Knight (24 page)

She quickly looked down to see some students walking just below the chandelier as it finally came loose. She dove forward instinctively and pushed them all away without hesitation.

“Watch out!”

She could hear the startled gasps of everyone around them as they hit the ground, shortly followed by a loud crash as the chandelier landed on the floor. Its parts broke and flew everywhere, though, luckily, no one seemed to be hurt.

She stood up and breathed a sigh of relief knowing the fact that no one was harmed from the incident. Looking back down at the group of students before her, she saw two guys and a girl who were all looking at her with wide eyes. The two boys got up on their own accord while the girl stayed still, looking quite shaken.

“Are you all okay?” She asked as she held out a hand for the girl to help pull her up.

“I-I'm fine, thank you.” The girl answered, looking at her with embarrassment and slight hesitance. She clasped Valeriana's hand and stood up.

Valeriana smiled. “That's good.”

Murmurings rose from the crowd and a teacher came rushing forward at the site of the incident. “Is anyone hurt? What happened here?”

“It looks like the rope holding that chandelier snapped.” Valeriana said, pointing at the mess in front of them. “No one seems to be hurt.”

“Alright.” The teacher breathed out in relief. “I'll just ask someone to clean this up. I suppose it's better to play safe and ask the headmaster to replace those ropes. Everyone, if you don’t have anything to do around here, please vacate the area.”

“Yes, sir.”

When the teacher left, the three students turned to look at Valeriana. They looked undoubtedly grateful to her, but they seemed more shock when they realized who she was—or rather, the uniform she was wearing. Since the clothes worn by the Celestial Circle differed greatly from the normal uniform, they were easily distinguished from the common crowd. The intricate, golden curls on the fabric of the uniform with fine and ornate embroidery made the presence of whoever wore it impossible not to notice.

“T-that uniform.” The boy from the right stammered. “B-by any chance . . . are you one of the Twelve?”

“What?” Valeriana looked down at her clothes and realized what they were referring to. “Er . . . I guess.”

“T-thank you very much for saving us!” They all bowed at her simultaneously.

“It's really no problem.” She answered, slightly flattered.

“You practically did save our lives, though.”

“W-will it be okay to ask what rank you hold, miss?” The girl asked, staring right at her with big, round, brown eyes.

“It's fifth, but . . .”

“Fifth!” They all exclaimed in chorus before she could even finish what she was about to say.

“You must be the one who defeated Lady Courtney!”

“P-pardon me . . .” The boy with the reddish hair apologized sincerely. His greenish-blue eyes were bespectacled with round lenses.

Valeriana regarded him with a curious look, raising her brow.

“I-I assumed that your appearance would be hideous!”

She gave them a look with amusement riddling her gaze. “Really?”

“But you’re actually pretty!” The girl supported.

She could not hold back her laughter at that. “You don’t have to go so far saying that.”

“You are Valeriana, right?” The other boy confidently stated.

“How do you know my name?” She asked.

“Who wouldn't? The Celestial Circle is famous, not only within the academy, but also everywhere!” He retaliated with obvious enthusiasm.

“Wow.” She rubbed her chin and lifted her brow with amazement. “Oh, well . . . it's almost time for class and I gotta be going. What are your names? I would love to have them.”

“My name's Quincy,” The girl said. “This one's Zoel and that one's Poulette.”

Zoel, the one who had reddish-brown hair and greenish-blue eyes, fidgeted with the end of his uniform. He shyly pushed back the round glasses that framed his eyes and blushed when he felt Valeriana's scrutinizing gaze on him. Poulette seemed more confident. He was grinning up at Valeriana. Having possessed those mysterious, purple eyes and longish brown hair, it added an air of oddity around him. It wasn't the first time Valeriana encountered an individual with unusually colored irises, but she couldn't seem to get used to seeing unusual hair and eye-color.

“This world's really weird.” Valeriana whispered. “Anyway, it's nice meeting you guys.”

Just as she was about to turn and leave, she heard Quincy stammer behind her. “Oh, um . . . before you go.”

Valeriana looked over her shoulder and looked questioningly at the three. “What is it?”

“Do you . . . mind taking us are your aides?”

“My aides? Uh . . . sure, why not?”

When she answered her, she didn't actually know what she was talking about. In her mind, she told herself,
'Like hell if I know what that is in the first place.'
with a slightly confused and startled expression on her face. But seeing the relieved smiles on everyone's faces as the tension and anxiety from the question they asked were brushed away by Valeriana's positive answer, it was enough to make her happy.

The bell went off, signaling the first warning bell for tardiness. Valeriana waved at the three and jogged off to her first class.

She made it in time, thankfully. Chavi was waiting patiently in her seat, but looking quite bored. Julian sent glares her way when she entered the room. She ignored this and headed to her seat beside her friend.

As usual, first period was History. Lady Seraphina hadn't arrived yet, so Valeriana spent the time telling about the incident that happened earlier that morning and how the three asked to become her aides . . . or whatever that might be. When Chavi heard about it, she almost—did—screamed in her seat.

Giving her a look of confusion, Valeriana raised a brow and decided to ask her. “What? What are you screaming about?”

“Aides! You've found your first aides!” She jumped up from her seat and began to dance around happily, making all of their classmates cast a look their way.

“Aides?” A question resonated throughout the whole room. “Who would want to be that girl's aide? She's a fraud!”

Valeriana shot a scary glare at Julian's direction, glowering as hard as she could.

“What?”

“I'm talking about you, human! I bet you just cheated in your fight with Lady Courtney that made you win! You don't even come close to her skills! It was impossible for you to win!”

