Chapter 706: Complicated Love

Cole, Veda’s personal Butler, who is also a member of the Orphans of Ash, just like Lucy.

He was an Alchemist who had reached the Binder Alchemist rank as well.

As he stood beside the Young Lord of Ash, Cole looked at Nickolas with a pleased smile.

Nickolas glanced behind Veda and noticed the expression on Cole’s face.

"And why are you smiling like that?"

Nickolas asked, feeling even more embarrassed.

"I wasn’t around to know the Sir Nickolas of before, but from the time I have met you till now, I can say you have grown."

Cole replied calmly. The pleased smile remained on his face.

Nickolas felt his cheeks grow warm.

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Being teased by Veda and Cyrus was one thing, but having Cole join in with such a sincere expression made it harder to brush off.

"It’s because his girl is taking good care of him."

Veda said teasingly.

"The only boy I know who’s been in a relationship for months now."

Cyrus added in a respectful tone.

He even tipped an imaginary cap towards Nickolas, as though paying his respects to someone who had achieved something worth celebrating.

"You guys should stop talking about me and my love life."

Nickolas said in a tired tone.

He had already endured enough teasing from Veda and Cyrus.

Now Cole had joined them, too.

The three of them seemed to have found a new source of entertainment, and unfortunately for Nickolas, he was the one providing it.

Ezra continued eating calmly, watching their exchange without making any attempt to intervene.

Lucy also watched with a simple smile.

She stood nearby, her attention occasionally shifting between the gentlemen seated at the table.

A light laughter erupted from Veda, Cyrus, and Cole.

Nickolas lowered his gaze towards his food.

He had no intention of giving them another reaction.

"Cyrus!"

A familiar voice echoed from behind him.

The moment Veda heard it, his expression changed slightly.

He looked towards the source of the voice, and a faint awkwardness appeared on his face.

"So, this is where you went to hide."

Sasha Burnwick walked towards Cyrus.

Her maid followed behind her calmly, keeping a respectful distance as they approached the pavilion.

"You promised you would help me with the faction campaigning."

She said firmly.

There wasn’t even an attempt to make the reminder sound polite.

Cyrus looked towards his half-sister.

"Ehnnnnnnnn."

He dragged out his breath lazily.

His shoulders lowered before he turned his head towards her.

The expression on his face suggested that he had already guessed why she had come looking for him.

"I know I said I would help, but can’t you wait until after school is over?"

He asked tiredly.

"No way."

Sasha replied without hesitation.

"You will just run away once classes are over."

She added, looking unconvinced.

Cyrus opened his mouth slightly.

"That’s not true. Ezra, tell her."

He turned towards Ezra with the expression of someone pleading for help.

Ezra looked back at him plainly.

Why the hell did he bring me into his own problem?

There was no reason for him to get involved.

He had been eating peacefully until Cyrus decided to drag him into the matter.

"Oh, it’s you, Ezra."

Sasha finally acknowledged his presence.

Or, to be more precise, she had already noticed everyone seated in the pavilion.

She simply hadn’t wanted to greet them immediately.

Doing so would have meant speaking to someone she had no desire to talk to.

And that person knew exactly why she had avoided greeting them.

"Good afternoon, Lady Sasha Burnwick."

Ezra greeted her calmly.

Lucy and Cole lowered their heads in greeting.

Sasha’s maid also lowered her head towards the Noble Boys and the servants in the pavilion.

"Good afternoon, Ezra Ashenlocke."

Sasha returned his greeting.

"Good afternoon, Lady Sasha Burnwick."

Nickolas greeted her as well.

Sasha turned towards him and returned the greeting politely.

"I’m sorry for not greeting you two."

She said calmly, looking first at Nickolas before shifting her gaze to Ezra.

"I was too focused on getting this lazy ass to keep his promise."

Her eyes returned to Cyrus.

Cyrus gave her a look.

He couldn’t exactly argue that he hadn’t made the promise.

Unfortunately, that also meant he had little ground to stand on when it came to defending himself.

"Isn’t Vera not interested in campaigning?"

Ezra asked, faintly curious.

His question was directed at Sasha.

"Forget that girl. Does she think I accepted her as my Faction Representative just so I could watch her stroll through this election however she wants?"

Sasha replied calmly while folding her arms.

Her expression remained firm.

She clearly had no intention of allowing Vera to handle the election however she pleased. Whatever Vera’s personal interest in the campaign might be, Sasha had her own expectations for the faction and its representative.

Seeing how serious his half-sister was, Cyrus finally decided to get up.

He rose from his seat and adjusted his Headset.

"Ahhh."

He exhaled.

His gaze briefly moved towards the food on the table before he turned to Lucy.

"Well, the food was lovely, Miss Maid."

He said calmly.

"Thank you, Mr. Cyrus."

Lucy replied with a pleased smile.

She lowered her head again.

Cyrus then looked towards Sasha.

"I did promise, mainly because of what we could gain, so let’s go, my sister."

He raised his right hand, making a small gesture as though trying to motivate himself before leaving.

He had already enjoyed his lunch.

There was little point in delaying the inevitable any further.

"Okay."

Sasha replied with a pleased smile.

Her expression had changed noticeably now that Cyrus had finally agreed to accompany her.

"Bye, gentlemen."

She said, waving towards Nickolas and Ezra.

Ezra gave her a calm look, while Nickolas returned the farewell.

