Valeriana felt worried about Bertram, but heeded the king's advice instead. They made their way down to the ballroom where the performance just ended and the room had erupted into applause. The crowd was no longer just concentrated before the stage, but there were several people on different points around the room, which Valeriana was guessing were knights.

Tamara approached them with a big smile. "Your Majesty!"

"Lady Tamara," said the king with a bright smile.

She then lowered her voice but maintained the happy charade. "We have scoured high and low and are still keeping watch around the immediate vicinity. So far, nothing strange has happened. I trust the prince is well."

"Yes, yes, he is." Laedin nodded. "I immediately had him confined should anything have happened."

"Everything seems to be clear. There's no need to panic. We'll do our best—there's still Lady Seraphina and the other knights. I'm sure no demon would dare attack with this many veterans around." She smiled.

"Thank you," he told her. "The coronation ceremony will start in an hour. We only need to hold out until then."

"Yes, of course. We'll continue looking around for any signs of suspicious activity. We may be still just students, but you can rest assured we will do our best to make sure that nothing happens today."

"Thank you, Tamara. Go on, then. I will not bother you young folks. I will see to some matters. Continue enjoying the night." He then turned to Valeriana. "If there is any problem at all, Valeriana, do not hesitate to ask for my help."

"I will do so, Your Majesty."

He smiled at Tamara once more and gave Valeriana a gentle pat on the back. Tamara nodded back at him and beckoned for Valeriana to come with her while the king went to another part of the room. Kylon approached him, curtsying before starting to speak. Valeriana didn't get a chance to hear what they were saying and was dragged away by the third-ranker.

"Come on, Val. We have to prepare for the coronation in the coming hour."

The Twelve weren't allowed to directly take part in the entire issue, considering they were students. However, they were asked to keep a lookout within the ballroom should anything suspicious happen. On the other hand, Corvan and Rowe were lucky enough to be brought along. They accompanied the knights for a quick scan of the area outside the walls of the palace and later came back to join the others.

"How'd it go?" Valeriana curiously asked the two.

Rowe shook his head. "There is nothing, everything seems safe. We'll stay wary just in case."

Valeriana nodded. The trigger might've been caused by Prince Bertram's spontaneous 'transformation'. Right now, the girl wasn't too confident if her 'purification' will last. She didn't have any idea what was going on. She had no inkling as to what the infection really was.

"Why does everything look so gloomy?" they heard someone say.

Turning, they saw the twin, diabolical, old men—Lords Lienhard and Aeron—looking about the room from the entrance. In an instant, the Twelve's faces either soured or their brows shot up to their hairline. These two late comers—such attention-seekers. One would expect the archduke and court leader to arrive earlier than everyone else considering they were of higher stature and needed to show propriety, but that was just not the case.

The two lords made their way down the stairs and dismissed the man who was about to announce their arrival. Aeron cackled and said, "My friend, do not bother!"

The man jumped in fright as the lord's hand landed on his shoulder. He stilled in shock but Lord Aeron paid no heed to his reaction and continued flying down the stairs like it was nothing. Lord Lienhard was the same.

The presence of another royalty made the people stare. However, the Twelve could care less. Seeing those two inspired another headache to come about.

Valeriana, having found out about the addictive qualities of the wine on the buffet table, mindlessly began navigating towards it once more. Corvan, who saw this, followed the girl with a frown.

Before picking up a glass, she looked around as though she was going to steal a cookie from the jar and picked one up by the stem. Just as she brought it up to her lips, someone took it off from her fingers, making her brows pucker in frustration. As she brought her eyes up, she saw Corvan glaring at her.

"What did I say, Valeriana?"

"It doesn't matter what you said, you can't dictate what I do. I can handle myself!" She grabbed one glass off the table again and downed it in one go to Corvan's shock.

"You are getting more audacious by the minute," Corvan told her, his frown getting worse. "Might I remind you, this is not the Twelve's residences, rather, it is a public celebration with many elites around. Embarrassing yourself will be a bad reflection to the academy."

Valeriana grumbled, the wine stuck inside her mouth that she started gurgling. Corvan looked at her, displeased, as she swallowed crudely and crossed her arms. At that point, she felt a spike of dizziness that she wobbled unsteadily.

"Good gods, this is what I said. You stupid wench. Just what will it take for you to listen?" Corvan grumbled.

Valeriana blanked out for a moment. The surroundings spun and became fuzzy. She didn't know what happened, but there was a hand on her wrist that dragged her forward until she tripped on her own foot. Afterwards, something wrapped around her waist like a ribbon and she was pulled from the ground, rendering her weightless. There were gasps around her, but she was too dizzy to care.

