Chapter 136: Conflict with Amelia

“What do you think you are doing?” Lily angrily asked.

Julius watched as the Amelia girl crossed her arms and looked at him self-satisfied. Then he turned to look at Lily with an abashed grin. “I’m s-”

She cut him off, “Not you Julius.” She turned to give Amelia a fierce look. “I’m talking to you.”

“Me?” Amelia asked in disbelief while pointing at herself.

“Yes, you,” Lily said firmly.

“What did I do?” She asked.

“You don’t think we didn’t sense what you were doing with your aura to Julius?” Lily said angrily. Her eyes were glowing dangerously violet and Julius could feel the genuine anger in her aura.

Julius observed a flash of regret pass over Amelia’s eyes, but it was gone just as quickly. “I did what someone of my status would do to another Tier 2 who would act in such a disrespectful manner,” Amelia defended herself.

What? I have barely said two words to you the entire dinner, Julius thought to himself not believing the words coming out of Amelia’s mouth.

“Disrespectful to whom? You? Because the only one who has a problem with him is you,” Lily pointed out.

Yeah, you tell her Lily! He cheered silently.

“No, to Grace as well,” Amelia shot back.

Lily chuckled at that. “No, she hasn’t taken offense a single time. You are the one who got offended on her behalf. Then used that as a reason to try and push Julius around.”

“I did not. The boy has been acting like some high-tiered arrogant noble to even important people like you guys the entire time.”

Lily paused at that. “So you do know exactly who we are then?”

“Of course I do,” Amelia said with a scoff. “How could I not know who you guys are?”

Julius watched as Lily shook her head in disbelief. “If you know who we are, then what gives you the impression that you can decide how our friend speaks to us? You think people of our standing would allow someone to speak to us like that?”

Amelia pressed her lips together and stately calmly, “He doesn’t act as one of his Tier should act. He treats you guys like-”

“-Like we’re equals,” Lily finished for her. “He treats us like friends would. He doesn’t bow at our feet or bathes our toes with his tongue like the other disgraceful Houses do. Is that what bothers you so much? That a first-year like him can be friends with people like us?”

“There are traditions and rules of how someone of his status should speak to someone like us,” Amelia argued.

“Traditions and rules,” Lily scoffed. “What a load of crap.”

“It’s not crap,” Amelia shook her head. “It’s how society stays together and how the power gap between individuals stays balanced.”

Lily shook her head. “It’s how people with power stay in power. That’s why the so-called traditions are in place. Do you really think nobles want people to show respect for one another because someone is a single tier higher than them? No, it’s for the rich and powerful to feel good about bossing people beneath them around like they’re slaves.”

Amelia bit her lip before replying. “You’re the granddaughter of Count Violet, doesn’t that mean it applies to you as well?” She argued.

“That’s exactly how I know it happens. All children born from powerful families know how people outside of their family treat them. How even the people from their own House treat them,” Lily said softly.

“They treat them with respect. That is how peace is maintained.”

Lily gave a mocking laugh. “No, people treat people like us with fear, not respect. It just comes off as respect because if they don’t then they and their families will be killed and nothing will be done about it.”

Amelia didn’t say anything to argue that point. She just stood there silently fuming. “That doesn’t change the fact that Julius has been acting disrespectful all night to Grace,” Amelia finally said.

Lily had a face of disgust on her face. “You keep on saying that he has been disrespectful this and disrespectful that. Nobody except you thinks that way.”

“He speaks to her with too much familiarity and casualness for someone of his status,” Amelia told her while looking at Julius who was still observing silently from the side.

“Oh? Grace is the same Tier as him, which by your reasoning means that it shouldn’t be a problem for him to talk to her in such a manner. Not that she minds by the way,” Lily said sarcastically.

“He ignored her.”

“So he ignored someone? And for that reason, you want to press your aura down on him like he is some monster? You know what I think? I think you have a personal problem with him, but you are using Grace as an excuse to go after him.”

Julius saw Amelia finally take the time to turn and look over at Grace. Grace had her mouth and eyes wide open in shock. It was as if she couldn’t believe that her friend would behave in such a manner.

He smiled at the look of shame that started to bloom on Amelia’s face as she began to realize how her actions might look to onlookers.

“He provoked me. You all saw it yourselves,” Amelia argued weakly, even to his ears.

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“No, we saw him provoking you after you were rude to him the entire night. Don’t think we haven’t been noticing.”

Julius saw all of his friends nod in agreement and stare at Amelia with very unfriendly gazes. He felt touched, there was a part of him that loved the fact that they had noticed her jabs as well and had his back.

He had calmed down a lot by now. Seeing the house that killed Lukas and Edwin a few feet away from him had shaken him, but he managed to get back a semblance of control.

He also belatedly realized that he could have handled that whole situation better. If he hadn’t had to deal with that surprise with the Greyson douchebags, he wouldn’t have lost his cool as easily. He had to be better in the future. He wouldn’t always have Lily there to cool him down.

That being said, he still didn’t like the rude woman. At least Grace had been nothing but nice. However, Amelia had contributed nothing to their night. And to top it off, she had even tried to oppress him with her aura in a humiliating way.

She tried to strangle him with her aura. The only reason why Julius wasn’t being pressed into the cold stone bricks below them was that he had several advantages.