Saat aku mengikuti Valeria Olarion menyusuri jalan-jalan sempit di Rackenshore, pikiranku mulai melantur.
Selalu ada karakter seperti itu, bukan?
Sementara sebagian besar cerita fantasi romantis melemparkan tokoh utama ke dalam lautan peminat, dengan para pemeran utama pria menawan yang berlomba-lomba merebut hati sang protagonis, selalu ada sang penjaga gerbang. Gadis tegas tanpa kompromi yang berdiri teguh di sisi sang heroine, bertindak sebagai penyekat antara dirinya dan gerombolan pemuja.
Terkadang sebagai sahabat, terkadang sebagai rival, tetapi polanya selalu sama: tajam, dingin, dan berwajah yang bisa membuat matahari membeku.
Valeria adalah tipe persis seperti itu.
Aku hampir bisa membayangkan perannya dalam cerita—berdiri di samping sementara sang karakter utama (kemungkinan besar seorang putri atau gadis pilihan yang memiliki kekuatan sihir) menghadapi perhatian dari lima, atau bahkan enam pemeran utama pria yang berbeda.
Setiap kali salah satu dari mereka terlalu dekat atau terlalu ramah, Valeria akan turun tangan dengan tatapan dingin itu, mungkin disertai satu-dua patah kata tajam, mengingatkan mereka bahwa sang protagonis tidak semudah itu didapatkan. Dia bagaikan sabuk kechasan manusia untuk meredam ketegangan romantis.
'Membuat separuh pemain menahan hasrat hanya dengan sekali tatapan,' batinku sambil nyaris terkekeh.
Dalam cerita-cerita semacam ini, gadis yang tegas itu bukan sekadar pelindung—dia adalah ujian saringan. Jika calon pasangan potensial bisa melewati pertahanannya, maka mungkin, hanya mungkin, dia layak mendapatkan sang protagonis. Jika tidak? Yah, semoga beruntung saja untuknya.
Hal menarik dari karakter-karakter ini adalah mereka hampir selalu memiliki lapis kesetiaan tersembunyi yang jauh lebih dalam daripada penampilan luar mereka yang tajam. Peran mereka tidak pernah sekadar menjadi dingin atau tegas tanpa alasan; semuanya tentang pengabdian.
Merekalah yang melindungi heroine dari perhatian yang salah, yang berdiri di sisinya dalam suka dan duka, seringkali mengorbankan kebahagiaan mereka sendiri demi kebaikan yang lebih besar.
Valeria sangat cocok dengan stereotip itu. Sejak pertama kali dia melangkah masuk kein, seluruh pembawaannya memancarkan sosok yang telah mendedikasikan hidupnya untuk sesuatu—atau seseorang—yang jauh lebih besar daripada dirinya sendiri.
Valeria Olarion—begitu aku mendengar namanya, semuanya langsung masuk akal. Tentu saja dia sangat cocok dengan stereotip itu karena dia memang merupakan perwujudan stereotip tersebut, setidaknya di dunia Shattered Innocence.
Aku hampir lupa….. Yah, bukan berarti aku lupa, hanya saja membaca beberapa kalimat yang mendeskripsikan penampilan seseorang dan melihatnya secara langsung di dunia nyata tidak selalu bisa langsung terhubung di kepala.
Di dalam buku, dia dideskripsikan sebagai seorang ksatria berambut merah muda dan bermata lembayung dengan wajah cantik namun tegas, tetapi cara kubayangkan dia sebagai pembaca sedikit berbeda dari wujud aslinya sekarang. Ditambah dengan minimnya ilustrasi, butuh sedikit waktu bagiku untuk menyadari siapa dia sebenarnya.
Valeria bukan sekadar ksatria biasa. Dia adalah karakter kunci dalam novel ini, salah satu sekutu sejati pertama yang akan dibuat oleh sang protagonis, Elara, di akademi. Hubungan mereka tidak dimulai dengan mulus, tentu saja. Valeria bukan tipe orang yang mudah akrab dengan siapa pun, apalagi seseorang yang berjiwa bebas dan pemberontak seperti Elara.
Pada awal cerita, Valeria diperkenalkan sebagai sahabat dari teman sekamar baru Elara, seorang gadis bangsawan yang baik hati namun biasa saja. Melalui hubungan itulah jalan antara Valeria dan Elara bersilangan. Meskipun berada di dalam lingkaran sosial yang sama, mereka bagaikan air dan minyak—rasa kewajiban dan kedisiplinan Valeria yang kaku berbenturan dengan sifat Elara yang lebih santai.
