feed on dragons

"...It's disgusting---"

Dai Ning looked at the back of the boy leaving, and muttered to himself meaningfully.

"Although the roots of the banyan tree were dug up, the seeds immediately stuck to other big trees..."

"Barrow banyan? Big tree?"

Why did you suddenly talk about plants?Julian was full of question marks.

"Hurry up, let's go for a walk after eating. When you look out of the room, aren't you very interested in the garden behind?"

Dai Ning didn't explain, but kept urging him to hurry up.Julian hurriedly swept the food on the dinner plate, touched a sweet peach in the fruit basket in the middle, and followed Carter out of the restaurant.

There is a wide garden behind the restaurant, the low fences are quite neatly built, and the seasonal flowers waft a pleasant fragrance with the evening wind.This night was quite comfortable. Many people were already walking in the courtyard in twos and threes, or chatting on the stone chairs everywhere. A secluded corner with few people far away from the main building.

"There are more people than I imagined..." Dai Ning breathed a sigh of relief, Julian rubbed the sweet peach in his hand, and asked a little uneasily, "We... aren't here to visit the courtyard, are we?"

"Of course not." The red-haired boy snorted, then looked at Julian seriously: "Little Julian, are we friends?"

"Yeah." Julian nodded.He doesn't like this kind of question. The topic of confirming the relationship before continuing always makes people suspicious.

"Then can you tell me honestly..." Dai Ning paused, as if he was thinking about how to organize the next words, "...Did something happen between Carter and you?"

Julian's hand shook, and the peach almost fell to the ground.Dai Ning quickly reached out to help him pick it up, and found that his friend's hand was a little cold.

"This... we used to be in the same class." Julian replied vaguely.

"With just a few classes, I can guess that the two of you are in the same class." Dai Ning pouted, "Get to the point."

Julian stopped talking, just stared at the fruit in his hand, kept silent, and Dai Ning also found that his hand was getting cold.The boy rolled his eyes, clicked his tongue, and then patted Julian's hand twice.

"Let me go first. I know Carter."

Hearing this sentence, Julian couldn't help but look up at him.Dai Ning smiled, and continued to lower his voice: "The circle of nobles is just that big. The Aigles family and our family are both very active families. It is only natural for us to know each other. But... our two families can't Sitting down to drink and friendship, Earl Eglise's behavior, my father can't understand him, he always confronts him, and I don't have a good impression of Carter either."

"Today in the car, I noticed that you kept sneaking glances at Carter, as if you were very interested in him, which worried me... According to the rumors I heard, that guy Carter is very arrogant, he has nothing to do with servants and bugs Separately, even if you are both aristocrats, he may not be able to look straight. Think about it, you two seem to be the same age, and he is still in the same school. I guess what happened between you, so I will ask. If it is a good thing, I can still watch it Be kind to him for your sake, if it wasn't a good thing, I might be able to help you out..."

Hearing this, Julian couldn't help but twitched his mouth and shook his head slightly. "A good thing? Nothing good will happen when you meet him."

Is this going to be said?Seeing that his inducement had an effect, Dai Ning immediately shut up and waited for Julian's next words.The boy breathed a sigh of relief, and then slowly began to speak.

"Carter used to...see me as not very pleasing to the eye, and would occasionally make trouble for me..."

Julian briefly described his previous situation and the relationship between Carter and him.He spoke as objectively as possible, without embellishment, and only stated the facts that he actually encountered.Dai Ning listened silently, and did not express any opinion, but the hand holding him became tighter, and his brows were also condensed into a ball.

"In short, after I successfully obtained the magic power, the scores in the next few exams were slightly different, or I won him, or we both tied for first place... Usually it was tied for first place, after all, the teachers didn't want it. Offended him. After that, I applied for the skipping exam and entered the Elite Research Institute."

Speaking of which is the end, Julian breathed a sigh of relief again.This is the first time after he was admitted to the graduate school that he told people what happened in the ordinary class in the past. Although he still felt a little heavy in his heart when sorting out the dark and obscure past, but after telling all, he unexpectedly I feel that the pressure is slowly dissipating, and I am much more relaxed.

"Speaking of which, during the short period when he and I were able to compete academically, he saw that my face was as cold as ice, but for some reason, he seldom did anything to me..."

When he thought about it again, Julian felt that something was not right.Carter's dissatisfaction with him should have remained the same from the beginning to the end, and when he was at the top of his academic subjects and equal to him academically, it should be the time when this proud magic apprentice hated himself the most, but at that time Carter actually Uncharacteristically doing nothing... It's too weird.

"That was...around April of the year before last?" Dai Ning asked a question that surprised Julian.

"Uh...it seems to be about the same. I went to take the entrance exam for the elite academy in July, just before that."

"During that time."

The red-haired boy narrowed his eyes and showed a malicious smile, "He was busy at that time...he didn't have the energy to care about you."

Julian looked at his friend suspiciously, and Dai Ning went on to say, "Did he never show up again after that?"

"...You say so, it seems to be." Julian blinked his eyes and recalled, "Isn't it because I changed the environment that I didn't meet him? I was relieved. In fact, I went to the graduate school because I wanted to work hard. Come on, don't stay with him anymore..."

