Hunched over Julia, Aron thought of another matter that had puzzled him. "Hey, Julia..?" "Hnmmm..!" The girl in question groaned in response, clearly too busy enjoying the massage to listen to any of his rants anymore.
"Why don't you tell me more about your sister?" Aron was half expecting the girl to ignore him at this point. Nevertheless to his surprise, he received a response. "My sister? Why do you want to know about her?"
"Of course, I want to know. Since morning, all I have heard is how awesome Rivia Rutherford had been in the Academy." He grimaced and ended up cracking a few bones, leading the girl to glare up.
"Idiot... Watch how much pressure you apply. I am not a freak like you." Aron chose to ghost the girl, continuing with his line of thought. "Who would have known such an important figure will turn out to be your sister? You should have told me something."
Julia sighed ruefully. "What do you want to know? All her feats and adventures are publicly available and you must have heard a good deal of them already."
Aron shook his head, moving his hand along the backbone of the young maiden, delighted by the slim waist that shined under the oil. "Hmm... I don't think I heard that many. Everyone speaks of her talent but no one seems to be clear on what became of her?"
"Did she join some secret service?" The boy speculated. Julia stayed silent for a long while, taking deep breaths to calm down her racing heart. "No."
"My big sister.. she actually fell sick after she graduated from the academy." Aron had anticipated something like this from the earlier informed opinion he had received from Tracey.
"Even mages fall ill?" Julia scoffed at the sheer ignorance of the boy. "They do, dimwit. What else do you think the department of Alchemy and refinement exist in the first place?"
Scratching his head in embarrassment, Aron chortled. "Hehe.. didn't think about that. So, how severe is Ms. Rivia's condition?" Julia turned her head to look back at the boy when he called her sister's name out with such familiarity.
"Considering how wealthy your family is, I am sure they must have tried contacting the best practitioners in the country.. huh.. what happened?" Aron noted the girl squinting her eyes at him.
"Nothing." Julia fell back into her pillow. "We did. But none succeeded." Aron can feel the desolation in her voice. "Why? Is it some incurable disease?"
"Enough. Let's stop here. Knowing about my sister's condition is only going to bring trouble to you." Julia snapped and Aron hurriedly waved his hand in defeat. "Sure, sure. I understand, you don't need to scream."
"I didn't." "You did." "Whatever!" The room fell silent once again with Aron returning to his massage duty. After a full five minutes passed, Julia turned to look back at the boy. "What is it now?" He sighed.
"Nothing. I thought you took my answer quite easily." Aron rolled his eyes at her. "What else can I do? You want me to torture it out of you?" "You wish, slave boy. Humph... I was fully expecting you to throw tantrums."
"What do you take me as? A kid?" Aron protested. "I can understand.. big clans have their own secrets to keep. If it will really bring harm to me... I guess I am better off not knowing then."
For a moment Julia kept staring at the boy. "What a coward..!!" "Hun..? Where did that come from? I just don't want to be involved in the matters of your family." He argued.
"Doesn't change the fact that you chickened out." Julia scoffed, unimpressed by his excuses. Aron can only grit his teeth in frustration. "Dammed if you do and dammed if you do not."
The couple bantered some more before Aron was too tired to continue and fell next to Julia in her bed. "My sister.. she suffers from cultivation backlash." Those were the words Aron's ears picked up inadvertently.
For the next minute, the boy can't help but stare at Julia wide-eyed. "Hey hey.. what was that. You just told me it will bring trouble to me." Julia raised herself and tied her bra around her chest, all the while laughing out loud.
"That's for certain. Now grow a pair and deal with it.. hahahaha.." Aron wasn't sure what to feel about this development. Was this girl truly a friend? But friends are not supposed to throw their counterparts to the beast so blatantly.
"Hahaha.. what happened? Did you piss your pants?" Julia switched the lights off and jumped in the bed. "Get your ass out of here, slave. Go sleep on the spare bed.. ahhh...!!"
She wasn't able to complete her sentence. Aron had yanked her over, making her land right on his chest. "What are you doing.. basta... Mhhhh..??" Her cry was cut short with Aron's lips attaching themselves to her mouth.
This time the boy was totally rampant. At the same time, her lips were being vehemently sucked on, and another strange feeling overwhelmed her senses. She can feel Aron's big hands over her soft breasts.
"Let me goo...!!" Julia tried to push herself away from the boy, too bad he was much stronger than her physically. This was probably the first time she was forced into such a passive role.
Aron kissed her once again, gently suckling her juicy lips. Though his hands had taken hold of her bust, he didn't push it too far, making sure not to squeeze the mass even after the repeated calls from his head.
Julia realized pretty soon how helpless she was. "Aahh... Why don't I sleep here instead?" Ending the extended kiss, the boy asked cheekily. He let the girl roll down his chest, but she kept glaring back at him with murderous eyes.
"Ahem... Can I ask for permission now?" Julia's lips quivered in anger. Aron was about to laugh it off when suddenly he noticed traces of tears in the corner of her eyes. Taken aback, he wanted to question Julia about it, when she suddenly broke into sobs.
Taken by surprise at this strange development, Aron panicked. "Hey.. What happened? Julia..?" Ne tried holding onto the girl in his arms but her sobs only grew incessant.
