With bated breath, Cherryton Academy embarked on a new academic year. And… nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. No tragic accidents, no external threats to contend with. Just the usual school routine, classes, strolls, minor disciplinary issues, and the floating atmosphere of school romance in the hallways… all of it seemed distant to Louis, especially now that Juno had graduated. He continued to hold the responsible position of drama club director and even retained his place on the board of trustees, but the deer's thoughts were occupied by something else.

Mechanically pushing the door to the office, he was about to close it when he heard:

"Wait!"

Startled, Louis relaxed when he saw a wolf in jeans and a gray polo shirt with a red trim, sporting a sports bag over his shoulder. He held the door for him and entered the office. Legoshi dropped the bag on the floor and carefully closed the door. He wanted to warmly hug his friend, but was stopped by a hand on his chest:

"Stop, if you're coming straight from work again, please take a shower first…"…

"It was only once!" Legoshi almost plaintively protested. "And you'll never let me forget it."

"Alright, I overreacted a bit, sorry," Louis said more gently and hugged him, briefly but warmly.

The wolf crossed his arms on his back and wagged his tail — he tried not to squeeze his friend's delicate aesthetic feelings too much. Although Louis loved wolves, he was much cooler towards dirty, wet, and tired ones.

"How's the renovation going?" the friend asked, leaning back on the table. The office now belonged exclusively to the deer; for Bryson, they had constructed a room right next to this one, taking a small piece of the hall. However, Legoshi had his own work processes.

"Great! I finished the walls, now I just need to hang shelves and order insectariums."

"Do they need anything… specific?"

"Mainly temperature. Different insects require different…"

For a small fee, Legoshi found a similarly small shop for rent and decided to fulfill his long-standing dream of opening a pet store. And now he patiently mastered the basics of interior finishing. He refused any help.

"How's the renovation going?" Instead of an answer, Louis grimaced and ran his hand along his neck. He regretted more than once getting involved in this project, but he didn't intend to back down. Days smoothly turned into hassle with contractors, subcontractors, municipality, supervisory commissions, and other bureaucratic bodies. The bulk of the wave was usually cut by a dense line of lawyers, though he still had to deal with some of them himself.

"Is it really that bad?" Legoshi asked sympathetically. The deer sighed:

"You'll make my day if you say you managed to negotiate with Gouhin."

"We'll only see each other on Friday. It's not urgent; one of his former patients is worried about a friend and suspects him of meat consumption. And then… I'll try to sway him to our side. Or rather, to yours."

Louis persistently offered the position of chief physician in a new rehabilitation center, which was being built near the future park on the wasteland, to the old man, whom life and various maniacs had mercilessly scarred. But Gouhin just sent him away.

Maybe it'll work with Legoshi being a messenger.

"And besides the construction, there's plenty to do. The school trials on the twentieth, your wedding, when is it? The twenty-seventh?"

"Yes."

"Which means I will have to pick Juno up from flight school for a while, or she'll bite me fiercely. On November first, there's a rehearing of Jinma's case, on the sixth — a premiere in the city theatre. Between all this, we still need to somehow deal with Horns. I'm horrified in advance at the thought of a child suddenly appearing…"

A gray hand stroked his shoulder:

"Calm down. You'll manage, and you'll keep refusing our help until the end."

"Why?"

"Because I know you," Legoshi smiled. He glanced down and to the right, frowned, and even sniffed a little:

"What's this?"

"School correspondence?" Louis uncertainly reached out and took a thick, heavy envelope made of rough yellow paper. It was sealed with tinted beeswax, like a genuine antique letter, and only one line adorned the top:

"To comrades of the Order of the Dragon. If you don't understand what it's about — hands off!"

"Oh-ho," Louis said, surprised. "I think I know who this is from… but how?"

"Something was here before," Legoshi tapped the corner of the table.

"Yes, a paperweight…"

"Exactly. They have a good memory for details, both of them."

"Teleportation mail… dammit."

Carefully breaking the seal — normally it wasn't supposed to be touched, but there was no knife for cutting the package in the office — Louis shook out a small sheet and a phone. He turned the device in his hands:

"It's Pina's. Its nauseatingly blue case, at least."

Legoshi took the sheet, thinking it was a letter, but only read aloud a short phrase:

"'I think I don't need this anymore.'"

"And that's it?"

The wolf silently showed him the almost empty sheet. Shaking his head, Louis pressed the power button, grumbling:

"It probably won't even turn on. Where would they have outlets in Kumandra… oh, no. Still alive."

He sat in the chair while Legoshi, for some reason, carefully put the note back into the envelope. The manufacturer's splash screen loaded; there was no password, and the office owner suddenly froze, raising his eyebrows. His lips, trembling, spread into an uncertain smile, then the deer burst into laughter, almost hysterically, hitting the table with his free hand. Still shaking with laughter, he exclaimed into the space:

"You lucky piece of sheep!"

Intrigued beyond any measure, Legoshi took the phone from fingers trembling with mirth and stared at the wallpaper of the home screen. He looked at it very surprised, mouth half-opened, his ears perked up, and then the wolf involuntarily began to smile, just like Louis.

Two dragons cuddled in the photo. And if he recognized the left one, with cyan and white fur, piercingly lilac eyes, and two horns in the center of her forehead, then the right one… well, these blue eyes, and the snow-white long fur in a well-groomed mane, and slightly changed in shape but still twisted horns he had already seen somewhere. And the smirk — traditionally cheeky but now bewildered, as if the dragon with the mysterious amulet around his neck couldn't believe it had happened.

But the most remarkable detail in the photo turned out to be the eyes. Because both heavenly-blue and amethyst-violet eyes radiated sincere and genuine happiness.