"Let me tell you about this." The red-haired boy chuckled. "Last April, led by my father, together with several ministers, revealed to His Majesty the king that Earl Aigles secretly joined forces with salt merchants in the territory to drive up the price of salt. Not only salt, but even magic wine that should be strictly controlled in theory. He also took part in the secret brewing case. After the case came out, it almost turned the Eggles family upside down in one go. At that time, Carter should have no time to bother about his own family, and didn't have time to worry about you at all. Later, Earl Aigles was demoted and his territory was confiscated, and the power of the whole family was not as good as before. The last time I heard about Carter was that he failed to enter the Elite Academy the next year, and just graduated and left the school. ..."

"Carter didn't pass the exam..."

Julian was talking to himself.Although this is not very good, he vaguely feels a little lucky.Fortunately, I don't need to see the card in the research institute...

wrong.Julian froze.

Don't wait until Carter enters the research institute, they will have a room together! ?

"Wait a minute, what's going on with Lord Mandron?" Thinking of this, he quickly asked, "Carter left school after graduation, and then joined Lord Mandron's door? Are you still traveling with us?"

"Ah, um, this situation is indeed beyond my expectation." As soon as this matter was mentioned, Dai Ning's expression, which was originally relaxed, suddenly became gloomy.

"I also didn't expect that when we met again, he would appear as a disciple of Lord Manderon... probably thanks to the blessing of his mother's family. Mrs. Eggles' side is also a force, although because of They were also affected by the downfall of the earl, but it was not the center of the storm. Some political exchange was probably used to send him in. The search was really accurate, and he climbed up to the academician who was most likely to become the next chief. …Master Manderon doesn’t know what to think, how much benefit did he receive? Guaranteed votes or some rare magic item?”

Dai Ning hummed unhappily while talking, while Julian listened and nodded suddenly.No wonder Dai Ning said just now that "although the roots of the banyan tree were dug up, the seeds immediately stuck to other big trees".

"Anyway...Julian, don't take him too lightly."

After humming, Dai Ning looked at Julian again with a slightly more serious expression.

"My father contributed to the downfall of the Aigles family, and I have settled the relationship with him; let alone you, you were originally a thorn in his side, and now you have become my friend...Although, according to my guess , in order to keep the title of Master Manderon's disciple, he will not do anything to us too blatantly, but it is always right to pay more attention to him."

"It's okay, I won't get too close to him anyway." Julian smiled wryly, "It's too late for me to hide from him. I was in a panic today in the carriage, and I was absent-minded just after eating... It seems that I still Stay away from him..."

"Wait, I want you to be careful with him, I didn't want you to hide from him!" Dai Ning frowned suddenly when he heard Julian's words, then grabbed his shoulder and shook. "Why are you so useless when it comes to Carter! Hold your chest up, little Julian! Think about it carefully, that enigmatic adult in your family is in awe of even the eldest prince, and for his sake Kamatsuko promised to take care of you, but now you are a person with a big prince behind you! You can look at Carter with your nostrils! Although he is Lord Manderon's disciple, he is still an apprentice just like us , don't bow your head to him!"

"I, I see, don't shake it..." Julian felt that the world was spinning.

Hearing what he said, Dai Ning finally let go. "It's good to know. Anyway, let's do what we see. There is no need to repel or alienate him. Just maintain a normal attitude."

"Um."

The boy nodded in agreement.The two reached a tacit agreement, and when they finally got in the mood to visit the courtyard, they found that it was getting late, and there were far fewer people walking and chatting in the courtyard.Not daring to delay tomorrow's schedule, the two hurried back to the room, and happened to run into Carter who was about to enter at the door.

Julian froze immediately, and Dai Ning squeezed his hand secretly, and nodded to Carter first, as a greeting.Carter's eyes lingered on the two of them for a while, and Julian forced himself to look at Carter and nodded slightly.

Carter smiled, and said, "Which one of you brought the house key? I thought I did, but I touched it and found out."

"I... let me open the door." Julian took the key out of his pocket and opened the door.Facing Carter, he still felt very nervous, but remembering that Dai Ning was behind, he still forcibly overcame the urge to escape in his heart, and calmly opened the door.

The three entered in a single file, and Carter said good night to them, and then got into his own bed, got into the quilt and fell asleep.Dai Ning and Julian looked at each other, and the red-haired boy gave his friend a positive look.

"Just like before," he mouthed.

Julian nodded.After getting his friend's affirmation, he breathed a sigh of relief, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to rub the inside of the ring that had been warmed by body temperature.

no problem.he thought.

Dying was right.I'm not the same Julian I used to be.Carter and I are equal in status now.I don't have to fear or avoid him because of what happened in the past.Just keep your head up and chest out.

Julian huddled under the covers while cheering himself up.He originally thought that if he shared a room with Carter, he would probably have nightmares about those things before; but now he can be sure that he can sleep peacefully until dawn.

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I will update it! !

After the annual holiday, I finally have time to write a paragraph today. Thank you for your comments. I hope that I can continue to update in these two days><~