"Valemnia has technically seven continents, six of which are under the rule of the noble families. The last is considered the territory of demons."
♣
Chapter Twenty-Five: Charles's Kitchen
After classes, Valeriana was immediately dragged into the meeting room of the Celestial Circle for three reasons—errands, errands, and errands.
Valeriana went over to Corvan, with a pile of heavy books in hand. He was reclining on the sofa with his feet perched on the arms of the chair, ankles crossed. She placed all the books down on the coffee table in front of him.
"Is that everything I asked for?"
"Yes, it's everything you asked for. Doulhette Dunheely, Hampson Jamison, Verhemalon Theodore, and Noulouere Hertioure." Valeriana breathed deeply, mildly exhausted. "You really like reading, don't you? So much you get hit on the head unaware?"
He glared at her, mainly because of what she said and another thing. "There's one thing missing," Corvan said, flipping the book he was reading to the next page.
"What?"
"Dantalion Wisperia. Weapon Handling, volume four."
Valeriana facepalmed and found herself exasperatedly trudging the path back to where she just came from. It was tiresome since it took five minutes by foot to get to where she was.
Sighing, she entered the library, pulling the old and wooden door open which made groaning noises when bothered. Because of her frequent visits, the librarian didn't even need to look up to know she had come back.
"You forgot something, didn't you?" the librarian said in a soft and low voice. Valeriana slightly flinched at her sudden inquiry but stopped at her tracks to answer her question.
The librarian, named Rinda, was working behind her desk at some corner in the library near the entrance. Her wrinkled fingers were noisily working on a few documents in front of her and the round spectacles which framed her wise, brown eyes hang on the tip of her high-bridged nose.
"Yeah, Dantalion Wisperia's Weapon Handling, volume four." She shyly stated, matching how hushed the librarian's voice sounded.
"Lord Corvan."
"That's right."
"As I thought." She sighed. "You don't have to do what they ask you to do. You are no slave."
Valeriana blinked at her comment. "I don't really want to make any more trouble. I don't want the incident with Courtney happening again."
Rinda gave her a once over before tipping her head to the direction of the shelves. "Alright, go on then."
Despite being confused by her sudden interest, Valeriana did not linger and sauntered quietly towards the section of the library where the book she was sent for was put in. She began her search for it quietly, letting her eyes scan through the whole collection of a variety of skill-related books.
"Weasel Hunting . . . aha! Weapon Handling! Volume four! Here it is!" Valeriana grabbed the book from the shelf and stared at it curiously. "What's in these books that Corvan's so interested about?" She muttered.
She hatched the book open and scanned through it, but, unfortunately, she understood nothing in the end.
"There are a variety of cleaving weapons that . . ." Valeriana trailed off as she stared at the following words written down. She skipped the next few sentences since the things being described were beyond her understanding. "There are different crucial points in the body to aim for to ensure . . . death. The heck? So this is basically a manual for killing somebody . . . I never even thought that existed . . ." she muttered, snapping the book close and turning to leave. "Well, I figured Corvan was interested."
Just as she was about to head out, a group of male students came and blocked her path. Valeriana stopped immediately and stared at all of them, a wave of confusion washing through her. They all held mocking smirks on their faces and the look on their eyes held malice. They all looked like mean bullies, and judging by the way they appeared, they probably were.
"Hey," the one on the middle greeted.
Valeriana cringed at the spiteful tone of his voice and took a step back. "What can I do for you?" she greeted back. Their intentions were unclear but it gave Valeriana a bad feeling.
"Don't tell me you don't recognize me."
"You?" She scrutinized his appearance.
This guy had chocolate brown hair that was cut around his shoulders. His brown eyes were sharp complemented by his caterpillar brows and high-bridged nose. His jaws were muscular and he also had slight stubble on his chin.
"I'm sorry. I don't remember you," she told him.
"Are you that stupid? You can't remember the face of the guy who you accidentally punched?"
"You mean—oh! I see now!"
