An uncomfortable tea party (6)

His sad eyes wouldn't leave my mind as I ate my lunch. They were the same as his eyes. In my old life, when I wasn't Olivia Erem, I had a friend. The first time I met him he was really pathetic, but slowly he grew into a confident, happy person. He was the only person I had met with eyes like that... I didn't think other people could have the same expression. I wonder what this means.

If...that red-haired boy is from my world then is it possible that he? No, it couldn't be, but what if?! Maybe I should just ask him, though if he was my friend it would probably mean trouble for me. He was always...odd when it came to me. Many of my problems were caused directly by him.

I stayed lost in thought like that for a long long time, and I still wasn't sure what to do. Aaaaaah I don't know!

As I was yelling in my mind I saw someone coming near me, it was Cyrus. He sauntered over to me and grinned "did you skip school?"

Oh yeah, I forgot about school. I looked up at him "what time is it?"

"It's 4:30, schools been over for half an hour "

I gasped "what?!" I spent three hours here ,daydreaming? This is a new level of pathetic.

"What were you doing all this time?"

"Thinking"

He looked confused "fine, don't tell me. You're going to the address I gave you right?"

"Yes, but..can you give me a ride?"

Cyrus shrugged "I guess, come on I was just leaving when I saw you sitting here."

I jumped up from the bench "lets go then!"

What was this situation?!!! I was sitting at fancy table, there were all kinds of desserts and snacks and a beautiful tea set. Of course there were people sitting at the table too. Liam was there, sitting in a stiff upright position. Cyrus was there as well, nonchalantly snacking on a cookie.

There was one more person at the table, a young master who appeared to own the villa we were intruding upon. He had an elegant atmosphere and seemed easy to talk to. I had been able to find out that his name was Ashel Wesburn and that he was the heir to the Wesburn dukedom.

Ashel took a sip of his tea then gently placed it onto the table. He smiled gently at me "Ms. Erem are you interested in money?"

Money? Why would he ask me that? "I mean I wouldn't sell myself for it or anything, but of course I'm interested."

Ashel looked worried "what about status, what would you give to become a noble?"

A noble, I'd rather cut off my own arm "no...I would not like to become a noble."

Ashel grasped the edge of the table and knuckles turned white, was he okay?

Cyrus cut into the conversation "then what is it that you want?"

"I don't know to be happy, to have a peaceful life, to go to back to my old life." Why were these guys asking me all these weird questions.

"I guess you don't wan't to be honest about it."

I gripped my teacup handle "Cyrus I've know you for two days, but you've probably done that to me like 5 times."

"Olivia wha-"

I cut off Cyrus "not 'what', Cyrus I'm not a liar, I don't like scheming or using people, I'm just a little bit lazy and I like fire. It's not like I burned the classroom on purpose."

Cyrus tried to interject "oli-"

But Liam cut him off this time "Olivia, are you going to explain what you just said or are you going to ignore me?" He paused "and Ashel."

Was Liam mad at me? Or was he happy. Aaah, I can't read him at all. Why was he even here? "Well, I accidentally started a fire. Then I had to go to the principal's office, and for some reason Cyrus tagged along, and for some reason had a very odd chat with me where he told me that I was just like him."

Cyrus chimed in "then she pinned me against the wall."

Ashel gasped "what! Are two together ?!"

"No!!" I immediately responded.

Ashel put his hand on his chest and sighed in relief.

Liam was glaring at Ashel, or was he looking at him affectionately? I really don't know what he's thinking.

Cyrus's lips tilted downward and he leaned back into his chair. He didn't say anything but it was odd, I thought he was the type to always have a witty comment.

Ashel and Liam made eye-contact, then Ashel winced. "My foot!- I mean Olivia what do you think of Liam?"

"Of Liam? I mean he told me he didn't want to be friends with me because I'm a commoner. That made me pretty mad."

Ashel groaned "LIAM?!"

Hmm, why was he mad at Liam?

Liam's eyes went to the floor, why is he avoiding eye-contact?

Ashel clasped his hands together "you see Ms. Erem, my friend Liam here is a massive idiot."

"An-an idiot?" I stuttered in surprise.

He nodded solemnly " he's the type who says things the opposite of what he means, you lived with the Briansons they're all like that. They're raised that way."

is he saying the words I think he's saying. You know I've had some weird and frankly terrifying conversation lately, but this one is the most surprising.

I stared at Liam"You mean, you don't hate me?!"

A red tinge came to Liam's cheeks "I...I'm not good at expressing my self."

Ashel started to smile again "normally he's a train wreck when it comes to social interaction, but when he talks to girls it's a million times worse."

