by RA. Gil
Seraphina turned to look at the king in the eye. “Is it really necessary for me to take the throne? It does not feel quite right.”
“Remember this, do not think of yourself as unworthy. If ever, you are most appropriate to succeed as I step down. Should Bertram ever be unable to take my place, I am counting on you to do so.”
“No.” She said firmly. “I will find a way for His Highness. I have seen the hard work he has gone through the past thirty-six years, preparing for the day he would become the king—regent or not. Though he is not the True Heir, he still deserves to be given the chance to be rewarded what he strived hard for.”
“I feel the same way.”
After a brief pause, Seraphina gave the king a look of concern before deciding to ask, “How about your health, Your Majesty? Has there been any improvement?”
Looking at the king, he got worse and worse every day. It might go unnoticed to some people, but Seraphina was well aware that he was getting weaker. He tried not to let anyone see, but he could not easily hide it from the perceptive eyes of the lady knight.
The king gave a weak and unconvincing shake of refusal. “Nothing has changed.”
Seraphina pursed her lips as she contemplated. “Do you want me to find the cause of this?”
King Laedin gave out a weary sigh. “No . . .” His voice was soft, but held a commanding tone. “It's fine. Focus on my son. He is the priority.”
The woman did not agree with his decision and tried to protest, but was stopped.
A few knocks interrupted the both of them. “Seraphina? Your Majesty?”
“Come in, Edeltraud.”
The man opened the door and bowed reverently to the king and his niece. “News came from the academy. I thought you will be interested, Lady Seraphina.”
She looked at Edeltraud questioningly. “What is it?”
“Perhaps your presence is required there, milady.” He said. “It calls for an emergency. It seems that the young human miss had gotten herself in trouble.”
“Valeriana? What happened?”
“She was attacked.”
Seraphina didn't wait any second longer. She bowed to the king and dashed right out of the door. The king himself could not hide the worry from his face. He motioned for Edeltraud to come forward and wasted no time giving him instructions.
“Please ensure the child is well.” He told him.
Chapter Forty-Six ♣ Danger in a Bath
Valeriana didn't see Chavi around for History class and so she got worried. The girl came around during their lunch break though and apologized, saying she woke up late.
“Seriously? I thought you were sick or something. I was going to the dormitories to visit you.” The girl sat down in front of one the vacant tables and sighed, setting the tray of her food down to the surface.
“I'm fine.” Chavi waved her hand dismissively. “You're only going to make a commotion in the dormitories if you go there. Being one of the Twelve, you already attract too much attention.” She referred to the current number of eyes trained to their direction at the moment.
She glanced around and saw her point. “Attracting attention or not, you're still my friend, remember? Of course, I'll worry.”
Chavi shook her head and breathed out heavily. “You really are too kind for your own good, Valeriana.” She said. “You have to be careful or people will take advantage of that. You may not look like it, but you're quite the naïve person.”
Valeriana bit into a sandwich as she raised a brow at her friend. “Wah da ya mwean?” She mumbled through the food in her mouth.
Chavi shook it off. “Nothing.”
The human girl continued to happily munch away on her food, stuffing her mouth and letting her worries disappear. Eating seemed to always offer some comfort to Valeriana.
“By the way,” Chavi started. “I don't see you around the Twelve during lunch break. Why aren't you with them?”
“Why? I can't be with you?” Valeriana teasingly winked at her.
They giggled at each other and continued eating until a voice interrupted.
“Have you anticipated my return?”
Valeriana froze, but grabbed the water beside her and chugged it down before turning to face Courtney, who stood behind her with a domineering presence.
The whole room was swept with silence.
“Missed me?” Courtney mockingly asked, a hint of sarcasm mixed with her tone.
Valeriana smiled at her sheepishly. She didn't know what she was supposed to say. “Welcome back?”
Chavi and Valeriana saw Julian hanging around behind Courtney. He had a smug look on his face. So he was a follower of the former fifth. No wonder the attitude.
Chavi gave him a death glare.
The former fifth raised a brow at Valeriana, not actually expecting her reply. “Thanks.” She answered, walking towards the girl with confident strides. “I have heard of your achievements as fifth-ranker during my absence.” She paused, eyeing the girl up and down. “And that you genuinely defeated Zion. I must say I am quite impressed. You did a fairly good job keeping up the name of fifth-ranker—for a human.”
“Courtney's going to—” Julian began, but Courtney shut him up.
“Quiet, Julian.” She said.
“Sorry.”
Valeriana looked questioningly at the both of them. “Thank you, I guess?”
“Don't doubt.” She told her. “It's a compliment.”
“I . . . see.”
“Now, I do not want you to unnecessarily see me as a spiteful villain trying to ruin your life here in the academy—which I am sure you've viewed me as so many times with how the things went during our last fight.”
Damn right. She couldn't help but think.
“I will tell you now and I will continue to tell you as many times as it takes.” She paused, placing a hand on her hip. “My intentions may be misunderstood but they strive of a greater purpose far beyond your understanding.”
