Unexpected Encounter

Juli had a lot of questions for Lucius, and she asked, "Why did you keep your engagement a secret? Why did you not tell Domitia about it? Didn't you think that it could have hurt her later?"

Lucius' face flushed. He was embarrassed to answer this question. He answered slowly, "I had never planned to return. When I first met and fell in love with Domitia. I knew that I would end up hurting a lot of people including Flavia and my foster father. But I still didn't put much effort into stopping myself from falling in love with her. I just never realized when I was captivated by her, and my mind did a slow process in recognizing it."

Juli thought, "Wow, this is what you called love a first sight. But wait a second, I'm on team Flavia. Also, this guy is a bastard. He shamelessly cheated on her fiancé and had a full-fledged plan to abandon her."

Juli asked, "Didn't you even think about Flavia just for a single second?"

He was embarrassed again. But Juli was used to this face and thought this embarrassment was not going to save her and Flavia. 

He said, "I..." and didn't say anything else.

"Didn't think about her for a single second. That's what are you trying to say.", Juli said while completing his sentence. 

He nodded his head. Juli shook her head. She didn't know what to do in this situation. She put her head on her lap and straight away asked, "Then why don't you and Flavia annul their engagement? You can talk to her about this."

Lucius' reaction was nothing different from Livia's reaction. He also said, "Annul our engagement?"

Juli finally believed that there was no rule of divorce and break up. She was not clear whether that was a fortune or foe. But it was clear that the answer depended on Flavia's reaction. What did she think about it?

"Hey, I want to meet Domitia very soon.", Juli said.

Lucius started to batter, "She has nothing to do with this situation and I'm the one to blame. Why do you want to meet her? What will you talk to her? What do you want? You can ask me whatever you want to ask...."

Juli hit Lucius' forehead and stopped him. She said, "I want to confirm something."

"And what is that?", Lucius asked. 

"I will tell you tomorrow when I will meet her. You can also join us. I will not mind it.", Juli said in a playful tone. Because she was enjoying Lucius' expressions. 

"Tomorrow? Why?", Lucius asked.

"I'll tell you when we will meet.", Juli replied. 

'But where are we going to meet?", Lucius asked again.

Juli was completely blank. Because she was completely oblivious to the places here. "Wherever you're comfortable.", Juli replied confidently while standing.

A maid had called them for lunch. It was already lunchtime. 

"But I think I'd prefer a restaurant and a cafe.", she said without even realizing that she was again going to face second-hand embarrassment.

"Restaurant and cafe??", Lucius enquired.

Juli realized that she hadn't seen a single cafe or restaurant in this world when she was walking around the city. Maybe cafes and restaurants also didn't exist in this world, and she had made a fool out of herself.

"Ahmm... I meant to say that wherever you guys are comfortable. Now let's have lunch together.", Juli tried to divert the topic to forget about this and offered Lucius to have lunch with him out of courtesy. But this courtesy was going to be another regret in her life.

On their way, Juli looked at Lucius's wreath closely. It was a Laurel Bay wreath. She asked him while pointing toward his wreath, "When did you receive it?"

Lucius looked around and said, "During the ceremony last week. You were also present there and my wedding date also got fixed that day. You even greeted me. Don't you remember?"

"Oh... Obviously, I do remember. I was just checking your memory." Juli said while walking swiftly.

Lucius said slowly, "You've changed a lot."

"So, do you.", Juli replied.

When they reached the dining hall. There were two uninvited guests already present there. There was a girl with blonde hair and beautiful sparkling but cold yellow eyes. She was a beauty she had never seen before. But her posture was also perfect.

She came and hugged Juli tightly. Her muscles were stiff, and her hands were rough, maybe it was the result of the intense practice. Livia's hands were also not soft and ladylike either. She also had rough hands, but Flavia's hands were even more rough. 

Juli hugged her back. Quintus was standing behind Flavia and said, "We were going to give you a surprise. But Our Livia had also prepared a surprise for us." His tone was bitter.

Flavia held Juli's hand and they took seats on the chairs. They were sitting on the same side of the table. Quintus and Lucius took their seats on the opposite sides facing them.

Flavia asked Juli, "Oh my, my dear friend was having a secret meeting with my future husband. Were the both of you planning something special for me? If yes, then please don't tell me."

Juli didn't know how to respond to this friendly tone. How could she be on friendly terms with someone she had met for the first time? She finally realized this after having the previous friendly meetings with Lucius and Quintus.

Lucius took Juli's back and responded, "Yes, you can say that."

Quintus also said something, and Lucius replied again. Juli was dumbfounded there. Her all senses were senseless at that time. She had also forgotten about all of her past life experiences. She was just nodding. smiling and swallowing the food.

Flavia put a plate in front of Juli and said, "Here you go with your favorite Pullum Alectum."

Juli instantly asked, "Pullum Alectum?"

But she had realized her mistake and said while trying her all past flattery techniques, "Oh... Thank you so much dear for this beautiful treat. You're the best."

But everyone got silent in the hall. A maid who was serving them food also looked at Juli as if she was a zoo animal. 

Juli thought that she had made another blunder. But Flavia started to laugh and said, "Who is teaching our innocent Livia all these sweet talks? I'm sure Quintus is responsible for this. After all, he is a poet."

Juli looked at Quintus he was wearing a Myrtle wreath. Juli was happy that she got to know about Quintus' wreath without asking him and creating another scene. But the way Quintus was looking at her was not normal. It was not the eyes of a man in love. He was looking at her painfully. Like he got betrayed.