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“Yes.” She answered without batting an eyelid. To be honest, whatever she said would not matter anymore. She would only do her best to protect them in this place. But if the organization would really want them dead… then Lily is not confident that she could stop that. Not when she is already on her third trimester. Moreover, she was sure that if chaos ensues, Zhou Jingren would prioritize her no matter what happened.
“And the organization?”
“I can’t speak for them,” Lily said. “I am not a part of this Organization nor I am planning to become one of them.”
Claude nodded. To be honest, he was not really sure if he should believe Lily this time. All he knows is that just like everyone else, she could not be trusted. Surely, this is an understandable response after what he had been through in the last forty-eight hours.
…
“Pierre Weber Is starting to ask questions.” The Duke told Lily when she went outside of the room. “I believe he noticed that something was wrong. From the explosion to the sudden arrival of ex-military men and women in the country.” The two walked towards the Duke’s office. Surprisingly, Zhou Jingren was already inside waiting for them.
“I’m so sorry to trouble you about this,” Lily spoke. She eyed her husband before looking straight into the Duke’s eyes. “This is the safest place in the country right now.”
“No… No… it’s alright. I understand.” The Duke shook his head. “But… but about Mr. Weber.”
Zhou Jingren smiled. “Do you want to make it grand? Or… secretly.”
“I would prefer to do it in front of my family.”
Zhou Jingren immediately nodded. “Then?”
“It will be the twin’s birthday four days from now.” The Duke said. “We are planning to celebrate with everyone close to us. Nothing fancy, just some dinner with family members. Of course, you two will be invited.”
“Still… something is bugging me about that man.” Lily shrugged. “You said that he is starting to ask questions… but he never visited the palace in the last few days, no?”
“I believe he might be trying to avoid us.” Zhou Jingren said.
“I have only seen that man twice and I already know that he was not the type of person that would just avoid anyone that would irritate him.” Lily turned towards the Duke. “Am I right, your highness?”
“Now that you mention it. Yes… you are indeed right. He is not the type that would stay silent about things that are bugging him.”
“He used to be very vocal against the government right?” Zhou Jingren frowned.
“Yes… the marriage with my daughter… seemed to limit his hatred towards the government. But it’s still there. Of course…. I find this perfectly normal. After all… we cannot really please everyone.”
“Did Mikaela visited the palace after the banquet?”
“No,” the duke shook his head at Lily’s question. ��What are you trying to say?” he asked, confused.
“Mr. Weber might be planning something. I suggest you asked your people to open their ears, be more mindful about minor changes around them. Then immediately report to you once they notice something.”
The Grand Duke stared at Lily for a few seconds before he nodded. “Something like a big rally.” He uttered. “I have expected as much. But… Mikaela…”
“Something like that requires a trigger,” Lily said. “Meaning… something needed to happen for him to entice people to join a rally. Something important…like killing someone.”
“You mean…”
“I can’t be sure. But If I put myself in his shoes… I would kill someone close to him. Someone that supports the beliefs that he is standing for. Perhaps the president of a certain activist group. I would make it bloody, noisy, and brutal. Perhaps… make the person suffer before killing him. Then… I would dump him in front of the park. Or any space where everyone can see him. Then… I would say that the government killed him because he found something against them. I would show some proof, useless social media posts to gather sympathy, pay international news sites to paint the government as evil, and boom! You have thousands of angry people in the streets.” Lily ended her words with a sharp sigh. “But that’s just me.”
“Actually… I think…. I think something like that could happen.” The Grand Duke frowned as he held his temple. Lily’s analysis might be too far fetched, but it was highly possible. With the kind of mind Pierre had, that thing might just be very possible. “But who?”
“I don’t know your highness… but I heard the duchess and Mikaela had some sort of a little disagreement about my dress last banquet. Surely, the Duchess would not try to murder your daughter over a dress, right?”
Her words immediately made him pale. Of course, the Duchess would never do that. However, Pierre could easily make it look like the Duchess and Mikaela were arguing about something else — something like Mikaela supporting her husband.
Pierre could easily turn everything around in his favor and make it look like they killed their own daughter because she refused to spy for Pierre’s recent projects. If something like this happened, the Duke was almost a hundred percent sure that Pierre would use this to gain sympathy and supporters. He would take advantage of the situation and cause a problem by staging rallies.
“Of course… these are nothing but an assumption of a weak, pregnant woman.” Lily smiled. “This is not a hundred percent foolproof as we can’t really read minds. We don’t really know what will change. The point of this analysis is for us to be very careful about our future actions. Moving forward… if you want to win against the enemies, you really have to think about the most sinister thing that they can do to you. Create solutions then… move on to another what if’s.”
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