Edited by: ASaltedFish
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While Edros and Juniper were on their little date, Ellery gathered up his friends to eat at a restaurant he wanted to try first before going to the arcade.
His three friends were supposed to meet Juniper, but that was pushed to later so Juniper could mentally prepare himself.
At the moment, Ellery and his friends were eating at the restaurant in a private room, gossiping and talking about their lives.
"You know, I heard some 'good' and bad news about Leonard and Darian, want to hear it?" Silve asked the group because he knew that Leonard had tried to get with Ellery some time ago. Then it turned out his childhood friend tried to kill Ellery during the academy's excursion.
"Sure, how are they suffering recently?" Ellery was a bit curious to know what was going on with Leonard and Darian.
Darian didn't go to jail, but he was monitored heavily by the military and would be for the next few years. He was also branded a criminal, so most sentinels did not want to date or marry him, even though he had A-rank potential.
No one wanted to be with someone who hired another person to murder a high-ranking guide…
"I heard after numerous rejections for both Leonard and Darian, the Velenet household has been urging the Vales family to wed Leonard and Darian no matter what. Leonard has been resisting while his parents are siding with the Velenet family," Silve explained, "You know, Darian has loved Leonard since childhood, so he's been urging his parents to convince Leonard."
"I understand why Darian has been rejected, but why Leonard, too?" Ellery was a little confused about this.
"Oh, that's because we have been spreading around what he was trying to do with you and Darian," Liáng Huā replied all knowingly because she was the one who spread this information among the guides. "Trying to date Darian and marry you? He thinks he's amazing enough to steer two ships at the same time? Well, no one wants to date a cheater, especially one whose parents will side with the mistress."
Having in-laws who favored the mistress… Yeah, no sane person would want to deal with that mess.
"In the end, if Leonard wants to avoid marrying Darian, he would either have to run to another country or… You know… get rid of Darian himself." Silve shrugged. "At that point, no one would want to date a murderer."
It was unfortunate, but those two deserved each other.
After hearing this news, Ellery felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He had a happy love life, and his enemies were suffering. How could he not be in a good mood?
If it were other people, they would think this was the bad news, but for everyone here, it was great news!
"You also said there's bad news, right?" Akimitsu questioned, hoping the bad news wasn't unmanageable.
Yang nodded. "Yes, we heard Leonard has been trying to get in contact with Juniper. Since Ellery doesn't want him, and Juniper looks like Ellery, he thinks that he could get with Juniper instead. So, don't let Juniper go out alone and make sure he blocks any numbers he doesn't know."
"I heard he's been using Juniper's name to avoid marrying Darian." Liáng Huā gritted her teeth. "Honestly, who the hell does he think he is?"
"Heh." Akimitsu immediately opened up his messages and gave Edros the heads up. "He must be prepared for the First Fleet to fight back if something happens to Juniper."
Ellery rolled his eyes and sent a quick message to Juniper to ignore all messages and calls from unknown numbers. "Thankfully, Juniper doesn't like talking to strangers, but I let him know just in case."
Leonard felt like a ghost haunting him. Why couldn't he just leave them alone?
Also, why didn't he think Leonard was delusional in his past life? For some reason, Leonard thought of himself as the most powerful in the universe. He had to have some loose screws in his head for him to think that way…
Thankfully, only he and Juniper knew about his dark and embarrassing past life.
After hearing the good and bad news, Ellery felt better and enjoyed his time with his friends. They went to the arcade and played a bunch of games. Their favorite was the augmented reality rooms where they are trapped in a haunted house, trying to escape. They had to search for clues or kill those who were possessed by evil spirits. They would win the game if they could leave the house or seal the evil spirits.
They played until dinner time. For dinner, they decided to eat at Ellery's place so they could also meet Juniper, who was ready to meet them.
When Ellery, Akimitsu, and the rest of them arrived at the house, Juniper and Edros were already home, waiting for them in the living room. Lune and Casir were on the couch, taking a nap.
"Jun!" Ellery let go of Akimitsu's hand and ran straight to Juniper. "How was Edros' crystal collection?"
Ellery knew what Juniper felt most comfortable talking about, so he skipped the small talk and went straight for the crystal collection that Juniper was excited to see.
"It was beautiful." Juniper obviously felt more comfortable with the conversation, so he talked more than usual. "Edros has many rooms, and each crystal is meticulously taken care of by a dedicated robot. We were only able to see half of his collection, so on another day, he will take me to see the rest. His collection isn't as diverse as mine, but they are still very beautiful."
Juniper didn't talk fast, but no one rushed him. Ellery's friends listened to his soft voice, wondering how someone who looked so similar to Ellery could have a completely different personality from him.
But for some reason, they felt like they had met him before. They couldn't put their finger on it.
"It seems like you two had a lot of fun. In the future, you can also create a large collection."
The thought of having as many rooms as Edros made him very happy.
Juniper nodded his head happily and then looked up at Akimitsu and the others. "Akimitsu, hello… Also, hello to you three. Ellery has told me a lot about you all. Thank you for taking care of him."
"No, no, he's always been taking care of us, so there's no need to thank us," Yang said truthfully because Ellery had always taken care of him and his little sister. If he hadn't been hired by Ellery, how could he have so much free time to spend with his little sister, and how could he afford her medical bills but still live a comfortable life?
Juniper, though not great with social situations, was able to shift the conversation toward Silve, Yang, and Liáng Huā.
"Ellery has told us a lot about you, Juniper, so it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Silve excitedly said. He restrained from grabbing Juniper's hands as a greeting because he knew that Juniper didn't like physical contact, especially from strangers.
Liáng Huā chimed in. "That's right! There's no need to thank us. Ellery is a joy to be around."
Hearing them praise Ellery made Juniper happy. He relaxed a lot and occasionally spoke in their conversations at dinner.
*****
After dinner, as Ellery's friends were getting ready to leave, Yang's terminal lit up red. Not only that, the beeping sounded urgent.
"Sorry, this is my little sister's doctor; please give me a moment." Yang stopped walking toward the entrance and moved away so he could focus on the call.
No one could hear what the doctor was saying, but they could hear Yang. "What? Are you sure? You said she should have a few more months!"
"Can you keep her alive a little longer? I will be at the hospital soon."
"I'm close! I promise. Please tell her to hang on a little longer."
His voice was sounding more and more urgent.
"I will be there, so please, do what you can until I get there!"
After that, Yang hung up on the doctor and rushed toward Ellery. "I'm sorry, Ellery, but my little sister!"
"It's fine. You don't have a hover car, so Akimitsu and I will take you there." Ellery didn't ask any questions and urged Akimitsu to bring the hover car to the front.
Liáng Huā wanted to be there for her friend, but she promised her husband that she would be home soon. She planned to go to the hospital after talking with him.
Plus, her husband was already at Ellery's house waiting for her.
As for Silve, he didn't have anything else to do, so he decided to tag along. Edros and Juniper also joined them, wanting to be there to support Yang emotionally.
With the First Fleet's special permission in the Capital Star, an hour trip to the hospital was shortened by 30 minutes.