Valeria dibesarkan secara berbeda dari gadis-gadis lain di akademi. Dia adalah produk dari keluarga Olarion, garis keturunan ksatria yang sejarahnya basah oleh kehormatan dan tugas. Sejak dia bisa berjalan, dia sudah memegang pedang. Masa kecilnya tidak diisi dengan boneka atau bermain bersama teman sebaya seperti kebanyakan gadis seumurannya.
Sebaliknya, masa kecilnya dipenuhi dengan lapangan latihan, beratnya baja di genggamannya, serta pelajaran tiada henti tentang tugas, kedisiplinan, dan ekspektasi kaum bangsawan.
Di dunia Valeria, *noblesse oblige* bukan sekadar ungkapan—itu adalah cara hidup. Dia telah diajari bahwa statusnya sebagai seorang bangsawan bukanlah hak istimewa untuk dinikmati, melainkan tanggung jawab yang datang bersama beban berat. Dia diharapkan untuk melindungi yang lemah, mengabdi pada keluarganya, dan menjunjung tinggi nilai-nilai warisan leluhurnya. Dan dia melakukannya dengan pengabdian yang hampir mengerikan.
Itulah sebagian alasan mengapa dia tidak akur dengan Elara pada mulanya. Pendekatan Elara terhadap hidup yang spontan serta emosional, ditambah keengganannya untuk diikat oleh aturan, sangat mengusik didikan kaku Valeria. Di mana Elara melihat kebebasan, Valeria melihat kecerobohan.
Di mana Elara bertindak berdasarkan insting, Valeria akan menganalisis setiap langkah secara berlebihan, memastikan semuanya cocok dengan kerangka kehormatan dan kepatutan yang telah ditanamkan ke dalam dirinya sejak lahir.
Interaksi awal mereka sarat dengan ketegangan, terutama pada hari-hari awal di akademi. Formalitas Valeria dan kepatuhannya yang ketat pada protokol membuatnya tampak menjaga jarak, bahkan dingin. Dan bagi seseorang seperti Elara, hal itu justru memunculkan kenangan yang kurang menyenangkan, sebut saja begitu.
Namun, tentu saja, itulah yang membuat persahabatan mereka pada akhirnya begitu memuaskan. Di balik eksterior Valeria yang tak kenal kompromi tersimpan rasa setia yang begitu dalam hingga hampir menyerupai pengorbanan diri.
'Dia adalah karakter yang sangat kusukai saat itu.'
Sebagian besar pemeran utama pria dan perilaku mereka selalu terasa menyebalkan bagiku sebagai pembaca, dan melihat Valeria menghentikan perilaku semacam itu sungguh sangat memuaskan.
Di sisi lain, tindakan-tindakannya sendiri dan cara berpikirnya yang terkadang munafik juga menyebalkan. Itulah kelemahannya, dan justru itulah yang membuat sesosok karakter terasa nyata.
Tidak ada seorang pun di dunia ini yang sempurna, dan melihat seseorang berubah selalu memberikan inspirasi.
Namun, perjalanan kami masih sangat panjang untuk mencapai titik itu. Dalam Shattered Innocence, Valeria diperkenalkan dalam arc akademi setelah Elara memulai perjalanannya.
Saat ini….
Saat ini, Valeria kemungkinan besar masih jauh dari karakter yang kemudian sangat kuhargai di Shattered Innocence. Perkembangan yang akan dialaminya, kelembutan halus yang kelak mengeluarkan kesetiaan serta kedalaman karakternya—tidak satupun dari hal itu yang terjadi sekarang. Dia masih berada di tahap paling awal dari arc-nya, sebelum dia belajar meredam kedisiplinan yang kaku itu dengan sedikit belas kasih.
Valeria di hadapanku bukanlah sosok teman yang penuh nuansa dan setia seperti yang kuingat dari cerita. Bukan, versi dirinya yang sekarang masih kasar di berbagai sisi. Dia adalah perwujudan ksatria kaku, pedang keadilan yang belum belajar bagaimana cara melengkung tanpa patah. Dunianya dibangun atas aturan, tradisi, and keyakinan mutlak bahwa dia sedang melakukan hal yang benar.
Di satu sisi, dia masih menjadi produk dari didikannya, dibentuk oleh kode etik keluarga Olarion yang ketat serta rasa *noblesse oblige*. Tindakannya selalu didasarkan pada apa yang diyakininya benar, tetapi hal itu datang dengan rangkaian masalahnya sendiri.
