Chapter 539: Time Together

He noticed straight away that mentioning her name didn’t seem to shock Anna; if anything, she seemed like she expected something like that to come out of his mouth.

“You think it might be her as well,” he noted and leaned back.

Anna shrugged. “Maybe. We don’t know enough information yet.”

Derek hummed from beside Julius. “It would make sense. Of all the people, she might have a connection to the Conclave and is a relatively new and unknown person.”

“You too?” Julius asked his friend.

Derek shrugged. “I can’t say for certain, but she is definitely suspicious.”

Julius was about to say something to Anna, but the door suddenly opened and one of the other Tier 5s who had been next to Anna previously walked into the room. The man, wearing the same uniform as Anna, looked at his colleague.

“You are needed elsewhere, Anna,” the man said without so much as glancing at Julius or his friends.

“I am busy here, Franklin. Tell them they can either wait or have someone else handle it,” she said, waving at him to leave.

“It wasn’t a request, Anna. It was an order directly from the Royal Family,” Franklin said calmly.

Anna shifted her jaw and took a slow, deep breath. “Fine,” she said while getting up and grabbing her jacket.

“Please remain here for the time being. I wish to talk with you before I let you go,” she said to him.

Julius shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay around. I need to do some stuff.”

She laughed at him and smiled, as if amused. “I wasn’t exactly asking. I can’t let you leave until I question you a little more.”

“So I’m a prisoner?” He asked with a frown.

“Hey, don’t forget we are here with you,” Aubrey pointed out.

He looked at her and nodded. “So we are all prisoners?” He amended.

She chuckled. “Don’t be so dramatic. There is a lot of room for you to relax and recover. Your mana channels are clearly strained; you could use some rest. Plus, there are nice snacks in that cabinet over there,” she said, pointing at the large wood cabinet off to the side. “You are more than welcome to help yourselves. I promise I won’t be long.”

Before he could argue again, she was already striding out of the room with the other man following behind her. The door slammed shut, and Julius heard Aubrey grunt unhappily.

“This wasn’t how I was expecting the second stage to go,” she said with a pout.

“Are you surprised? I learned that anything that Julius is a part of usually ends up in shambles,” Edgar noted with a grin.

“That’s not very nice,” Julius said and slouched into his chair.

Derek, on the other hand, was already going over to the cabinet where Anna had said there was some food. He grabbed a selection of snacks and handed them all something. Julius took the food gratefully.

It wasn’t cake, but it was something at least.

They all went over to the couch and collapsed into the soft cushions. He moaned at the softness of the sofa, feeling it envelop his body like a warm hug. He looked at the couch greedily. He wondered if they would mind if he stole the couch before he left.

He was interrupted in his relaxation when Aubrey’s feet whacked him in the chest. He pushed them away. “Get those smelly things out of here.”

“They aren’t smelly,” she said defensively.

“Oh yeah? When’s the last time you took a shower?” He pointed out.

“I took a bath, remember,” she said with a proud smile.

He lifted a finger and put it down. She was right, she had taken a bath. He didn’t know if that counted, but it was technically accurate.

She wiggled them in his face, and before he could snap at them like he was Seraphyne, the door opened.

“Oh, that was quick—” Julius said, trailing off as he looked over at the door. His mouth stayed open when he saw who was there.

Her gorgeous white hair was as it had always been. However, just like he had noticed the other time he had seen her, there was something different about her. He couldn’t put his finger on what that exactly was, though.

Regardless, he didn’t know what to do, so he just waved awkwardly at Reinera.

“Hey,” he said lamely and offered the food in his hand to her. “You want to join us for some snacks?”

Her face, which had her usual princess look on it, shook by the smallest of margins. However, that was all it took for it to come crumbling down. The bright smile he had come to know slowly appeared on her face, and she walked over to him. To his surprise, she actually took his food and bit into it.

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He stood there in shock. He hadn’t actually thought she would accept his offer. He also wanted to eat that, and somewhat regretted offering it to her. He had forgotten that she was as much a glutton as Drasil.

When she passed it back to him, all that was left was a small nibble, not even enough for him to have one full bite.

“I see your appetite hasn’t changed,” he commented.

“You are the one who offered it to me,” she said with a light smile, and looked over at where the others were looking at their interaction.

“Hey,” she said with a shy wave.

Aubrey was the first to come over and wrap Reinera in a tight hug, dragging her over to the couch and having her sit down next to them all.

“I was wondering if we would get to see you. Has your family been keeping you away from us?” Aubrey asked.

Reinera folded her hands in her lap and shook her head. “No, they actually support my relationship with you guys. Even my more stubborn family members don’t have many objections. It doesn’t hurt that you all have quite impressive backgrounds.”

“Me?” Julius and Edgar asked at the same time.