“You're making me sound like I'm stupid.” Valeriana gave her a look of aggravation, angered the she was undermining her intelligence. She didn't know if this girl was actually making peace with her or trying to push her to her limits.
Courtney quirked a brow. “I have heard of your . . . dim-wit tendencies, although I acknowledge your fast-learning qualities regarding swordsmanship and other things.”
She huffed, her lower lip slightly protruding forward in a pout. “I do admit that I can be dense sometimes.” She said that in an almost whispering voice that no one else was able to hear. “But I'm not dim-witted.”
“Anyhow, I am willing to give you what you asked for.” Courtney's tone was smug and came with unwavering confidence. A smile tugged on the corners of her mouth and graced her deceivingly angelic face. “I, too, desire to live my life in peace, so if this settles the conflict between us, so be it.”
Valeriana felt her brows rising against her will as she gazed at the former fifth in confusion. “What?”
“Valeriana Kerrigan, what do you say about another duel?” Her smile turned sweet that the girl forced herself to stay calm and not vomit.
She hated sweets. It brought nothing but bad things to her life.
“Another one?” She asked, her eyes wide.
“Courtney is going to beat you into a pulp—”
“Julian.” Courtney reprimanded.
He quieted.
“I am going to apologize for his rude behavior while I was gone. A dog goes wild when not supervised by its master.” She cocked her hips to the side as she folded her arms. “Punching him was not enough to compensate for his disrespectfulness. So, I humbly ask for your pardon. Anything he does reflects on me as I accepted him as my aide.”
“B-but, Lady C-Courtney . . .” Julian stammered.
She ignored him. “Do you not want to solve this issue once and for all? I did tell you that I will be back to take what is mine, but if you manage to keep it, then I will leave you in peace—if you agree to du
el with me on a regular basis.”
“So you basically won't stop until you have it back?” She started chewing on her bottom lip.
She was already starting to think that Courtney was somehow not that evil like she thought she was, but all of that was starting to change once again. Seriously, why in the world did she have to go through this?
“I'm just doing what you always do.” She said—as though it was the most obvious thing ever. “Didn't you say so yourself? I will never give up?”
Valeriana suppressed a groan.
“Think about it.” The girl said. “Give me your answer by the end of the day. I'll give you the peace you need for now.” Courtney said. She turned away from Valeriana and started walking away.
Valeriana gazed at Courtney's back as she disappeared.
Should she accept?
If she was ever going to agree, she had a few proposals in mind as well.
She had to include not being bothered during her meals in the list too. Courtney seemed to have a bad habit of coming around during her precious lunch break.
Chapter Forty-Seven ♣ Demon's Attack
Rumors were going around about Courtney challenging Valeriana to a duel once again. Perhaps the news had already spread throughout the entire academy by the end of the day. It was the hottest topic of discussion among the student body. People were wondering about what Valeriana was going to do now that Courtney had returned.
This information was basically the truth, and it was inevitable to be the center of everyone's attention most of the time since Valeriana stuck out like a sore thumb. Being a member of the circle and being a human at the same time didn't help too.
However, the thing that appalled her about the rumors was it said discomforting things about her and Courtney that made the girl frown—things like how the former fifth had thrown insulting words her way during their recent face-off. She knew that people had the tendency to misinterpret what they saw, but the extent of the stories circulating was disturbing it made her want to vomit.
Although Courtney did have villain potential, she wasn't all that bad! She was willing to dissolve any misunderstandings between her and Valeriana. Courtney might've had a bad temper—that was her flaw—but she wasn't as narrow-minded and hard to get along with like some other people . . . maybe.
“She deserves it.” A student whispered.
It seemed as though she still had a long way to go earning the recognition of the other students. Though, it would seem impossible since it was hard to please everyone.
“What?” The other girl whispered. “I heard Valeriana had plans her own! Someone told me that she and that girl sticking around her—what was her name? Chavi? Oh, right. Some said they tried to kill Courtney!”
“Really?”
Valeriana was aggravated. How dare they! Why were they bad-mouthing Valeriana and Chavi? Who was even spreading these rumors?
The girl decided to make her presence known and cleared her throat. “Who's killing who?” She asked.
The gossipers were startled. They turned to look at her with round, wide eyes. Their fingers visibly trembled, knees knocking together at the thought of her being there all along. Both gave her a brief bow and a nod of acknowledgement before scurrying off.
The goal of the academy was to teach the students the very way how the world worked and prepare them for the situations they would most likely encounter after they graduated. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten—it was the survival of the fittest. The weak submitted to the strong.
The academy had a very competitive system.
The life here was slowly crushing her will, but she would never crumble—at least, she would try. She would stay together until that weight was lifted. These rumors were nothing. They would never dampen her spirit. They shouldn't. They couldn't.
As they all left, she sighed to herself.
The day felt as though it would never end.
It would've been easier if Chavi was there with her, but once again, the girl was nowhere to be seen. They last met during lunch, but the girl wasn't around for the rest of the day. She disappeared sometime after Alchemy and wasn't anywhere to be found.
