This wasn't the normal talk over tea that the Headmaster had preferred, yet, no matter how many conclusions they came upon, questions seemed to only keep on popping up like mushrooms. It made the man want to take out a piece of paper and write down every mystery he wanted resolved. Valeriana's identity and background seemed to grow darker and dimmer as they proceeded with the discussion.

"Yet, why did you coax Valeriana into leaving so soon? Knowing the situation? You did not even give her the choice to stay behind to investigate on the matter at hand." Seraphina's brows creased at the rush of sympathy. "She must be having a hard time now . . ."

"I did so because it would help keep her mind off it for a while." Lord Aeron said. "And I believe this mission would do a lot in helping her improve and find out more about herself." He then gazed at his reflection on the surface of the tea and frowned. "I also looked into the matter regarding the recent attack with demons."

"And? What has become of it?" Headmaster inquired.

"There are no holes on the barrier, nor are there any signs of forced entry. Though the barrier is gradually becoming weak, it still has enough strength to fend off demons for two months or so . . ." He exchanged glances with the two. "There is no other way strong enough that can assure entry in exception for one thing."

Seraphina and Kylon froze, their eyes bulging as the word rolled off their tongue simultaneously. "A summoning."

Aeron nodded. "Which in turn makes Valeriana's suspicions regarding a planned attack plausible."

"So you believe that someone is after Valeriana's life? For what reason?"

"I wish I knew. Really. I wish I knew."

"Then, how do we help?" Kylon inquired.

"I will not bother Seraphina as you currently have something heavy going on, don't you?" The lord eyed the lady knight knowingly which made her recline in her seat and nod her head slowly. Just knowing she wouldn't be taking much part in this made her guilty. "Do not feel bad. Kylon and I will do our best for Valeriana."

"Please do just that."

"Then, what task will you ask of me?" The headmaster questioned.

"It's really simple . . . but that depends . . . I want a list of suspects who you think may be responsible for this event. If we can start there, we'll eventually get somewhere. I am not sure how things will turn out, but hopefully we'll find something out of this."

"I see. Corvan spoke to me before and he already had his suspicions."

"Who is that?"

"The only person who had the audacity to approach Valeriana under the false pretense of a caring friend during the times she had no one to rely on but herself." His pink eyes glowed and his mouth curved in distaste. "Or, it might be the sworn archenemy that did nothing but threaten her life since the very moment she stepped on the grounds of the academy."

"So it's . . . if you were asked, Headmaster," Lord Aeron started. "Who do you suspect the most?"

"Between A and B? I suspect A."

"So if it's that way, I'll set the trap ready."

#

Much to Valeriana's disappointment, Avaro needed to leave. Charles told her that it would be troublesome to have the villagers panic unnecessarily at the sight of the Celestial Beast. But all ended well after Valeriana took the time saying her tearful goodbyes to the magnificent creature. Avaro laughed at her slight childishness, knowing for sure that this wouldn't be their last meeting.

Their next stop was a place named Deiner. Although it was considerably smaller than West Monte, the spirits of the people residing in it wasn't at all inferior. Wooden buildings lined the streets-mostly houses and stores for varieties of businesses.

It was a lot quieter than the previous place they went to-possibly because it had gotten really late and people already started locking up inside their homes, or probably because the population of the place was a lot lesser, or both.

Still, the wind had gotten a lot colder and the evident sound of a buzzing town, although calmer, rang in the ears of the group as soon as they set their foot within the village territory. Eyes seemed to be drawn towards them as they trod through the chilly streets, their feet making crunching noises against the grassy terrain.

Deiner was located among the hills of Eldona, making its atmosphere more like the country side in comparison to West Monte which stood on a flat terrain and had more developed dirt roads-possibly because of frequent travelers. West Monte was a complete contrast of this peaceful village. Deiner looked like a tranquil paradise barely touched by its residents in exception for the houses they built.

