Unedited
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The already thick atmosphere inside Zhou Jingren’s study grew thicker as Lily continued to listen to her husband. Frowning, she crossed her arms across her chest. Soon after, silence followed Zhou Jingren’s words.
“Order of the Spectre,” Lily repeated after a few minutes. “So you wanted me to leave Hong Kong as soon as possible because of them?”
“After New Year,”
“Alright.” She nodded without any questions.
“Really?”
“Yes,” Lily nodded. “I understand your concern. We don’t really know if they are our enemy or ally yet. Safety is the major priority.”
“You aren’t telling me something.” Zhou Jingren said after a few seconds of silence. “Did something happen while I was not here?”
“No and yes,” Lily said. “I mean… I cannot really tell you something I don’t know and yes, something happened when you were away.” She then stood from her seat and retrieve a picture from her purse. ��Do you remember Mrs. Brooke?”
He nodded in response.
“She came to see me while you were in China.”
“Why would she come back?”
“My grandparents in her Grandmother’s garden in Wales.” She said as she handed it to Zhou Jingren. “She mentioned something about both our grandmother’s dying the same way and…” she made a deliberate pause as she sat next to him. “She said it was the Order of the Spectre.”
“The Order of the Spectre?” One of his eyebrows rose.
She nodded in response. Something inside Lily is telling her that this — all of this is not just a coincidence. Because of this, she decided to tread carefully and be more mindful of the situation. “But… I decided not to deal with it.” Lily added. “I am pregnant. I can’t just run around chasing a name. However, your words just now changed everything.”
“You wanted to… pursue them?”
“No. On the contrary, I wanted to hide.” Lily declared her eyes turned stern. “I have my priorities and right now… those people are not one of them.” Lily is approaching the situation using the only method that Lilian taught her, priorities. She is using her brains to think about her real priorities at this moment — this very moment.
“Then I— “
“No.” Lily interrupted him. “I am pregnant, Jingren. Let’s not provoke any more people.” She let out a sad sigh. “I — You can call me a coward. But I am not provoking any more people just months before I gave birth. I cannot take the risk. I cannot add this to the fear that I feel right now.”
“Hey, you are not a coward. You are a mother.” Zhou Jingren gently said as he stared at Lily. He then pulled her closer to him. Saying nothing, he kissed her temple and tightened his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”
Lily stayed silent as she thought about this organization and what was its involvement in her grandmother’s life. Still, she would do nothing but observe for now. She just doesn’t have the courage to fight against an organization that is capable of hiding themselves like that. The thought of Zhou Jingren’s words made her sigh.
Antone Harringfort.
That was Eliza’s fiance. Was it possible that Eliza is involved in all this? “I want to go to Luxembourg,” Lily said. “In theory, they could not do something when I am living in a palace with the Royal Family. ” Being in public with the royal family is another thing that could help them. Being living alone in Switzerland, away from Zhou Jingren, Lily is building a fortress around herself. She is building walls, isolating herself from the outside world.
This is something that the enemy could easily use against her. She believes that by staying in-crowd, Lily could shield herself from the enemy.
“You planned to give birth to Luxembourg?”
“No. I will be giving birth in Switzerland, but I want to stay in Luxembourg for a couple of weeks before going to our place in Switzerland.”
He turned silent. Lily’s request is actually very reasonable. If she would stay with the Royal Family, her security would double. Moreover, attacking someone from the Royal Family is quite tricky and difficult because of their measures. “Then I will arrange it. All you have to do is inform them about your visit.”
Lily nodded. “Qin Yuanfeng is coming with me.”
“And Yang Mi?”
“She will stay to assist Mr. Rossi and Cathy,” Lily said.
That night, the two also talked about what happened to the Inagawas as well as Riku and his sister, as well as the traitorous things that he did by revealing some ins and out of their black market dealings. Then they started talking about their plans, about the recent information that they stumbled upon. After the conversation, news about Bei Tian waking up reached their ears. It was something that immediately made them smile. After all, both considered Bei Tian as a part of their small family.
When the Grand Duke heard about Lily’s visit, he immediately became ecstatic. Even the duchess couldn’t stop herself from beaming. The two immediately agreed and even asked Lily to stay in their palace — an offer that Lily immediately accepted.
Of course, Lily could not just leave immediately. After all, she had a company to take care of. Meetings were immediately held, a lot of paperwork was signed, and a lot of serious conversations between her and Qin Yuanfeng happened about the future of the company.
Lily originally wanted to expose her brother more to the company. However, she found her brother’s talents rather useful. Of course, she was selfish enough to ask him to accompany her to Luxembourg so she could use his talents to spy on their enemies.
Moreover, Lily would also want to introduce him to the entire Royal Family of Luxembourg. Lily considered this as a good practice for Qin Yuanfeng’s social skills. After all, the Royals and even noble families tend to love their tea parties and insults under those sweet and savory choices of words.
……..
I will try to stabilize the release schedule this week. I have some big announcements to make.
Please don’t forget to vote for the novel.