"Are you still mocking me?" He growled.
"No . . . I'm sorry. I didn't really recognize you. I can swear on my dead father's name," she told him earnestly.
"Well, it doesn't matter now, really." He tucked his hands into his pockets as he sauntered forward with confident strides. "Because girl or not, you're going to pay."
"Listen," Valeriana said. "I don't want any trouble."
"Then you should've known not to oppose me."
"Are you some sort of coward?" she asked daringly, glowering at the direction of the arrogant jerk.
"What? You dare—"
"Why do you prey on people obviously weaker than you? If there's anyone I hate, it's somebody who preys on other people who they can overpower just to prove that they are strong."
Julian gritted his teeth and brought out his fists from his pockets only to clench them. "You . . . how dare you . . . I'm going to rip your throat out!" He stepped forward and placed a hand around Valeriana's neck, squeezing them tightly.
The human girl grabbed his wrists and prepared to wrench it off when suddenly, a familiar voice suddenly yelled out and stopped him.
"That's enough!"
Julian tore his hand off and harshly pushed the girl back, making her slightly stagger. Valeriana curiously followed the direction of the voice as she massaged the area where she was roughly handled. There, she spotted Charles walking down the aisle with the usual air of elegance and nobility around him.
Suddenly, the group of boys who looked confident a while ago were scared out of their wits. They took several steps back, wary of his sudden appearance.
Charles continued. "Do you not have any respect considering who you're talking so rashly to?"
The fourth-ranker gave no room for the poor guy to speak and went on with his lecture. "There is no excuse when disrespecting one of the Twelve," he said as he stopped right beside Valeriana with a displeased frown. "If you want to settle something with Valeriana, challenge her to a duel. Any other impertinent actions of yours will be punished severely without question."
"I'm—"
"Bow," Charles commanded.
"What . . ."
"Bow." He emphasized the word assertively, glaring at each of them with ice-cold eyes.
The pressure on Charles' gaze was so heavy that none of them could protest.
"Wait, Charles. It's alright. I don't need trouble."
"Disrespecting calls for much serious offence and you're telling me to wait?"
"I know that," she said. "I've humiliated him enough the last time. I even returned the favor twice as big. I just don't want any more trouble."
"You! I don't regret what I've done one bit!"
Valeriana rolled her eyes. "Just shut up for a moment! If you don't shut it, I'll cut your foot off and shove it down your throat!"
The fourth-ranker glanced questioningly at Valeriana's direction. This girl had menacing threats of her own. "If you wish to no longer push this, then . . . Valeriana, let us go. Corvan is getting impatient."
"Oh, um . . . alright."
As Valeriana and Charles passed by the librarian on their way out, Rinda spoke in a flat, but warning tone. "Next time, do you mind taking your fight out of my library?"
"We'll try, ma'am," Charles answered. "Please pardon us for today."
Rinda did not speak further and continued focusing on the documents she was working on. Valeriana uttered a small apology to the woman before following the fourth-ranker. Charles opened the door for them and closed it behind him gently, making no unnecessary noises except for the creaking.
"Next time," he started, and gave Valeriana a stern look. "Bring a sword with you. The academy's regulation does not forbid its students to carry around a weapon which they are comfortable with, so long as you don't draw it without valid reasons."
"I see . . . I'll keep that in mind, then," she muttered. "Thank you for back there, but that wasn't necessary. I would've been able to handle it myself just fine," she told Charles.
"I shall try my best," he replied softly. "It's just an old habit of mine."
"Interfering?"
Charles raised a brow at her. "Not . . . exactly . . ." He trailed off, pushing back the glasses on his nose. Surely, he wasn't pleased by the girl's straightforward comments. "But if there's a person I can't stand, it's someone who does not act properly, so you can say I just did that by instinct."
"Alright. If you say so."
Charles was expecting the girl to look like she was scared to the boot, but the calm expression on her face completely thwarted his expectations. She was truly unpredictable.
"How can you be so calm after being threatened like that?"