Bagi Valeria,
As I followed Valeria Olarion through the narrow streets of Rackenshore, my thoughts began to wander.
There's always that one character, isn't there?
While most romance fantasy stories throw the main character into a sea of suitors, with charming male leads falling over themselves to win the protagonist's favor, there's always the gatekeeper. The stern, no-nonsense girl who stands firmly at the side of the heroine, acting as a buffer between her and the horde of admirers.
Sometimes a best friend, sometimes a rival, but always the same type: sharp, cold, and with a face that could freeze the sun.
Valeria was exactly that type.
I could almost picture her role in the story—standing off to the side while the main character (most likely a princess or some magical chosen one) dealt with the affections of five, maybe even six different male leads.
Every time one of them got too close, too friendly, Valeria would step in with that same icy glare, maybe a sharp word or two, reminding them that the protagonist wasn't so easily won over. She was like a human chastity belt for the romantic tension.
'Blue-balling half the cast with a single look,' I mused to myself, barely stifling a chuckle.
In these stories, the stern girl isn't just a protector—she's a litmus test. If a potential love interest could get past her walls, then maybe, just maybe, he was worthy of the protagonist. If not? Well, good luck to him.
The thing about these characters is that they almost always have an undercurrent of loyalty that runs deeper than their sharp exterior suggests. It's never just about being cold or stern for the sake of it; it's about devotion.
They're the ones who protect the heroine from the wrong sort of attention, who stand by her side through thick and thin, often sacrificing their own happiness for the sake of the greater good.
Valeria fit the stereotype perfectly. From the moment she'd walked into the inn, her entire demeanor had screamed of someone who had devoted her life to something—or someone—far greater than herself.
Valeria Olarion—the moment I heard her name, it clicked. Of course, she fit the stereotype perfectly because she was the stereotype, at least in the world of Shattered Innocence.
I had almost forgotten…..Well, not that I had forgotten, but it is just that just reading some words describing someone's appearance and seeing them in real life does not always connect instantly.
While in the book, she was described as a knight with pink hair and violet eyes with a beautiful but stern face, the way I had imagined her as a reader was a little bit different from how she was looking now. And with the lack of illustrations, it took a little bit of time for me to realize who she was.
Valeria wasn't just any knight. She was a key character in the novel, one of the first real allies the protagonist, Elara, would make at the academy. Their relationship didn't begin smoothly, though. Valeria wasn't the type to warm up to anyone easily, least of all someone as free-spirited and rebellious as Elara.
At the beginning of the story, Valeria is introduced as the best friend of Elara's new roommate, a noble girl who is kind but unremarkable. It was through that connection that Valeria and Elara's paths crossed. Despite being in the same social circle, they were oil and water—Valeria's rigid sense of duty and discipline clashing with Elara's more carefree nature.
Valeria had been raised differently from the other girls at the academy. She was a product of the Olarion family, a line of knights whose history was drenched in honor and duty. From the moment she could walk, she held a sword. Her childhood wasn't filled with dolls or playdates like many of her peers.
Instead, it was filled with training grounds, the weight of steel in her hand, and endless lessons about duty, discipline, and the expectations of nobility.
In Valeria's world, noblesse oblige wasn't just a phrase—it was a way of life. She had been taught that her status as a noble wasn't a privilege to be enjoyed but a responsibility that came with burdens. She was expected to protect the weak, serve her house, and uphold the values of her family's legacy. And she did so with an almost terrifying devotion.
That was part of why she didn't get along with Elara at first. Elara's spontaneous, emotional approach to life and her refusal to be bound by the rules grated on Valeria's rigid upbringing. Where Elara saw freedom, Valeria saw recklessness.
Where Elara acted on instinct, Valeria would overanalyze every move, making sure it fit into the framework of honor and propriety that had been drilled into her since birth.
Their initial interactions were fraught with tension, especially during those early days at the academy. Valeria's formality and strict adherence to protocol made her seem distant, cold even. And to someone like Elara, that rather brought some not-liked memories, let's say.
But, of course, that was what made their eventual friendship so satisfying. Beneath Valeria's unyielding exterior was a sense of loyalty that ran so deep it bordered on self-sacrifice.
'She was a character that I had liked quite a lot at that time.'
