CHAPTER 558: I AM A MAN...CALL ME UNCLE

Micah walked toward the entrance of the fashion department when he heard Emile’s completely nonsensical claim. He paused and threw a look at him over his shoulder. "Come again?"

Emile met Micah’s eyes. "Why do you let him boss you around? The Micah I know, the one who lashed out at me because I misunderstood his friend as his servant, would never be this easygoing. He is treating you like a criminal under surveillance."

Micah tilted his head. "You know he is your actual uncle, right?"

"Yeah. So what? He is being a total control freak right now. Who tells their nephew to spy on their partner?"

"Oh," Micah smirked. "So you are just complaining because of the job. For a second, I thought you were on my side."

"Can I even pick a side?" Emile exclaimed. "One is my fearsome uncle, the other is my devilish friend."

Micah shook his head, amused. "Aren’t we a match made in heaven then?"

"Who’s a match made in heaven?" a voice asked behind him.

Micah froze. He turned slowly. "Mum?" His voice trembled slightly. "Why are you here? Is everything alright?"

Micah cursed his luck. Did she hear their conversation? The last thing he needed right now was for his mother to find out about his relationship with Clyde.

Emile straightened up immediately. "Hello, Auntie," he greeted her, voice suddenly sweet and soft. There was no trace of his grumpiness in it.

Elina smiled warmly at him. "Hi, dear. How are you? My son didn’t make trouble for you, did he?"

Micah’s lips twitched. Please, she actually thought Emile, this little fox, was a sweet, naive boy. Who could bully him? Others needed to be on guard not to be fooled by him.

Emile shook his head quickly, blinking innocently. "Of course not. He is such a good friend of mine."

"That’s good to hear," Elina said and reached into the tote bag slung over her shoulder. "Here, sweetheart. I brought breakfast for you and your br...." She caught herself, cleared her throat, and corrected, "I mean your friend, Darcy."

Micah took it, and the annoyance melted from his face. "Thanks, mum. I’ll give him his share. Don’t worry."

Elina nodded. "Okay, darling. Then..." she hesitated. "When will you come home?"

Micah’s expression changed, and a flicker of guilt passed in his eyes. He had promised to visit the house with Darcy. But he had no clue how to convince that stubborn bull to set foot in the Ramsy mansion. "I don’t know. Let me check with him first."

Elina’s expression dropped, just barely. "Oh," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "We will wait for your news then."

Micah exhaled softly. "Alright."

Elina pursed her lips as her eyes caught the time on her watch. "Go on. Your class starts soon."

She looked at Emile and gave a polite nod. "It was good to see you."

Then she turned and walked away across the courtyard.

Emile stood beside Micah, finding the whole conversation bizarre. "Hey, why would your mum make breakfast for Darcy? Who are you taking home? My uncle?"

"You ask too much," Micah muttered, adjusting the bag. "Be careful you don’t poke your big fat nose somewhere you shouldn’t be."

"Hey! My nose is so tiny!" Emile protested, tapping it defensively.

Micah ignored him and pushed open the building door, already pulling out his phone to text Darcy.

RogueOverlord: Where are you? Mum brought you breakfast.

Emile trailed behind him, still grumbling and protesting. "Wait a minute. I was just curious. There was no need for personal attacks. And seriously, what could possibly be going on between you and Darcy for your mum to do this? She didn’t offer me one, although I was standing right here! Does my uncle know about this?"

Micah reached his classroom door, already tired of Emile’s nonstop blabbering. "Know what? That I am super close to Darcy?" he asked, shrugging. "Yeah, he does. And he is fine with it. So just go to your class."

"I don’t have a class today. Why do you think I was grumbling?" Emile said, stunned by Micah’s answer. His uncle and Micah’s relationship seemed so messy. Uncle was seeing Asena, while Micah was close to Darcy enough that his family sent breakfast for him. What the hell?

Micah opened the door. "So you stay with me 24/7?"

"Yeah."

"Did you get paid?" Micah asked dryly.

"Nope. Not a penny." Emile wailed as they sat down.

"Free labour?" Micah snorted. "Fine. This elder will compensate you. I’ll take you somewhere in the afternoon instead."

Emile rolled his eyes. "You literally accepted breakfast from your mum for another man in front of me, and now you have the gall to call yourself my elder? What next? You think you’ve already married my uncle? Should I start calling you little aunt from now on?"

Micah’s face twisted in disgust. "Ugh, again with this title? I am a man. Call me Uncle too."

"Preposterous! Huh! You’re dreaming! You are the same age as me..." Emile suddenly paused mid-rant. His gaze dropped to Micah’s palm as he picked up his phone.

Micah’s attention was on the screen on his phone, reading Darcy’s reply.

DescendantoftheDarkOne: In class. I’ll meet you after that.

Micah smiled slightly as he realised Darcy had not rejected Elina’s breakfast outright.

"Hold on. What happened to your hand? Why is the skin scraped off?" Emile asked pointedly.

Micah stiffened instantly. Ah, shit.

He had completely forgotten about the injury on his palm. After meeting Silas last Saturday, and the way he had wanted to see the bandages on his hand, Micah had removed them yesterday for shooting, then forgotten to re-wrap them today.

What if Emile looked too closely... he might notice the wound was exactly the same as Asena’s.

"Nothing. I fell," Micah said, trying to sound casual.

Emile narrowed his eyes, clearly unconvinced. "Uh-huh..."

Before he could interrogate further, the professor walked in, calling the class to order.

Micah exhaled in relief, hiding his hand under the desk. What a close call!