Chapter One ۞ Gray Scale

The Twelve could not help but feel suspicious of Corvan and Valeriana's strange antics. Sure, one carriage could at carry at least six people in total. Four was the recommended passenger number but the space available during such circumstance was enough for each and every one to wiggle around without even bothering their seatmate.

It wasn't like they were against the two taking a whole carriage to themselves, but, seriously? What was up with all the talk of 'being not able to last being in the same room with her/him alone' stuff and suddenly—all so suddenly—take a carriage with the other party willingly. And Valeriana, they dare say, looked even more excited? Corvan had the usual frown on his face but it wasn't the kind of frown that said he was displeased.

"I really, really don't get those two." Aneeka muttered. "I swear if bipolarity has three stages, they're probably in three."

"With Zion being in four." Genevieve quipped, high-fiving her brother. "We have the strangest love triangle in history it's probably something nobody has ever really literally seen before."

Tamara burst out laughing at the previous statement. "So, a love triangle with everyone having a bipolar disorder?" She guffawed, her laughter ringing deafeningly. "Sure is amusing, though."

"I'm still Valion." Elfre growled, snapping at the twins.

"Corval!" Genevieve and Zevlin snapped back.

"Shut up! Where's Zion anyway?" The seventh asked, wondering where the pestering non-ranker was currently at. "He was screaming a while ago, where's he gone?"

"He's sulking in one of the carriages with Raziel and Brindon." Keelan quipped, walking towards the group while wrapping his knitted sweater to keep out the cold. "It's the strangest ever! He's so quiet it doesn't feel like it's him."

"What about Rowe?" Aneeka asked.

"Well, I dunno." Keelan answered innocently, his grass-green eyes sparkling. "All I know is that you guys are huddled in here laughing, Zion, me, and Brindon are in the carriage having the most awkward atmosphere ever, and Valeriana and Corvan are having a nice, romantic moment alone—just the two of them!"

"Why did you leave the carriage, then? We're just about to leave." Tamara told him, making his smile falter.

"Whaaat?! I left the carriage because I thought you guys were having fun! I don't want to go back in there!"

"Well, we have no choice. It's about time to go."

"Tamara!" Keelan leaped for the redhead and latched onto her arm. "Take me with you, please. You're more fun to be with. Those people are a bore." He then glanced at Charles, who had been unusually quiet watching everything unfold. "Let Charles sit with those people!"

"Are you implying that I am a bore as well?" The fourth-ranker inquired with a peeved quirk of his brow.

"Well, uh . . ."

"Huh." He huffed, fixing his glasses. "I assume you are forgetting who cooks your meal every single day."

At this statement, the color completely left the eleventh-ranker's face as he realized what sort of situation he got himself in. As though a puppy whose treat got taken away, his eyes widened and he started practically crawling towards Charles.

"Uh . . . uh . . . I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Keelan worriedly exclaimed. "Lord Charles!"

"And he's a slave to whatever hand literally feeds him." Tamara blew out a sigh. "Anyway, let's move out!"

-*-

Corvan kept his word and indeed summoned another one of his fireballs—as Valeriana preferred to call it—until the lord himself got irked by her incessant referral to it by the apparently 'indecorous' name. He corrected her harshly, his words as sharp as his stoic expression and algid eyes.

"It's an Aureole. I prefer you stop with your pathetic labeling." He told her loftily, his nose turning up higher by a fraction and a small twitch subtly disturbing the steady line of his lips.

Despite his usually unbearable attitude, Valeriana felt too cheerful to let him disrupt her good mood. Instead, she answered dismissively with an unconcerned tone. "Yeah, yeah alright. Aureeeoooole, whatever it is."