Most of the male leads and their behaviors were always annoying to me as a reader, and seeing that Valeria was putting an end to such behaviors was indeed satisfying.
At the same time, her own acts and sometimes hypocritical way of thinking were also annoying. It was her flaws, and that is what makes a character.
No one in this world is flawless, and seeing someone change is always inspirational.
But that was still a long way off from where we were now. In Shattered Innocence, Valeria is introduced to the academy arc after Elara has already started her journey.
Right now….
Right now, Valeria is most likely far from the character I'd come to appreciate in Shattered Innocence. The development she would undergo, the subtle softening that would bring out her loyalty and the depth of her character—none of that had happened yet. She was still in the earliest stages of her arc, before she learned to temper that unyielding discipline with a bit of compassion.
The Valeria in front of me wasn't the nuanced, loyal friend I remembered from the story. No, this version of her was still rough around the edges. She was the embodiment of the rigid knight, the sword of justice that hadn't yet learned how to bend without breaking. Her world was built on rules, on tradition, and on the certainty that she was doing the right thing.
In a way, she was still the product of her upbringing, molded by the Olarion family's strict codes of conduct and sense of noblesse oblige. Her actions were always based on what she believed to be right, but that came with its own set of problems.
For Valeria, "right" often meant "by the book," and if someone didn't fit into her carefully defined boxes of honor and decorum, well… they were a problem to be dealt with, not a person to be understood.
And that was who she was right now: someone who saw the world in black and white, with little room for anything in between.
'She's still at the stage where everything is cut and dry for her,' I thought, watching her lead the way with that same stiff, disciplined stride. Right or wrong, honorable or dishonorable, duty or failure. There wasn't much gray in Valeria's world yet. She hadn't been tested in the way she would be later in the story, when those rigid rules of hers would start to clash with reality.
I had been so caught up in my thoughts, mentally dissecting Valeria's character, that I barely noticed we had been walking for a while. The rhythmic clinking of her armor and the sound of our footsteps on the cobblestone streets had become a background hum, blending into the noise of the city around us. It wasn't until she came to an abrupt stop that I snapped back to the present.
Blinking, I looked up to find Valeria standing just ahead, her back still straight, but her stance tense. Her violet eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, I could see the clear annoyance in her gaze. She was sizing me up, as if trying to decide if I was worth the trouble.
Her lips pressed into a thin line, and I could almost hear the deep breath she released, her irritation palpable. She looked me over, her expression sharp, as if there was something about my entire appearance that grated on her.
"Are you really the one who dealt with the bandit Korvan and his men?" she asked, her tone clipped and skeptical, as if the very idea of me doing such a thing was beyond belief.
I wasn't surprised by her question. After all, from her point of view, I probably didn't fit the image of a hero—or even a mercenary capable of handling a seasoned bandit like Korvan. To her, I must have looked like some laid-back fool who thought too much and took nothing seriously.
I met her gaze evenly and nodded, keeping my expression calm. "That's right," I said, not bothering to elaborate. The truth was enough.
Her eyes narrowed, clearly unsatisfied with my simple answer. She seemed to be waiting for more, perhaps a justification or some explanation that made sense in her rigid worldview. But I offered none, just a small, knowing smile that I knew would probably annoy her further.
"You dealt with Korvan," she repeated, almost as if testing the words in her mouth. "And his entire group?"
I nodded again, my tone light. "That's right."
For a moment, her gaze darkened, her frustration with me—and probably this entire situation—bubbling just beneath the surface. She clearly didn't like what she was hearing, but I wasn't sure if it was because she didn't believe me or because she did.
Her posture stiffened even more, and her hand hovered dangerously close to the hilt of her sword. It wasn't a threat, not yet, anyway, but it was a reminder. A reminder of who she was, what she stood for, and the fact that she wasn't easily impressed.
"I find that hard to believe," she said finally, her tone dripping with skepticism. "You don't exactly look like someone who could take down a group like that."
"Why are we repeating the same thing over and over again?"
Valeria's eyes flicked up to meet mine, locking onto me with a cold, calculating stare. She didn't flinch, didn't waver, just nodded her head once, sharply.
"You're right," she said, her voice quieter now, but no less firm. "We are repeating the same thing."
For a moment, I thought that was the end of it, that maybe we'd move on from this tiresome back-and-forth. But instead, her gaze shifted downward, locking onto the hilt of the estoc at my side. A faint glint of determination sparked in her violet eyes, and I knew exactly where this was going before she even said it.
"I'll see for myself."
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