The girl before Yan Huan carried secrets he couldn't begin to fathom, yet she treated him with easy warmth...
"If you ask me what I'd miss most about Aedes Elysiae, besides the swing beneath the big tree, it's this place."
Cyrene smiled at Yan Huan.
"I've been able to hear faint oracles since I was little, so everyone in the village says I'll be the next Priest of Years."
"But the more fortunes I tell, the less certain I feel about fate."
"I say I trust the oracles without question, but if I really had to leave Aedes Elysiae..."
"I wonder where that ship at anchor would take us?"
Before long, Phainon called to them from the courtyard. "I found the Oracle cards! They're here—"
The two hurried downstairs. The box for the Oracle cards lay quietly on a table in the courtyard.
"See? This is the box the Oracle cards come in."
Phainon smiled.
"Let's get started."
"Mm, let me see..."
Cyrene reached out and opened the box, only to find it empty.
"Oh! Did you eat the cards?"
"Huh? I don't know..."
Phainon looked flustered, but after peering closely at the box, he suddenly pointed to its bottom.
"Look. What's tucked under the box?"
It appeared to be a letter.
Scrawled across it in crooked handwriting were the words:
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti!
—Stamped with a paw print
"What's with the paw print? Did a squirrel stamp it?" Yan Huan asked curiously.
"I know!" Understanding dawned on Cyrene.
"Those mysterious little creatures... I never thought they'd be the ones playing tricks."
Phainon blinked, then realization struck.
"You mean the ones in the Lost Illusionary Realm...?"
"Mm." Cyrene nodded gently. "Come with me. Let's go behind the courtyard."
Yan Huan followed them toward the back