Right now, she was headed to their Demonology class.
She was hoping to see Chavi during this time. Maybe she could ask the girl what in the world was wrong with her. There was something about Chavi that made her feel quite worried. Her friend was acting quite restless since they met during break time.
Was she hiding something from her?
The short time they spent together made Valeriana care for the other girl. In fact, the fifth-ranker was particularly a very affectionate individual when she got close to someone. Chavi was no different. She felt like she was the only one who gave her the chance when everyone else shunned her, so there was no doubt Valeriana considered Chavi as some kind of best friend.
Of course, she missed Xandra. She was her best-est best friend during her high school days. But, with all the things going on, she couldn't find any way to contact her. The girl must be worried.
Valeriana felt homesick suddenly.
Groaning, she reached for the familiar door and pushed through it. She went inside without thinking and looked around, expecting to see the usual classroom scenario, but was horribly disappointed by what greeted her instead.
Decaying ash-colored walls with blotches of stains the shade of brown and black. She could taste the air and that horribly disgusting, putrid scent that wafted under her nose. There were no chairs or tables—not even a board for lectures. There was only a dug-out hole at the far side portion of the room—which was unbelievably large in size—where it went as low as ten feet deep. There was a dark cage with rusting bars at the farthest corner.
Her jaws dropped.
Valeriana's face turned beet red as all eyes turned to her. She backed away from all the unfamiliar faces and tried to leave. However, unfortunately for her, the teacher arrived looking very disappointed and somewhat upset.
This wasn't her teacher.
These weren't her classmates.
Heck, this wasn't her class!
She tried to apologize, but was glared at by the teacher. “Uh . . .”
“You were late for five minutes.”
“I—” She tried to reason out that she got lost—while daydreaming—and wanted to rush out of the door as fast as she could, but the teacher looked as though she wasn't going to allow that any time soon.
“You aren't even wearing the appropriate clothes for the exercise today! Didn't I say to get ready?” She growled a sharp-toothed growl and stared pointedly at Valeriana with slanted eyes that made her shut up. “Never mind.” She huffed. “If you don't wish to wear the appropriate clothes, then don't. But,” she gave a pause that made chills crawl down the girl's spine. “You are going first.”
“What?” She gaped.
This couldn't be! She had to explain that she didn't belong in this class!
As she panicked, the teacher pushed her into the hole, prodding her to jump in. “But you have to understand that I—”
“I will accept no excuses!” She exclaimed.
She threw Valeriana a long sword before forcing her to jump into the hole. The girl did so hesitantly, wary of the stares of pity being shot her way. No one seemed to want to speak up—not with the mood the teacher was in.
Her feet echoed with a soft thump and she tried once more to protest as she looked up to meet the teacher's eyes. “You have to listen that I—”
“I will not listen to anything you say until you finish this test.” The teacher interjected. “And that is if you survive.”
“What?” She found herself asking.
“Release the demon!”
“Huh? What demon—wait! What the heck!” She looked around in panic until her eyes landed on the cradle of darkness sitting quietly from behind the cage.
She didn't feel good about this.
She tightened her grip around the weapon she was given and chos
e to prepare herself instead as the bars were raised. The loud creaking and whirring deafeningly rang in her ears, and since the teacher wouldn't listen, maybe she should just focus on whatever was coming.
“That demon is a swift one.” Said the teacher. “You will not be able to simply see it coming. Don't rely too much on your sight.”
Valeriana was waiting for the feeling of ominous presence, but nothing came. If it was a demon, she would've already felt its aura from that distance. She looked up at the teacher questioningly. “This isn’t a real demon, is it? A simulation?” She asked her, but all she received was just a questioning stare.
She had been fighting these things for the quota. Of course she would know.
Valeriana's hackles rose as a brush of wind touched her cheek. She glared at her surroundings, panicking slightly as she contemplated what she was supposed to do next.
This didn’t seem to be the same level as the simulations provided for the first year students.
“Holy shiznits what level is this?”
“Watch out!” An exclamation echoed in her ear. Nimble hands drew a nearby sword with a shing and the blade was quickly thrown at the spot behind Valeriana, pinning the demon that was about to pounce on her. As if that wasn't enough, she heard the cocking of a gun followed by its swift roar. A bullet came flying, spearing through the creature and lodging itself on the wall behind it.
Valeriana turned, only to see the demon disappearing with a puff—not exactly like the scenario she saw with Seraphina.
Gasps of awe reached Valeriana's hearing and she quickly looked up at her savior, only to see Aneeka with her eyes narrowed looking down at her. She almost fell over in relief.
Like a Texas cowgirl, she blew on the gun she held and tucked it on her waist belt.
Aneeka turned to meet the teacher. “Spare the girl. She's not from this class.” She said. “That's Valeriana Kerrigan, fifth-ranker—a first year.”
Yet another round of gasps.
The teacher raised her brows. “A first year?”
Aneeka nodded as she moved to help Valeriana out of the hole, slightly hitting her on the back of the head as though to scold her.