Chapter 187: Just so psychotic guys talking about girls...
[The Chapters that follow show toxic relationships / they are not normal reactions / and it is not sane to act like this...]
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Julian was wandering through the inner courtyard of the academy, hands in his pockets, gaze lost in front of him. The light-colored cobblestones echoed under his steady steps while muffled shouts from the training fields rose into the cold morning air. Without really thinking about it, he headed toward the main training hall.
For so ti now, Kaiser and he had been training together almost daily. Sotis Jasper even joined them.
Each learned from the other, corrected a detail, observed a stance, absorbed a different thod. It wasn’t exactly friendship, especially not with Jasper, who seed completely devoid of any form of emotional attachnt.
The guy was an ice cube, literally. Yet a certain closeness had settled in. After training, they sotis talked about this and that, without any particular goal.
After all, n remained simple creatures. When it ca to won, Kaiser and Julian beca proactive. When it was about fighting or tactics, Jasper naturally took the lead.
Since Isabella’s death, Kris had completely withdrawn into himself. He was playing dark Sasuke, locking himself away in the imperial domain without giving any sign of life. Julian couldn’t help thinking the situation would eventually explode. An open war between the Pendragon family and the Empire seed more and more likely.
"All it needs is one little push to set the powder keg on fire. Not that I give a damn."
He muttered to himself through clenched teeth. Today his mood was particularly foul.
Earlier in the month, on Kaiser’s wise advice, Julian had tried his luck with Norah. Against all odds, everything had gone wonderfully well. Their relationship had quickly crossed several milestones, and they had officially been a couple for a short while. Yet after a week-long mission with her faction, The Silvernight, her return to the academy had left him stunned by a devastating discovery...
As often happened after training, they had settled into a fast-food joint in the neighborhood, a noisy, brightly lit place where they ca to replenish their calorie reserves. The air reeked of greasy fries and sugar.
Kaiser, swallowing a bite of his triple burger, spoke between chews: "Where’s your buddy Kris? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him."
Julian, who was fiddling with the ice cubes in his cup, shrugged. "How the hell should I know, man. He’s been doing his mysterious guy thing since the Isabella business... Fuck!" he suddenly exploded, crushing his paper cup in his hand, making the rest of his soda splash across the table.
Kaiser raised an eyebrow, surprised by the violence of the gesture. Jasper, sitting across from him, simply lifted his eyes from his plate, his expression as smooth as a frozen pond.
"You were particularly violent during training today. What’s the problem?" Jasper asked in a neutral voice. He paused, turning his gaze back to his burger as if the answer was already irrelevant: "Not that I give a fuck in the end."
Kaiser, more curious, wiped a bit of sauce from his chin. "I’m a little interested, given your reaction. Usually only a problem with a chick can piss a guy off this much."
A long sigh escaped Julian’s lips. He slumped in his chair. "You’re not wrong. It’s definitely about Norah."
"Norah?" Jasper repeated. "Wait, isn’t that his fourth girlfriend? I always wonder how you manage to handle so many annoying girls..."
"Nah," Kaiser corrected, pointing a finger at Julian. "Last ti he told
he broke up with the others for her. He wanted sothing serious."
A heavy silence fell over the table. Julian stared at the worn patterns on the paper tablecloth.
"Ahahaha, this idiot..." Kaiser snickered, a wide grin on his face. "You really fell in love with her, huh? For real."
"Shut the fuck up, bro," Julian growled without much conviction. "Have you ever fallen in love?"
Kaiser struck a mock-thoughtful pose, chin between thumb and index finger. "It’s quite possible, but it doesn’t dictate my emotions. I stay lucid, unlike you with your funeral face, I guess. Hahaha!"
Julian shot him a dark look.
"What do you know about love? You just collect girls. You’ll understand that one woman is enough to make you happy when you grow up. Right, Jasper?"
Jasper, who seed lost in intense contemplation over whether to eat his fries first or attack the huge burger in front of him, raised his head, looking vaguely confused.
"Huh? What the hell do I have to do with your bullshit, idiot?"
Julian, too absorbed in his own problem, didn’t even react to the insult. At first he used to get angry often, but what was the point? Getting mad at soone who couldn’t care less and who would call him "idiot" anyway until the end of ti was a waste of energy.
"I an, you get what I’m saying, right? You and Lynn, you’re happily living together, aren’t you? You’re engaged."
"No," Jasper answered with the sa neutrality.
"What do you an, ’no’?" Julian choked.
"Well... no. I’m neither happy nor unhappy. I’m just living together."
Kaiser burst out laughing at the sight of Julian’s face, on which the desire to slap this fucking emotional retard was clearly written.
"But... do you at least know what it ans to be in a relationship?" Julian insisted, desperate to find an ally.
"I haven’t dwelled on questions that don’t really have practical importance," Jasper declared before finally biting into his burger.
"I wonder why I even used you as an example," Julian groaned, rubbing his temples.
"It’s true, I’m a bad example," Jasper admitted with disconcerting frankness. "I’ve never felt attachnt or love for anything, except my bow."
"But you still got engaged to the daughter of the Aqua clan patriarch?" Kaiser asked, curious despite himself.
"It’s a political arrangent. Besides, she doesn’t bother . She’s beautiful, she’s not annoying, and she likes archery. For , that’s enough."
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