Corvan watched the honey-blonde from the corner of his eyes, observing how taken she was with the small ball of light he had conjured. He never expected he would ever use his power this way. Typically, during combat, an Aureole was supposed to be used as a bomb of some sort. It could exert an unbelievable amount of heat—even cause everything around it to blow up in flames—under the instructions of the user. Once at the peak of its 'radiating' ability, it usually explodes. However, it could be kept under control and he could choose how much heat it should emanate. If it went on that way, it wouldn't detonate and instead just vanish. Of course, if the girl were to ever know that, she would surely freak out and never go near it again—much less be in the same room as it.

"Oh, hey! I brought some drinks! Wanna have some?" She offered. Corvan was about to refuse when Valeriana started rummaging through the knapsack that sat beside her before he could even say anything. She handed him a special, heat-insulating wineskin from the coat of an animal he recognized as the winter goat. With it came a warm liquid he was unsure of.

"What is this?" He inquired, hesitantly accepting it.

"Just drink! I promise it'll be great!" She stated, bringing out one more for herself along with a small, colorful box. The light of his Aureole could not compare to the smile on her face. "You look like you need an ice-breaker." The fifth-ranker laughed, her joke coming unnoticed to the first.

"I do not desire such useless—"

And before he could even finish what he was saying, she was already downing her share and curiously picking on the open box of treats she was given.

"Marcy said these were warm puddings . . . best with the milk." She muttered and picked one off. "I hope they aren't sweet."

Valeriana then closed her eyes and threw the treat inside her mouth, only to find it wide open when she started chewing. With a delighted look, she swallowed and hummed in satisfaction.

"Moist . . . not really sweet. Just a dash of sugar somewhere but it doesn't make me want to vomit." One second later she had stuffed her mouth so much that she was forcibly pulling her lips together. "Mm . . ."

Corvan couldn't help but sigh as he watched. Her azure blue eyes drifted towards his and she held a small square of pudding in front of him, her bulging cheeks and big, round eyes unbearably and unexpectedly adorable for some reason.

Not finding it in him to upset her, he leaned forward and clipped the treat between his teeth. However, his initial plans did not go well as the pudding gave in to the force and crumbled as the part he bit into entered his mouth. He had to bite once again, somewhat gentler, this time stringing along the whole treat. His tongue then brushed along the smooth surface of his lower lip, starting from one corner and slowly trailing towards the other. Valeriana followed his actions with widened eyes and a frozen expression which he mirrored with an untroubled face.

Perhaps Valeriana was unused to seeing this side of him. The sight of her made him grin, causing the girl to snap out of her reverie and instead redden a few shades close to a tomato. Not forgetting she had food stuck between her cheeks, she hastily swallowed that she choked.

He opened the wineskin she had offered him and allowed the liquid to wash past his teeth. He tasted milk, smooth and silky, as he swallowed and felt refreshed and invigorated instantly. Somehow, Valeriana was right regarding the experience of having to drink something warm while in front of the fire, watching the snow float outside the windows of the moving carriage. Something about it was serene and very relaxing. Perhaps a cold climate was not bad at all.

Arlandia was indeed the Land of Summer. It lived up to its name. Scattered across the whole continent were wide deserts and scorching sands, not to mention the blazing sun was ten times harsher. However, another part was filled with volcanoes. At the foot of the sleeping giants were fertile lands and somewhere farther were terraced plains. The coldest weather was when it was most rainy, but snow never came.

Unable to put up his cold front any longer, he reclined in his seat and released the tension from his shoulders. His face muscles loosened and the curve from his brows disappeared. Valeriana was not mistaken when she said it really was an 'ice-breaker', alright.

He opened his eyes and saw Valeriana sulking from where she sat. He managed a small smile at this, wondering silently to himself why, somehow, he had more trust in this girl than anyone else he had ever come across. Well, perhaps it was because of the fact that when with Valeriana, he did not need to put up fronts. He could say brashly what he wanted and he would be answered with an equally honest reply. Honesty was something he was deprived of a lot in his life. Integrity was hard to keep. Trust was a big issue.

"The real demons lie within the hearts of men." He said aloud unwittingly.

"Huh." Valeriana's attention snapped towards him and only then did he realize what he had done.

