Chapter 86: The Strange Fragrance

Emerald’s POV

I arrived at school early on Tuesday morning.

There were already a few students inside the lecture hall when I walked in, but Elias was not among them.

I made my way to my usual seat, placed my bag beside me and brought out my laptop and notebook before checking the time.

I had barely opened my laptop when Elias arrived a few minutes later.

"Good morning," he said as he approached me.

"Good morning."

He dropped into the seat beside mine and placed his things on the desk. That was when I noticed something unusual.

Elias smelled different.

It wasn’t a particularly unpleasant smell. If anything, the fragrance was still expensive and masculine, but it was not the scent I was used to noticing around him. It seemed stronger than usual and carried a slightly different undertone.

I glanced at him once.

Elias was already looking through something on his phone, completely unaware of my observation.

I decided to leave it alone. It was hardly my business to question a classmate about the perfume he chose to wear.

"Did you come early because you missed me?" he asked without looking up from his phone.

I turned to him. "No."

His eyes lifted to mine. "You didn’t even think about it."

"There was nothing to think about."

"That was cold," he said, acting hurt.

"I was being honest."

"Your honesty is beginning to concern me."

I smiled. "Don’t worry. You will survive."

Elias gave me an exaggerated look of disappointment.

Before either of us could continue the conversation, our lecturer entered the hall, and the class settled down for the first lecture of the day.

By the time the lunch break arrived, I was ready to leave the lecture hall and get something to eat.

Elias noticed me packing my things and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To get lunch," I answered.

"I will come with you," he said. "It would be boring to eat alone."

I shook my head and picked up my bag. "You’re really getting too comfortable around me."

"I’ve been comfortable around you for a while."

"I noticed."

He laughed and followed me out of the lecture hall.

The cafeteria was busy, but we eventually found a relatively quiet table and sat down with our food. Then Elias began talking about Michael’s test.

"Do you think Professor King will release our results today?" he asked.

"He said the results would be released this afternoon."

"I remember. I am asking whether you think he will actually release them today."

I looked at him. "Why wouldn’t he?"

"Because professors sometimes change their minds."

"Professor King doesn’t strike me as someone who forgets what he says," I said in defence.

Elias nodded. "That is true." He picked up his fork and took a bite of his food.

After a moment, I looked at him again. "Elias."

"Yes?" he answered.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked.

He stopped eating and slowly lifted his eyes to mine. "I didn’t know you were this invested in my personal life."

I shrugged. "I’m not interested, just curious."

He leaned back slightly. "What is the difference?"

"There isn’t any," I admitted.

He stared at me for a while before letting out a laugh. I continued eating as though I had said nothing unusual.

However, when his laughter became louder, I smiled and gestured for him to lower his voice. "Keep it down."

"Why?"

"Because I don’t want unnecessary attention at our table," I said to him.

He finally quietened down. "I don’t have a girlfriend, but that doesn’t mean I lack women around me," he replied.

"So, you are a playboy?" I raised a brow.

"I never said that." Elias smiled. "I’m handsome, tall, very rich and intelligent. Naturally, women throw themselves at me."

I stared at him. "You really do have a high opinion of yourself."

"Someone has to," he bragged.

"And you entertain those women?" I continued.

His smile widened. He leaned forward slightly, and when he spoke again, he lowered his voice. "Would you ignore free candies presented to you?"

I narrowed my eyes. He was too close. I reached across the table, pressed two fingers against his forehead and pushed him backwards.

"Whatever little cheap tricks you’re trying to play on me won’t work."

Elias leaned back in his chair. "I know cheap tricks won’t work on you because you aren’t cheap."

I rolled my eyes and continued eating. "Be careful."

"About what?" he probed, whilst keeping his eyes on me.

"About catching something while sleeping around with all the women buzzing around you," I finished.

He smiled. "Every woman I sleep with gets tested before that."

I stared at him for a second before delivering the only word at the tip of my tongue. "Congratulations."

He laughed.

We continued eating, and the conversation gradually moved to other things.

I never asked about the change in his fragrance. I had no reason to question him about it.

People changed perfumes all the time, and I did not consider Elias’s choice of fragrance important enough to make a conversation out of it.

When the lunch break ended, we returned to the lecture hall together.

A few minutes after we settled down, our phones began vibrating almost simultaneously. The results had been released.

I opened my email immediately. My score was 9% out of 10. A small smile appeared on my face. I was relieved, so I turned to Elias.

"What did you get?"

"Seven per cent," he replied.

I stared at him; he stared back. "Don’t say anything."

"I wasn’t going to," I shrugged.

"You were."

"I was just thinking it." I smiled.

"That is worse," he said.

I smiled while he shook his head and returned his attention to his laptop.

However, after a while, I began thinking more carefully about my own result.

Nine per cent out of ten was a good score. There was no question about that. Still, something about the missing one per cent continued to bother me.

I remembered the test clearly. I had understood the questions, answered them carefully and reviewed my work before submitting the paper. As far as I knew, there had been nothing I had left unanswered.

What had I missed?

I also noticed that no one had received a perfect score. That made me even more curious.

When I got the opportunity during the break before our next class, I took out my phone and opened my conversation with Michael.