Pierre’s face contorted. Half in anger, half in shame. Lily’s words were both direct and unexpected. How could a woman be so… direct? He felt his face redden with shame. Slowly, he balled his hands into fist under the table as he tried to control his rage inside. “Madam Zhou… I don’t seem to understand your words?” Then he looked at Mikaela and the Duke as he started speaking in German. “She is pretty rude.” He commented.
Lily only responded with a smile as she also looked at the Grand Duke’s stern face. “I’m sorry for ruining the lunch.” Despite understanding a little bit of what Pierre said, Lily didn’t want to prolong this conversation anymore. She had decided that she needed to rest from her flight. “I believe he owes me an apology.”
Again, it was as if lightning struck Pierre’s brain. Did Lily just ask him for an apology? He frowned and shifted his gaze at the Grand Duke, hoping that the man would give Lily some words of wisdom about respect. After all, Pierre Weber was not only an Earl, he was also the husband of the first princess of the country. He deserved to be respected!
“What you did was rude Pierre,” Grand Duke Phil uttered as he dabbed the napkin on his lips. “We are here to welcome Lily, not talk about business and misunderstandings.” He sighed. “I believe you owe her an apology. After all, her explanation does make sense. She is a pregnant woman. Every man would try to make their wives — especially a pregnant wife comfortable. Moreover, she did not bring a secretary with her so it is perfectly reasonable for her not to answer your call while she was on her way here.”
Pierre felt as if a cold bucket of water was poured inside his soul. He looked at Mikaela whose face was also red from embarrassment. However, contrary to his expectations, his woman only lowered her gaze, saying nothing about the current situation. “Then… my mistake. I apologize that my words offended you.” He forced out the words in his mouth as his face got hotter and hotter.
“So… it was my fault that I was offended by your words?” Lily’s tone was light. Smiling, she bravely met the Earl’s gray eyes. “But I understand.” Lily said. “Apology accepted. What you did was completely uncalled for. You really should learn when to talk about the reputation of your business.” Her eyes turned into crescents as amusement laced her voice. “Look, the environment around us is now ruined. Ah! That reminds me.” Lily eyed her brother. “Can you please hand me the box?”
Without saying anything, Qin Yuanfeng nodded and took the box from his laptop bag that he always carried along with him. He handed it to Lily and went back to eating his food.
“This…” Lily eyed the Duchess that was sitting next to her. “I believe this belongs to the Royal Family of Luxembourg.” She smiled and handed the box towards her. “This is something that my grandfather owned when he was still a prince. There should be a reason why he never brought this with him when he left Luxembourg.”
She watched as the Duchess’ jaw dropped in surprise. She widened her eyes at the box, speechless at Lily’s reasoning. “But— But that is supposed to be—” she stammered.
“I have no interest in becoming a royalty.” Lily clarified. “As well as my brother.” She met the Grand Duke’s eyes. “This belongs to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the rich history of this lovely country. There is no need for me to have something that doesn’t really belong to me.” Her goal was simple. She wanted to let both Leandro and Mikaela know that she and Qin Yuanfeng had no interest in the throne.
Giving something back that a royalty had gifted to an individual might sound rude, but to Lily, this was perfectly reasonable. After all, when Eliza gave it to her, she really was not able to think about its possible repercussions.
“Alright then.” It was the Duke. His gaze was glued towards Lily before he looked at Qin Yuanfeng, smiling. “Thank you. I will keep this in case—”
“No.”Lily interrupted him, certainty apparent in her tone. “I apologize for interrupting you but there is no ‘in case I change my mind’ your highness. This rock belongs to the Royalty of Luxembourg and I— my brother and I are not a part of the Royal Family.” She smiled. “My intentions are clear, your highness. I am not a threat and … neither is my brother.” Lily roamed her gaze at the other people on the table who was also looking at her, surprised at the way she handled the current situation.
While most of them were aware that Lily was a very direct person, the Earl and Prince Leandro’s wife were completely speechless. This— both had never met someone so honest and direct in their lives! After all, they were nobles. All their lives, people have showered them with lies and pretense just to get on their good side.
Meeting someone honest in their lives was considered surprising and… rude.
“Well… that was a surprise!” The Duchess exclaimed after watching her husband ask someone to keep the rock somewhere safe. “I was not expecting that you would really return something that should be yours. I—”
“But that is not important.” The Duke interrupted his wife. “The thing is… Lily was very clear about her intentions from the get go. We should all respect that.” His gaze lingered towards the Earl for a few minutes. “Well… let’s not allow that to affect lunch! Where is the Chef? I want him to start serving the desserts!” he beamed at the attendant.
Slowly, the thick atmosphere inside the ballroom hall dissipated, leaving only living Pierre uncomfortable as his gaze turned complicated. After a few more minutes, the laughter soon started in the ballroom and Eliza started talking about her adventures in Asia with her twin brother.
Not long after the lunch was finished as Lily still needed to rest for the banquet tonight. Seeing how tired Lily was, the Duchess immediately offered to cancel the banquet and just move it to the next day.
Surprisingly, Lily agreed to her suggestion. She was really tired, ah. She needed her sleep!
