Valeriana rose from the bed and looked around to see that the sun was high up in the air. She still couldn't get over having to meet the younger version of herself, which was surreal. The soul had a lot of mysteries and now, even the white jade in her hands became a tad bit more mysterious than ever.

She tucked back the white jade into its own pouch as she got dressed up for the day. Tiger followed her around like a dog—which was ironic—and he kept circling around her legs whenever she stopped. She had her bag packed and ready and equipped herself with an ordinary sword just in case of emergency. A couple of knocks told her it was about time to leave, so she picked up her new companion and raised him to meet her eye-level.

"God, how am I supposed to tell the others about you?" she wondered. "Just tell them. Hey, somebody sent me a cat. Yes, that should work."

She set him comfortably in her arms after securing her backpack and left her room. She went down with Brindon who still looked a bit sleepy—with marks of charcoal on his face and darkened fingernails. The moment he saw the cat, he looked at her questioningly.

"Meet Tiger," she said. "I picked him up and I have to bring him along. Do you think Lord Eres will oppose?"

Brindon shook his head. "No."

"What happened to you, by the way?" she asked him and Tiger seemed to ask the same.

"Drawing."

"Oh."

When they got downstairs, Keelan was waiting with a table full of meal in the private room. After the fact that the high family of Denovegasia was revealed to be staying in the inn, there were still quite a lot of people. Keelan examined the cat Valeriana had in her arms curiously.

"Where did you pick him up?"

"Appeared in my room with a note," she replied. "Said he was a companion, to serve as a sword. Someone must've sent him over, but I'm not sure who."

"Oh. I'm not sure how brother will react, but he shouldn't make a big deal out of it. What do you call him?"

"Tiger."

"Very suitable." He nodded approvingly.

They were surprisingly accepting. Now the only person left was Eres. Hopefully, he would be the same.

Said person came down a bit later, the package on his side and his things on the other. He sat with everyone and they started breakfast without a hitch. He did see the cat and gave Valeriana a brief look of inquiry.

"His name is Tiger," she introduced. "He appeared in my room early this morning with a note." She relayed the same information to Eres as she did with Keelan. His reaction wasn't very different. He probed the creature with his eyes for a little longer before he casually turned to breakfast.

"I don't have issues with picking up cats, but make sure to keep him in sight and safe."

Valeriana nodded energetically, elated that that didn't take too much trouble. Tiger sat obediently on her lap, but pawed her plate, reaching for the fish. She picked it up and fed it to him so that he wouldn't make too much of a mess. The poor one must be hungry.

"You bet I will. I kinda miss Femeron too. I wonder how she's doing."

"Our request should arrive this morning," Eres said. "They must've traveled overnight."

"Who did they send?" Keelan asked.

"I'm not very sure. But we're about to know soon."

They continued eating.

"I'm smelling something really nice," the eleventh-ranker sniffed. "Smells like flowers and something more nostalgic."

"Oh, that, um . . . it's the perfume I brought," Valeriana said. "Is it too bad?"

"No, it's great." Keelan shook his head and resumed eating. "There's something strange about it, though. I'm not sure."

"I heard something going on in your room last night but you sounded alright so I let it pass . . . and it sounded far different from a commotion that would've been caused by a mere cat." Eres gave Valeriana a discerning look as though she did something wrong—or maybe she interpreted that wrongly because Eres' face was naturally very casual and detached. He wasn't the type to seem rude and unfriendly but neither was he approachable, especially at first glance.

"Oh, well . . ." she trailed off. "Something happened with the jade sphere but nothing too serious. Good things turning for the better."

There was a commotion outside—the signal for the group to stand from their seats and abandon their food as much as it was heartbreaking. They headed outside, ignoring the curious stares from the bystanders.

As expected, it was quite a sight. There was a brown horse which galloped through the sky while the streets were flooded by uniformed soldiers marching for the center of the city. Eres gave his group a nod and gestured for them to head for the baron's manor, right by him.

Since the people's attention were trained to the arrival of the reinforcements requested by Eres from the Celeste Dispatch Division, they were able to tread through the crowd without much trouble. Just to ensure there wouldn't be any mishaps, Eres pulled his hood over and surrounded himself with his companions to avoid immediate spotting.