"I wonder what had made you so naïve and unbearably innocent. Were you reared in such a peaceful world that strife and struggles hardly exist? That you were able to experience such blissful events such as this?" He could not help but blurt out.

"It's not that it's that peaceful . . ." The girl answered, her gaze dropping to her feet. "It's really the worst, you know. The so-called 'peace' that humanity exercises. It's useless." She then leaned back and watched the shaky ceiling instead. "Because although outside, there's no war, it's in the inside that there's a problem. People corrupt for power, deprive the poor, misuse objects and stuffs . . . when it's just too 'peaceful', they try to find some trouble to live out off. There's this weird mentality people have—like, when there's nothing, they try to find something. When there's too much of something, they hate it and try to stop it. However, when everything is just right, they strive for more of something they want. It just disrupts the whole balance of things and throws the whole world into chaos all over again. It's just crazy, you know." She sighed. "Trying to establish order in a place where there's none. It's like monkeys dressing up as lions."

He went quiet. "I just asked two questions and you answered with five paragraphs."

"Really." She huffed. "You're as rude as always. Don't you get tired that we argue every time?"

"Why? Are you starting to grow weary of our useless debates and disputes?"

"Don't throw a question I just asked you back at me. Like, seriously." She told him. "You just asked me my question in a better, more sophisticated version. Now, answer me. Don't you?"

He fell quiet and instead dragged his eyes to look outside the window, observing frost-covered leaves in trees and heaps of snows gathering in their branches. "If I were to answer like usual, I would say yes." He then looked at her. "But if I were to answer honestly and seriously, I'm going to say no. And probably not ever."

She watched him, amazed by his answer.

"Don't look at me like that." He said. "Although I would not prefer to divulge this under normal circumstances, I will tell this to you once. However, I would highly appreciate it if you were to never bring it up again in our next argument."

"Um . . . sure . . . probably." She grinned, feeling evil.

Corvan could not help but rub his temples at the expression she had on her face, but decided to continue anyway. "Your words are enlightening."

"Huh."

"The things you say are not entirely useless unlike people think they are." He stated. "You might seem absolutely stupid and peculiar with how you act, but that is only because you do not fit the description of 'normalcy' but exceeds the boundaries of customariness. You are only beyond everyone's comprehension and I do admit that sometimes, your mind could run even faster than your mouth. Sometimes. That doesn't remove the fact that you're an absentminded and scatterbrained person."

"What—well, you're no different, you know! I don't understand if you're just seriously complimenting or just criticizing people." She rolled her eyes. "You do one thing and you do the exact opposite of it the next moment."

"It's an old habit, perhaps. Being on top, I cannot show anyone any favor." He confessed, remarkably calm even after the fifth-ranker's statement. "It's typical of me to state the good side and the bad side to something. After all, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of particular things is a very crucial trait to someone in my position."

"O . . . kay . . . I guess that explains it."

"As I was saying, the things you say are not entirely without sense. They can make someone ponder. I do believe you are wiser than you seem, and that though you do not possess the knowledge expected of a student in the academy, you possess something else."

"And now I'm starting to believe you're more open-minded than you seem, too." Valeriana chuckled. "Oh, speaking of that, let me ask you a situational question."

"What is it?"

"You're a spectator, and you saw someone stand in front, during a formal event. This particular person was important and managed to obtain a high honor, but not any higher than the officials who gave him the honor. This person knew he deserved the higher reward which was not given to him. He's a good candidate, very proficient. However, he was well aware of the unfair injustice occurring within that institution he went into. So, during his designated speech, he told that to everybody, exposed the unfairness he had been enduring the whole while, humiliated the institution that gave him that honor. What are you going to do? Are you going to take his side or not?"

"No." He answered bluntly.

Valeriana smiled. "Why?"

"Basing off on what you had said, I can conclude that the formal event you have spoken of was held not only for him, but for someone else. That could only mean this is a public gathering after a competitive program of some sort, with ranking at the end to determine who had been the best of their entire batch."

