Chapter 316: Tristan

As Julius headed back to the training rooms, his attention was caught by someone staring at his back intensely.

While he had become used to people looking at him lately, most of them were unknown or stared at him mainly out of curiosity. This stare, however, felt much more purposeful.

It made sense as well since it was coming from someone he was well aware of.

His cousin, Tristan, stood off to the side with his friends and stared at Julius with a mix of disbelief and confusion.

Julius already knew the moment he saw that expression that Tristan finally recognized him. He closed his eyes and grimaced as he thought about the potential shitstorm that might happen now that Tristan knew.

Honestly, he had been half expecting it to have already happened by now. But after months of his cousin not recognizing his face, even when they were in the same Intro to Mana class, he had convinced himself that Tristan didn’t remember him.

Unfortunately, that had come to an end.

The first thought that popped into his head was to simply eliminate Tristan as a problem, but he quickly swatted that thought aside.

He frowned at himself. He was beginning to realize that his thoughts had been leaning toward the more violent side of things lately. Something he didn’t think was a good thing. His first thought should not immediately leap toward killing the problem, especially if that person was his cousin.

Was it possible that his aura skill was affecting his mind? Or was it just a natural progression as he adapted to this more violent world? Whatever it was, he had to make sure that he kept it in check.

He slowed his walk as he considered what to do. He could always ignore it and let things play out, but then he started to think about how bad things might get if Tristan reported this to his father.

Julius still didn’t know if Tristan was involved in the coup at the estate. He didn’t want to believe it, but he had to face the facts. The timing of his and his father’s departure was way too suspicious to be a mere coincidence.

They had decided to leave so early to explore the city, as his father, Frederick, had mentioned. If you asked Julius, it was awfully convenient.

However, it was hard to imagine that Samuel and the other traitors had informed Tristan of their plan. The other boy was only a Tier 2 and would likely be a liability rather than helpful.

Frederick, though, seemed more likely to know that something was going to happen. Even if he didn’t know the exact plan, Julius found it unlikely that he didn’t know.

This was why ignoring Tristan could be a bad idea. What if he contacted his father and told him that Julius was alive? He suspected that if that happened, it would complicate his current situation beyond what it already was.

However, his decision was made for him as he observed Tristan head right toward him, excusing himself from his friends. Julius turned to look at his cousin, and they made eye contact for a brief moment. He could see the many questions that Tristan had from looking at his face.

Julius nodded toward the garden area behind the buildings, indicating that they should be somewhere more private for the upcoming conversation. Tristan nodded back, and the two of them quickly walked away from the crowd.

When he finally found a place where he didn’t sense anyone in the vicinity, he sat down on a rock and waited for Tristan to arrive.

“So it is you…” He heard accusingly from his cousin the moment he walked into the glade.

For a moment Julius thought about lying, but he didn’t see how that might help him out at the moment. For all he knew, Tristan would still tell his father that he had come across him. More importantly, this might be his best chance at finding out what happened at the estate.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he confirmed.

“How are you alive?” Tristan asked with confusion and anxiousness evident in his voice.

“What? No welcome back?” Julius joked, trying to ease the obvious tension in the air.

“You think this is funny?” Tristan asked bitterly.

“A little bit; I mean, we have been in the same class ever since the beginning of the year, and you never noticed me then,” Julius said to him.

“We only met that one time, and you don’t exactly look or act the same,” Tristan argued. “Also, it seems that you recognized me well enough. Which means you could have told me a long time ago.”

Julius shrugged. “I didn’t think it was a good idea at the time.”

“What do you mean by that?” Tristan asked with a frown.

“I mean, you said it yourself. You didn’t think I was alive.”

“Nobody did, and you still haven’t told me how you managed that,” Tristan pointed out.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Why did you think I was dead? What were you told?” Julius asked.

Tristan shook his finger at Julius. “No, no, you can’t just all of a sudden start demanding answers from me. You could have let me know you survived almost a year ago. You are going to answer some of my questions first. For example, what happened that night?”

Julius looked at Tristan intently and extended his aura to wrap around the other boy. He didn’t particularly care about showing him his ruinous aura, but he still kept it in check.

“You really don’t know what happened?” Julius asked, getting a sense of the other boy’s emotions. Unfortunately, he had an aura item on, which made it harder to accomplish. But Julius had learned a few tricks from Lily and managed to sneak through the gaps of the aura item’s defenses to get some information.

Tristan swallowed nervously as he undoubtedly felt the oppressive and destructive nature of Julius’s aura, but he still answered.

“What are you talking about? Nobody really knows what happened. We only know that some other House attacked the estate and killed the Patriarch along with some of the Elders. You were supposed to be one of them, too.”