Chapter 267 - 266: The Grant Family of Kingsland is Truly Formidable

Kai Preston’s eagle-like eyes sized him up. Seeing him stand there and meet his gaze, neither servile nor overbearing, a hint of admiration, imperceptible to others, appeared in his eyes.

The head of the Grant Family, leader of G Group, Master of the Shadow Pavilion.

’He’s passable, I suppose. Just so-so. At least that face is worthy of our Yvonne.’

But that was good enough. After all, with a princess like her, she’d be marrying down no matter who it was. At least their future children wouldn’t be lacking in looks or genes.

"Sit down first. We can talk about this ’father of my child’ business later."

Kai Preston withdrew his scrutinizing gaze and looked at Nina "the Quail" Jennings. "Your turn, Nina. Stop playing dead."

Nina Jennings involuntarily shuddered. Though she knew Kai Preston wasn’t angry, it was a muscle memory etched into her bones over the years.

After all, whenever Kai Preston had used that tone with her in the past, it was because she had gotten into trouble, which meant she was about to be punished.

Nina Jennings raised her hand, which was tightly clasped with Silas Lynch’s, and gave a small wave. She said with a smile,

"Uncle Quincy, this is my boyfriend, Silas Lynch."

"A pleasure to meet you, Uncle Quincy." Silas Lynch quickly stood up to greet him.

"Mm, sit." Kai Preston sized him up for a few moments, just as he had with the last one, before letting out a huff of laughter with an unreadable meaning.

"The Grant Family of Kingsland is quite something, stealing two of my girls at once."

He hadn’t failed to find out that Silas Lynch’s status had always been different from Leo Grant’s other three confidants.

Silas Lynch’s parents were still alive. His family had been vassals to the Forrest Family for generations before following Leo Grant’s mother to the Grant Family.

And since his surname was Lynch, he had grown up in the Grant household alongside the young Grant, learning everything Leo Grant learned. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him the crown prince’s royal study companion.

Nolan Crawford and Ian Lynch secretly exchanged a glance. Perhaps they should be under the car, not in it.

’Mom, this is so scary! We want to go home!!!’

’Another reason to be terrified of marriage~ Good thing we’re single!’

"Can’t be helped. The Grant family’s feng shui must be good for raising people. They’re all ridiculously good-looking."

Yvonne Lowell crossed her legs and said nonchalantly.

Kai Preston shot her a look. "What’s wrong with you? Can’t you stop siding with outsiders for once?!"

"But if I don’t, I feel uncomfortable, like my whole body is itching." As she spoke, Yvonne Lowell even deliberately bent her elbow outward.

Kai Preston felt his non-existent beard bristle with anger. "You rebellious girl!"

"ROAR!" ’What’s with you, Old Geezer?! I told you not to be mean to my mom! Are you deaf?!’

Before Yvonne Lowell could say anything, the lion-headed creature on Kai Preston’s lap protested, raising a paw to press down on his hand.

"Alright, alright! I won’t be mean to your mom, okay? You’re really taking her side, huh?!"

Kai Preston grumpily patted its head with his other hand.

It took a special kind of person to raise a majestic African lion to be so fiercely protective of its own and so full of human-like quirks.

"Well, Old Man Quinn, it’s certainly lively in here, isn’t it?" A charming, feminine voice drifted from the entryway.

Everyone turned to look and saw a Western beauty—middle-aged but still graceful and alluring—walk in, followed closely by an enormous tiger: Yvonne Lowell’s "eldest daughter," the Mountain Lord.

The Mountain Lord’s fur was a rare golden color. Anyone with knowledge of felines would know this was a rare variant of the Bengal tiger—a Golden Tiger.

The Mountain Lord scanned the people in the living room with its deep, sharp, beastly eyes. It didn’t attack, but simply cat-walked over and sat down between Yvonne Lowell and Leo Grant.

It even made a point to nudge Leo Grant aside, showing him its backside before resting its head on Yvonne Lowell’s lap.

Leo Grant: ... ’Impressive. No one told me that coming to Apeiron involved winning over not just the people, but the animals too, huh.’

Leogryph: ’Sis, you really know how to make a scene! I learned another trick from you this time~’

"Madam Bloom," Yvonne Lowell and the other two said in unison.

"Hm? What did you just call me?"

There was a strange, dangerous undercurrent in Madam Bloom’s tone.

’Great, here we go again.’

The corners of the trio’s mouths twitched in unison before they all corrected themselves. "Madam Bloom."

"Ah, that’s more like it," Madam Bloom chuckled lightly. "Don’t go making me sound so old."

She sat down in a seat to Kai Preston’s side.

Her gaze swept over everyone present. Just as she was about to probe the boyfriends these two girls had brought back, her eyes paused on Nolan Crawford’s face.

Madam Bloom narrowed her eyes, studying him. "Kid, are you from the Crawford Family in Kingsland?"

Nolan Crawford nodded hesitantly. "Yes, I am, Madam... Bloom. Do you know me?"

"What are Lucas Crawford and Sophia to you?" Madam Bloom’s gaze held a deeper meaning.

Nolan Crawford was stunned for a moment. "They’re my parents."

His mother was a jewelry designer, and Sophia was her English name.

Nolan Crawford looked at her still-beautiful face, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind.

’He’d never heard his dear old mother mention anyone like her. Could Madam Bloom be his old man’s unforgettable first love or something?’

’But his dad could barely travel abroad. How could someone who needed layers of approval just to enter or leave the country possibly have a foreign ex-girlfriend?’

’And she’s the number one Poison Master, for crying out loud! Not just some ordinary pretty foreign lady!!!’

The expression on Nolan Crawford’s face was so peculiar and complicated that anyone could tell what he was thinking at a glance.

Madam Bloom burst into a peal of laughter, which made the faint fine lines on her face deepen slightly.

"Kid, get those ridiculous ideas out of your head. I know both your parents, and your dad and I don’t have the kind of relationship you’re imagining. He’s not my type."

Nolan Crawford wasn’t embarrassed at having his thoughts exposed. Instead, he let out a visibly relieved sigh.

’Thank goodness. As long as this isn’t some "unforgettable first love returns from abroad after twenty years" drama, I’m good. After all, I have no plans to get a new dad anytime soon.’

"So, Madam Bloom, how did you meet my parents?" Nolan Crawford asked tentatively.

’His dear old mother was just a reasonably famous jewelry designer, and his dad... he was just an unremarkable nine-to-five wage slave.’

’Could it be that his old man once had some international identity? And was only forced to come home and take over the family business later?’

Mr. Crawford: Yep, yep, yep, that’s right. I used to be a king, but then I came home to work for a living. [sunglasses-and-cigarette-emoji-face]

The others were also incredibly curious. Even Yvonne Lowell and her friends had never heard that Madam Bloom had such a network. She had really hidden it well.

"Back when your mom and dad were still dating, the three of us knew each other. We were pretty close. But the last time we met, you hadn’t been born yet."

Madam Bloom poured herself a cup of tea, lowering her eyes to hide the fleeting look of sorrow and nostalgia that passed through them.

Their little group of four was a thing of more than twenty years ago, and they had since gone from four people to three.

But the good thing was, after all these years, those two were still together.