Chapter 150: Not Quite Even

Julius pulled out a book from his storage ring, it was called Elven Wars: Blood Era. The book was a fictional story about a real war that occurred thousands of years ago with another continent where the elves primarily resided.

It was actually quite an interesting story. He found himself enjoying a good book whenever he wanted a break from his manic training regime.

And people accuse me of not relaxing enough, Julius chuckled to himself.

He took breaks occasionally, that was what helped him keep focus on his goals better. It didn’t have to be long, but sometimes, an hour of doing something that didn’t revolve around stretching him to his limits helped more than many would think.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to enjoy his book. Just as he was beginning to read, he sensed the two of them walking toward his little corner of the library.

When Grace approached him, he pretended to be absorbed in his book. It wasn’t until she sat down in front of him that he looked up at her with feigned surprise on his face.

He observed as Grace licked her lips anxiously before speaking. “Hello,” she said tentatively.

He closed his book and smiled at her. “Hey, Grace. Fancy seeing you here this early.”

His friendly attitude seemingly put her more at ease and her shoulders relaxed a hair. “Yeah, I like to come here in the mornings to read. It clears my head before the day begins. But I could say the same to you,” she said with a smirk.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess my reason is pretty similar to you. It’s a nice way to relax before I have to head to class.”

She nodded her head, agreeing with the sentiment before opening her mouth to say something else but hesitated. She looked down at the table between them, closed her mouth, and furrowed her brows before opening her mouth again. “I want to apologize for what happened the other week. Amelia has always been overly protective of me, but she went too far.”

Julius took the time to look directly into her eyes before shaking his head with a chuckle. “I don’t think you need to apologize to me. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

This time it was her that shook her head at him. “No, I should stopped it before it got to that point. I wasn’t paying attention, I was too busy with…” she trailed off.

“With eating delicious food? I noticed,” he said with a teasing smirk.

He saw her blush a little bit at that comment but smiled knowingly. “Yeah, I guess you did,” she said.

Julius turned his attention from her to look around the room again. “The others and I don’t hold any hard feelings for you,” he assured her.

She bit her lip worryingly. “And Amelia?” She asked hesitantly.

“Eh, I couldn’t care less about seeing her again. I find myself not making time for rude people,” Julius truthfully told Grace.

Grace nodded her head and nervously picked at the hem of her uniform. “Does that mean we can’t be friends?” She asked quietly.

It was quiet enough that Julius was certain that if not for his enhanced hearing, he wouldn’t have been able to hear what she said. Still, he was able to fully catch her question.

He didn’t answer right away and waited until she looked up at him. He then gave her a soft smile of his own and said, “I don’t see why not. You still owe me a cake after all. If we weren’t friends then I wouldn’t be able to exchange that offer.”

He saw her eyes water around the edges before she looked away again, but this time with a smile of her own. “What about Amelia?” She asked him.

“What about her?”

“She won’t affect our friendship?” She asked.

Julius just shrugged. “I mean that depends a lot on you and her. What kind of relationship do the two of you share?”

Grace tilted her head in thought. “She’s someone who keeps an eye on me while I am at Goldencrest. But more importantly, she’s my friend. Probably, my only friend,” she admitted sadly.

“Well not anymore,” he told her with a smile. “And I don’t know about the others, but I can tell you that they liked you. I know for sure that they enjoyed your appetite, especially Edgar. But he’s biased.”

She looked up at him with a brilliant smile upon hearing his kind words. But then frowned. “Biased?” She asked confused.

Julius waved his hand. “Eh, it’s not really important. He just likes anyone who eats a lot because it makes him feel less guilty about him eating his family into poverty.”

She visibly flinched “What?”

“I know, sad business,” he shook his head morosely. “Anyway, I don’t see why she would affect our friendship, I just wouldn’t want to hang out with her,” he said switching back to the original topic, leaving Grace slightly confused and off-kilter.

However, she quickly got back her bearings. “What if she apologized to you directly?” She asked curiously.

Julius paused and put a hand on his chin. “That would certainly help,” he admitted.

An apology would go a long way. It wasn’t like he wasn’t unaware of where Amelia was coming from. He had teased Grace a little bit and he could see how someone who was very protective of a person would perceive that in a negative way.

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Additionally, he wouldn’t have lost his own composure that night if he hadn’t seen House Greyson just a few minutes before. If it was any other time, he would have brushed it off like no big deal.

Grace smiled at that. “I will have her apologize immediately,” she promised.

“Thanks, I would appreciate that,” he told her, feeling good about resolving that issue.

There was just one single thing that was bothering him now.

It was that Amelia was currently breathing down Julius’s neck. And he meant literally breathing down his neck. She was so close to him that he could reach behind him and touch her.

She had maneuvered around him the second Grace entered the room. The only thing that made him okay with it, was that she wasn’t doing anything that would alert him.

Her body was oddly non-threatening. The main thing she had been doing, was staring at him. But there were times that Julius suspected she was testing him and whether or not he could sense her.

He almost laughed out loud when he sensed her fake lunging at him. He remained his act though. He was pretty confident that Amelia wouldn’t blindside him in front of Grace. That was what he was hoping for at least.

He looked at Grace who was also looking at him with an awkward look on her face. However, after too much time passed to be comfortable, she sighed loudly.