svetikya Chapter 262 Visit
Chapter 262 Visit
Chapter 262 Visit
69 Rose Street, Lorne's bedroom.
He sat alone at his desk, his brow furrowed, looking depressed.
"Did I give the wrong answer in the end?"
Thinking of Fors's obviously sullen face when they parted today, Lorne felt puzzled.
Did she really discover something? But even so, her reaction shouldn't be like this. A smart woman who senses something is wrong might test the waters or distance herself, but she would never react with such a confrontational attitude.
Although he did make some unintentional mistakes, Lorne believed that there was a significant difference between the identities of "James Scott" and "Lorne Disenke"—at least, the identity of Scott allowed him to act more unrestrainedly.
"It seems that when I'm with Fors as Scott, I won't have to be so restrained or so considerate of her feelings anymore." Then, as if trying to convince himself, he gritted his teeth and said, "Hmph! I don't owe her anything, why should I cater to her—"
"On the contrary, she's the one who owes me the most!"
That's the truth. To be honest, regardless of her identity, Lorne owes Fors nothing. If the identity of Lorne Disenke still evokes some sentimental connection as a pen pal, then James Scott is, in essence, her savior.
"She's completely got it backwards! Scott should have been more outspoken. Being too considerate of others' feelings only gets him into trouble—"
After mentally ranting for a bit, Lorne finally calmed down a bit. He chose to put the matter aside for the time being and instead picked up the gun factory's recent income and expenditure statements to examine them carefully.
"Damn it! How can prices be rising so fast? The prices of copper and several other common metals have increased by 20%! Even the price of gunpowder has gone up quite a bit—"
Seeing the skyrocketing raw material prices on the bill, Lorne was somewhat incredulous. What on earth was happening to Backlund lately? How could prices fluctuate so drastically?
"Should we—temporarily halt production? The sales channels for the new guns haven't been expanded yet, and sales through the old channels are very limited. But what will happen to the workers if we stop production? The market is bad right now." Lorne was deeply conflicted.
Meow~
A lazy meow caught Lorne's attention.
"Rachi, you're back?"
"Where have you been again? You haven't come back even at dinner time—"
"Meow~" Laki nimbly flipped in through the window and landed steadily on the floor.
"Hey—Laki, have you gotten fatter again?" Lorne looked at the orange cat in front of him and felt that it seemed to have gotten even fatter.
"Meow?" Rachel looked down at her stomach and realized that she had indeed eaten too much.
There was no way around it; the food at the noble family's house was just too delicious! The golden retriever gave it so much food it had never seen before. All sorts of tender meats, even delicious fish, and the purest, freshest milk that hadn't been diluted with water—it ate way too much without even realizing it.
At first, it just wanted to tease the dog, but who would have thought that the dog was so naive and so affectionate towards its unusual "companion"? This made Rachel, who just wanted to test her ability to instigate, feel a little guilty.
It hadn't felt this way before, but ever since the upgrade, it felt like many different emotions had entered its mind.
Meow~ Never mind, I'll just follow its example from now on. That dog is so naive, it's obviously never seen the world, probably never even seen blood.
"Meow—" After a hearty meal, Rachi felt a little sleepy. It yawned like a human, then leaped lightly onto the bed.
"Tsk, meow—" Rachel shook her head.
Having seen it all, this cat was surprisingly disgusted by the slightly worn-out bed.
It glanced at Lorne, who was working at his desk, and thought to itself:
You'd better work hard and try to make my standard of living surpass that dog's as soon as possible!
Early the next morning.
"Phew!"
Lorne sat up abruptly in bed, his chest heaving violently, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Meow!" His sudden movement startled the orange cat that was curled up next to him.
Lorne glanced at the startled Laki, then hurried to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He looked at his slightly haggard reflection in the mirror, his brow furrowed.
"A snake—a strange, silvery-white snake—"
"Why would something like this appear in my dream?" Lorne muttered to himself.
"It was still baring its teeth at me with its mouth open, though I eventually kicked it away—"
It was an absurd dream, but Lorne's intuition told him that there must be some mystical element involved that he was unaware of. "Never mind, now is not the time to think about these things."
He had arranged to visit Hazel's father, Congressman Macht, today. He couldn't let a strange dream ruin his mood.
"The prototype of the gun, the business plan, and all sorts of financial statements—" Lorne began to carefully check the various things he needed to bring today.
"And there are gifts—"
Regarding the gift, he carefully selected a bottle of fine vintage Ormere red wine. For a first visit, giving something too expensive could seem like having ulterior motives. Giving something too cheap would appear insincere. This bottle of red wine, while not overly expensive, was just right—not too much, not too little.
After changing into a presentable suit, Lorne packed all his belongings and prepared to leave.
"Latchie, I'm going out. I've asked Mrs. Griffin to prepare your lunch."
"Meow—" Rachi opened her eyes slightly and looked at the sky outside the window.
Seeing that it was still early, it decisively closed its eyes—
It planned to sleep a little longer and then go to that golden retriever's house for lunch at noon.
"Hello, I'm James Scott, here to visit Congressman Macht," Lorne greeted the maid who opened the door politely.
"Oh, that kid's here."
Upon hearing the maid's report, Maurice Macht, who was in the study, immediately perked up.
"Go and tell Hazel to—wait a minute, go in fifteen minutes. First, invite that James Scott to my study."
A short while later, led by a maid, Lorne met the councilor, Macht.
Maurice Macht was a typical Ruhnn gentleman. He was about forty years old, with black hair and brown eyes, a sharp facial structure, a high hairline, and a slightly long and thin face. He looked more like a scholar than the stereotypical image of a bloated politician.
"You're James Scott?" In front of the young man, Congressman Macht still put on some of the airs of an elder.
"Yes, Mr. Macht." Lorne bowed slightly, giving a very standard salute.
"Yes, please have a seat."
Lorne put down the gift he was holding and began chatting with Councilor Macht. Perhaps because there was an element of mutual probing between them, the initial conversation was quite pleasant.
Congressman Macht asked Lorne what he studied at university, his family background, and what the business of that gun factory was all about.
Since he needed something from the other party, it was only natural that the other party wanted to know some basic information. Therefore, Lorne responded to all of them.
Regarding the identity of James Scott, he fabricated a persona of someone from a merchant family who lost his parents at a young age. This can actually be considered a replica of Lorne Disenker's persona, since such a persona can effectively avoid many problems that might arise due to family members.
To be honest, Congressman Macht was somewhat disappointed when he heard about Scott's family background. But then he thought about it again, and realized that the young man was able to start his own business while studying, which reminded him of his younger self.
He felt that this young man's future was still promising. After putting aside his dissatisfaction, he inquired about Lorne's beliefs.
Lorne had already inquired and learned that Congressman Macht and his family were devout followers of the Goddess of Night. Therefore, James Scott, under this identity, also temporarily embraced the goddess's faith.
With time running out, Representative Macht steered the conversation to a place Lorne had never expected.
"As an elder, I admire young people like you."
Lorne was secretly pleased, thinking that the groundwork had been laid, and was about to take the opportunity to make a request regarding military channels.
However, Congressman Macht abruptly changed his tone: "But—as a father, I think there are some things we should clarify."
These words made Lorne's heart skip a beat, and he took the initiative to ask, "May I ask what it is?"
Congressman Macht's gaze sharpened as he stared at Lorne and said, word by word, "You, the one who made my daughter cry."
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