"Wait.. wait.. I will apologize Julia. Please can you stop crying first?" Who would have known that a girl who can fight to the death with a cloud poison panther on her own, will break down after a simple kiss?
His intentions were never to hurt Julia. He only wanted to get back at her for making continuously trash-talking him. Nevertheless, he seems to have pushed the envelope too far this time around.
"Aaahhh.. wwuuu.. Wuuuu..." This was an extraordinary situation in all regards. What was he supposed to do? He can offer to get out of her bed, but considering the current scenario, he wasn't sure how much that will help.
"You bastard.. wwuuu.. ahhh.. you... wuuu.." Aron's throat dried up. He can tell the girl was not making things up. From her eyes and the endless tears rolling down her cheeks, it was evident that he managed to hurt her, despite his lack of intention to do so.
"Yes, yes, it was my bad... I am in the wrong." She consoled her with the best effort he could congregate. "Please stop crying first." He was almost begging her to stop. Watching her break down like this, undeniably pained his heart.
"Wuuu.. didn't I tell you not to.. not to kiss me...? Wuuu.." Tears kept falling from Julia's eyes in the bizarre tune of events. "Yes, yes. I told you, I was wrong. Can't you forgive me this time? I promise this will never happen again." He pleaded with a guilt-ridden expression.
"Ahhhhh.. you idiot.. you.. you always say that..!!" Aron wanted to get back in time and slap himself a few times forever thinking that kissing Julia was the right way to get back at her. Had he anticipated this severe reaction, he would have never done it.
"I know.. I am a fool who doesn't learn. Now can you please stop..?" Aron's face looked as of he himself was going to cry if the girl didn't stop sobbing.
There had been very limited people in his life who had shown this much love and care to him. And now that such a person was crying because of his misdeed.. he can't forgive himself.
"Wuu.. you.. you even grabbed my chest.." Julia seemed adamant about reminding him of every single crime he committed. "Yes.. yes.. I am definitely the lusty bastard here.. please forgive me."
Observing that the situation was not getting any better even after repeated admissions of wrongdoing, Aron kneeled over and put his head down. "Can you please forgive me? I will make sure nothing like this ever happens." His head pressed down on the mattress, the boy kowtowed to the girl.
Julia was a dear friend to him. Without a doubt, there was no shame in offering a proper apology. Fortunately, he can hear her sobs grow weaker.
The blonde girl can see the boy not raising his head under the ample moonlight. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Julia herself wasn't sure why she broke down. What she knew was that it was not only because Aron forced himself on her.
The feeling of fragility brought along with the kiss was the major reason. But with that, probably the matter of her sister's condition being discussed played another role in her mental breakdown. A lot of factors coalesced to break the young maiden internally.
"Get up.." Unwilling to show her face to the boy, Julia turned her head away from him, taking the time to wipe the leftover water from her eyes. "Do you promise?"
Aron raised his head, finding an extremely fragile-looking Julia in front of him. "Yes." A single word coming from all the conviction in his heart resonated in the quiet room.
He hesitatingly took hold of her hand, holding it between his palms. "I will make sure such things don't happen in the future Julia. Please promise not to cry ever after this."
Julia didn't reply but nodded her head ever so slightly after a long time. Aron took a breath of relief. Taking these small advantages from a girl was not at all worth it. In that case, he was better off clinging to the thighs of Mrs. Yana, at least she doesn't break into tearwork.
"I am sorry as well. I should not have reacted in such an exaggerated manner." Aron shook his head at Julia's remarks. Her red eyes were clear proof that her cries had not been exaggerated at all. Each sob carried a deep sense of insecurity with it.
"You can let go now.. I am.. *sniff* I am fine.." Now that she looked back at her actions, Julia was greatly ashamed of her behavior. She tried to free her hands from the grasp of the boy, however,r he didn't let them go.
"No.." Aron slipped closer to the girl. "Julia.. please consider me a friend. If there is anything you shall need my help with, don't think twice before asking." His words were firm, lacking any apprehension.
"I know.." His deep black eyes peered straight into her blue ones. "I know, I am not strong enough right now. But.. this won't be the case forever. One day I will stand above all. I will gain the power to help everyone. Be it you, my parents, or anyone else." The words of a certain amicable old lady were shaping his declaration.
Being strong was not an option, it was a necessity. The scene of Myla getting abused by a bunch of grown-ups was still fresh in his mind. He will never let something like that ever repeat with anyone else.
It was a surreal experience for Julia. Usually, she would have taken this opportunity to mock the boy for uttering such pompous words. Yet, she can't do that. The hair on her body stood in attention as if reacting to the boy's speech.
Saying what he had to say, Aron was about to slip out of the bed. "Wait..!" Julia held onto his arm, forcing him to get back next to her. "You can sleep here." She mentioned with a red face. More than anything, Aron was happy that the girl seems to return to her normal self.
"Can I hold.." "You can hold onto.. !!" Coincidentally both of them ended up speaking at the same time. It didn't take them long to realize each one was talking about the same matter. With their faces tinged red with shame, Aron proceeded to wrap his arm around the girl.
< Kudos!!>>