Straight ahead, though, was the biggest of all the standing structures. The intricateness of the design of its exterior made it a pleasing sight. Whoever owned it sure was flaunting their wealth to the people.

"Who lives in the fancy house?" Valeriana asked. "Sure is pretty."

"It's Farron Deiner." The fourth-ranker answered, adjusting the collar of his button-up shirt. He somehow had that twinkle in his eyes Valeriana couldn't discern the reason for as he continued. "He's the village chief."

"Oh, god. So it was this." Tamara muttered, her voice low enough that nobody else heard. "I can't believe I'm here again."

"How did you know?" The girl asked him. "Have you been here before?"

"You're forgetting that Larkovia is my continent." Charles told her. "I know about all about the places in it and the people ruling them since it's a necessity."

"Riiiiggghhht. So that includes memorizing the names of the people ruling the tiny-tiniest villages? How many are there exactly?"

"There are about two hundred and sixty-three villages and towns, one hundred and ninety-eight counties, twenty-nine cities, and eight countries. Twenty percent, however, of the lands are unexplored but finding ways to develop these places would be a much later task."

"And you know each and every one who rules them?" Valeriana gaped.

"Whatever did I say about it being a necessity?"

"I get it." She said. "So that's why you knew about the ships."

"I've just received an update about the itinerary like I usually do." Charles told them. "Our ports are one of the biggest reasons for the current success of the whole continent. Learning about them-"

"Is a necessity. I know." Tamara said, patting him on the back. "You seriously try too hard."

"Do not touch me." He huffed. "You do not bear the weight of being the heir so you do not know." He said.

A look of sadness momentarily crossed the face of the third-ranker, but it was gone as fast as it came. Valeriana caught it though. Once again, there was something weird going on between the two. She didn't know whether to dismiss if off as one of her hallucinations or confront them about it, so she hesitated.

The girl had a feeling. A nagging feeling. That under that cheerful, outgoing, and happy-go-lucky charade Tamara often put up, there was a sadness that ate away at her heart. She could feel it. Wasn't that how those cheesy movies go?

Tamara's expression suddenly hardened and the trace of those emotions went away with a gust of wind.

"Valeriana. Are you just going to stand there?" She asked. "They're already way over there, see?"

Only when Tamara spoke up did she realize she stood there in stupor. She blinked and shot off hurriedly in an attempt to catch up.

"Where are we going?" She inquired, breathing loudly through her mouth. "Are we going to stay in an inn or something?"

"No. Of course not." Charles frowned at her question. "We'll be taking what this town has to offer best, and that manor has it."

She looked to the direction Charles was currently eyeing, and saw the beautiful house she first noticed when they entered the village. He couldn't possibly be thinking of entering that place without any prior notice and demand rooms where they could stay, right? But, knowing the man, he probably would. Charles was unexpectedly twisted at times if he wanted.

"Don't tell me you're actually planning on that." She prodded on, voicing out the thoughts that everyone else had inside their minds.

"It's basic courtesy for the village chief to host any visiting nobilities." He told her. "And company, of course." He added. "I'm sure he'll be more than happy to welcome us into his home."

"Can't we just . . ." Tamara hesitated. "Stay in an ordinary inn like Valeriana suggested? It'll be troublesome to draw attention unnecessarily."

"That's true." Lienhard agreed.

"Not to mention we'll be bothering people." Valeriana added.

"We're in my continent, so I do not recommend going against my decisions." He told them. "Besides," Charles fixed his glasses with a pause before continuing. "I have a little problem I want to settle once and for all. It'll be killing two birds with one stone."

"So you have another motive aside from just finding a place to stay? Is that the reason why we came to this village?" Elfre asked.

"Perhaps." He smirked.

While they continued their journey towards the beautiful house, the eyes of the residents of the village seemed to latch onto them more and more. They did not pay any heed to this though, being used to the amount of attention. Despite that, it was another story for Valeriana.

"Aren't we getting too much attention?" The fifth-ranker questioned.