"I've been bullied before and it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience." She shrugged. "I've been in fights before . . . and people say I pack quite a punch. Besides, I've decided to attend this academy and choices always come in package."
"So you're fine with the fact that almost every student in this academy scorns you?"
"I'm not fine with it," she answered. "That's why I'm going to change it," she quickly added.
Charles curiously stared at the girl for a moment.
"After you give that book to Corvan, why don't you accompany me to the kitchen and help me cook?" Charles asked.
"What? Really? I thought the kitchen was off-limits."
"It's alright. You have my permission."
"Okay. I'll help cook dinner then. Is it alright if I change clothes first, though? I don't want to get this stained."
"That'll be fine."
When they arrived, Charles headed to the kitchen without other detours. Valeriana handed the book to Corvan quietly and headed to her room right after. She changed into a loose beige blouse and paired it with her hello kitty boxers.
When she came down from her room, everyone gave her a look of curiosity and disbelief while staring at her clothes. She disregarded their ridiculing gazes and headed right for the kitchen to see Charles with an apron tied around his waist holding up a cooking ladle. When the fourth-ranker sensed her presence, he threw an apron to her direction without looking her way.
The girl was awed. She slowly closed the door behind her so as not to make a sound and looked around freely. The lighting was dim. Add in the detail that everything was made out of wood; it made it seem darker.
The floors and counters were spotless that it made Valeriana afraid to do anything. Every instrument was put neatly in their places, and the tableware and glassware were arranged inside an antique china cabinet.
She figured it was better to stay away from it to prevent meeting an accident. Sadly, Valeriana could be a real klutz, so she needed to be extra careful around the kitchen. She always got an earful from her mother when she would break something and all the reprimanding would leave her ears ringing.
"What dishes can you cook?" he asked.
Valeriana tied the apron around her waist. "Quite a few."
"Give me an example."
"I forgot their names but I know how to prepare a soup, chicken and rice, broccoli spears for the side, and pumpkin pecan cheesecake!"
"So this is a dinner plan with an appetizer, entrée, and dessert, is that it?"
"It feels incomplete when one is served without the other. My mother usually serves them as a group."
"It is important for all the dishes to properly complement the other to make dinner much more enjoyable and scrumptious. I have no problems with eating a heavy dinner since I use up all my energy easily. In that case, your suggestion is accepted. We'll be having what you say for dinner, in exchange, you will be taking the lead in the preparations."
"What? I'm taking the lead?"
"I'll be assisting you any way I can."
"Alright," she said with a smile. "I usually just assist my mother when preparing dinner. Bring it on!"
"First things first, let's see if you have the ingredients you need."
Valeriana wasn't exactly sure what kind of technology they were using, but they didn't seem to be fond of using electricity. The type of energy they use to power up their equipment was magic—or power control as they preferred to call it—which was something the poor human girl didn't have so she needed the guidance of Charles.
Retracing the procedures when preparing the meal had been tad easy for Valeriana, since her mother taught it to her for the purpose of passing down the family recipes. Jareth wasn't interested in cooking complicated dishes since all he was ever good at was baking sweets, like cookies, for his own consumption. He would also refuse to share with anyone.
It wasn't too unusual for someone who had been living a normal life until then. If there was something about Valeriana that could be praised, it was her ability to do housework. She wasn't too fond of partying back in her high school days or making a lot of friends either, so she spent most of her time moping around the house helping her mother.
"What's the next thing to do?" Charles queried.
"Oh, we'll wait until it's finished, so I'll be taking care of the dishes for the mean time," she replied.
Valeriana turned towards the sink and began washing the dishes. She cleaned the mess she recently made and gingerly placed all the equipment, which she had washed, back to where they were originally placed. Once she finished, she discovered that Charles was watching her carefully.
"Is there anything wrong?"
"I was just thinking that you are unexpectedly responsible in the kitchen unlike the other ten outside."
"Thanks," she said, a little flustered. "But that's a little bit hard to believe."
