Chapter 1218 - 1158: Rowing and Eating Fish

Night Owl looked at the sleeping child. The boy resembled Gulit, not him.

Gulit’s features were plain, so the child’s face wasn’t much to look at either. Night Owl felt a distinct dislike for the child.

"He’s really ugly." Night Owl remarked objectively.

No mother likes hearing someone call her child ugly, especially when that man is the child’s father.

"Please give me back my child." There was a hint of anger in Gulit’s tone.

Night Owl’s gaze swept over her, and Gulit immediately wilted. "Please give me the child." Her voice dropped a whole octave, sounding fragile.

"You seem to be very fond of this child..."

"He’s my child. Of course I’m fond of him."

"But why do I not like him at all?" Night Owl shot back.

Looking at Night Owl’s silver mask, Gulit felt nothing but fear toward this man. She truly worried that if he got displeased, he would hurt Moore.

This man had no heart.

Night Owl handed the child to Gulit. She immediately cradled her son in her arms. Seeing that he was unharmed, she finally let out a long breath of relief.

"The Queen Dowager came by just now?" Night Owl asked.

"Yes. She asked me why the tax order was issued in her name." Gulit answered honestly.

"That old crone—at her age she should be cultivating herself, instead she’s meddling in everything." Night Owl was very displeased with the Queen Dowager.

Gulit didn’t respond. Whatever they planned to do was their business—as long as they didn’t hurt her son.

Night Owl sat there, looking at the child in Gulit’s arms in silence. Gulit was terrified of the way he stared at her son. She shifted her body to block Night Owl’s line of sight.

"Tomorrow hold a press conference and announce that the Queen Dowager is bedridden from the grief of losing her son." Night Owl made his decision.

With the former Sultan dead, Night Owl now had a little puppet. If the Queen Dowager had any sense, she should be retreating behind the scenes at this point, not constantly making trouble for him.

Since she was practically offering herself up to die, Night Owl saw no reason to be polite.

...

Blackwood’s Twin Moon Lake was beautiful. From afar it was a swath of deep green, like a massive emerald inlaid into the earth. The sun was slanting west, and the afterglow cast an orange-red band along the distant shore, dappling the surface of the water.

Sienna Johnson looked at the lake, spread her arms wide, and said, "Such a gorgeous lake. I really want to row a boat on it."

Adrian Desmond said, "That’s not hard to arrange."

There were fishing boats nearby—wooden and quite shabby. Adrian rented one from the owner and rowed Sienna out onto the lake.

A gentle breeze stirred, like the touch of a tender lover’s hand.

"Sixth Master, with scenery this lovely, can’t you at least smile? That stone face of yours is seriously affecting my mood."

The news had come in that very morning: Adrian’s arms factory had been taken over by the Government, on the grounds that future arms trading must be state-run and not private.

The arms business was Adrian’s most profitable venture; how could he not be furious.

"Tell me, could Night Owl be behind this?" Adrian asked.

In this world, aside from Night Owl, Adrian couldn’t think of anyone else with that kind of ability to target him. Other people in business had suffered losses too, but none as devastating as Adrian’s—this was practically a plan to bankrupt him.

Sienna thought it over and also felt something was off. "Mm, it’s possible."

Adrian’s gaze darkened. Staring at the oar in his hands, he said worriedly, "Then who gave Night Owl that kind of power?"

If it really was Night Owl, he was nothing more than a rat scurrying around in the shadows. How could he possibly have the clout to squeeze Adrian to the brink of bankruptcy?

"I just remembered—we once found out that before entering the Abyanabad Imperial Palace, Gulit had contact with Night Owl, didn’t she?"

Sienna ventured a bold guess. "Do you think the person who tried to kill Kiya could be Night Owl? That he wanted to get rid of Kiya so Gulit’s son could become Sultan.

Just think about it—a clueless little baby is much easier to control than Kiya."

"..."

"Adrian, do you think what I’m saying makes sense?" Sienna asked.

Adrian frowned in thought. He also felt Night Owl was the most likely culprit. He had plenty of rivals, but none with such overwhelming strength.

"If your guess is right, then how did Night Owl pull all of this off?"

Sienna couldn’t figure it out either. "I don’t know."

The two of them fell into silence.

"What are you thinking about?" Adrian suddenly asked.

"I was thinking, if only this moment could just stop. We wouldn’t have to think about anything, just drift on the lake like this, not caring where we float to..."

If a person had no worries at all, how wonderfully carefree life would be.

Adrian knew she was troubled on his account. He smiled and said gently, "Then what fun would life have? Especially for someone like President Johnson."

Adrian knew Sienna’s grand ambition: to lead Eastminster Group out of Agaia and onto the world stage. If she really stayed here as a carefree farm wife, she’d soon be calling life lonely as the night.

Sienna suddenly laughed and said softly, "Honestly, I don’t have such big ambitions anymore. As long as you and the baby are by my side, I feel very content. Life is full of joy."

Adrian pinched her cheek. "Mrs. Desmond is getting better and better at cheering me up."

"So are you happy now?"

"Happy. But if you say a few more things, I’ll be even happier."

Sienna burrowed closer into his arms and said, "I know you don’t like hearing this, but I still want to tell you.

Even if you end up a penniless bum, I’ll still support you."

Adrian: ...

...

When the boat drifted to the middle of the lake, a stupid fish actually leaped onto their boat all on its own. Sienna looked at the foolish fish and laughed so hard she nearly lost her breath, exclaiming how could there be such a dumb fish in this world.

The two of them went ashore, cleaned the fish, and cooked it over a small fire. They added some Shiitake mushroom they’d picked in the forest.

The rich, savory aroma spread at once.

The two sat facing each other. Adrian personally picked out the bones and fed her bites of fish...

"Watch out for bones," Adrian reminded her.

"Don’t just feed me. You should eat too."

"You’re eating for three, so of course you have to get full first."

The silly fish wasn’t big; it wasn’t nearly enough for two people. Sienna was pregnant, so naturally Adrian wanted her to eat her fill before he took any.

"I’m full."

"You’re full from just that little bit?"

"Really." Sienna drank a bowl of delicious fish soup and rubbed her belly. "Wow, I’m so full."

Many years later, Sienna would still often think back to this day. Those sweet moments were all the more precious.