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Meanwhile, the Duke sighed after he finished everything inside the bottle of wine in his hand. He stared at the Duchess who was currently sleeping soundly in their bed. According to the doctor she might have been too scared earlier. She will be undergoing a series of therapy soon. “Will she be alright?” He asked.
“Hmmm. My daughter is stronger than you think. She will be fine.” Mr. Neeson who stood next to him said. “That was a risky plan. You not only hurt my daughter but also your eldest.”
“I wanted to see him in action.” The Duke answered without batting an eye. “He is not fit to be the next Grand Duke. As you can see Pierre’s provocative words immediately got into his head.” A sighed followed his words. “I — I know he will hate me. But that is needed for the future of the country.”
Mr. Neeson only pursed his lips in response. Of course, he knew that it was all Lily’s plan. However, he still felt disappointed that his plan to make Leandro the Grand Duke as soon as possible is not happening anytime soon. “I understand.” He said after a few minutes of silence. “That is indeed needed. He needed a wake-up call.”
“He grew up believing he would be the next Grand Duke. It must have gotten into his head. He … He had become blind.”
“I understand.” Mr. Neeson nodded. Leandro’s incapability to decide without letting his emotions dictate him will be the downfall of this country. Maybe not the downfall but… it would turn the progress of this country stagnant. “I heard that you are planning to use this opportunity to make Luxembourg the new finance center in Europe? You are opening the market to Chinese banks? Isn’t that too risky?”
Saying nothing, the Duke just shook his head. Mr. Neeson is standing next to her daughter and yet, he started talking about something that has nothing to do with her daughter. “That is a topic for another day.”
Nodding his head, the older man looked at The Duke. How did the previous Grand Duke raise someone like Phil? Clearly, Phil’s capability to lead the country was top-notch. This man single-handedly brought Luxembourg to where they are now. He is not only brilliant but his interpersonal skills are extremely good too. His only downfall is he is too trusting.
Too bad, Mr. Neeson thought. If Phil was someone like Lily who would always get suspicious of people, Mr. Neeson would have easily recruited this man to stand next to him and might even inherit his seat in the future. He sighed inwardly.
The details of his original plan came swirling in her mind. First, he wanted Leandro to take the Grand Ducal seat. Then he would help Leandro in the shadows to deal with Pierre and the other spies. It would have made Leandro look more capable and wise while he would owe his own grandfather for helping him out. Because of this… it would be easier for Mr. Neeson to ‘influence’ the new Duke’s decision.
Controlling the richest country in Europe would have been a big feat for Mr. Neeson. Too bad…. Just too bad Lily intervened.
However, this does not mean he hated Lily. In fact, he kinda liked her. Lily’s capabilities surely outshine most people her age. That is indeed something that they could use in the future. The thought of Lily traveling around manipulating people into doing their bidding immediately made him smile.
A woman who would put her own self above morals to achieve her goals is not really rare. However, most of them are easily hated by people. However, Lily is different. Mr. Neeson saw how Eliza and now Levi were very thankful to Lily. Even the Duke must have been grateful to her plans. This meant that the whole Royal family of the richest country in Europe felt that they owe their lives to Lily and Zhou Jingren.
To Mr. Neeson…. That means one thing. Lily could easily make them do her bidding— she could easily control them and thus control this country. This would be beneficial not only to Lily but also to Zhou Jingren. After all, he was the one who acted as the muscle while Lily was the brain.
“Where are you going?” The Duke asked when Mr. Neeson started walking towards the door.
“It is pretty late. I will rest and come back here tomorrow.” He said without sparing the Duke another glance. He then went out of the room and silently closed the door behind him. Now that his initial plan about controlling the richest country in Europe failed, he needed a new one for him to have the same status as Lord Naru.
However, Mr. Neeson is actually not in a hurry. Even if his initial plan failed, there are still other things that he could do— Like talking to Lily. By now, everyone in the council knew that Lily already had knowledge about them. They can only blame this on Harringfort’s incapability to win against Zhou Jingren. This was not supposed to be the right time for them to approach Lily. However, seeing what she did earlier, Mr. Neeson decided to conduct an emergency meeting tonight.
Someone needed to approach Lily and introduce her to the organization. And since he was here…. He will personally talk to her and try to create a good impression.
“I already sent people to finish them.” Harringfort’s voice didn’t surprise the old man. He already guessed that he was waiting for him somewhere in this palace.
“Hmmm.” He nodded as he continued walking. Before the meeting, he would need to tie some loose ends first. Loose ends that would possibly mention his involvement in the poisoning. Loose ends like the Knight Commander and Pierre Weber. “Do it as soon as possible.” He muttered in a low voice.
In response, the blond man walking next to him nodded and smiled. “As you wish,” Harringfort said.
