"When the True Heir fails to appear during the required time for the succession or should the closest family member be unable to substitute, a Candidate Selection is held to determine the most worthy individual fit to serve as a regent."

♣

Chapter Thirty-Seven ♣ Concern or Guilt

Valeriana's eyes fluttered open and light blinded her eyes. She yawned and rose from the unfamiliar bed. Looking around, she realized this place certainly wasn't her room.

"Where am I?" she asked and reached up to rub her throbbing temple.

"You're already awake?" Olivia, who was sitting on a chair, craned her neck and gave her a smile. "You overworked yourself and fainted."

"I fainted? Oh, man. Corvan is going to kill me." She massaged her forehead in irritation and sighed. "This never happened to me before."

"Do you feel fine now?" the lady asked.

"Yes, I do. I think it's time for me to go back."

"Where are you going?"

"To my room."

"To rest?"

"Uh . . ."

The healer shook her head. "Don't try to rush very much. If you continue like that, your body will fall. Try to mind your health, dear. That's a warrior's greatest wealth, you know."

"I guess I was a bit reckless. But I only have about a week left. Our real lessons will start after that."

"That's right. Celeste Academy only uses the first month of the year as an eye-opener for the students. The real challenge will start, like you said, after that."

"Please don't remind me."

The healer laughed. "It's alright to cry out, you know. I'm willing to listen to your complaints. This would help vent out your frustrations, yes?"

Valeriana almost wanted to cry. "Oh my gosh, you're so kind." She grunted, tears pooling in her vision. "Why can't everyone else be like you?"

"You can't blame anyone," she said. "They all carry huge burdens. You should be thankful they even bother paying attention to you. Unlike me, healing is all I do and I'm through."

"Ugh. You're right. But I gotta say," Valeriana said. "This week's kind of been fun."

"Really?"

"I was always looking for things to do, and now work's been piling up in front of me. I'm the type who wants to go insane trying to do this and that. I just like having a lot of things to do. Since my father died, my life's been really boring."

The healer laughed. "Just don't go overboard with everything and get some sleep at least six hours a day."

"Understood."

"You don't have to be afraid of not being able to catch up. Believe me, I have an eye for things and I know you can do it." She winked encouragingly at Valeriana.

"Thank you so much," she said, smiling.

"No problem. You can come here any time you like when you have problems."

Valeriana nodded. "Sure. Thanks."

"Oh, and by the way," the woman said.

"Yeah?"

"You had visitors who came a while ago. They were talking about who gets who." She winked.

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind," she said. "Go on."

The girl started to get up. "Thank you very much for everything." Valeriana bobbed her head swiftly at Olivia before dashing right out of the door.

She managed to catch a swift glance of the time at the infirmary. Apparently, it was already a little past six o'clock. She thought it would help relieve her stress if she listened to music while reading the sixteenth chapter of her history book. Her mother did bother sending her the gadgets she owned, so she should at least use it from time to time.

The human girl managed to finally familiarize herself with the route heading towards the high-class building the Celestial Circle kept to themselves. After almost a month of running around and doing the ridiculous things the circle made her do, she probably could walk her way back with her eyes closed.

Just as she was about to take a right turn, she smacked right into a hard chest which caused her to fall over and land straight on her rear end. She grunted from the pain and looked up, only to see Corvan staring intently at her.

Why was it that she always had to run into Corvan, slam into that ridiculously muscular, hard chest of his, and fall straight on her ass every time? Could it be not Rowe? Keelan? Brindon? Heck. Zion?

She fumed and stuck out her bottom lip in frustration. "Why is it that I have to run into you every damn time since the moment I came here? Are you doing that on purpose or something?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Funny. I thought it was you who had the habit of bumping into me. It's either that, or I would've thought that you liked having to run into my chest."

"Haha. I'm laughing," she sarcastically remarked, her face unexpressive.

"Besides, shouldn't you be resting?"

She sighed and stood up. "I'm perfectly fine, mind you."

"Then why did you faint? The healer said you had greatly overworked yourself, that's why you collapsed."

"Well, I guess it's my fault for going overboard. I just didn't have time to rest, that's all." She dusted off her bottom and looked up at the young lord, whose frown seemed to get worse every passing second.

They stared at each other without saying anything for a few moments before Corvan finally decided to break the silence. For some reason . . . Valeriana noticed something strange about him. His frown was . . . different. Seeing that frown of his every time, she was sort of able to tell the difference when he was mad, annoyed, or displeased . . . although they looked the same.

"I see. Then blame yourself for your stupidity," he told her, which made her deadpan.

Is he serious? And she thought he was going to ask her if she was fine. She mentally berated herself for even thinking that way. This was the great Lord Corvan. He would never show his concern for another person other than himself.

"You insensitive jerk!" She stomped her feet in aggravation. "Why do you think I'm even in this situation anyway? If there's anyone to blame, it's you!"

He frowned even more, wrinkling the space between his brows. To her shock, he didn't make any sort of retort that would counter what she said. Instead, he remained quiet.

His silence made her . . . guilty.

"Uh . . . sorry," she whispered, feeling awkward about his unexpected silence.

"When you get back to the residences, make sure not to do anything strenuous," he told her before shoving something inside her hands. "Better yet, don't do anything stupid that will make you fall face first on the ground. You shame the Twelve by doing so."

She raised a brow at him.

After that, he turned his back on her and walked away. Valeriana stared at his retreating form before looking down to see what he gave her. It was a small pouch tied together by a small string. Opening it curiously, she saw herbs.

She brought it up to her nose and sniffed, catching a whiff of a familiar fragrant aroma. It belonged to that drink that Charles made for her a few weeks ago. If she wasn't mistaken, it was supposed to give her enough energy to move about for a day.

She didn't get it.

Valeriana glanced back up at Corvan as he continued to walk away.

Was he concerned? Or just guilty?