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“Just how long are they gonna take to get here?”
Being stared at by the group of ‘elderly’ people in front of her, the poor ‘secretary’ could only smile apologetically. “It shouldn’t take long now, so please be patient.”
She obviously didn’t want to be in the position to have to ‘please’ these bunch of idiots from the Nightingale clan, but hey, it was still better than having to negotiate with the lunatics from their opposing faction within the Gray Wolfe.
At least, that was what she’d thought before she really met this bunch. And now it was already too late for regrets.
The old man in front of her snorted. “If this is her way of showing sincerity…”
Although he didn’t finish his words, the ‘threat’ was clear, and the poor lady could only hurriedly apologize once again before forwarding the message to her boss. Unfortunately, the only response she got was the same as the one five minutes ago — wait.
Of course, although it made the elders feel a little better to see the secretary fidgeting nervously, only the elders themselves knew that their arrogance was only a front.
In reality, they were already desperate, and if this ‘alliance’ with the new faction of Gray Wolfe also fell through today, they had no idea what to do in the future.
Who could have expected that breaking a few bones on a measly little minister would have such dire consequences?
It was still somewhat bearable at first, when the government was trying not to make too much of a fuss. But ever since the curfews and bans started, their situation seemed to get worse and worse.
The officials now didn’t even bother hiding their hostility, and dealt with any ‘outrageous’ actions by their clansmen with complete impunity. Not only were many of them arrested and sent to jail, but some were even shot directly on the spot!
Of course, given the usual nature of Nightingale clan’s people, it was impossible for them to have done so without suffering any casualties, but that only made the situation worse.
Obviously, these incompetent fools couldn’t do much against the White Deer, so they were venting their frustrations on their Nightingale clan instead! But even if the elders were furious, there wasn’t much they could do about it.
It was only now that they realized that the relationship they had with the Gray Wolfe was perhaps not all ‘exploitation’, and there were many things they’d previously taken for granted that were only now becoming apparent.
Even if they realized it now, however, it hardly made any difference. It wasn’t like they could go back in time. And even if that had been possible, it was the Gray Wolfe who cut off their relationship first!
Luckily, with the fracture within the Gray Wolfe, the elders realized that there was still some hope of ‘reconciling’ with this new faction under Ginny and Jasper. Maybe if they played their cards right, they could even reach a deal that was much better than what they had before!
Of course, it was critical not to expose their weakness now. Otherwise, not to mention reaching a deal that would solve all their problems, they might even land in a much bigger crisis!
As their aged hearts continued beating rapidly in anticipation, the door to the meeting room finally opened, and in strode three people, two of whom everyone in the room recognized as the twins, Ginny and Jasper.
𝒪𝒱𝓁xt.𝒸𝑶𝐌
The third was a young girl with long, beautiful crimson hair, and icy blue eyes that made anyone staring directly into them deeply uncomfortable. Her face was covered by a designer face mask, but given that the blue sundress she was wearing stood in stark contrast to the compulsory uniform of the staff of the Gray Wolfe Corporation, the elders could tell that she must be someone close to the twins.
Of course, even if they found her presence a little strange, none of the elders allowed it to distract them too much. Their ‘opponents’ today were these two ‘little kids’ of the younger generation, and as long as they could fool them properly, the Nightingale clan would once again be back on the track of rapid development.
There was no room for them to ‘mess up’ once again. This was why the clan leader wasn’t taken along, and even the much respected ‘Grand Elder’ wasn’t here.
Naturally, the crimson-haired girl with the mask was none other than Emilia.
The elders of the Nightingale clan continued to pretend to be ‘high and mighty’, and didn’t even respond to the twins’ greetings other than a few stiff nods of their heads, but Ginny and Jasper didn’t seem to mind.
After motioning for the rest of the staff to leave, the two of them motioned for the crimson-haired girl accompanying them to take a seat first, and only then did they take a place on either side of her.
Even the elders who had previously been ignoring her existence couldn’t help but be shocked. ‘What the hell… just who is she supposed to be?!’
It had to be mentioned that even if they’d been through a lot of trouble in their life, Ginny and Jasper were still the children of the richest man in Carmen, and the arrogance deep within their bones would never allow them to treat anyone with such humility without reason!
Their vigilance rose to a new level as the ‘masked girl’ chuckled. “I’ve heard a lot about the Nightingale clan before coming here. And honestly, I used to think they must be really amazing.”
Most of the elders stared at each other, perplexed, but some secretly breathed out a sigh of relief. ‘Great, she must be some rich daughter who got led here by curiosity, right? It’s not necessarily a bad thing for us, then.’
In fact, after enduring all the repeated setbacks recently, the words of the crimson-haired girl gave them some much-needed boost to their ego.
Before they could be too proud, however, Emilia continued with a grin. “But now that I’m here… well, there’s not much worth looking at, is there?”
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