Chapter 46 - 45: Ubiquitous Competition

Chapter 46: Chapter 45: Ubiquitous Competition

"Lili."

The sudden voice carried a hint of a smile.

Lilia and Caius turned their heads in unison.

The young man stood by the carriage, watching them with a smile.

He wasn’t wearing his uniform, opting instead for a crisp white shirt. Unlike his usual sloppy style of leaving buttons undone or his shirt untucked, his attire was meticulous right now, as if he were about to attend an extremely important banquet.

Upon seeing Lucian, Lilia and Caius had completely different reactions.

Lilia raised an eyebrow, not expecting him to be waiting for her outside.

Caius was much more direct. As Lucian approached, he stepped forward to block Lilia.

His eyes were brimming with hostility as he glared at Lucian. "What are you doing here?"

"I’m not here for you, anyway." Lucian couldn’t be bothered to waste words on him.

Looking past the younger boy’s broad shoulders at Lilia, he said, "I’m here to take you home."

The smile on his face didn’t falter. His tone was indescribably familiar, as if the two of them had planned this long ago.

If Lilia could hear his thoughts, she would know this was his way of "claiming territory"—using his words and attitude to construct a secret belonging only to the two of them, thereby excluding his rival, Caius.

However, although Lilia wasn’t privy to his thoughts, she understood his motives.

Since they had already reached an agreement, the next step was to inform the Beaumont couple and solidify their relationship. This would stop Lady Beaumont from continuing to scout blind dates for Lilia, which would only disrupt their plans and arrangements.

Lilia nodded and, under Caius’s shocked gaze, said, "Let’s go, then."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lucian’s smile widened. Caius’s expression, on the other hand, instantly turned gloomy.

He knew he couldn’t stop something Lilia had decided on, but he wasn’t about to just watch helplessly as that guy took her away.

"I heard the Williams family has been particularly frugal with their food and clothing expenses in recent years. Lilia might not be used to riding in whatever carriage you’ve prepared."

Caius’s voice was cold and calm, but listening closely, it was brimming with aggression. "If you don’t mind, the Beaumont family’s carriage is right here. We can drop you off on our way back."

"There’s no need to drop me off." Lucian’s smile remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t detected the sarcasm in his words at all. "I happen to have some business to discuss with Count Beaumont. Since you are offering such a gracious invitation, Caius, I’ll take you up on that offer."

Caius was speechless.

In the first round of their confrontation, he temporarily suffered a defeat, allowing Lucian to board the carriage.

Inside the carriage.

Caius immediately monopolized the seat next to Lilia. Lucian, a step behind, didn’t mind—or at least didn’t seem to mind on the surface—and took a seat opposite Lilia.

He placed the pastry he had brought on the table, unwrapped it, set out a fork, and pushed it in front of Lilia. "Today’s special honey milk cake. It’s very popular among the girls.

"You didn’t go to the dining hall today, so I packed a slice for you. See how it tastes."

Hearing this, Caius immediately grew alert. He wondered how Lucian knew Lilia hadn’t gone to the dining hall today. Furthermore, it was already unreasonable for an upperclassman like him to be waiting outside the clinic tonight. Considering he had no interaction with the first-years, Caius questioned where he could have possibly gotten the news that Lilia was in the infirmary. Unless... he had been secretly watching her.

Inexplicably, Caius remembered the chair he had seen when he entered the ward at noon—the one that had clearly been sat in. That chair had been so close to the bed... close enough to be an eyesore.

Caius shot Lucian a glance. "I heard that Mr. Williams is quite popular, getting along well with both teachers and students. You’re always surrounded by a passionate group of admirers, and people often see you walking with different women.

"Now it seems those rumors might not just be rumors. After all, considering how well you understand the preferences of women, people must frequently discuss these things around you."

This statement was highly lethal. It practically laid bare the chaotic nature of Lucian’s private life for all to see. Although they were rumors... just as Caius said, rumors weren’t necessarily unreliable.

Lucian wasn’t in a hurry to defend himself; instead, he looked at Lilia.

The girl’s eyes held no anger or dissatisfaction as she looked at him, only pure curiosity—curiosity about how he would respond.

Lucian realized that she didn’t care about any of this at all. She didn’t care about his private life, and she cared even less about who he associated or interacted with on a daily basis.

Lucian inexplicably felt a knot of frustration in his chest. "...They’re just friends."

"So, just friends." Caius didn’t say much else.

He didn’t push back the cake Lucian brought. Instead, he poured a perfectly warm cup of black tea from the teapot beside them and handed it to Lilia. "We’ll be having dinner soon. Eat less of these snacks, or they’ll ruin your appetite.

"These things aren’t like proper meals. Having a taste is enough; eating too much will just make you sick of them."

Lilia nodded, picking up her fork and starting to eat the cake, seemingly completely oblivious to the surging undercurrents inside the carriage.

The honey was sweet, mixed with the fragrance of milk and nectar. It tasted wonderful, and the texture was absolutely perfect. No wonder those picky Noble students liked it.

The war between Caius and Lucian didn’t stop because of her silence. On the contrary, they seemed to think Lilia’s lack of intervention was tacit approval for them to compete right in front of her. The one who won would become the ultimate victor, so their verbal attacks on each other grew even more intense.

Lucian was the first to provoke a new topic. "I heard you guys have been doing physical training lately. I have some experience in that area. If you don’t mind, I can help."

Not to be outdone, Caius immediately fired back, "Don’t trouble yourself. I’ll take care of arranging Lilia’s physical training."

Lucian smiled, laying out the facts. "Young people always lack experience. Otherwise, Lili wouldn’t have ended up in the infirmary today."

Caius clenched his fists. "Today was just an accident."

"One accident is an accident, but what about a second or third?" Lucian chuckled. "Lili won’t be able to endure so many injuries."

Caius was silent, a dark fire burning thick in his eyes.

If they weren’t in a carriage right now, he probably would have lunged forward long ago and fought the blonde, blue-eyed bastard sitting opposite him, just like he had a week ago.

A soft CLINK rang out.

The sound of the silver fork hitting the plate shattered the dangerous, surging undercurrents between the two.

Caius and Lucian simultaneously looked at Lilia.

Lilia ignored them, merely glancing out the window. "We’re home."

The carriage smoothly rounded a corner and entered the block where the Beaumont family resided. Soon, the carriage came to a steady halt.

Caius and Lucian stepped down one after the other.

When Lilia lifted the carriage curtain, she was greeted by the sight of the two young men standing on either side of the carriage, both simultaneously extending a hand toward her.