"Attention is good." Raziel bluntly stated.

"For you, maybe." Genevieve and Zevlin chorused.

The twins and Raziel began to busy themselves debating over a nonsense topic. The sound of their continuous chattering pierced Valeriana's ears so she turned to see what was going on between the three of them. Later on, Elfre got dragged into the debate as well.

Valeriana decided not to interfere to prevent herself from becoming involved. She looked away from them and caught sight of Keelan busily working with the glowing strip around his mouth that, until now, Corvan hadn't bothered removing. Keelan looked like he was standing on the boundary of frustration and hopelessness and unshed tears brimmed from the corners of his eyes.

She sighed. "Poor Keelan. Being a victim of Corvan."

The ever quiet and uncaring Brindon, last ranking member of the Twelve though not the least, suddenly appeared and started walking beside Valeriana. He looked at her with a faint trace of sympathy-a very unusual scenario for the usually poker-faced twelfth-ranker.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"I do remember saying that I'll teach you how to paint." He said, his tone strictly leveled all throughout his sentence.

Valeriana nodded. "That's true." She then chortled. "I guess that with all things that happened, we forgot about it, huh?"

He nodded faintly. "You've been terribly busy with a lot of things."

"That's true."

"I'll start teaching you." He said. "When we get back. If you still wish to learn."

"That'll be very nice." She smiled. "Thank you."

There was a moment of silence before Valeriana decided to ask the boy a question, one that she always thought of herself asking.

"Hey, Brindon." Valeriana started. "Why are you so . . . apathetic? I saw one of your paintings. They're really full of life and emotions. If someone was going to look at it they'll think of their creator as a very expressive person. But you are the complete opposite of that . . . well when it comes to showing how you feel without art." She then sighed. "I hope you don't mind me asking."

"No . . ." He shook his head. "It's fine. I just don't feel comfortable telling people my 'sob' story."

"Right." She awkwardly replied. "You don't have to tell me, though."

Brindon released a very faint version of a sigh that Valeriana almost passed it off as a part of his normal breathing. "Not everyone had a normal childhood." Brindon told her, his brown eyes gleaming. "Many people apply . . . for the academy. I am the same, yet, I am different."

Really. Brindon's slow way of speaking was really eerie, not to mention how often he unnecessarily cut his sentences midway to continue it two seconds later.

"What?" She asked him. "In what way?"

"Because . . . I was once a demon."

"A-a what?" Valeriana felt too shocked to answer.

She was only hearing him wrong, right?

"I'm kidding." He said. Contrary to his words though, there wasn't any trace of playfulness in his voice. "You actually . . . believed me."

"W-what the-" She stammered before eventually recovering from feeling astound-barely.

How exactly was she not going to believe Brindon? He had that serious poker-face of his while telling a joke! What kind of answer was he expecting from her?

"Or I'm not . . . actually kidding."

Which one exactly?

"Hey, Brindon. Telling that joke again? Don't expect anyone to laugh when you tell them that." Zevlin came forward and smacked him good-naturedly on the back. "With that face of yours, practically everyone believed you.

Brindon showed an unexpectedly playful side to him that moment. But, of course him saying that he was once a demon with a straight and solemn face . . . it was impossible for Valeriana to not believe him!

The twelfth's eyes twinkled. She swore that if he could laugh, he would. "Y-you . . ." She sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose.

"Everyone, please keep quiet and let me do the talking." Charles's voice suddenly rang off, making everyone within their group to go silent from his 'request' which was more a command.

"Here we go again . . ." Tamara heaved a deep breath.

Elfre's hand shot forward and held Raziel's mouth close to prevent him from further uttering another word. Keelan, his mouth still bound by the glowing strip of light, carried on with his actions with futile effort. The twins had sealed their lips, making simultaneous and exaggerated motions of locking them close and throwing an imaginary key away.

