Claire could not have cared less about the isolation, continuing to do entirely as she pleased.
Julia, on the other hand, had gravitated closer to Claire, knowing full well how exceptional she was after Dr. Sterling Senior had pulled her aside for a private chat.
Anyone who earned the acknowledgment of a master physician was definitely not an ordinary person.
"Nolan is planning to have me settle down in Cabinda," Julia shared.
"Dr. Sterling Senior agreed to treat my illness, but Nolan had to negotiate a few terms with them."
Claire quickly held up a hand. "Stop right there. Don't tell me."
"I really don't want to know."
Claire dramatically covered her ears.
Julia burst into laughter.
"You're ridiculous... Nolan did warn me not to go spreading it around."
"As long as you understand." Claire easily guessed that Nolan had struck a major
deal with Solenia in order to secure Dr. Sterling Senior's help.
Dr. Sterling Senior would definitely pull out all the stops now.
After all, this was a rare opportunity.
The benefits of building a strong alliance with Nolan were enough to ensure they did everything in their power to keep Julia alive.
Knowing the inevitable outcome, Claire simply offered an early congratulations. "Looks like you get to keep your little life."
Julia glared at her playfully. "What do you mean 'little' life? My life is incredibly expensive!"
"Yes, yes, you make a very fair point."
Chatting and laughing, Claire and Julia made their way to the cafeteria, bumping into one of the exchange students from Sundara along the way.
"Hey, Julia," Taro Miyamoto called out smoothly.
Julia offered him a freezing smile and breezed right past him.
Logically, since she and Taro were from the same batch of international students, there shouldn't have been such glaring tension between them.
"You don't like him?" Claire asked quietly once Taro was out of earshot.
Julia scoffed. "He always walks around with this insufferable superiority complex. He constantly complains about the food here, yet he still stuffs his face every single time."
Solenian cuisine had easily won over the palates of most international students. But there were still plenty of arrogant types like Taro, who happily gorged themselves while trashing the very food they ate.
Claire was used to dealing with people like that.
Julia, however, was a straight shooter and absolutely loathed his behavior.
In the beginning, Taro had actually tried
to hang out with them, joining
their group for meals in Roet
stucktontent belongs to
FindNovel.net
But Taro constantly judged everyone around him. Combining that with his condescending attitude toward the Solenian students, he ended up offending half the campus on their behalf.
Eventually, Julia and Whitney completely iced him out.
They started eating by themselves.
Taro wasn't a frog, so they had no idea why he insisted on looking at everyone from such an elevated, bizarre angle.
Claire remarked dryly, "Honestly, comparing him to a frog is an insult to the frog."
On the surface, Taro seemed perfectly fine. He dressed impeccably and was conventionally attractive.
But Claire, raised with a strong
sense of national pride, inherent/et
despised anyone WITO
Solenia just to look down on it.
Unfortunately, after grabbing his tray, Taro walked straight over and sat right next to
them.
"Julia, you don't mind if I sit here, do you?"
He assumed his gentlemanly facade was foolproof.
He was completely blindsided when Julia rejected him flat out. "Yes, I do."
"Why?" Taro froze in confusion.
He was notoriously arrogant, firmly believing in his own good looks and wealthy background.
Even though he knew Julia outranked him in every possible way, he still felt entitled to her adoration.
In fact, he believed every elite woman in the world should be swooning over him.
Taro's confidence extended well past the boundaries of reality.
"Because we want to enjoy our meal and chat in peace," Julia lied effortlessly. "Plus, someone is already sitting there."
Taro refused to back down. "What do you mean someone is sitting here? It's completely empty."