Chapter 28: A New Friend

"Then, what's wrong Domitia." Juli inquired with a worried face. She was anxious.

"It was my nickname. My father used to call me Tia.", Domitia told her wiping her tears.

Juli was dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say. She thought that either she was acting to get on her good books, or she was a crybaby. Both options were valid. She wanted to see the real face of Domitia.

"I see. Then, where is your father?", Juli asked.

"He is dead. I remembered him after you called me 'Tia'. He died four years ago.", Domitia explained.

Juli was not bad at dealing with the crying people. But she was not able to trust Domitia. "The most important question is why she is telling me about this. She is not the type of person to spill her secret after meeting me twice or thrice.", Juli thought.

"Is she still under the effect of the truth potion?", Juli convinced herself.

"That means you met Lucius after the death of your father. If I recall correctly, you had lost your mother during childhood as well.", Juli roughly guessed the situation.

"Yes, she had died when I was five years old. My father had raised me.", Domitia explained. Juli's assumption was right.

"You met Lucius when you had nobody to rely on. You used him as your emotional can.", Juli responded.

"No, I didn't. He was the one to approach me first.", Domitia replied.

"Every girl says this, the guy was chasing me. I'm not even interested in him, and they met the same guy at midnight when nobody was around.", Juli thought. Domitia was getting more suspicious.

'So, you are telling me. You don't like Lucius and you have no feelings for him. Did I get it right?", Juli inquired.

"I didn't say that I don't like him. I like him. He was the first person to stand up for me and take care of me. I am not saying that I have never met other boys. I have a lot of boys before her. But he was a gentleman among them.", Domitia replied.

"Gentleman among boys… this line seems familiar, but the main point is that Domitia also has a lot of experience with guys. It's hurting me. What have I done in my whole life? Why did I block all the guys and think that I would have a guy fall from the sky only for me?", Juli thought hurting her own feelings.

There was a huge misunderstanding. The boys, Domitia was referring to, were her fellow soldiers. But Juli had misunderstood it and hurt her sentiments.

"He came here to tell me that Flavia had instructed him to never return.", Domitia told her.

Juli tried to avoid her eyes. Because her acting skills had been a big failure this time as well.

"What do you mean by that?", Juli inquired.

"I'm not sure either but he told me that I should be at ease, but I need to be vigilant as well. Because he had some failed assassination attempts as well.", Domitia replied.

Juli remembered Quintus and Flavia discussing it and Quintus had admitted that he had sent some warnings to Lucius.

"When did you start dating Lucius?", Juli asked to avoid the previous discussion.

"Well, we start dating the day. We met. We knew that we were made for each other and then Lucius approached me. I didn't even resist him either…", Domitia told her whole story with innocence.

Juli wanted her to stop but she was enjoying it. She thought that she was hearing an adult audiobook about a couple and how they met and f… each other.

"Let's be friends. You can share everything. You want to share with me. I'm always here for you. You can even share about your relationship with Lucius. I would not mind.", Juli instantly responded to Domitia's story.

"Don't you dislike me?", Domitia inquired.

"I didn't think about it, honestly.", Juli answered.

"Shouldn't you be wary of me?", Domitia asked again.

"Why should I? Whatever happened between you and Lucius is your personal matter and as far I've observed. Flavia has no issue with your relationship with Lucius and doesn't dislike you either.", Juli responded.

"Do you really think that Domina Flavia doesn't hate me?", Domitia asked.

"No, she doesn't dislike you at all. She is not the type of person to invite the people she dislikes to her house. She is a very strict person.", Juli tried to convince her.

"That's a relief.", Domitia said.

"Can I call you Tia now? Are we friends now?", Juli asked.

Domitia agreed and said, "It's my pleasure to be your friend, Domina Livia."

"So, tell me more about yourself, Tia.", Juli asked.

"Hmm… I'm a soldier like my mother. My father was a farmer and met my mother at the border when she was on duty. She got injured and my father helped her. They fell in love, and they had me. But...", Domitia stopped.

"But?", Juli asked her curiously. She thought it was a good way to pass her time.

"After my birth, my mother's health declined, and she died after five years. My parents had never blamed me and raised me with love, but I still feel guilty about it. If I was never born then maybe they would have been together forever.", Domitia completed her story.

"Tia, it's not your mistake. You have no role in your birth. It was the mutual decision of your parents. That's why they had no reason to blame you. You were their responsibility. They are still together in the afterlife forever. Now, chin up and be happy."

"You know, some couples think that if we have kids then we will be happy. Kids are not born to make you happy. You are the one who desires for them and have them. Why should they make you happy?", Juli was impassive and had a cold voice.

"But you are lucky. You had mature parents. You don't have to go through what most people face in this world.", Juli said this without giving it many thoughts.

"You had tough parenting?", Domitia inquired.

"Hahahaha… ", Juli laughed, "No, they were the perfect parents. They were not tough, but they were sure very demanding. You need to do this. You should be this. You need to make us proud. Literally, all these demands are very tiring. Shouldn't they also be proud parents as well? Why should we be the only ones who need to be proud children of theirs.", Juli said this in a light note.

"But you are lucky. Domina Livia, your parents are still with you.", Domitia said.

Juli's face turned pale, and her smile disappeared.

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