Corvan merely crossed his arms, waiting patiently among the others with a bored but calm expression and Tamara did the same as she ascended the steps that led to the front porch of the chief's home.

It was then that Valeriana realized they arrived in front of the beautiful house.

Charles straightened his back for a dignified posture before reaching out and pounding a fist against the mahogany doors. The sound initiated some movements within the house. There was a pitter-patter of footsteps beyond the wooden entrance that gradually got louder and not long after, the door swung open and a young woman around Valeriana's age greeted them.

At the sight of Charles, her cheeks reddened. She allowed a faint gasp to escape her lips before hastily bending herself around the waist to greet him.

"M-milord!" She exclaimed. "What bid you to visit us unannounced?" She asked.

"Greetings, Tabina." He answered in a formal tone. "Raise your head."

So Charles actually knew them? No wonder he was insistent on intruding on them.

"He should've just told us." Genevieve whispered, thoughts similar to Valeriana's.

Valeriana raised a brow while the girl shyly erected herself but kept her gaze down. Her eyes were strictly trained to the shoes peaking from under her dress as if they were the most interesting things. She had on a white, wool surcoat over a maroon chainse.

"I-I have not seen you since you started attending the academy." She told him. She looked past Charles and saw the others patiently waiting behind him. "Where are my manners? Please do come in!" She backpedaled to make way for them to enter.

Charles unhesitatingly made his way inside and the rest followed him.

"I certainly hope you do not mind me and my companions' intrusion." He said. "We happened to come by and we were wondering if you have vacant rooms for all of us to stay in."

"Oh! Not at all! I'll go and help prepare your bedrooms right away! We only have about four guest rooms, though. So some of you need to share."

"We do not mind at all."

"Pardon me for asking, though." She said. "But who are your companions?"

"I have brought the entirety of the Celestial Twelve with me, and two others as well." He answered.

"T-the . . ." She gulped nervously, glancing between everyone. "C-Celestial T-Twelve? Oh, w-what an h-honor to meet y-you." She stuttered.

The girl named Tabina seemed to be having a nervous breakdown that she backed away, trembling while she covered her mouth with her hands as if to prevent herself from screaming. "I-I'm s-sorry! I-I'll call my e-elder b-brother to assist a-all of you instead!" With that, she ran away and passed through the door right ahead of them that led to who-knows-what.

"What's with her?" Elfre asked. "Do we look that scary?"

"Should I have not told the truth?" Charles mulled, rubbing his chin. "I should've taken into consideration the fact that Tabina had low confidence in facing people she deems to be . . . superior."

"She surely had no problem facing you." Tamara pointed out.

"Dunno." Valeriana shrugged.

"You left our guests waiting by the hall?" A voice echoed from afar. "Tabina, that's seriously impudent of you."

"About time." Charles muttered.

Valeriana took the opportunity to survey her surroundings. The walls were paneled with wooden linings in which beautiful paintings with varying sizes hung. Illumination was provided by wall lights-flickering candles within protective glass-casing. The floor was of bare mahogany tiles, illustrating repetitive patterns of curved and straight lines. Occasionally, she would also see portraits of different people whose faces she was unfamiliar with.

The pitter-pattering footsteps came to a halt behind the door Tabina previously ran through and, not long after, it opened. A man donned in a long, fancy coat that went halfway towards his knees appeared. His sleeves were cuffed and loose, showing the undershirt he had underneath. Partnered with this were his knee breeches that seemed strikingly similar to Victorian ones and boots that reached below his knees.

What made Valeriana and the other girls from within the group hush was the fact that he was quite charming. Soft, brown curls fell on his forehead, reaching about an inch past his neck. His eyes were a vibrant shade of green, but not quite as green as Corvan's. They were olive-green.

Tabina had the exact same characteristics when it came to the hair and eyes. The resemblance between them was a proof of the same blood they shared. Perhaps a brother and a sister? The man didn't seem to be that old at all-but then again, all Valemnians had deceiving looks that made their age hard to determine.

