Chapter 264 - 263: So You Think I’m an Eyesore

「Tidalview.」

Leo Grant, already dressed to the nines, was on his phone, going over the gift list with Nolan Crawford for the umpteenth time.

Yvonne Lowell’s lips twitched at the sight. "Are you serious? You weren’t this nervous when we visited the Lowell family, were you?"

Yvonne Lowell had simply figured that since none of them were busy lately, and since everyone was gathered back on Apeiron, the old-timers wouldn’t be out on any missions.

So, she decided to take a certain someone to Apeiron, the place he was always dreaming of, just so he’d stop muttering in her ear about the major hurdles still in his way and how he needed to go get put through the wringer.

But now that he’d gotten his wish, the man had been secretly stressing and fussing over it for days. You’d think there was a countdown timer plastered on his forehead, ticking down to his execution on the gallows.

If Yvonne Lowell had waited until half an hour before departure to tell him, Leo Grant would have never let her hear the end of it.

"I’m not nervous. I’m just worried about breaching etiquette during our first meeting. It’s better to be thorough."

After confirming the gift list was correct one last time, Leo Grant finally put his phone down and spoke calmly to Yvonne, who was lounging on the sofa and enjoying the show from the sidelines.

"Right, right, you’re just being thorough. Well, you just take your sweet time being thorough, then. It’s not like we’re in a rush."

Yvonne Lowell shot him a sidelong glance but didn’t call him out on it.

’If he says so, then he says so. A girl’s gotta let her man save some face, right?’

’The person who’d spent the last few days discussing outfits with her, trying to subtly fish for information about the personalities and hobbies of Kai Preston and the elders? That wasn’t her boyfriend, Leo Grant. Oh no, that was Leo Grant’s twin brother—her non-existent, future brother-in-law.’

’It’s all my fault for not loving him enough to tell them apart. It has nothing to do with Leo Grant.’

’Yep. That’s right. That’s exactly it.’

Seeing the look on her face, Leo Grant knew she didn’t believe him. He was just about to use a little "physical persuasion" to argue the point when Nina Jennings stormed in from next door, fuming.

She plopped down on the sofa and immediately let Yvonne Lowell have it. "I’m at my wit’s end. That blockhead Silas Lynch is trying on a pile of identical suits, one after another, and he’s insisting I pick one out for him.

If I just point to one, he’s not happy. I told him to forget the suit and wear something more casual—you know, so it’s easier to take a beating later—and he’s not happy with that either! He insists I’m just half-assing it, that the passion is gone, that I don’t love him anymore.

It took forever to solve the clothing crisis, and then he started agonizing over his hair! It’s the same short hair he always has, how many different styles can you possibly get out of that?

And don’t even get me started on the gifts! We already have so many prepared, but he’s still racking his brain for more. It’s not like he’s there to propose, so what the hell is he agonizing over?!

If I’d known it would be like this, I never would have told him! I should’ve just let you two go by yourselves!!!"

With every sentence Nina Jennings uttered, the playful amusement in Yvonne Lowell’s eyes grew. After all, she’d been going through the exact same thing for the past few days.

Leo Grant felt his scalp tingle under her gaze, so he ’kindly’ spoke up in Silas Lynch’s defense. "He’s only like this because he takes it seriously."

Nina Jennings rolled her eyes, annoyed. "You don’t have to make excuses for him. To put it bluntly, he just has too much time on his hands. Look at you, you’re so calm. Does that mean you don’t take it seriously?"

Leo Grant: ’...Is it possible I was making excuses for myself? ARGH!!!’

Yvonne Lowell worried that if Nina kept going, her poor boy would completely shut down—and she would be the one to suffer the consequences, not Nina.

She quickly interjected, "There’s no rush. Felix isn’t here yet anyway. Just let him take his time and fuss all he wants."

"Heh, he’s over there counting gifts right now. I bet he’ll be back to checking the mirror and fixing his hair in a minute. The only thing he hasn’t done yet is grab my makeup and start slathering it on his face."

Nina Jennings felt her frustration was more intense than that of a vengeful ghost dead for eight hundred years. The amount of time he was wasting dawdling could have been used to do her own full face of makeup ten times over.

Her exasperation was comparable to those times when they were just about to leave the house, and Special Assistant Ford—who in public was the epitome of an aloof, otherworldly professional—would suddenly announce he needed to take a dump.

(I’m genuinely curious, is this a universal guy thing? My friends complain their boyfriends are like this, and my ex from a million years ago was the same ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Yvonne Lowell raised an eyebrow. ’Looks like the honeymoon phase is over, huh? Nina certainly wasn’t like this when she was the one chasing after Silas Lynch.’

Noticing the look of reproach in a certain someone’s eyes growing heavier, Yvonne Lowell had no choice but to speak up.

"Why don’t you go check on him, then? Before he actually ruins all your makeup."

More importantly, she was worried that if Nina kept talking, she wouldn’t be able to resist joining in on the boyfriend-bashing.

Nina Jennings missed the underlying meaning in her words and simply continued to sprawl on the sofa, casually playing on her phone.

"Let him do whatever he wants. I can’t even watch anymore. It’s not like I can’t afford to replace a few things."

With a placid expression, Leo Grant shifted his position, pulling Yvonne Lowell into his embrace.

"Then you should go across the hall, or head over to Zachary Jacobs’s place."

Nina Jennings’s head snapped up, her expression purely accusatory. "Oh, I see how it is. So you two just think I’m in the way now?!"

"Wasn’t it obvious enough?"

Leo Grant said nonchalantly, toying with Yvonne Lowell’s fingers.

"Fine, fine, fine! I’m leaving! As if I’m dying to hang out with you two lovebirds anyway!" Nina Jennings shot up and started heading for the door.

"I’m leaving! I’m really leaving! Don’t try to stop me! I’m leaving even if you try!"

She made it all the way to the entryway, and still, Yvonne Lowell said nothing to stop her. This time, she really left, without so much as a glance back.

’Just as I thought. Once the boyfriend’s in the picture, the best friend is out. I might as well go back and take my frustration out on Silas Lynch! That would be more satisfying!’

Silas Lynch: ’...First of all, I didn’t do anything to you.’

Leo Grant’s wounded voice sounded next to her ear. "Is that how you’ve been thinking of me these past few days?"

"Nope!" Yvonne Lowell’s answer was quick and decisive.

Leo Grant gave an ambiguous chuckle, not pressing the point.

"So, can you tell me where Apeiron is now?"

When he’d first found out they were going to Apeiron, he had asked her for the coordinates, planning to file a flight plan.

If she didn’t want to bring a pilot along, he had a pilot’s license and could fly the plane himself.

But Yvonne Lowell had refused, saying they’d just have one of Moonshadow’s private jets come pick them up.

Yvonne Lowell raised an eyebrow. "It’s in the ocean, between Continent O and Continent M."

"In the ocean? Is there some kind of array?"

Otherwise, how come satellites have never even spotted it?

"Mhm. You could go on your own, but it’s a bit of a hassle. The Moonshadow private jet I use was modified on Apeiron, so it can pinpoint the location and land directly on the island."

If you were to go on your own, you’d have to travel by sea first, then by air, and then a final stretch over land.

A single trip back to Apeiron requires a ridiculously convoluted journey by sea, land, and air. It’s a huge pain.

Besides, she hadn’t known at first that Nina Jennings and Zachary Jacobs were coming along too. She thought she’d have to sort out all the different modes of transport by herself, so she just decided to have Felix Knight come get them.