But make it quick, alright? She wasn’t going to be able to keep the one-legged pose for much longer!
Thus, Pete and Xander locked gazes with each other, sparks flying from both boys’ eyes.
At this moment, a weak but life-saving voice reached them.
“I’d like to sit with Cherry, so if her two brothers want to sit over here instead, then how about we both switch?”
Cherry’s eyes lit up at once, and she looked excitedly at Lucy opposite her. Her little foot in the air stepped onto her other foot that she was standing on, and she even scratched the top of her foot with it.
Wow!
The little princess was practically her savior today!
In the end, Cherry and Princess Lucy sat next to Justin, with Cherry sitting close to Justin with an excited look on her face. Seeing how happy she was, the silly Princess Lucy also smiled cheerfully along with her, though she didn’t understand at all why she was so happy. Xander and Pete were the only ones sitting beside the Queen with sullen looks on their little faces. The Queen: “…”
Excuse me, just how unpopular was she?!
Was it simply that unbearable to sit on the same side as her?!
Also! How come even her own daughter had abandoned her and gone looking for Cherry instead?!
She suddenly felt like taking back her gift!
The Queen viciously devoured another piece of steak.
The meal went on with each of them harboring their own thoughts.
Although Justin and Nora didn’t speak, the two seemed to have a tacit understanding that no one else could intrude on. For example, at the start of the meal, Justin immediately passed Nora the salt shaker while she passed him the pepper shaker.
After passing the condiment shakers, the two looked at each other and exchanged a smile. Then, they both lowered their heads and added some condiments to their food with the shaker the other had passed to them.
The Queen: “Burp.”
Was she already full after only two pieces of steak?
The corners of her lips spasmed and she couldn’t help but start musing. Nora must have recognized King and realized that he was Justin, right? Well, that made sense. After all, because of her own strong feelings for Justin, even she had found King very familiar the first time she met him. Later on, she tried to confirm again and again whether the two were one and the same.
Nora was, at the very least, Justin’s fiancée after all, so how could she possibly fail to recognize him?
So, that whole act just now where she pretended that she didn’t know him was really just a farce!
She was the only one silly enough to be kept in the dark.
The Queen huffily speared another piece of steak.
One could say that both the host and the guests had thoroughly enjoyed the meal—with the exception of the Queen, who was pulling a long face.
After dinner, the few of them returned to the living room for some tea and conversation. The Queen, however, looked to the outside: why wasn’t Black Cat back yet?
While the few of them were having lunch, the people outside didn’t stay idle either. While Barbarian and the Queen’s guards were enjoying their specially-prepared lunch outside, John, the butler, happened to run into the servant in charge of housekeeping in the castle when he was cheerfully stepping out of the door.
The butler asked, “Have you finished cleaning?”
“Yes, apart from Ma’am’s study, I’ve already cleaned all the other rooms.”
Following the servant’s response, John smiled and replied, “Well done. No one is allowed to enter Ma’am’s study.”
The servant also smiled and said, “Oh, by the way, the refrigerator in Ma’am’s bedroom is new. I saw that she has put some facial masks and drinks inside. I cleaned that too just now.”
John then said, “I appreciate the efforts. We still have guests, though. After they leave, in the living room and in the lobby…”
The conversation between the two went farther and farther away and their voices gradually became inaudible.
Barbarian’s eyes were lowered.
Soon, he finished his meal. He raised his head and looked around. “Black Cat hasn’t come back yet?”
The captain of the guards replied, “No, not yet. Maybe she’s lost her way. Don’t bother with her.”
The guard next to him also said, “Yeah, she stole Her Majesty’s attention the moment she came. Last night, Her Majesty even sang her praises several times and subtly complained that we aren’t capable enough… So, just let her be! She won’t starve to death anyway.”
However, Barbarian said, “I’ll look for her.”
The captain of the guards sneered, “Barbarian, I’d advise you not to be a busybody.” But Barbarian, with a warning in his voice, said, “Her Majesty is very concerned about her.”
After he spoke, he went straight out the door.
After he left, the captain of the guards let out a contemptuous laugh. The guard next to him also curled his lips and remarked, “He’s just a bodyguard who isn’t even on the official payroll. Pleasing Her Majesty is about the only thing he can do!”
As the strongest bodyguard among them, Barbarian wasn’t part of the Queen’s royal guards.
However, he had always followed the Queen’s orders to a tee and conducted himself according to her preferences.
Therefore, since the Queen valued Black Cat, it was completely normal for him to go and look for her. It did not arouse the captain and the other guards’ suspicion at all.
When Barbarian stepped out, he found that while the Schmidt castle’s defenses against external threats might be on point, and the entire manor was no different from a solid fortress that didn’t allow even a fly into the premises, the supervision inside was comparably a little lax.
Instead of looking for Black Cat, he took the opportunity while no one was looking to grab the wall with both hands and quickly climb to the second floor.
He didn’t go to the study.
Everything stored in the study was confidential, and there would be safes and so on in there.
Most people would think that the study was the best place to hide the V16, but he went straight to Queenie’s bedroom instead.
The V16 needed to be refrigerated for it to be kept fresh.
If a refrigerator was suddenly placed in the study, it would stick out like a sore thumb and come across as very strange. But if one was placed in the bedroom instead, they could put facial masks and drinks inside, which would not seem at all obtrusive.
After all, many types of facial masks did require refrigeration.
Queenie’s move was pretty good and was also very misleading
But Barbarian was no longer the person, who only had brute force and not an ounce of intelligence, he used to be!!