Valeriana felt suspicious. What if he was actually already really old?

"Charles! Old friend!" He laughed, extending an arm forward and hooking it around the fourth-ranker.

A friend of Charles, huh. Valeriana inwardly thought. Maybe he isn't actually old . . . or . . . wait! How old is Charles anyway?!

"And you brought friends as well, I see." He nodded towards the others good-naturedly. "To what do I owe the honor? I haven't seen you since you left for the academy seven years ago!"

"Seven years . . ." Valeriana trailed off. She nudged Genevieve who stood beside her quietly. "Um . . . how old is Charles, exactly?"

"Well . . . about forty-four or forty-five years old, I guess." She replied, counting her fingers. "Why?"

"Forty-four divided by two is twenty-two, which makes that his equivalent age in human years." She counted with her fingers. "Shocking." Valeriana said. "For some reason, Charles looks much older than that."

"Probably from the stress." Genevieve chuckled. "Or because he's actually very mature."

"I guess so." She said. "How old are you and Zevlin?"

"Oh, we're forty!" Genevieve answered.

"Forty? Twenty? Three years older than me?" She gaped. "I thought you were supposed to join the academy when you're sixteen-I mean, thirty-two-or something!"

"You can join when you're thirty-two or older, silly." The ninth-ranker chuckled. "It all depends when you decide and when you get accepted. Remember that guy in our class named Wagner? He's actually already fifty-eight."

"I'm getting confused by the double the age of humans, divide Valemnian's by two thing! Don't you have . . . er . . . elementary level? Kindergarten? High School? I never really thought about the educational system of this world yet."

"I don't think I have heard of those."

"Then how do you guys learn?"

"All kids are taught basic skills like reading and writing at home. There is also a small school for children in every villages and towns that teaches things like arithmetic. Education is mostly optional." She thoughtfully answered. "We only go to the academy when we decide that we want to serve high positions in the government and such."

"Really? Back in my world, you're required to have a very high level of education in order to survive. Children are required to start schooling at the age of five or six-which is roughly ten or twelve in Valemnian years." She sighed. "But you guys are pretty lax, huh?"

"Well, I guess so." She shrugged. "But you'll be surprised to know that the rate of illiteracy in this world is very low! And meeting a person who cannot read and write is very rare." Genevieve smiled and winked at the girl.

"That's great." She nodded. "I wish it's the same in my world."

After being lost in their own conversation for a moment, Valeriana realized that Charles had begun presenting everyone to the man. Rowe finished with a brief introduction and a manly handshake, leaving the man with an awestruck expression as they became acquainted. As usual, the second-ranker looked humble and down-to-earth.

Next was Tamara who didn't allow a kiss on the back of her hand. Instead, she strongly gripped the man's fingers within a deathly handshake-which made him cringe.

"Tamara Silver." The girl flashed him a smile. "Third-ranker. I hope you remember me."

The moment she released his fingers, it was already red. "Ooh, yes, how can I forget?" He breathed. "You . . . have a very strong grip as usual, milady."

"Well, thank you."

"As usual, you're as fiery as your red hair." He chuckled. "So you're third, Charles is fourth. Who is the fifth, then?"

"That would be her." Tamara nodded towards Valeriana, who Genevieve nudged forward playfully.

She suddenly felt conscious of her appearance. She was covered in filth and wasn't at all presentable-like she rolled on dirt after a fierce battle with some kind of wild animal. Her clothes seriously needed washing, not to mention that there was muck in her hair. The strands needed untangling too!

"Uh . . . nice to meet you." She said, extending her good and uninjured hand forward for a handshake. She felt embarrassed enough.

"I do hope you don't crush my fingers as well." He chuckled, gingerly taking Valeriana's hand into his. He attempted to kiss her knuckles but Valeriana kept a firm grip on his hands and started shaking it. He looked beyond bewildered.

"A handshake is fine, thanks." She told him.