"Dear, what has happened?" someone asked.

The rest were a blur and she blanked out eventually. When she came to, she was on a bed looking up to a foreign ceiling.

"Holy shiznits," she muttered as she sat up.

"So you've awakened. The coronation will start in twenty-five minutes. Are you well enough to attend? If not, I will take you back to the residences." Corvan snapped the book he was holding close and he stood up.

Valeriana turned to look at him. "What happened?"

"You collapsed is what happened," he said, approaching the bedside while tucking his hands in his pockets. "The king was kind enough to lend a room upstairs. He seemed rather worried." He shook his head. "You stupid idiot."

The fifth-ranker's temper flared at that. "You called me stupid and now you're calling me a stupid idiot, just how dumb do you plan to take me as?"

"Well, for one, I told you so many times not to drink more since you seem rather weak to alcohol, but you just cannot listen." He crossed his arm and glared at her with his smouldering emerald eyes that she started scratching her head.

The updo of her hair had been totally messed up, leaving her to grumble and pull off the knots. The locks cascaded down her back in leaping curls, marked by the tight twists it had been pulled to. The golden pins used to hold it in place was in her hands, glinting beautifully under the light.

Now she didn't know where to put it.

She heard Corvan's loud sigh echo and the pins she was holding were taken out of her hands. To her shock, strong hands brushed through her tendrils, twisting a bunch from above her ear and pinning it in place. The hair on the back of her neck stood, including the ones on her arms down to her legs.

"H-hey! Don't do that." She shied away from his touch when his finger brushed against the curve of her ear. "That tickles a lot, hey!"

"Shut it. Be grateful."

She sat still and fumed. "Do you even know how to fix hair?" she asked curiously.

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

She felt hesitant, but then remembered he used to have really long hair—until she cut it off. This thought put her under depression when she remembered what happened. It was funny at first, but now she really regretted it.

"Sorry."

His hands felt calming, even so. They were warm and gentle as they brushed against her scalp—nothing too harsh. Still, goddamn, it tickled!

She couldn't believe Corvan was doing this. And she couldn't believe it was Corvan doing this.

His knuckles brushed against her shoulders. She felt her stomach drop at the contact, but kept herself still to prevent embarrassing herself. She didn't know what it was, but there was a strange static that made her want to shiver and jump away.

"Hey, hey, it's good. Don't bother." She tried coaxing him to stop but his hands continued moving.

When he was done, he stepped away, his back facing her as he fixed his suit and collar. He brushed back his now short hair including the lonely bunch left of its previous length. It seemed to Valeriana he missed it. Somewhat.

He turned and looked at Valeriana directly in the eyes only to cut the gaze abruptly. "I apologize."

"What for?" she asked.

He didn't say anything. Instead, he continued stepping back. This made Valeriana feel more confused.

She got off the bed and took a deep breath. "Corvan, there's something I need to talk to you about."

With that, he raised his chin once more. "You do." His tone of voice made her frown. "What I want to know is what happened that made you run off with Lady Seraphina. Although I do trust Her Excellency, my instincts tell me something had happened."

This time, it was Valeriana who stepped back. Her gaze dropped to her feet and she found her fingers twisting together anxiously. Corvan came over, took her by the wrist, and pulled her gloves free. She tried to resist at first, but he was strong enough to hold her down.

He flipped her palm over to examine her mark. "It got bigger. What did you do? You had an encounter with a demon, did you not?"

She looked away further.

"Answer me, Valeriana. Why could you not just turn that demon away? You're putting yourself in—" He stopped as he tried to put things together. "Unless this matter inclined you to purify. But what degree of importance will compel you enough to potentially sacrifice yourself?"

His questions were more directed to himself rather than Valeriana.

"The prince."

She breathed.

"I am right. Aren't I? Those demons have targeted the prince. So this means that demon from the arena wasn't totally spouting nonsense. He was telling the truth. Tell me, did you purify the prince before then?"

Valeriana didn't answer at first. Instead, she took a few moments, looked at Corvan in the eyes. When she saw that he was dead serious, she was left no choice but to admit. "Yes."

"Good gods." His fingers flew to massage the crease between his brows. "The king knows, then."

"Yes."

"And Lady Seraphina as well."

"Yes."

"I know this matter is dire, but have you ever thought what this will do to you if ever, Valeriana?" he asked. "Why do you not tell anyone?"

"I didn't think I should," she whispered. "It didn't feel right. This concerns the royal family, how can I carelessly tell someone about what's going on?"