Huh?! Some kind of Kuudere, tsundere fusion. What a cruel world, this poor soul. "Liam is that true!?"

He nodded slowly "I am sorry if I hurt your feelings." He said it in a stoic expression but when I looked closer he seemed embarrassed.

Huh what's this? The poor guy, must be hard. But why was he telling me this now?

"Ah, then I accept your apology."

Now what? Where is this conversation going, why is Liam even here? Why is Cyrus here?! Why am I here?!!

I voiced my concerns "what exactly is this conversation about?"

Cyrus tapped the table "information probing."

"But...why?"

"Because you're suspicious ."

Ashel pointed at me then snapped "yeah, this is about you being suspicious!" He muttered under his breath "That's a great excuse"

I really don't understand what's happening. Ashel seems like he's contemplating what to ask me next, Cyrus looks confused, and I still have no Idea what Liam is thinking. Maybe I should just leave.

"Cyrus, can we go now?"

Cyrus thought about it for a moment "I guess."

He stood up "bye Ashel, bye Liam, it was fun." '

I stood up too, "this was...odd. Good luck with your social skills Liam, thank you for the tea Sir.Wesburn."

The carriage ride home was just as awkward. Finally Cyrus spoke up "Olivia, what kind of person are you?"

"That's a good question, hmm I try to be honest. I get lonely easily, I also get tired of interacting with people easily. I don't like troublesome things, but some how I always get involved. Also....I like fire."

"I find that hard to believe." He crossed his legs and leaned against the side of the carriage.

"WHY NOT?! I mean, could you give me one reason why you're so deep in delusion."

He avoided making eye-contact . "If I'm being honest, I just can't get your expression out of my mind. The one you had when you burned the classroom, I thought I was interested in you because we're similar, but if that's not it."

He paused then his golden eyes met mine "then,I don't know why I'm so interested in you."

Interested, he's skirted right around my trigger word. "my expression after starting a fire?! What are you into that kind..." I thought of how I'd pinned him against the wall and the tone of his voice when he told Liam and Ashel about it.

"Cyrus! Are you into aggressive women?"

His face turned red "what are you saying?! I didn't mean that kind of interested! It's just that it's almost like I enjoy talking to you."

"Cyrus...are you saying you don't usually enjoy talking to people?"

"Of course not, I thought people were lying when they said they did."

"Are you serious?! Have you never had a friend or anything?"

"No, just pawns. Why become friends with a pawn?" He said it normally, like it was a normal thing to say.

Why does this always happen to me, what am I a crazy magnet?

He smiled "but I don't know, I somehow have a positive feeling when I'm with you."

"Cyrus, you know what I'm going to help you."

"Help me figure out why I'm interested in you?"

I shook my head "no, there's no explanation of that, I'm going to help you connect with other people."

He opened his mouth to protest but I held up my hand "I know what you're thinking, but trust me this won't be a waste of time. All people have potential to be your soulmate or something."

"I don't think anyone's ever believed that." He rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"Okay, okay imagine that your abandoned In a some kind of death game maze with some random person. And you spend years overcoming all kinds of trials. Don't you think you and that person would become friendly?"

He thought about it for a minute "depends on the person."

"Does it?" I smiled at him and his smile disappeared Cyrus was about to say something when the carriage came to a stop.

"Ahh looks like we're here! Well talk to you later Cyrus." I jumped out of the carriage and waived goodbye. Then I remembered something and walked back to the carriage.

I poked my head in, Cyrus was staring blankly at the wall. When he noticed me he stood up, his startled expression made me laugh.

"You alright in here Cyrus?"

"Ye-yes of course!"

"Do you know who a sad-looking red-haired boy with grey eyes is?"

Cyrus looked concerned "I don't know about sad-looking, but if it's red hair and grey eyes you must be talking about prince Julius."

"Prince Julius?!!"

"Yeah the same guy who blew away your hat with wind magic."

"WHAT?! Do you know where he would be right now?"

Cyrus looked down at his watch "he usually sleeps in the garden between 9 and 7, it's about 5:30 right now so he's probably still there."

I ran out of the carriage towards the garden. I searched the large garden for benches and places someone might be sleeping. After searching for several minutes I caught a glance of red. He was sleeping under a tree.

I kicked him in the leg, and he woke up. "What...oh it's you again."

"Could you explain to me just what exactly was going through your mind when you decided to mess with an innocent girl minding her own business? "

He blinked in surprise

I kept on talking "did nobody tell you not to be a rude brat? Hmm?"

Suddenly, he stood up and glared at me "actually she would scold me every time I messed with someone!" Then is eyes started to water "how dare you say there's no one who taught me that, how dare you talk like she didn't exist!"

Uh-oh I might have stepped on a land mine.