Cyrus turned to leave with his half-sister.

However, before following them, he glanced towards where Veda was seated.

Nickolas noticed the glance.

He moved his elbow and lightly nudged Veda.

Veda blocked the first hit.

Nickolas tried again, but Veda shifted his arm to stop him.

"What the hell are you doing, Young Lord?"

Nickolas whispered.

"Let it go."

Veda replied in the same low voice.

His attention remained on his food, as though he hadn’t noticed the meaning behind Nickolas’s actions.

"Are you really not going to speak, you... prick?"

Nickolas nearly shouted, his annoyance becoming harder to conceal.

Veda finally turned towards him.

"Ah... How dare you."

He placed his right hand against his chest, looking genuinely offended by the insult.

Nickolas stared at him.

He wasn’t buying it.

"Talk, or else I will."

Veda didn’t answer.

Nickolas couldn’t care less.

He immediately turned towards the two who were about to leave.

"Lady Sas...!"

Bam!

"Argh... You freaking..."

Nickolas’s head snapped to the right as Veda’s fist struck the side of his face.

The impact came so suddenly.

His upper body shifted with the force of the punch, and his balance gave way.

Before he could steady himself, he fell from his seat and landed on the ground.

The sound of the impact drew everyone’s attention.

"I said, quiet."

Veda said, embarrassed.

His right hand remained clenched. He tightened his fist again, only then seeming to realize how forcefully he had struck Nickolas.

Nickolas stayed down for a moment.

He brought a hand towards his face, trying to recover from the sudden blow.

"What happened?"

Cyrus stopped walking and turned around.

His gaze moved towards the pavilion, where Nickolas was struggling to sit back up.

Sasha stopped as well.

Her maid halted behind her, and the two turned to see what had happened.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Veda looked at them.

"Haha... Haha... He just fell down."

He replied awkwardly.

His explanation did little to make the situation less suspicious.

Cyrus looked at him, then shifted his gaze towards Nickolas.

"I see."

He said quietly.

His expression suggested that he wasn’t entirely convinced.

Sasha didn’t say anything.

After a brief pause, she turned around and continued towards the exit.

Veda watched her.

"Sasha."

He finally summoned the courage to call her name.

"HUH!!"

Sasha turned around sharply.

Her expression stiffened as she looked directly at him.

Veda immediately shrunk in his seat.

The courage he had gathered seemed to disappear the moment their eyes met.

Sasha didn’t waste time staring at him.

She turned away again, reached for Cyrus’s hand, and began walking.

"Let’s go."

She said, pulling Cyrus along with her.

Cyrus glanced back once more before allowing his half-sister to drag him away.

Veda watched them leave.

"Ahhh."

He sighed helplessly.

His shoulders dropped.

The pavilion gradually returned to its earlier quiet atmosphere, although the little incident had left the people seated around the table with something to think about.

Ezra glanced at Veda.

Then he looked at Nickolas, who was now checking his chin to see whether it was fine.

"Sorry for hitting you."

Veda apologized to Nickolas without looking at him.

His voice was quieter than before.

"Apology accepted."

Nickolas replied.

He continued checking his chin for a moment before lowering his hand.

"But why are you and Lady Sasha Burnwick beefing? I always thought you two got along very well."

He asked curiously.

It was difficult to understand what had happened between the two.

From what Nickolas knew, Veda and Sasha had always seemed to get along.

Their relationship hadn’t appeared to be particularly troublesome before.

Yet, judging from Sasha’s reaction just now, something had clearly changed.

"I think she’s angry with me because of the dance."

Veda replied with a complicated expression.

He leaned back slightly, looking down at the table.

"Without a doubt, that’s the reason, Young Lord of Ash."

Lucy replied.

She had been watching the entire exchange, and she could no longer hold back her excitement over the complicated love atmosphere she had just witnessed.

Her eyes moved between The Young Lord of Ash and the direction Lady Sasha Burnwick had left.

There was something about the situation that had caught her interest.

"But I tried to explain to her that she ran off when I wanted to ask her to the dance, and I couldn’t find her during the time I had. Later on, there were already many ladies I had to dance with."

Veda explained.

He had tried to make Sasha understand what had happened that night.

He hadn’t deliberately ignored her.

When he wanted to ask her to dance, she had already left, and he hadn’t been able to find her again before the other ladies he had to dance with occupied his time.

That was what he had tried to explain.

Yet, it hadn’t helped.

"She just told me, ’When did I ever say I was angry with you because of something like a dance?’ Ahhhh..."

Veda sighed in frustration.

He raised his head slightly, his expression becoming even more complicated.

"But she’s definitely angry with me, and she wants to deny it."

He said.

"Doesn’t she even want to speak to me anymore?"

His voice grew tired.

He had tried to understand what was wrong, but Sasha wasn’t making it easy for him. Whenever he thought he had found the reason, she would deny it.

And now, she was barely willing to speak with him.

Nickolas listened to his explanation.

He seemed to consider it for a moment before offering a suggestion.

"Why not ask Lady Vera Ashenlocke for assistance?"

He said.

The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere around the table changed.

Cole paused.

Lucy stopped as well.

Veda turned his eyes towards Nickolas.

For a brief moment, all three of them looked at him.

Ezra, on the other hand, simply continued eating calmly.

"It’s like I should hit you again."

Veda said straightforwardly.