Path to Transcendence

Chapter 134: Secret Bakery

Amelia POVAmelia had to admit, the princess was right about this place. The food so far had been incredible. It was actually hard to maintain vigilance while still trying to blend in and eat like the rest of the customers because she just wanted to eat the entire time.

Of course, she still had her duty. She had made sure to re

"Hey guys, I invited these two over if that's okay," Aubrey said with a smug smile directed at Julius.

He just glared at her, promising retribution at some point.

The young girl with black hair gave a very elegant bow. "Hello, my name is Grace," she introduced herself before turning to her friend. "This here is Amelia. I know that your friend Aubrey said it was okay for us to join you guys, but if it's not, then I completely understand." She was clearly nervous, fidgeting with both of her hands on the hem of her dress.

Lily was the first one from their group to respond. "I don't mind, I don't know about the others though." She looked over at the rest of them and all of them except for Julius nodded or shrugged their shoulders. They didn't care, they were too focused on their meal. She turned to look at Julius with a sympathetic smile. He knew that she could feel his frustration with her abilities.

Grace had a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you," said said sincerely.

The waiter who had been constantly keeping an eye over them for the entirety of the meal, was already taking another two chairs out of his storage device and placed them right next to Aubrey. Julius was realizing that this man was annoyingly good at his job.

The first few minutes were awkward, to say the least. Julius realized that there was no stopping it now since it had already happened. He would just need to go with the flow.

That was the reason why he put his full attention back to his fifth serving of delicious bread. Since they were going to eat with the two newcomers, they were going to have to put their next course on hold until the other two caught up with them. Just another reason why Julius hadn't wanted them to join them.

Thankfully, it didn't bother him too much. He was having a great time just shoving food down his mouth and didn't feel like socializing with the girls who ate his cake last night.

So in the meantime, he would just have to be satisfied with his unlimited bread.

"So Grace I heard that you stole Julius's cake last night," Aubrey said to the girl next to her in a conspiratory tone.

The girl, Grace, whipped her head to look at Julius with surprise. "He said that?"

"Yep, he even said you practically threatened to beat him up for it," Aubrey said accusingly.

"I did not!" Grace denied it wholeheartedly.

"Stop it, Aubrey," Edgar said disapprovingly from the side. "You already invited her, no need to tease the both of them."

What he left unsaid was that she shouldn't push it after she had invited them over against Julius's wishes. However, she knew Edgar enough to know what he was talking about.

Julius made sure to give Edgar a grateful nod, he could always count on the big man. Well, almost all the time. If it involved an angry Lily, Edgar usually was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry," Aubrey said with a giggle. "I just wanted to lighten the mood."

Grace seemed to understand that Aubrey was just lying to rile her up and she got a little red in the face. Julius spotted her invisible friend Amelia's lips turn down in disapproval.

"That is actually a big reason why I accepted your invitation," Grace said abruptly to Aubrey, before turning to Julius. "We went all around town today, stopping in every bakery we found but we weren't able to find the place where you got the cake," she said dissapointedly.

Julius took the time to chew the bread in his mouth before responding. "And you want me to tell you where I got it, yeah?"

She nodded her head vigorously.

"What do I get in return?" He asked her.

"Pardon?" She questioned.

Julius sensed the Amelia girl gripping her leg hard underneath the table with [Spatial Perception]. He had a feeling that she didn't like him very much or the way he was talking to Grace. However, the girl herself didn't seem to mind, so he didn't care too much about it.

"Well you still owe me for the cake, and now you want me to give up my secret cake supplier?" He asked in mock offense.

She seemed to contemplate his words seriously for a few moments. "What do you have in mind for exchange?"

"I don't know, I was thinking about a favor I could cash in at a later time. How does that sound?" Julius asked. He saw her think about his offer with an amused grin on her face.

"A favor of equal exchange?" She asked for clarification.

"Of course. I won't be asking you to beat up a bunch of annoying nobles or anything like that if that's what you're asking."

She instantly relaxed. "Oh, that's fine then. Okay, a favor in exchange for the knowledge of the bakery." She reached over the table, offering her hand. Julius smiled and stood up, reaching across and giving it a nice firm shake.

"That might be why you couldn't find it," he told her once he sat back down.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"It's not technically a bakery," Julius chuckled at the face she made when she heard that. He then told her the location of the shop. It was actually a small clothing shop that Julius had gone to with Declan and his family that one weekend. The owner of the shop just so happened to bake some of the best cakes he's ever had. Julius had made sure to go back there afterward to buy some cakes from her.

He had to admit, he enjoyed the frustrated look on both of the women's faces after he told them. It seemed like the two of them had really spent a lot of time searching for the place where he bought the cake.