Nonetheless, Wilhelm didn’t answer her instantly. Instead, he glanced at Winnie to seek her opinion. After all, attending the dinner didn’t matter to him, so it mainly hinged on his sister’s wishes.
Seeing that he didn’t seem averse to accepting the invitation, Winnie agreed with a faint smile.
Since the two families had been having quite a lot of interaction in recent years, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to show Elisha such disrespect publicly, as she was a member of the Speiser family.
“Thank you for the invitation, My Lady. It’d be our pleasure.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll make the arrangements. I look forward to our next meeting,” Elisha replied gracefully.
“Sure. At that time, I’ll definitely bring your favorite red wine along,” Wilhelm promised.
“Okay. I’ll undoubtedly be over the moon then.” After saying that, Elisha turned her gaze to Winnie. “We’ll be leaving first, then. Wishing you a speedy recovery.”
Winnie wore a cordial smile on her face. “Thank you for your concern, My Lady.”
Having bade each other goodbye, Elisha twisted sideways and took the arm of her son, Nathaniel, as she made to leave.
Before Nathaniel left, he couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder at Winnie once more.
Their gazes met in mid-air. Nathaniel was all smiles. “We’ll be meeting again very soon, my beloved Winnie.”
Winnie flashed him a smile. “Yeah. See you.”
Even when Nathaniel had walked a distance away, Wilhelm was still staring at his back.
Glimpsing his deeply creased brows, Winnie lifted her hand and waved it in front of him. “Wilhelm? What are you looking at? Is there a problem with them?”
Wilhelm wrapped an arm around her lightly. “There’s something off about the look in the eyes of that Nathaniel fellow when he gazes at you. Have you both known each other for a long time?”
“Yeah. He has always been my business partner. When I ran into a tricky problem back then, he was the one who helped me resolve it. As for the look in his eyes when he gazes at me…” Winnie chuckled softly. “It’s somewhat similar to you, Wilhelm. But he’s probably even more obsessed with Aplothian girls than the lot of you. Even if we weren’t acquainted, my face would have likely been enough to attract his attention. Anyway, he’s a shrewd financier and businessman. He knows what he wants and will also precisely calculate the possible gain and loss in every single matter. Besides, he has long since known that I love someone else. He won’t do anything reckless.”
Still, Wilhelm’s brows remained scrunched together. Dipping his head, he pinned his eyes on Winnie.
“Are you sure you’ve decided on that man? The Huxley family has quite a lot of young and talented men available. On top of that, there are other families. Have you really made up your mind?”
Winnie knew that the man he spoke of referred to Xavier.
Without an ounce of hesitation, she bobbed her head. “Yes, I’ve already made up my mind.”
Clocking her firm attitude and the resolute look in her eyes, Wilhelm nodded. “All right. Although I won’t try changing your decision, nor do I have any way of doing so, Winnie, you’ve got to bear in mind that Xavier fellow has only passed your test for the time being. He hasn’t obtained my acknowledgment or that of the family.”
Winnie didn’t want to talk about that matter then, so she changed the subject. “Let’s speak of this another time. I came back this time for business. Back then, many things couldn’t be explained over the phone, so I can only make a trip back personally.”
“I know.” Lifting his hand, Wilhelm stroked her head indulgently. “Let’s go home. Mushroom soup is beckoning at you.”
While they conversed, they had already walked out of the airport. As Winnie gazed up at the setting sun in the sky, she couldn’t help exclaiming, “Ah, how beautiful!”
I previously miscalculated and thought it’d be noon by the time I arrived back, but I unexpectedly made it in time for dusk. It feels like I haven’t seen the sunset here for an eternity.
Wilhelm looked down at her with a helpless smile playing on his lips. “You were the one who was determined to go back to Chanaea. Otherwise, you could’ve stayed by our sides for the rest of your days and watched every sunset here.”
Smiling, Winnie tilted her head back and looked at the sky. “The sunset in Chanaea is also exceedingly beautiful and spectacular!”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help tarrying a few seconds under the setting sun.
I wonder if there’s such lovely scenery outside Xavier’s window. And I wonder where Christopher’s body is right now.
In that brief time she spaced out, a dark shadow abruptly loomed before her.
Her nerves instinctively stretched taut even as her instincts screamed that someone had placed something on her head. She reflexively thought that danger was imminent.
It wasn’t until she jerked her head up that she realized it was actually Wilhelm, placing a hat on her head.
Surprise flooded her. “What are you doing? The sun has already set, so it isn’t meant to shield me from the sunlight, right?”
“Of course not.” Wilhelm chuckled. “I just feel that your skin is overly fair, which makes you look like a porcelain doll that would shatter at the slightest touch. If there’s a chance, I hope you can get more sun and have a healthy complexion. That would make you look even more appealing.”
At his comment, Winnie quirked a brow. “No, thanks. I don’t like tanned skin. So, what’s the use of this hat?”
“It’s not just the hat.” While saying that, Wilhelm took out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and slipped them on her. “You’ve shaken the entire world now. Your trip home this time was sudden, so I don’t want your whereabouts to leak out.”
I’ve shaken the entire world? Winnie frowned deeply. “What does that mean?”
“Let’s talk in the car. It isn’t quite appropriate to be discussed in the open.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Wilhelm strode forward.
Grunting in acquiescence, Winnie quickened her pace alongside the man.
Shortly after, the two of them got into the car.
There was a divider between the backseat and the driver’s seat, providing excellent privacy.
As soon as she got into the car, Winnie took off her sunglasses and pressed Wilhelm for details.
Wilhelm explained, “The matter of you blowing up two drug dens in Southeast Aploth has already spread throughout the related circle across the globe. They have also been pretty rampant in Yartran recently. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have needed to entrust you with the mission of destroying Big Black Bear. I really couldn’t spare any manpower over here. Unfortunately, it’s exceedingly difficult to uproot them once and for all. You’ve already snagged some people’s attention, so no one knows what they would do to you. I don’t want your presence here to come to light before I’ve made all the arrangements.”
After Winnie listened to everything he said, her brows knitted together deeply. “I see. In that case, have my looks and identity leaked out?”
“I’m not sure about that, but I hope not. Before you went to Chanaea, we’ve been keeping your identity under wraps. In fact, you didn’t even leave a single photo in all the years you’ve been in Yartran. But since you went to Chanaea, not only has identity been exposed, but there are also a lot of pictures of you on the internet. And I reckon you probably didn’t create a new identity on purpose when you went over to Jipsdale to execute the mission, yes?” Wilhelm analyzed with a solemn expression.
The crease of Winnie’s brows deepened. “No, I didn’t. The situation was urgent at that time, and many plans were made on the spur of the moment. Besides, the internet there isn’t that developed, so they might not necessarily be able to track me.”
“That’s also what I think. But Chanaea is one of the countries with the most developed internet in the world, so your identity will be easily known to all. I’m worried that someone who saw you in Jipsdale might recognize you by a stroke of chance. After all, they can enter the borders of Chanaea anytime,” Wilhelm uttered.
“That’s true.” Winnie paused for a moment. I made the trending list several times in Avenport back then. Fortunately, netizens have a short memory. But still, there are many pictures of me on the internet.
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