“Hey, Valeria. If you keep standing there thinking so hard, you’re going to get wrinkles. You don’t want that, do you?”
Wrinkles? Really? This was his idea of helping her? She had spent years pushing herself, enduring sleepless nights, trying to master a cultivation art that had stopped working—fighting tooth and nail against a bottleneck that refused to break—and this was the advice he offered. A stupid, empty remark about wrinkles?
“Idiot!” Valeria exploded, her voice louder than she intended. She could feel the heat rising to her face, frustration boiling over. “You think everything’s just a joke, don’t you?! You never take anything seriously! You—you don’t understand anything!”
Lucavion blinked, his grin faltering for just a moment, but then it returned with a teasing smirk. “Hey, calm down, Valeria. No need to be so tense all the time. It’s not good for your health. Also, wrinkles—”
“Shut up!” she snapped, cutting him off before he could finish. “Don’t you dare follow me!” She didn’t wait for a response. With an exasperated huff, Valeria turned on her heel and stormed away, leaving Lucavion standing alone in the street.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she walked, her fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t even know why she was so angry—was it him? Was it his carefree attitude? Or was it just the suffocating pressure she’d been feeling for weeks, months, years, finally breaking through? She couldn’t tell anymore.
This is the ‘talent’ everyone keeps talking about, isn’t it? Valeria’s thoughts raced bitterly. People like him just glide through life—like they’re riding a wave—while people like me have to fight for every inch. It’s not fair. It’s never been fair.
She quickened her pace, needing distance. Lucavion had a way of disarming her, but not in a way that was comforting. It was frustrating like he could never understand the weight she carried or the struggle she endured. To him, everything was a game. A challenge to be laughed at and brushed off. But for her?
This was her life, her future.
As she moved deeper into the bustling streets, Valeria fought to regain control of her emotions, but the bitterness lingered, gnawing at her. She didn’t look back, didn’t care if Lucavion had decided to follow her after all. She just needed to be alone, away from his teasing, his endless carefree attitude.
For now, she just needed space to think—really think—without the distraction of someone who made everything look so infuriatingly easy.
********
As Valeria stormed away, her footsteps echoing through the alley, Lucavion remained standing, his expression shifting from amused to thoughtful. The air, once thick with tension, now felt empty, save for the fading sounds of Valeria’s departure.
Vitaliara, still perched on his shoulder, watched Valeria’s retreating figure with a narrowed gaze. Her tail flicked sharply, her displeasure evident. [She’s acting so entitled,] Vitaliara hissed in Lucavion’s mind. [Frustration or not, that attitude is starting to grate on me.]
Lucavion sighed, a soft chuckle escaping his lips, though the edge of it felt slightly guilty. He glanced at the ground, scratching the back of his neck. [I might’ve gone a little overboard with the teasing,] he admitted, his tone far more reflective than usual. [She’s clearly frustrated, and I’m not exactly helping, am I?]
Vitaliara’s emerald eyes blinked slowly as she processed his words, her sharpness softening just slightly. [Maybe. But you’re not responsible for whatever is bothering her. She’s got to learn to deal with that herself.]
Lucavion’s gaze followed Valeria’s form as she disappeared into the crowd, her rigid posture telling the whole story of her frustration and self-doubt. He felt a small pang of regret, but not enough to wipe away his signature smirk entirely. [True.]
Lucavion’s smirk lingered, but his thoughts drifted back to what he knew about Valeria from the novel. He recalled the way her journey had been described—the constant frustration, the sense of being left behind despite her efforts. Valeria had been stuck in the 3-star realm for what seemed like an eternity, and no amount of training had managed to break her through.
In the novel, Valeria’s struggle was more than just personal frustration—it was her constant need to prove herself, to line up achievements that would make her family proud and honor their legacy. As the heir to a distinguished knightly house, the pressure to excel weighed on her shoulders like a suit of armor that never came off.
She wasn’t just trying to grow in ranks; she was fighting against a clock, knowing that time was slipping through her fingers, and the gap between her and her peers was widening.
Lucavion remembered that even as she entered the academy, she remained stuck in the 3-star realm, and that had been a source of embarrassment for her. At the academy, the other students were often in the 4-star realm or higher, leaving Valeria feeling inadequate and outmatched.
It had taken her far longer than most to reach that milestone, and it had branded her as “weak” in the eyes of those who measured worth solely by power and rank.
‘No wonder she’s frustrated,’ Lucavion thought to himself, his smirk fading into something more thoughtful. Valeria wasn’t just angry at him—she was angry at herself, at her perceived failure to keep up with those around her. Every little reminder of someone else’s progress, like Lucavion’s recent breakthrough, probably felt like another weight pressing down on her.
‘But still,’ he mused, ‘she’s pushing herself too hard. That’s part of why she’s stuck.’
In the novel, it is clear that Valeria’s bottleneck wasn’t purely a lack of talent or effort. She was one of the most diligent, disciplined characters in the story, always training, and always seeking to improve.
But her rigid adherence to structure and rules—the very things that made her such an exceptional knight—were also holding her back. She couldn’t let go of the control she sought over her path, and that had been her downfall for much of her early arc.
‘She’s like a dam holding back too much water,’ Lucavion thought, remembering a line from somewhere.
‘Eventually, the dam has to break for the water to flow.’
In the story, it took Valeria much longer to realize that. She had entered the academy still at 3-star, struggling with her self-worth and being looked down upon by her peers.
It wasn’t until later, after a particularly harrowing battle, that she finally broke through to the 4-star realm—but only after nearly losing everything in the process.
‘Well, this time, things shall be a little different.’
Remembering the time when he was on that battlefield and under the old man’s teachings, he smiled a little.
At that time, he also had quite a lot of mental barriers that he had put around himself that were obstructing him from the potential that he could awaken.
‘Master always had a way of knowing just what to say to get under my skin,’ he mused to himself, shaking his head.
He straightened his coat and started walking at a leisurely pace through the bustling streets of the city. As he moved, the crowd swirled around him, the energy of Andelheim humming with anticipation for the upcoming tournament. Lucavion’s smile remained, but his thoughts were still on Valeria.
‘Since Master guided me that way, why wouldn’t I do the same for her?’ he thought. ‘Sometimes, people need a little push, even if they don’t like it.’
But as he walked, Vitaliara flicked her tail and tilted her head, sensing a shift in Lucavion’s thoughts. [Aren’t you going to catch up to her?] she asked, her voice laced with curiosity. [It seemed like you wanted to talk to her about all this.]
Lucavion shook his head, his pace unhurried as he moved through the streets. “Nah,” he said aloud, his voice casual and relaxed. “She doesn’t want me around right now. It’s better to leave her alone for the time being.”
Vitaliara blinked in surprise. [That’s uncharacteristically thoughtful of you,] she remarked, though there was a teasing edge to her words.
Lucavion chuckled softly. “I have my moments,” he said with a grin. “She’ll cool off, and then maybe we can talk. For now, though, I think giving her space is the right move.”
He glanced around the city, taking in the sights and sounds of the bustling marketplace. Merchants shouted their wares, adventurers, and travelers moved about, and the distant hum of excitement from the tournament grounds buzzed in the air.
“It’s not like I have nothing to do,” he added with a shrug, his eyes glinting with amusement. “it is about the time I met with the miss ‘Bear’ that master had mentioned.”
The Iron Matron.
Or in other words…..Little Bear.
It was a name he had heard from his master after all.