"They don't know a single thing." He looked slightly annoyed as he spoke. "I never expected that you will be, out of all of them, the most responsible."
"That's unbelievable," she said, but seeing what transpired before during the Gathering made her think twice about what she just said.
Charles sighed and massaged the area between his brows. "I don't know, sometimes I ask myself if they truly deserve their position."
"You can't expect everyone to be perfect, right? We all have flaws and are imperfect one way or another. Though no matter how good people are when it comes to certain things, they all have weak points."
"You put it in a way as if it's a good thing."
"It is a good thing," Valeriana said. "I mean, sometimes. A weakness is what drives people to be stronger, right? It's their motivation to improve. It's up to the person if he takes it negatively or positively."
The moment she finished, she checked the oven to see if the chicken was ready. When it was, Valeriana went to retrieve the main course, and gingerly placed the meal on a serving plate. Charles took off his apron and straightened the wrinkles on his clothes while Valeriana began working on the plating.
"I'll go tell everyone to assemble in the dining room. I'll be helping you take out the dishes then."
"Sure!" Valeriana smiled while she watched him leave.
Charles came back a few moments later and inquired if everything was ready. Valeriana nodded, washing her hands on the sink and patting it dry with the kitchen towel. When she was finished, they began taking out the dishes to the dining room where the circle was impatiently waiting for supper to be served.
They all fell quiet when the food came.
"Tell me . . ." Tamara trailed off. "Did Valeriana make this? It looks . . . alright."
Charles ignored Tamara's statement and took his place on the seat next to Rowe while Valeriana sat next to Tamara with a vivacious smile. The girl smoothed her hair down to her shoulders and patted the third-ranker on the back.
"I tried my best to prepare it the way my mother used to," she told them.
Valeriana did a little taste-testing during the preparations so she was confident it did taste somewhat good. Anyhow, it would be better if the people who would eat it were to judge. Still, they all looked somewhat hesitant to take the chance.
While almost everyone stared awkwardly at the food on the dinner table, being the pig Keelan was, he wasted no time getting a portion of each. They observed the eleventh-ranker anxiously as he unhesitatingly gobbled down the food on his plate.
"Ooh!" he exclaimed, his mouth full. "Wit's stwange! But good!"
The strawberry-blond boy continued while everyone else took a few more seconds doubting. Corvan was the second one after Keelan to taste it for himself, but did not say anything after the food hit his tongue.
"How does it taste, Corvan?" Raziel asked, but was unfortunately answered by silence.
"Taste it for yourselves," he finally replied.
Brindon forked a piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth. "It's good."
Valeriana stared at him in confusion. He didn't look like he was enjoying the food with the kind of face he was making.
Taking the first-ranker's answer as a sign, the circle began feasting happily.
"Elfre! You've got to get something or you won't be having anything to eat!" Aneeka said, eyes of purplish blue twinkling with amusement.
"I would never eat food made by a—" She was cut off when Keelan shoved a spoonful of rice and chicken into her mouth and forced her to chew. "Whuman." She finished and swallowed the food as if it was being forced down her throat.
"Weeeellll?" Tamara teasingly asked. "What do you think?"
"Who would . . ." Elfre stabbed a piece of the chicken meat with her fork and gingerly began to chew on it. "Like food like this?"
The chicken was unbelievably juicy. The meat was very tender that it seemed like it was melting in her mouth. The aroma itself was already appetizing and the sauces that came with the dish did great enhancing the taste.
"Aw! Don't be shy! Just admit it! Valeriana made such a good food! There's no way to resist!" Genevieve guffawed while pounding her fists on the table.
Charles eyed her pointedly. "Genevieve! That is no way to act in front of the table!"
"Sorry!"
"Ha! The last chicken leg is mine!" Zevlin exclaimed and reached out.
"Hand it over!"
Dinner became lively and before anyone knew it, their plates were all licked clean. Everyone looked satisfied from their finished meal, but some were left disappointed since they weren't able to fill their stomachs as they intended to.
