"Grandma, are you leaving already?"
Julian looked at his grandmother, Evelyn, who was already preparing to return to the Cavendish family. She had only stayed at the estate for less than three days before deciding to leave.
"Hmph. Why should I stay? To listen to someone sweet-talking a vixen right in front of me?" Evelyn snorted coldly.
The root of the issue was that Grandpa had taken a phone call from the Fairy-type Elite Catherine late at night—strictly for work related matters.
But to avoid any misunderstandings, he had deliberately stepped away to take the call in private.
Unfortunately, fate had a cruel sense of humor—Grandma just happened to walk in on it anyway.
Even Julian felt like this was straight out of a soap opera. What kind of ridiculous coincidence was this?
The whole reason John had taken the call in secret was to prevent misunderstandings. Now, not only had she seen it, but the secrecy made it look even worse. There was no way she wouldn't overthink it now.
So the very next morning, Grandma decided she wanted to go back to the Cavendish family.
The Cavendish family head was already waiting at the estate gates, though he didn't dare step inside.
He knew all too well about the decades-long love-hate saga between his aunt and John—this was way above his pay grade. If he accidentally saw or heard something he shouldn't, he'd be in deep trouble.
So he just waited quietly at the main entrance.
"Dad, say something! You can't just stand there all silent!"
Quinn said anxiously. During this time, her parents had argued a lot, but it was mostly just bickering. She had even held out hope they might get back together.
Now? So much for reconciliation. Honestly, it'd be a miracle if they didn't start throwing hands.
"What do you want me to say? I already explained—I was talking to her about work," John said with a cold face, clearly holding back frustration.
He'd been trying so hard to keep his tone gentle around Evelyn lately. And yet, she still found reasons to pick fights.
"Talking about work? Then why sneak around like a thief?" Evelyn shot back, her fury palpable. If she'd had something handy to throw, she probably would've hurled it by now.
"I did it because I didn't want you to overthink it!"
John shouted back, his face twisted in helpless frustration. He never expected hiding the call would backfire this badly.
"Oh, so I'm the unreasonable one now? I can't tell work from personal matters? John, let me make this clear—if it was truly just work, you could've talked for ten hours and I wouldn't have cared!"
In the end, Evelyn left anyway, getting into the Cavendish family head's car and returning home to continue her reign as their Empress Dowager.
Julian wasn't worried about her being mistreated—any Cavendish family member with half a brain would treat her like royalty. Otherwise, the Cavendish family might as well not exist anymore.
With Evelyn gone, John also left the estate.
Now, the only ones left in the estate were Julian's parents, Quinn, and Julian himself.
"Son, your dad and I are heading back too. We've been away from home for over half a month. Love must be so bored managing everything alone."
Ever since Evelyn fell into a coma and was hospitalized, Jake and Tina had been staying in Orient. Counting the days, it really had been more than half a month.
"Well then, Julian, I'm off too."
Seeing that her second brother and sister-in-law were leaving, Quinn naturally chose to depart as well.
After being away for so long, she actually missed her work in the lab.
"Son, your mom, I, and your aunt are leaving now. Are you coming with us, or heading back to university?" Jake asked.
"Back to university," Julian said.
Technically, as a third-year student, he didn't really have to return to campus. For Trainer Academy students, the third year was all about pushing their own limits and improving their strength.
First and second years were for attending lectures and building theoretical knowledge.
The third year was for carrying out missions, exploring secret realms, and strengthening oneself.
The fourth year was all about working toward graduation.
At Imperial University's Trainer Academy, if you didn't reach pseudo-Elite level by the fourth year, you wouldn't be allowed to graduate.
Hence, there were always a few "fifth-year seniors" lingering around every year.
For Julian, staying at university or at home wasn't much different—either way, he'd just be holed up indoors.
But he preferred being a homebody at the university.
The reason was simple: at home, he'd be under the watchful eyes of two strict supervisors—Love and Slowking.
At school, only Slowking was around, so the pressure was slightly lighter.
Besides, Slowking was his Pokémon. If he threw a tantrum or whined enough, Slowking would sometimes indulge him.
But that trick never worked on Love (Indeedee). If he tried it, he'd most likely end up being chased around the house with a willow branch.
"Jiggly~ Puff~ Jiggly~"
His phone rang—it was a call from his Uncle.
"Hello, Uncle?"
"Julian, she's awake! Alice is awake!"
Henry's voice trembled with excitement. Even though she'd woken up over an hour ago, he still couldn't contain himself when talking about it.
After waiting for nearly twenty years, she had finally opened her eyes. That kind of feeling—most people would never truly understand it.
'Alice?'
Ah, right. His uncle's childhood sweetheart.
It had been a little over two days since Julian gave his uncle the brain injury treatment medicine. The timing lined up perfectly.
"Uncle, calm down a little. Are all of Auntie's vitals stable?"
Even though he knew the system's medicine was flawless, it didn't hurt to ask.
"Perfectly stable! She's very healthy. The doctors are shocked. After being comatose for twenty years, all her indicators are completely normal!"
"Your medicine not only healed her brain damage, but it even restored her body!"
A woman who had been in a vegetative state for nearly twenty years suddenly woke up one day. Even so, she would still need a long time to recover her physical strength.
After all most coma patients who woke up after decades required a long recovery period. Even if they regained consciousness, their bodies often remained weakened from prolonged inactivity.
But in Alice's case, it was as if time had rewound—she was perfectly healthy.
"That's a relief. Congratulations, Uncle—no more single life for you!" Julian couldn't help but laugh at the end.
Who would've thought that the eldest son of John Walker would be such a devoted romantic, waiting faithfully for his childhood sweetheart for nearly twenty years?
If this were any other wealthy heir, most would've given up long ago. Even the sentimental ones at best might've hired a caretaker to look after her in the hospital while moving on with their lives.
But not Henry.
He stayed.
And now, against all odds, his patience had been rewarded.
"Hah! You brat, even you're teasing me now?" Henry's voice was lighter than Julian had ever heard it—like a man who'd finally put down a burden he'd carried for half his life.
"I'll bring her to meet you once she's settled. She owes you more than anyone."
Julian smiled. "Just focus on her for now. There'll be plenty of time later."
After saying that, Julian ended the call.
*****
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