"Mm-hmm." Valeriana nodded.

"It would mean that he had disrespected everybody else in his batch for just the reason of his own unacceptance. Sure, he might've deserved a higher reward for his performance, but he could not only be the one who thought of that. And what he had done was entirely inappropriate and impulsive. If there was not any process done to determine the real injustice that had occurred during the determination of the ranking, then he had absolutely no reason to have done what he had. It would only show his desperate attempt to make the institution rethink their decision. In fact, it isn't at all honorable to do so."

"That's a good answer." She stated. "However, the institution is supposed to be corrupt and I am sure you are aware that not everything is granted the justice it deserves. Not all every complains from normal people are given attention to by the higher-ups, and I'm certain you would've done the same if you have worked hard for something. Remember, the higher ones had given him the honor, so that could only mean he didn't have it before—maybe he had nothing at all. Do you think that going through the normal process would ensure that whatever occurred had been very fair? That they would even hear him out?" Valeriana looked away from him after a lengthy speech and breathed out a big sigh.

"However, fact is, no one would have paid attention if he hadn't gone outside the norm. He wouldn't have gotten what he wanted if he just went through the normal process. In fact, he might not get the justice and proof he needed at all."

Corvan was about to defend his side but was stopped.

"In the end, what's good or bad is determined if it carries more positive influence than negative. However, everything doesn't just have two sides to it. It's just not good or bad, and it isn't just black and white. There are different shades in the middle, more reasons to it than what you think. It's the fault of all sides involved. If it happened, then that only means something should be learned from it. Otherwise, it wouldn't happen again. There's no side you should be taking. No favor you should be giving. You're on top, remember? What did you tell me a while ago?"

A small smile stretched his lips. "You are . . . unbelievable." Corvan laughed.

"Yes, there wouldn't be any rallies if everything is fair in the government. No rebellion. If people are going against what you say, then that means they have a reason to."

"Then what if they don't have a reason at all? What if they're doing this for their own benefit?"

"Then, that gives you the reason to go against them. It's all about seeking the balance of things, Corvan. A ruler is always in the middle. Justice has the balancing scale as its symbol for a reason. But, you should always keep in mind to understand everything. You should always seek the gray scale for the matter. All bad things were done for a reason. The fairest ruler will see all shades between white and black. That even good things can come from bad things, and bad things can come from good things."

"This only proves I'm correct."

"Excuse me?"

"That your mouth isn't entirely useless."

"Gray scale also proves that two opposite things meet at some point."

With that, they shared a look.

The moment seemed to last forever. Corvan was amused by all the sensible logic that came from Valeriana that his eyes glinted with an unusually bright sparkle that lighted up his whole face for a change. This new demeanor took the girl aback a little bit, but she was happy to see this side of Corvan.

It was all ruined, however, when the carriage stopped abruptly. Something heavy landed with a thump on roof of the vehicle, making Valeriana's heart leap to her throat. The sound of the neighing of horses came before and after the event, with loud shuffling as the girl stumbled forward and landed straight into the first-ranker's arms. Valeriana's forehead collided painfully with Corvan's cheek, causing the girl to shriek and feel dizzy from the impact.

"Shut up!" She exclaimed. "Crap! My head hurts. What the heck happened?"

"Valeriana," Corvan's eyes were no narrow and vigilant, his hand automatically reaching for the sheathed sword leaning at the corner. In one hand, he gripped Valeriana's shoulder as if telling her to stay still. "Something's on the roof."

"No way, what is it?"

"Shh."

This position was awkward. Having to be hugged by Corvan as though a damsel of some sort, and he was even holding a sword! Girls would've died to be in this situation.

Something swished outside the window and a shadow moved swiftly, causing Corvan to point his sword vigilantly at that specific direction. Moments later, a figure loomed in their sight, hands flattening against the glass and misty breath fogging the view.

"Yo."