– But it's so boring! I'd like to be friends with someone. Or fall in love.

– Louise! You're too young! And you know very well that boys can never become Butterflies.

– Fine," the girl replied simply and continued with her morning meal.

"What about my daddy? Didn't she marry my mom who was a Butterfly? Why are they allowed to be together but I'm not? It's not fair at all that I live apart from them!" out of frustration, Louise almost pushed a hole in the wooden floor with her foot.

– What's the matter with you? " Galya asked, looking at the girl's face.

– Nothing. I'm tired of being alone," she threw back.

– Go to the butterflies. Talk to them.

– I don't want to. I don't want anything. I'll go to the Glade. Alone.

– Mom, come on, stop it!" asked Niels, a sixteen-year-old boy. His family lived near the city's border with the Forests and Steppes, in a two-story cottage overlooking a small pasture where three cows and one lone sheep grazed every day. No one really knew who bred them – they probably lived on their own.

– That uniform looks good on you, though. Let me see.

– Come on, mother, I'm not a child anymore. I don't want to fight anyone. There's hardly anyone living in the Steppes, what's the point?

– You were born into a Mountain family, so don't try to run away from your destiny.

– All right, all right," Niels replied. His red and straight hair almost reached his shoulders, so the helmet was pressing a little on his head. In general, Niels was not very attractive (and he almost never socialized with girls, though he was influenced by his father, Henry Mountain, who did not recognize any modern realities), but he was smart enough to study for high grades. Now all schoolchildren are on vacation, but Niels and his companions had to take an exam at the end of summer. In half an hour classes would start, and he still hadn't gotten on the bus…

He threw off his armor and hastily put on jeans and a white shirt, threw his smartphone into his bag and slung it on his shoulder.

– See you this evening, Mom.

– Have a good day. Don't forget, you have Latin class at five today.

– I remember.

Niels knew that after school he would have to go to the knights of the village, but he still hadn't given up hope of getting a good degree.

Louise walked along the Glade, though she didn't expect to reach the border of the Forests and Steppes today and see the City. Sure, there were a few streets of private houses in that neighborhood, but the girl wasn't afraid of anything. Her wings hadn't appeared yet, so no one would be able to pick on her. Louise had long known that she lived in two worlds at once: the ordinary world of humans and the Forest School, and the magical world of Butterflies and those she would soon be able to meet there.

Louise sat down to rest on a rock in the middle of the golden ears – where she lived, the fields and meadows changed endlessly. It looked like a chessboard. Like it wasn't on this planet.

The girl straightened her hair and threw her head back – now she looked like a fairy princess. She's only twelve, with her whole life ahead of her. Louise looked at the houses and wondered who might live in them: shepherds, farmers or office workers? It would be nice to go to the City just once…

There wasn't a soul around. It was the same as always. Louise's soul longed for adventure and new discoveries, but her inner voice told her that it was better to keep a low profile and stay at home, under Galina's supervision. Galina… who was Galina, anyway? For as long as Louise could remember, her mother had never flown anywhere. Did she have wings? Or maybe they were in the distant past and now they're gone? Galya had always said that Louise's wings would be so huge that sometimes she wouldn't even be able to squeeze through a regular doorway. I wonder if other Butterflies have wings like that. There are insect butterflies, there are girl butterflies, and there are boy butterflies – just boys. How do they live without flying and toasting with wildflower jam? They must be unimaginably bored. By the way, Louise had never spoken to a boy before-she'd never seen one, not even at school. She's kind of weird, this Forest School.