Michela had kept it from her, and perhaps it would have been better if she had never found out. That simple feeling of contempt was only amplified by her divine lineage, being a daughter of the goddess of vengeance. Marina, therefore, chose to brush over the subject to avoid conflict.

"They are my sister Michela and my friend Lilia," the daughter of Ien quickly added.

Shirei gave the girls a slight nod before turning to Lorenzo. "Go on. You're talking about the son of Tefine, right?"

"You already know?" the blonde asked.

"I was just informed."

Marina narrowed her eyes, confused by that statement. From what she had gathered, Shirei wasn't exactly a social person—on the contrary, he preferred to keep to himself. So how had he gotten information from others? Once again, Marina sighed and resigned herself to the mystery.

Lorenzo decided to begin his story. "So, I was talking to a child of Corgi, and she told me she heard noises near the cabin by the beach," he said, pointing toward the sea. "She went to check, and when she arrived, she found some guys talking with a certain Salix. One of them looked like he was about to pass out while Salix was rambling about not being able to stay for long, saying his services were required by someone important. She tried to calm him down, but he was completely out of it."

"And who the hell is this guy?" Lilia blurted out.

"Tefine is the goddess of sleep, and as her son, Salix surely has the ability to put people to sleep. That's probably why the Blendbreed was about to faint," Marina reasoned.

Shirei narrowed his eyes slightly at the mention of the mysterious figure. "Go on."

"At one point, he summoned a strange chain that circled around him, with a blade at the end. He wanted to attack them, then…"

"So, like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat?" Michela interjected, deciding to stop doodling and focus on the story. Shirei continued listening in silence.

"Worse. Salix even started transforming into some kind of monstrous creature."

"Monstrous?" Lilia asked, almost in disbelief.

"Yeah. Apparently, he's not a Blendbreed like us…" Lorenzo concluded.

Silence fell. Everyone stopped talking, likely lost in formulating their own thoughts about the news, with only the sound of the wind filling the moment. Marina glanced at Shirei and noticed him staring into the void, as if he had just heard something terrible—he looked truly disturbed.

"Shirei, are you okay?"

"He's dangerous for Lilies Park," the boy replied.

"We're all walking dangers, in the end."

The son of Cragar didn't respond, implying that he knew more than he was letting on.

"This whole thing is starting to worry me," Lilia said with a grimace.

"It's really strange…" Marina replied, glancing at the Blendbreed with violet eyes.

Shirei closed his eyes. "We have to kill him."

Marina froze for a second, thinking she had misheard. She turned to Shirei and, hesitantly, responded in kind: "Take it easy!"

"Why?" The Blendbreed seemed genuinely confused. "Did I overreact?"

"Well, yes?! We need to inform Mr. D'Agostini and the goddess Aena, but we definitely can't kill him!"

"We need to understand why he did it first," Lorenzo assessed. "It could be for revenge. Lilia, what do you think?"

"I need to meet him first to know."

"You're all ready to fight him… Look at the cards on the table, first," suggested the young Blendbreed, daughter of Ien.

Shirei lowered his gaze to the cloth beneath them, his furrowed brow indicating that he hadn't understood what Michela meant.

"It was just a figure of speech," Marina whispered to him, trying to stop herself from yelling at him again.

Under normal circumstances, he would have made her smile, but not after what he had just said.

"We know practically nothing about him. We should wait for another misstep—then it'll be time to worry," Marina paused. "For now, we just need to report this to the Grand Manor."

"You know I follow your decisions," Lilia responded with a smile.

Lorenzo nodded. "I'll go tell Lyceum everything, then."

Michela leaned slightly forward to get a better look at the son of Cragar. "Shirei, right?" she asked. "You're awfully quiet."

"He always is, really," Marina answered for him, partly trying to provoke a reaction.

Shirei merely sighed, keeping his usual calm expression. "You're right, better to do it this way."

The son of Cragar stood up, intent on leaving. Marina watched him, perplexed, aware that there was more behind his words. Her role was clear—she had to figure out what he was planning, and, as much as she didn't like the idea, she had to deceive him to get new information. She didn't want to take advantage of him, but the situation made it necessary.

She steeled herself and, with a brief farewell to her friends, followed Shirei. The girls laughed and waved her off, promising to meet again at lunchtime. Lorenzo, on the other hand, headed toward the Grand Manor.

Marina caught up with Shirei in a few seconds and called out to him: "Hey, Ghost!"

The Blendbreed with violet eyes turned, his usual calm expression still plastered on his face.

"Yes?"

"Sorry if I reacted that way," she said, referring to the moment earlier. "I didn't mean to come off as rude, but you caught me off guard. It's just… really wrong, and I hadn't even considered it as an option. We don't kill anyone here—I just wanted you to understand that."

"You don't need to apologize. I understood. Anything else?"

This was her chance.

"I was wondering…" Marina averted her gaze slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Tomorrow morning, there will be a lesson about the Forbidden Heirs. You and Dahlia are the only ones in the park who—"

"Do you need help?" Shirei interrupted.

"Yes," she confirmed. "It would be a huge help if you could come and show us what Cragar's children are actually capable of. Dahlia still struggles to control herself—I don't know if you already knew that."

The boy lifted his gaze slightly, weighing the idea before responding. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow outside the Seventh House."

"There's no need! I can come pick you both up…"

Marina's words trailed off as she noticed a subtle shift in the Blendbreed's expression. It was strange—she could still sense that mysterious aura that had made her skin crawl the day before, but now, the feeling it gave her wasn't oppressive anymore.

Calm and tranquility were the first words that came to her mind.

Without hesitation, she widened her lips into a smile as well. "Thanks. See you tomorrow then, Ghost!"