“And oh,” Zhou Jingren stopped just before he could open the door. “Please… don’t let anyone else know about the conditions that we have talked about tonight.” He said before walking out of the Grand Duke’s office.
…
When Lily woke up the next day, Zhou Jingren was already sleeping silently next to her. She smiled as she poked his face. “Hey, what time did you arrive last night? You didn’t even wake me up.”
Her soft voice stirred him awake. “About eleven in the evening.” He responded, his eyes half-closed. Yawning, Zhou Jingren pulled her closer, making his arm her pillow, her back against his chest. “Too early. Let’s sleep a little more.” He said.
“It’s already eight in the morning. The Grand Duke just sent someone to get us for breakfast. Yuanfeng is already waiting for us downstairs.”
“That man doesn’t sleep. Let him wait a little bit longer.” His soft voice echoed behind her ears. She giggled in response.
“You are bullying my brother.”
“Am not.”
“Yes, you are!” She smiled. “I am not going to allow you to bully him.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Alright. We should not let him wait that long.” The two immediately prepared for breakfast as Zhou Jingren started telling Lily about what he did before he went to her room.
“Why would you provoke him?” she asked. She always knew that her husband is a very reasonable man. There is no way that he would just do it because of an address. “And fiance? Really? How would you know this?”
“I am helping him and Harringfort being your fiance actually makes sense if you consider your age.”
“I am the same age as Mikaela.”
“But she is already married. My guess is, this engagement had long been decided before the child was even born. If your grandfather became the kind, there is a possibility that you would be Harringfort’s fiance.”
Lily nodded. His explanation is indeed reasonable.”And what about your demands to the Grand Duke?”
“Reasonable for the information that I hold.”
For a few seconds, Lily paused and stared at her husband’s eyes before she silently nodded before quickly switching the topic. “There will be a banquet tonight and I would meet a few noble families.” She knew that Zhou Jingren does not want to talk about what he talked to the Duke, at least not when they are not in their territory.
“I already prepared a dress— “
“Surprisingly, Princess Mikaela offered me a dress last night. She had been pregnant and she had attended events before. She said she had the perfect dress for me. Something that she never wore.” Lily interrupted him. “But… I agree. Asked Go Jichen to bring the dress inside the room.”
Who knows what kind of evil scheme would that Pierre Weber pulls off?
Her words made her husband smile. “Here, I got this for you.” He said as he handed her a tablet. “The people that you might meet tonight.”
“You— you asked Yuanfeng to hack into the— “
“No, I didn’t. I don’t need his help in doing such a simple task.” Zhou Jingren said as he helped her with her dress. Did Lily forget that he too can hack computers? True, he might not be as efficient as Qin Yuanfeng but he can always do it as long as he had the time— something that Qin Yuanfeng always has.
Lily nodded as she started reading about the nobles that might attend the banquet and some of their dirty little secrets that Zhou Jingren found about them.
“I will be talking to the Duke tonight, so I might not be able to be there on time for the banquet.” Zhou Jingren said. Hand in hand, the two started walking out of the room.
………….
This time, breakfast was held in another part of the palace. It was in another wing that is only available to the most important visitor of the state. Just like the other places of the palace, the place was also adorned with sparkling chandeliers and gold in-cased paintings. The only difference with this one was that it had an accent wall that was full of images of some people that Lily does not recognize. Probably the people who once ruled this country and their families.
The couple walked towards the circular table that is not as big as the table that they used the other night. “Lily!” As usual, the Grand Duchess and Eliza were beaming. “Good Morning. When Phil told me last night that your beloved arrived to join you, I was honestly surprised. I didn’t think that he would miss you after not seeing you for twenty-four hours.” The Duchess smiled before she froze, looking into the side profile of her daughter.
Unfortunately for Eliza, she found a man that is not like Zhou Jingren. She immediately thought about the argument that she just had with the Grand Duke earlier. When she asked him about canceling the engagement he refused to say anything to confirm what they had talked about the previous night. Instead, he said that he is still thinking about it.
Was it really that hard to decide about this thing? Her pitiful daughter had been abandoned, forgotten, and treated unfairly! How could he still take some time to think about it? What Harringfort did was a blatant disrespect of their daughter.
“Are you alright?” Lily asked. “You seemed pale.”
“Oh… I— ” she stuttered before she beamed, masking all the anger that she felt a couple of seconds ago. “I am fine. I just… I thought I had a headache. I guess I worked too much last night.”
“You should take some time off, don’t stress yourself too much.” Lily smiled. “By the way, the Duke— “
“Oh! He had some emergency earlier today.” Because of their fight, the Duchess asked the Grand Duke not to show his face in front of her while she was still angry. And he compiled without even asking questions. This even made the Duchess mad. How could he just leave without coaxing her like he always did?
Of course, this was all inside her head. On the outside, the Duchess was beaming, her eyes sparkling as she started talking about her experience when she was pregnant.
………..
So the event will start September 1.
Also, since the novel is ending, I will try to pump out more chapters everyday. Thank you for your support everyone!