"The soldiers didn't come for you, surprisingly," Valeriana said. "I was expecting them to escort you or something."

"It'll draw unwanted attention, not to mention unnecessary," he replied. "I told them I'll come myself when the time arrives."

They got to the front gates where the horse had alighted, on its side was a tall woman with auburn hair and lightly tanned skin. Her shoulders were thrown back and she held presence like no other.

Valeriana and the others reached the quarantined area where soldiers were constantly keeping out curious onlookers. When they saw Eres, they stepped aside with no second thoughts, causing attention to be drawn their way.

It no longer mattered. Eres threw back his hood and approached the woman, nodding politely her way as her eyes were drawn to his. Valeriana almost did a double-take when she saw who it was, watching as the playful smile lifted the corners of her lips and her long fingers brushed up her side only to rest on the curve of her waist.

"My, my, look what we have here."

"Manilla," Eres began. Though his voice was flat, there was a hint of life. "I didn't expect that when I summoned a Celestial Knight, you would be the one to come over."

"Believe me, it's a coincidence." She waved casually, turning to Valeriana and nodding her way as well. "It's nice to see you again, Valeriana. I hope you still remember me?"

"Yes, of course, how can I forget?" She smiled in return to her greeting, lifting Tiger to keep him from slipping.

"Beautiful cat," Manilla said. "Name?"

"Tiger," she answered. "But, pardon me for asking . . . you're a Celestial Knight?"

"Lowly position of eleventh, which hardly matters," she answered. "I'll be letting go of the position when it's time to take over Preluresia. For now, it's just something to keep me busy, you know, brightening the list of credentials to seem more impressive. I just can't seem to get enough work on my table, you see." Manilla winked and chuckled.

"Aren't you also head of the continental knights in Preluresia?"

"That is left to Byrd at the moment," she said.

"You entrusted it to him?"

"So you've met my brother." She cocked her hips. "He may be like that, but he is a brilliant manager. Although Charles is good in finances as well, Byrd makes the better consultant in anything money-related. Charles is merely better at hoarding it."

Valeriana choked, but it did sound like him.

"Anyhow, the matter you sent over seems really urgent—pushing for the presence of a Celestial Knight. Whatever is it that you need help for?"

Eres approached her, leaning forward to whisper as he subtly handed over the satchel which contained the artifact of vice. "We found something from the manor which would require watching over and careful handling. If it is what I think it is, it must not fall in the hands of the enemies or it will add back to their potential lethality—more danger for our people."

Manilla's smile was wiped out and a frown crept in place. "I see."

"It is imperative you head back immediately. I left notes in the bag along with the object according to my own conclusions so I should have no need to offer any more explanations."

"Understood. Did you call someone from the Great Hall?"

"Yes. They should be here by now."

"You know those people, always late like they won't have a chance to be." Manilla firmly swung the package over her shoulder as she reached out to pet the horse at her side. "Buvann and I will depart for the CDD immediately. I will bring a couple of soldiers for escort so you have no need to worry. You still have an issue with the Ivali in Dirinia, don't you? You've gotten segued way too much. We'll handle this in your stead."

"And the situation with the baron and the manor?" Eres followed up.

"Consider it done. I have five Celestes with me and an entire squad of common knights. Don't you worry your pretty little mind. Now go, Eres. We'll take it from here." She then turned her back on him and shouted for the group of knights who she brought with her. "Command!"

"That line sounds kind of familiar . . ." Valeriana said. "Don't you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine . . ."

"Okay, okay, we get it, shush," Keelan blocked her mouth and stopped her from singing further. "Don't even think about it, Val, please."

Eres, thankfully, hadn't heard her earlier performance as he was busy looking at Manilla as she walked away and assumed her post. Brindon, on the other hand, had instinctively blocked his ears. Tiger was startled.

Valeriana swiped Keelan's hand away with a grunt, frowning. Tiger, as well, threatened Keelan with his eyes. "Why do you guys hate it so much when I sing? It's not that bad."

"It's because, Val, it's that bad," Keelan calmly told her as though being soft about it would insult her less. "You hit the wrong notes and you don't know how to sing at all. Val, you don't have a voice."

