Chapter 345: Tricked

When Lily eventually came out from the back, she looked over at his direction with a large smile and walked over to him.

As she got close, she opened her arms, and Julius, being the person he was, also extended his arms. However, much to his surprise, she walked right by him and into the welcoming arms of the couple he had been talking to.

He was befuddled. He had no idea what had just happened. Did Lily just choose some strangers over him?

How rude.

After she finished hugging them, she looked over at Julius with a smirk. “I see you have already met my parents,” she said.

“Your parents?” he asked while slowly blinking and looking back at the people he had been talking with for the past several minutes.

“Apologies, my husband insisted on meeting you without you already being made aware of who we were. He likes to play these games from time to time, and after all the things our Lily has told us about you, he really wanted to meet you in person,” the wife and apparently Lily’s mother said to him with an exasperated shake of her head.

He quickly collected himself and smiled at her to let her know that there weren’t any hard feelings. “No, it’s okay. I just had no idea.”

“Was this all planned then?” He said with a pointed look at Lily.

She at least had the grace to look apologetic. “My father wanted to meet you.”

He sighed and could do nothing except shake his head in disbelief. “So did I pass the test?”

Her father chuckled and nodded. “I would say you did. You even stood up for a couple of strangers to a woman stronger than you. Very admirable.”

Julius had to hold back his tongue from arguing that the woman was stronger than he was. Although she was Tier 4, he would like to think he had a pretty good chance at beating her.

“Was she a part of the plan as well? Was it all just a test?” He asked.

“Oh no. She wasn’t made aware of who I was. She was just doing her own thing under her own discretion. But I am glad that she did,” Lily’s father said with an approving tilt of his head.

Julius was a bit surprised that he wasn’t more offended at the woman’s behavior. Now that he knew that the man in front of him was Lily’s father, he was quite certain that he was at least Tier 4 and more likely Tier 5. Therefore, being angry that a woman treated him and his wife so rudely was very reasonable.

The woman employee in question seemed very nervous as well. She was looking over at her boss with a worried look on her face. Julius didn’t think she had any idea who Lily was, but she could probably guess that she was important if her boss was taking such a respectful tone with her.

Her boss on the other hand was looking at her with an accusatory look. He wasn’t around to see what she had done, but from the context, he was already making assumptions of what transpired.

Julius had a feeling that the employee’s days might be numbered.

Lily trotted over to him and gave him a questioning glance. “Are you mad?” She asked him.

He shook his head. “No, not mad. Just caught off guard is all,” he assured her.

Her father walked up as well. “Don’t blame her. It is entirely my fault. You wouldn’t believe how many people I have used the same trick on over the years, only to find out that they failed to meet my expectations. These are the same people who would be treating me with reverence if they knew who I really was.”

“I don’t blame you at all. I understand completely. But also, please don’t be surprised if I steal that trick from you later down the road,” Julius joked to him.

“Please go right ahead. It is much more effective than you would imagine.”

Julius grinned. “Well, it is nice to meet you officially. As you already might know, I’m Julius,” he said while reaching out his hand.

Lily’s father smiled widely and reached out to shake it. “Thalius Violet, it’s an honor to meet the person my daughter has been telling me about,” he then stepped to the side. “And this is my wife, Rose. She has many things she is dying to ask you.”

His wife shoved his shoulder. “Stop it. You are going to scare the young boy away,” she said and turned to Julius, ignoring his hand and going in for a brief hug.

“It’s amazing to finally meet you. But I do have to ask… are you interested in my daughter? We constantly get letters from other Houses about a possible relationship with our daughter, but she doesn’t seem like she wants anything to do with them. I’m worried she is going to spend the rest of her life alone and single.”

“Mom!” Lily said warningly.

Rose dismissed her concerns with a smirk. “Calm down, darling. I am just asking some questions.”

Julius decided to get back at Lily for her not telling him about this set up and played along with her mother. “Oh? She has a lot of suitors? Like who?”

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Lily sent him a mental jab, but he ignored it and for the next few minutes her mother spilled all of the juicy gossip about the families who have been throwing themselves at Lily’s feet.

***

Lily POV

After Julius spent far too much time with her family to make her feel comfortable, he went back to campus while she stayed behind to talk with them.

“So… What did you think?” She asked them.

Her mother smiled. “I quite like him, polite and more importantly, he obviously cares about you. He also has a spine which is more than I can say for a lot of boys his age.”

Lily frowned. “What do you mean?”

“While you were in the back, the young employee was quite rudely ignoring us and he stepped up to help us out. Not something you see much of these days. Not when the person in question is of a lower tier. Very sweet boy, but very dangerous too.”

Lily was smiling when she heard her mother give her approval but scrunch her brows as she heard the last part.

“What do you mean by ‘dangerous’?”

Her father was the one who answered. “We have heard rumors about his strength. That he had beaten Liam Abrams and Irene Graves in the tournament, but I tested him during our meeting.”