Page 54 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

I’m not good at catching conversational cues, but this talk leaves me more confused than ever. My confusion grows when Aurelia, Gustave, and I leave the others, and Aurelia eyes us curiously. “Is there something going on between them?”

“Between who?” I ask.

“Emilien and Leila.”

“Like what?” Gustave asks.

“Seriously?” Aurelia blinks. “Both of you didn’t catch it? Leila was teasing him, and Emilien was flirting… or he tried to.”

Now that she said it, I can’t help but recall the last part of the conversation before we left. “They never said anything,” I admit. “And I’m still not sure if they are flirting, but I see why you think they do.”

“Me too,” Gustave says with a frown. “How did I not catch it?”

I’m just glad that Eric and Val drive separately because I am sure Eric would have teased us into oblivion.

Aurelia and I drop Gustave off at his pack before continuing to the restaurant Eric has booked for us all. I am driving while Aurelia gazes outside and looks at the passing landscape in interest. “I forgot to ask,” she says after a while. “How did you get to know Zoé and Gustave? Zoé mentioned she is in your pack.”

“Yes, I hired her when I found out how smart she is. As an orphaned omega, my father made her quit school and work in the kitchen.”

Aurelia frowns, clearly not liking what she hears.

“It’s not how I think it should be done,” I reassure her.

She smiles at me. “I know.” A pause. “And Gustave?”

Oh great. I’m starting to realize my list of failures is pretty long. “He was one of my bullies in school,” I say.

“What?” she exclaims.

“He was more of a bystander,” I admit. “But still…”

“I can’t believe it.” She furrows her brows. “I didn’t suspect it at all.”

“It’s okay,” I reassure her. “It’s not like we are friends now, but he is smart, and he at least tried to apologize.”

“Tried?”

“I didn’t really want to hear it,” I admit.

She grins. “I like that. Let him stew in his juice. Besides, you don’t need to forgive anyone. It’s completely up to you.”

I let out a breath of relief. “Honestly, I was scared everyone around me would force me to make up with him.”

“Say,” Aurelia says after a while. “When is your birthday?”

“Somewhere in April,” I answer.

“Somewhere in April?” She chuckles. “Can’t be any more specific? Or do you celebrate the whole month?”

“No, I’m sorry,” I groan inwardly for being awkward, again. “I haven’t celebrated my birthday a lot, but it’s on the 14thof April.”

Dad’s never been too keen on celebrating me or my birthday. Vander and I always congratulated each other and got each other stuff, but there were no big parties for either of us. I just got used to it.

To my surprise, Aurelia doesn’t inquire further, just looks at me. “We need to make sure we’ll have a beautiful birthday tradition for each of us.”

“Hm,” I hum. “Like taking a trip out of town or something like that?”

“Yes, or even something smaller like making sure to go for a birthday drink.” She beams. “We can even make it a birthday week.”