"Ouch, Keelan." Valeriana was hurt at that, but she could not deny that whatever he said was true. From her own perspective, it wasn't that unbearable. However, her ears weren't the same as other people so she would not be able to refute their opinion—especially since it seemed to be quite a popular one.

It was only after Eres approached their group and gestured to the path out of the city that the crossness faded. She couldn't get herself to feel angry with Keelan even so, as he looked really sorry to say it.

"Sorry, Val, sorry . . ." He scratched his head, looking at his shoes as they walked. "I didn't know what got to me to say it."

"It's okay. I'm used to hearing worse." She sighed. "Don't get too worked up over it, Kee. Corvan's said things much worse."

Keelan nodded in response, but didn't seem to ease his guilt.

"We leave now," came Eres. He gave Keelan a watchful eye before looking over to Valeriana. He didn't question what happened recently and resumed walking. "We'll take Arsene and we should arrive in Dirinia before the sun sets. Keelan, pick up a pack of food on the way." He passed him some money. "Make sure there's enough for everyone and that it will last until dinner. If you've forgotten anything at all, remember them now, double check that nothing's been left behind or was not done. All set, be prepared."

They all got to work immediately. Keelan bought the food as per Eres' instructions while Valeriana and Brindon helped pack them. There were four sacks in total—big enough to feed an army for an entire week. They acted surreptitiously, moving like ordinary civilians. They dragged it out of the city while Eres called for Arsene and prepped her for the journey ahead.

Valeriana had to set down Tiger to carry the food. To her relief, he seemed to follow her without much trouble, finding her despite the crowd stepping in between to separate them.

"Keelan," she began. "Why is that sack so big?"

"I ordered a lot of fruits from the vendor," he replied and slung the thing over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

They loaded the food on Arsene's sides before they climbed. There was enough room to lay around and sleep, but Eres adamantly remained awake as though he was looking out for something dangerous.

Moments passed and Halvana eventually faded out of sight. Arsene traveled above the forest, jumping on top of one tree to another.

Valeriana was still tired and confused about the recent events, so she decided to keep herself to a corner and watch the scenery while she fell into deep thought. Indeed, there were a lot of things to think about—things to piece together. Life for her had been running in a record-breaking marathon. The past few months were filled with nothing but journeys and discovery. While they were fun, they were equally stressful and hard to handle—emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Two remaining blessings, but three open channels to stabilize. How on Valemnia was she supposed to fix the last one? She wanted to mind it later, take Little Valeriana's advice to cross the bridge when there, but she wasn't the type to set things aside and dive at them later. She minded all her problems at once and she wanted them solved right away.

"Little Val said she'll call me," she muttered to Tiger who mewled back in return. "But she doesn't have a cellphone, that girl." She shook her head. "What a liar. All of them are."

She wielded her aura, played around with it for a bit, trying to see what it could do without having to experiment on her companions. The stabilized open channels governed sections which were better under control while the others were still troublesome. They kept on flaring, bursting like hot, popping geysers that it was practically unmanageable.

She hadn't noticed much before since it was already chaotic, but after several experiences, she's got the behavior down. The jade sphere had also helped in raising awareness of these activities, as she discovered she was much more sensitive to her aura than before. After all, even if she could see the auras of others, she would not be able to see hers.

Lienhard had explained about this before. However, even if she could not see, it didn't mean she could be aware of it somehow.

"Controlling the aura is practically impossible if the channels are unstable. I got some of them down so maybe I can do a few things . . ." she muttered.

Keelan and Brindon shot her curious glances.

"Sorry, don't mind me." She grinned shyly, shrugging. "I'm just thinking about my power control and all."

"It's good. Playing around with it actually helps," Keelan told her. "You know how children learn things by playing? I think it's pretty much the same."

"Yeah. I'm on discovery stage at the moment, but there's still much I don't know."

"I'm sure we'll learn a few things more once we talk with the Ivali and you get their blessings."

She nodded. "I hope so. I really do. How long until we get to Dirinia?"

"Not in a few more hours," Eres responded. "You have a lot more musing to do if you wish."

Valeriana nodded and leaned back, finding another comfortable position to change into to help herself for the long ride ahead.