I was knocked up by the ML and currently running away.

Chapter 20 - The reunion with a childhood friend

"Stay close with me tonight. Even if that buffoon arrived, you shouldn't stick to him. He is a bad influence!"

Greg warned me for the third time.

"Alright, alright. Whatever."

I pouted.

He was born just 10 minutes earlier than me, but he loves to act like a much older brother. Which is fine, since he really is my older brother, if I was normal.

But I was born with an adult mind, albeit it was hazy at first. So, since we were born, I always regarded him as my younger brother. I never told him that, though. He'll definitely be upset if I did.

"We should stick with our own circle of friends tonight. After all, it's been a long time since we gather together in one place."

"Now that you mentioned it, it really had been years. Since Prince Julius debuted, we kinda drifted apart somehow. Being adult sucks. Why do we become adults at sixteen? It's too soon!"

"Debuting is just the first step of adulthood. It prepares us to shoulder the responsibilities that come with being an adult. But as a matter of fact, only after we turned eighteen we will be officially acknowledged as a full adult by the Empire."

"Urgh, Greg. Stop lecturing. It's not that I didn't know that. Anyway, who knew that the crybaby grew up to be so smart that he was appointed as the youngest Royal Scholar in history! Big sis is so proud!"

"What big sis? He's older than you, Lyssa. And why are you still calling him 'crybaby'!"

"He's just one year older. And I called him that because he was a crybaby. Haha... he used to cry all the time when we were kids, remember?"

"Yeah... But that was ages ago. He's nothing like that now."

"How would I know, it's been ages since I last met him."

"I met him often in the palace. He's been looking forward to meeting you."

We were currently attending a royal banquet at the palace, celebrating the appointment of a new Royal Scholar, the youngest in history, 18 years old Avery Divan.

The last time I saw my childhood friend, Avery, was when I was twelve years old. He annoyed me when he kept begging me to enroll in the Royal Academy with him, so I deliberately avoided him.

In my past life, I spent almost two decades studying, and after that much of a struggle, it only had helped me land a mediocre job. I'm not gonna go through a useless thing like going to school ever again!

In my current life, I was born in a loving, wealthy family, given private education by the best tutors that covered essential things needed in life. Why should I bother about something depressing like going to school?

Well, we may have met during the crown prince tea party when I was fourteen, but I was too preoccupied with the realization of living in a novel after meeting Lucas. So, I still remember him as a shortie and crybaby thirteen years old brat.

"Hey, sweetheart. What are you thinking so hard about?"

I heard a family voice whispering from the back of my ear.

I turned around and saw the handsome Lucas smiling sweetly at me. If people saw it, they definitely will think that we are really a pair of sweethearts.

I guessed that was why Greg made a sour face.

I smiled back at him. He gestured for me to link my arm with him, then we started to walk to a vacant terrace nearby.