"The True Heir will always have golden wings."

♣

Chapter Thirty-Six ♣ Out of Energy

Days at Celeste Academy were everything except boring. Without even realizing, weeks had gone by. Valeriana's life hadn't gone any faster before. Her days were filled with so much work to do—stress, pressure, and excitement at the same time. She was surprisingly able to catch up with most of the classes, and every now and then, there would be unexpected things coming up from every corner. To be able to enter a mysterious world never seemed so exhilarating.

The attitude of the other students towards her changed. After winning the duel with Zion, she was regarded with more respect than before. The circle still treated her as if she was their slave but the work they were asking her to do grew lesser and lesser each day.

Despite all these trials and obstacles, there was still something good that came along occasionally. After spending almost a month, she enjoyed having so much work to do. Her assignments were all piled up and, with her position in the Celestial Circle, she barely had time to rest. Even so, this did not stop her. She found being busy was somewhat enjoyable.

There was one time that Corvan had shoved her into the training yard to test her skill in archery—to be trained by Brindon—and the most obvious fault of hers was having a bad aim. The first few times, she never even had the chance to shoot the arrow properly. It kept falling from her fingers whenever she would try to fire it. It seemed that the first-ranker could not bear to watch any longer. The young lord did not honestly understand the extent of the twelfth's patience, but it was astounding. He had to come over and show her everything himself.

After Brindon demonstrated the proper stance, she tried shooting the target. However, she fired past the goal and barely missed Raziel. The sixth-ranker had screamed his throats out complaining about being hurt and having his flawless skin wounded. Putting that aside, Valeriana certainly needed some work on her skills.

Dressed in the proper attire, Valeriana aimed for the target and fired her arrow with shaky hands. Corvan observed her shot closely and saw that her arrow failed to hit the target. Valeriana disappointedly broke her stance and placed her hands on her knees while breathing in deeply through her mouth.

"Can you not even give a proper aim? This will be much harder on horseback," Corvan stated as he folded his arms. "Well, I guess this is a nice improvement. The first time, you cannot even shoot the arrow properly."

"Not," Brindon agreed, dropping the hand that held the bow to his side.

Valeriana was only about to have her first month of stay in Valemnia. It was unbelievable to think that time flew by so fast. She had been undergoing training eighteen hours every day and even during weekends, she was expected to make progress in her studies.

Since she was not really good at memorizing the names and different terms, seeing as they had hard and weird words, she needed to put in more effort than usual.

Though it was obvious that she was bad at something at first, she improved fast. This might be because of Corvan helping her. She would admit that she was an idiot, but not totally. It was nice knowing her hard work was paying off.

"I already showed you the proper stance for this, right? How many times do I have to tell you to balance your weight? Also, fix your arms." Corvan adjusted her arms to a lower position, as if straightening it. "Your arms are too tensed. You can't be reckless here. The thing most important about archery is accuracy."

She couldn't quite follow what he was saying. She was sleep-deprived and utterly exhausted. She couldn't even bring herself to focus.

Valeriana dragged the bowstring with an arrow fixed on the spot, pressing it against her cheek. She stepped into the proper position and tried to balance her weight like Corvan said.

"I feel sleepy," she muttered, seeing her eyes become blurry until black spots covered her vision entirely. Her feet gave in under her, simultaneously, her fingers loosened and the bow and arrow slipped from her grip. She could hear her weapons falling on the grassy terrain as she lost consciousness in an untimely manner.

"Hey! Valeriana!" Corvan's voice rang faintly in the background. A pair of strong arms wound around her back and waist securely, breaking her fall.

"Go away, you evil dude." She grumbled.

Corvan felt his brow twitching at her half-conscious statement. He suddenly wanted to drop her to the ground and let her fall, but that would make him seem like a cruel person.

"Rowe!" he yelled, and the charming chap came rushing forward. Few of the Twelve who were watching had been taken aback by the suddenness of the girl collapsing, but did not make any move to interfere. "Take this girl. She disgusts me." He lifted her from the ground and threw her into the arms of Rowe, who was barely able to maintain his balance when he caught Valeriana.

Rowe sweated. "She's heavy. How can a person who looks very slim possess such a heavy weight?"

"You never notice. But during lunch break, she eats like a pig," he stated. "Take her to the infirmary."

