Lily looked at Eliza. How could she miss Eliza’s reaction towards Harringfort? She hated the man.
The thing about hate is that it actually coexists with love. They are basic human emotions that thrive together. The deeper you hate, the deeper you love. That was why Lily believed it was always better to be indifferent about things. She only wanted to let Eliza tread slowly. She could not rush her emotions and end up breaking her heart. After all, a man like Harringfort was dangerous— very dangerous to be around.
At the same time, Lily was also aware that she was a hypocrite for thinking like this. Didn’t she hate a few people in the past too? She could pretend to be indifferent, yet, she still could not deny that underneath her placid face was something that anyone would call hatred. A deep, strong rooted hatred for the people who had wronged her in the past.
In the end, she lowered her head, turning her eyes away from the curious eyes of Eliza. Human emotions were complicated.
“Well… Grandma has been rather calm about everything ever since. Actually, I don’t remember her talking about your grandparents ever.” Eliza sighed. “But if you really want to have some tea with her, I would be very happy to accompany you. It would be nice to talk to Claude. I haven’t seen that man for too long since he chose to go to Harvard for his college degree. I believe he is only here because of the holidays.” Eliza smiled.
“I thought she didn’t get married?”
“Oh! Claude… is the grandson of Madam Luo’s brother.”
Lily nodded in response. After the conversation, Zhou Jingren with Qin Yuanfeng approached them and told Eliza that they would be heading to bed now. It was already ten in the evening and Lily needed her rest.
After this, Zhou Jingren and Lily also said their goodbye’s to the Grand Duke and Duchess.
“It’s funny how Prince Leandro and Mikaela are trying to stay away from you.” Zhou Jingren sneered the moment they arrived in their room.
“People are like that. Some go straight up and offend someone and some just stay away and would act indifferent unless it would affect them.” Lily said. “Help me with my shoes.”
Zhou Jingren immediately bent down and helped Lily take off her shoes. He then started massaging her legs, slowly. The two then started talking about Harringfort and their conversation. Of course, they would not be this nonchalant if they were not sure that the room that they were occupying had been cleared for any bugs or recording instruments.
The two even went as far as installing small audio jammers around the room. Just in case, someone would be really so nosy and try to listen to their conversation.
Lily waited for Zhou Jingren to finish his words before she answered, “So you think, he is here for something else?” Zhou Jingren’s analysis actually made sense. Surely, Harringfort is not that dumb to just come in here and risk exposing himself, right? If the man was dumb, then he would not survive this long while working for powerful people.
Now that Lily thought about it, there was indeed a possibility that she had underestimated Harringfort and this organization. Her eyes squinted at the thought of it. Was it possible that Harringfort was only trying to act dumb and easily angered around them to make her analyze him incorrectly?
“We are going to have to change our plans.” Zhou Jingren suddenly said after a few minutes of silence. “We are going to Sweden.” He said.
………………………………………………………………………….
When Zhou Jingren and Lily woke up the next day, it was already noon. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day for Lily as the Duchess had promised to give her a tour around the palace. She even promised to let Lily see the mini museum that they had where they kept all the valuables that the country had collected in the past decades.
“The Prime minister is coming today. He just arrived from meeting with someone from an important meeting in Belgium.” Duchess Esther said as she drank her tea. Along with the Duchess, Eliza and Levi were also coming and surprisingly, Antone Harringfort as well.
Currently, they were taking their afternoon tea in another part of the palace. It was called the theater room. A large space where the Duke and his family would enjoy some private performances from entertainers.
Despite having a theater style seating, the duchess found a way to make some few changes. Aside from adding a large table in front of the stage that could accommodate everyone, the duchess also made sure to prepare a lot of pastries and even an entertainer with a huge cello. The woman was silently performing in front of them as they started talking about each pastries that the Duchess was so proud of.
However, Harringfort who sat next to Levi and Qin Yuanfeng was not thinking about this. His eyes darted towards Lily who had her own personal snacks and pastries. She was happily talking to Eliza and the Duchess as Zhou Jingren was slicing some of the pastries, making it small, bite sized pieces for Lily.
Harringfort immediately wondered why the Duchess would allow such disrespect. Was she not even wondering why Lily and Zhou Jingren refused to eat her pastries?
“Those pastries… why is she not eating them?” He asked, confused. In response, Qin Yuanfeng gave him an incredulous look.
“My sister has a lot of allergies. And she is pregnant.” Of course, Harringfort knew that this was a lie. He only wanted to see if anyone in this table knew that the food that they were eating might be laced with lead.
He eyed Qin Yuanfeng who was happily eating his food. Was it possible that he didn’t know about the lead? Slowly, Harringfort took a small bite of the pastry near him. A small lead exposure was not really that harmful to an adult as long as they had a very good supply of important nutrients in their body.