Keelan burped loudly as he patted his stomach, looking as if he floated to cloud nine. "Ah! That was great!"
"Yeah, because you were the only one who ate! I was saving that for last and you stole it off my plate!" Elfre growled.
Keelan put on an innocent face. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't give me that face! We know you know you did it!" she yelled. "I wanted the last piece of that cake and you stole it!"
The cake tasted mellow. It was soft and the pumpkin was properly emphasized. If Charles was asked, he would no doubt grab the next chance he could get to eat it again. So far, each and every dish complemented each other greatly. Not only that, but these dishes had a very warm feeling to them.
"Well, since everyone seems to have enjoyed Valeriana's cooking, she'll be helping me prepare breakfast tomorrow," Charles said, wiping his lips with the table napkin.
Everyone went silent. They all stared at Charles as he sophisticatedly threw the napkin on the table and stood from his seat and marched straight out of the dining room.
"Wow!" Tamara exclaimed, hitting Valeriana sharply on the back she almost had her face on the empty plate. "Good going, Valeriana! You managed to earn a place in the kitchen! Good for you. He kicked us out when we tried to help!"
"That's because we weren't really helping but making a mess." Rowe supported, chuckling.
Lord Charles was feared for his ruthless way of battling. It was rumored that in all the fights he fought, he left a scar on his enemy one way or another. This earned him the title Scarring Lion. That being said, she never knew he was fond of whipping up delicious meals. It totally did not fit his character.
After working around the lobby for a few hours and having her last meal for the day, Valeriana went back to her room to continue studying.
She sat in front of the study table against the wall then spent the last few minutes going through the contents of the sixth chapter on Law. It wasn't a few moments later when series of knocks came, followed by a familiar voice.
Valeriana stood from her seat yelling out, "I'm coming!"
When she opened the door, there stood Seraphina. "Good evening, Valeriana," the lady greeted, lips parting to form a smile. She peeked into the room through Valeriana's shoulder. "I see you're adjusting very well."
"Good evening," she answered back. "And yeah, please do come in." She stepped away from the door to make way for her guest and Seraphina entered curtly.
"I do hope I'm not intruding," the lady told her, glancing at the table she was sitting in front of a few moments ago. There were a lot of books on it that one could hardly see its surface. The book she was studying was hatched to the page she was currently reviewing.
"Not at all. Please take a seat." Valeriana motioned towards a comfortable loveseat.
"No, thank you. I won't stay long." Seraphina shook her head and remained standing. "I see you're working hard, though. That's a good thing." She then turned to the girl. "Lord Aeron told me your luggage came in a few hours ago, or was that last night?"
"It was last night," Valeriana said, happily smiling. "I've been meaning to come to him to thank him about it, but . . . I've been rather busy so I didn't have time."
"I'll pass the word."
"Thank you. But why did you bother sending my things? I can hardly use them."
"It's to pacify your mother," Seraphina said.
"Pacify her? Don't tell me . . ."
"Yes, she was making a ruckus about it." The lady knight smiled, amusement riddling her gaze. "You can contact her every now and then through mail. Also, you can either send something to your family or receive something from them back home, once every month."
"I see." Valeriana could not feel happier. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
"It only means that you had to go through a lot of trouble because of my mother's insistence."
"It's alright." Seraphina smiled.
"Did you come for anything else, Seraphina?" Valeriana inquired.
"As your official guardian in this world, I came to check on you. How's everything going? Are you doing fine in the circle?"
The human girl laughed. She went over to her study desk and sat on the open chair. "Well, yeah, I'm doing fine."
"Very well, then. I will not disturb you further since you seem busy. I'll be taking my leave." Lady Seraphina turned and sauntered towards the door.
"Good night." Valeriana grinned at her as she began to walk out of her room.
"And to you, as well. Oh, and don't forget your weekly quota. How many days do you have left before you submit that envelope?"
"Oh, no . . ."
dowT^ڋ\'