"I'll try my best." He grunted and adjusted the position of Valeriana whom he held.

Corvan repeated the guttural sound at the back of his throat while frowning. He was gravely annoyed. "Seriously," he said, raking his fingers through its long strands. "Fainting in the middle of training, I'll make sure to work you off to death later."

It took a few minutes to reach the infirmary, and the pair received stares from the other students along the way. After successfully arriving, Rowe gently set down Valeriana on a bed. He called for the healer and turned in time to see Corvan with his back against the door frame.

"You can relax, Lord Rowe. The girl will be fine," the healer assured and swept the curtains to get to work.

"What are you doing here, Lord Corvan?" Rowe smiled while asking. "Are you guilty?"

"No, I'm not. She even dares faint when she has a lot to do?"

"She already lost consciousness and that is still what you're thinking? Where is your heart?"

"It's not my fault that she doesn't know anything."

"And it isn't Valeriana's either," Rowe pointed out. "You're pushing her really hard, Lord Corvan. That's terribly cruel of you."

The healer then came out while shaking her head. "I'm sorry, gentlemen. She'll need to rest for a while," she said. "She's sleep-deprived, and looking at her condition, she had greatly overworked herself. I think she might've pushed herself too hard. What were you making her do that made her end up like that?" She turned towards the two beside her and quirked a brow.

"Corvan made her study the first seven books of history, the first eight books of demonology, and about five of the books Law. What's more, he made her practice combat archery and her swordsmanship. All in a short span of time," Rowe narrated.

"You're making me sound like a cruel tyrant."

"Aren't you?"

The healer laughed, humor riddling her gaze. "I see, I see. That was where all the stress and pressure were coming from. If you want her to continue living, you should go easier on her."

Not a second later, someone came running through the doors. Startled, everyone looked up to see a flash of midnight blue hair appear and Zion came in, panting.

"Is she alright?" he asked, slightly sweating as he entered.

He had eyes and ears among the student body. The news of Valeriana fainting and being carried by Rowe to the infirmary got to his attention not more than a few minutes after it had occurred.

"Why do you care?" Corvan asked, irritated. "Didn't you want to kill her?"

Zion's eyes went over to the two standing near the bed where Valeriana slept. He flipped back the hair that was matted against his face and grinned at the sight of the two highest rankers. "It's an honor meeting you again, Lord Corvan, and you too, Lord Rowe."

Rowe frowned at the sight of him. "It's a pleasure."

Corvan was more open with showing his despise. "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? For Valeriana, of course. You should know by now, Lord Corvan," he told him.

He heard of the rumors about Zion taking a liking to Valeriana and openly showing his affection for her, but he was not the type to believe in hearsays.

"You do not have to worry." He grinned at him almost mockingly. "You see, I have taken interest in this woman through the most unlikely way."

The young lord glanced at Valeriana, who slept soundly on the bed where she was put. The blankets covered her to her waist with her one of her arms resting on her stomach and the other resting on her side. Corvan observed her chest heaving rhythmically. She was breathing through her parted lips which were pallid.

He found himself wishing she remain that way. If she did, she wouldn't start talking and irritating him to the extent that he wanted to have her hanged. The girl was literally a roaring tiger when awake—and quite literally liked to roar in his ears.

The first-ranker frowned. "What way?" he inquired.

"By being defeated."

Corvan huffed. "Don't you always lose?"

"I only lose to people who are worthy," Zion remarked confidently. "All the other fights, such as the one I had with you, were something which I lost on purpose. You are not like Valeriana."

"Do not insult me." Corvan shot dagger in his direction.

Zion only chuckled. "Touchy as always. But I mean what I said."

"Why do you think I care?"

"I don't want anyone unnecessarily making her suffer," he told him. "So, Lord Corvan, I recommend you do not do this again unless you want your position taken away from you."

"And who are you to threaten me?"

"Now, that I think about it, it's unlike you to pay this much attention to someone. Have I found myself a rival?"

"Don't be mistaken, Zion. Get your facts straight." He almost growled.

"Hmm," he said, laughing. "I hope you don't eat your words someday."

"Believe me, I won't." With that, Corvan turned towards the door and left.

Rowe nodded gratefully atthe healer and smiled at Zion. "Well, then . . . we'll be taking our leave.Please look after her."