The Villain's Wife

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 would also 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 to his head." A sighed followed his words. "I — I know he will hate me. But this is what's 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 was not going to happen anytime soon. "I understand." He said after a few seconds of silence. "That was 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 would have been the downfall of this country. Maybe not the downfall but… it would stagnate the progress of this country. "I heard that you are planning to use this as an opportunity to make Luxembourg the new finance center in Europe? You are opening the market to the Chinese banks? Isn't that too risky at the moment?"

Saying nothing, the Duke just shook his head. Mr. Neeson was standing next to his daughter and yet, he was talking about something completely unrelated to his daughter and her mental health. "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 was not only brilliant but his interpersonal skills were extremely good too. His only downfall was that he was 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 from 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 future decisions.

Controlling the richest country in Europe would have been a big feat for Mr. Neeson. Too bad…. Just too bad that Lily had intervened in his plans.

However, this did not mean he hated Lily. In fact, he kinda liked her. Lily's capabilities surely outshined most people her age. That was 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 was not really rare. However, most of them were easily hated by people. However, Lily was 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 owed their lives to Lily and Zhou Jingren.

To Mr. Neeson…. That meant 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 had failed, he needed a new one for him to have the same status as Lord Naru.

However, Mr. Neeson was actually not in a hurry. Even if his initial plan had failed, there were 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 could 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 would personally approach her and try to create a good impression of the Organization.

"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 nodded.