“If you think you can talk that way about me, then you're so totally wrong.”

“Isn't it true, anyway?” He huffed. “Everyone knows you're having a hard time. The Twelve doesn't even acknowledge you as one of them!”

“Don't listen to him, Valeriana.” Chavi said. “He's a follower of Courtney.”

“But I have had enough of this guy!” She exclaimed.

“Why don’t you admit you’re just a—”

She stood up and walked over to him, her body moving animatedly. After a momentous pull of her tensed arm, her fist came flying to Julian's face. The contact of the guy's flesh against her knuckles felt really pleasurable. Everyone went still in their places and fell quiet, watching as Julian hit the floor with an evident thud.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

Valeriana inwardly grimaced as her brain started registering the pain, but she tried not to let it show on her face as it would totally ruin the atmosphere she managed to pull off.

“You don't know anything! I've had enough of those comments from the past days! So just keep your mouth shut or I'll sew it for you!”

Mindful of the pain, her right hand trembled and her brows creased. However, it did not seem much obvious that she was in agony. In fact, people thought it was because of her anger.

Heart pounding in her chest with a sheen of sweat coating her forehead, Valeriana found herself in a state of utter fury. She was stressed, she lacked sleep . . . and she still had to deal with bullies?

“Give me a break!” She yelled at him.

Julian looked like he saw a ghost, breaking into a cold sweat while he stared at Valeriana's heavily breathing form. Chavi had stopped dancing since a while ago, her jaws slacked open.

As if on cue, Seraphina walked into the room. When she saw Julian lying on the floor, her voice resounded demandingly. Valeriana was knocked back to reality at the sound of Seraphina's question. The human girl allowed her muscles to relax. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

“What's going on here?”

“I'm sorry.” Valeriana breathed. “I lost control of myself.”

“Why?”

“Well, that guy insulted Valeriana after he heard that she got her first aides.” Zevlin, who was sitting on his usual seat on the farthest back, said. “He said that she was a fraud and such.”

“I heard it, too!” Genevieve supported.

Brindon, on the other hand, merely said, “Saw it.”

She wanted to keep things smooth and trouble-free, but it seemed that that thought was all but a mere dream.

Seraphina sighed. “I understand perfectly what instigated you to act that way, but violence outside duels and official combats is not permitted. Remember that in this school, we ought for discipline and self-control. Students are heavily encouraged to keep their emotions in check. Having said this, proper punishment shall be bestowed upon the two of you.” Looking on the human girl's face made Seraphina falter for a moment. Seconds later, she spoke, “I apologize, I will not be lenient to my students.”

The boy shook with fear as he thought of the possibilities.

The girl shook her head and held her hands out in front of her as a sign of surrender. “No. It's only proper. I'm totally sorry.” She walked back to her seat while running her fingers through her hair.

“Well, then, let's begin o—”

“So this,” someone guffawed. “Is the new ranker?”

Genevieve and Zevlin exchanged glances and released a small groan at the sight of the newcomer. “Not again.” They said in unison.

“I thought that when they said human, it was no threat but now that I see for myself it's actually quite interesting.”

Curious, she turned towards the sound of the voice. Was she just called an 'it'? Her lips curled in exasperation, her eyes twitching lightly at the implied insult.

“Excuse me?”

No, wait. No more trouble.
She told herself.
Control yourself. Control yourself!

Seraphina cleared her throat. “Pardon—”

“Then, allow me to see for myself!” He pulled a sword free from its sheath against the wall and pointed it up at Valeriana. The girl could only raise her brows while her mouth slowly formed an
o
. “The good fight you might be able to put up! I've never been in combat with someone like you, so I wonder what kind of tricks you have up your sleeve! Good thing I'll soon know!”

Electric-blue eyes with a predatory glint and sharp-toothed smile, this guy possessed a rebellious aura around him. Starting with his midnight blue hair tied with a black ribbon and tossed over his shoulder to the sharp laugh—more like low, manic chuckles—brought nothing to Valeriana but negative vibes.

Nevertheless, Seraphina's patience seem to be waning from the sign of disrespect.

“Here we go again.” The twins sighed.

Valeriana's mouth dropped. “What? Did you just call me—”

“This Zion Brunhild announces a challenge to you, whatever your name was!”

This guy sure did have a bad habit of cutting people's sentences. Add in the fact that he had not the littlest bit of courtesy.

“Now, see here, young man—” Seraphina started, fuming.

“Do you accept it or not?!”

Valeriana was having a déjà vu moment. Did she always have to be in this kind of situation?

“I'm sorry, I'll have to decline.” She hissed at him, flipping her hair over her shoulder with a small huff. She began her trip back to her usual seat.

He laughed. “Do not tell me you are afraid!”

Don't mind him. Ignore him. Continue walking, you won't have a problem.

“Do you really not care about proving your so-called innocence? Provided that you really are innocent.”

Valeriana swallowed.

“That's fine. Are you scared everyone will find out you really did not win against Courtney genuinely? Not that anyone hasn't suspected at all.”

Valeriana stopped short and turned to meet his fervent eyes with her own. Should she give in to his taunts? If she easily agreed, everyone would think she was a pushover. They would think she merely succumbed to the pressure of having to prove her so-called innocence.

Her blue eyes flickered towards Chavi. She had a serious look on her face. The other members of the circle were also looking her way with a scrutinizing look in their eyes, as if they were keenly watching and waiting for her answer.

“Does this matter need to be thought over? Fifth-ranker?” He emphasized the last two words, as if mocking the girl.