"But have you thought about yourself? What I cannot bear to understand is why you always put others before yourself. Your altruism will eventually cost you. Do you not understand this?"

"I know." Valeriana firmly met his eyes and clenched her fists. "I know perfectly what I'm doing and even though I'm supposed to be scared, I'm not." She paused heavily, as though trying to arrange her thoughts. "I don't know why it's happening as well, but if I am to find out more about this, I have to use it. And I need to use it. How can I let Avaro die? How can I let the prince turn into a demon?"

She approached him. He made no reply, instead, he looked out the windows. The winds blew through the open frames and parted the light curtains that hung on the walls. The folds divided and revealed a setting sun. Bubbles of purple and orange marked the horizon with golden hues and shadowed clouds as accents. With the field of flowers lining the bottom, it became an even more mesmerising sight to see.

"Perhaps there are things I'm not meant to understand," he whispered. "Like you, for instance."

"What do you mean?"

He didn't answer. It took a good few seconds of awkward silence.

"This reminds me of a song," he suddenly whispered, making Valeriana throw her brows upwards.

"What song?" she asked, curious. The golden light laid a new shade on his eyes, giving it a distant look.

A/N: The lyrics below are original and has no melody. As a form of compensation, listen to this guy's instrumental cover of Everglow by Coldplay—which I think is a really cool song. I know you guys have already deduced that I love T. Swift, but hey, I pretty much like all genres so long as it's good music.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

His voice reverberated from his chest, a smooth tenor laced with strong notes. "The sun has set. Yet, there is no need for a dark night . . . for there hangs starlight, and the moon ascents."

Valeriana turned even more curious as she heard the words.

"Mountains may crumble . . . and disaster befalls. Pity the land for no matter how far it tried, it could not reach the sky." He paused. Valeriana gazed at the sun he was looking at so intently.

"Yet the clouds descend as rain, eager to kiss the terrain. If the slopes crumble, then let it be. Let water fall where the trees may grow." He gave Valeriana a look and held out his palm. Notwithstanding her confusion, she took his hand.

A step of the feet to the right and a slow shift to the left. It didn't feel like it, but there was a rhythm that matched his song—slow, yet full of sadness and optimism. Valeriana unknowingly followed the melody. The words echoed of a suffering heart looking forward to a brighter day . . . the hopelessness in search for light in the midst of darkness.

"Like times of strife. In the advent of war, a song will rise. Echoes of cries, the rolling of dice." His hand settled on her lower back, making her heart judder. There was a tightening in her chest, shortness of breath. Even so, their movements continued smooth and slow. Her hands trembled as she gazed at Corvan's eyes.

His hands firmed around her fingers. She stared at him nervously. "Um . . ."

"Fear it not, despite the uncertainty of culmination. Despite fear of the unknown, nothing will go wrong, not with a heart standing strong," he finished.

Afterwards, he started singing a haunting hymn, one that made the chills rise from her skin. The closeness enabled her to inhale his musky scent with crushed mint. She didn't know what they were doing, but she didn't mind. That comfort gave her fear.

"What got into you? What's this song?" she asked as she tried to break away.

He stopped, looked at her for a moment, then let her go. "It doesn't have any name. People called it Warsong."

"I see."

"Valeriana," Corvan started. "I am not in any position to dictate what you do with this power, however, all I ask is that you do not do anything that will compromise your safety. You may not fear what consequences you will get for helping others before yourself, but think of the people around you—especially your mother and your younger brother."

She stopped short and stared at him. "I'm sorry. I was getting ahead of myself and thinking insensitively. If I made you worry, I'm sorry."

"Indeed . . . so the reason you collapsed wasn't entirely because of the wine. And you still found the time to drink?"

"Wha—why are you starting that conversation? I wanted to drink. I didn't know it would cause me to pass out! Don't even blame it on the wine!"

The argument sparked once again when knocks came to the door. Corvan and Valeriana composed themselves as the first-ranker told whoever it was to come in. It took a few moments and a twisting knob before door opened. The entrance hatched and Seraphina came in.

"I apologize, did I come in at the wrong time?" she asked. "I did not mean to interrupt whatever it was, but since Valeriana was awake, I decided to see if she was well enough to attend the ceremony. It'll be in five minutes so we have to get into position."

Valeriana was feeling infuriated about the last part of their conversation, so she refused to look at Corvan.

"We're good," said Valeriana. She approached the lady knight, but could not resist it and looked over her shoulder. She found Corvan's gaze on her back, making her unknowingly drop her eyes with a subtle sigh of dissatisfaction.