Chapter 343 Chapter 343 War Of Words V
It hung over him like a sword of Damocles, poised to cut through the very foundations of his lineage, leaving nothing but ruins in its wake. The weight of her influence felt as heavy as a mountain, pressing down on him, threatening to crush all he held dear.
Since she was only asking for Christina as a hostage, George could infer that she had already made whatever concessions she had been willing to make.
Giving up Christina was the only way to get her off the back of the entire Elizabeth family. Otherwise, she just might use her authority to wipe out Elizabeth family from its namesake city.
George panicked as he cursed the moment that he decided to accept the status of Marquis. He had willingly given away his freedom for a rise in status. If only he hadn't latched on to the Royal family, Christina would never have come onto their radar, and she could still spend her life the way she wanted without any interference.
The anxiety was evident on his face now. He couldn't hide it anymore with his poker face. Even his experience in politics had no use at this moment. He was like a king in chess that had been cornered from all sides and was only one move away from checkmate. Fear bubbled up inside of him while he pondered on his various options. He had to decide whether to give up on his daughter to save his family and the honor of his ancestors or to fight to the last breath against the Royals who were intent on confining his daughter like a princess in a gilded prison for no reason at all.
As George contemplated his next course of action, several expressions revealed themselves on his face, but none lasted more than a fleeting moment.
Christina too managed to understand several things from the changing colors on her father's face and the unmoving gaze of the princess.
If not for the presence of the old man beside the princess, Christina might have considered resisting her fate a little bit, but the old man was far too strong for her to even consider taking that option into consideration.
Time passed but no matter how many courses of action George devised in his mind, all of them turned out to be dead ends. They either led to the demise of the entire Elizabeth family or the unhappiness of his daughter or both.
Before he could make any one of those painful decisions, Christina, who had been beside him the entire time, jumped like a little girl brimming with joy and wonder. Her watery eyes had no sorrow or remorse after hearing about her fate. Instead, they were exuding happiness and love.
The gloomy aura around them was instantly banished by her joyful outburst as if she was in a separate world from them. While they were surrounded by darkness and the grey aura of desolation, she was surrounded by rainbows and flowery fields on all sides.
George and the governor wondered if she was aware of the situation that she was in. She was practically about to be given over to the royal family as a hostage to suppress Zach. And yet she had the guts to smile and laugh about it.
While the governor wondered if she had lost her mental faculties, George couldn't believe that she was his daughter. He refused to believe that Christina wasn't aware of the true nature of the conversation. Therefore, he wanted to know what could have made his daughter forget about such an abrupt turn in her life.
Both of them stared at her in surprise as if waiting for her to respond, but she had no time to acknowledge their questioning gazes. She was too busy trying to fish out the something from her purse in a hurried manner.
A woman's purse could be a world in itself. They could stuff all the things in it, and it would still appear to be exceptionally slim like space itself had been compressed in it. That could have probably explained why men found it disturbing to find women searching their purses for longer durations as if the item they were looking for had hidden itself somewhere in the spatial folds.
George waited for her to finish turning the purse inside out, but the others didn't share in his patience. Many in the group glared at Christina as if she was acting in a manner that was inappropriate for interaction with the royalty.
Among those murderous glares, the one that belonged to the governor turned out to be the most lethal. He looked like he could barely keep himself from clawing her face with his fingers like a shrew. After all, it was another opportunity to get into the good graces of the princess.
No matter the intensity of his gaze, he was still ignored by Christina who seemed as if her entire being was smiling from end to end.
She couldn't care less about what was going to happen to her in the future because the familiar vibration she had felt in her purse belonged to the satellite phone that Zach had given her and there was no one other than him who ever called her through that phone.
Undoubtedly it was Zach trying to reach her and nothing could have made her happier. Even the gloomy atmosphere of the welcome ceremony couldn't keep her from relishing the happiness that came from her beloved's call. Just the thought that he was thinking of her no matter where he was, could illuminate her dark world better than the brightest of suns.
She picked up the satellite phone and answered it before putting it back inside her purse after stuffing the headphones in her ears.
"Hello, is the beauty on the other end of the line busy? Should I call back later?"
Zach teased her the first instance she answered his call. He had been talking to her on the satellite phone for a long time and he had long since stopped feeling awkward on the phone with her despite not having much experience in the field.
It was Christina who was feeling flushed by the sudden teasing. His words caused a blush to creep up on her face and the side of her neck. She still couldn't help but feel elated despite the fact that they had already taken the last step in their relationship.
While the oppressive atmosphere in the room was enough to strangle her dead, she had been managing because she had to for the sake of her father.
Only after she heard his voice did her dead heart resuscitate itself. Her shivering heart settled after listening to the sound of his breath as he talked.
She listened intently to the background noise and figured that Zach was probably taking a walk. The wailing of the wind could be heard in the background along with steady sound of footsteps.
While Christina was lost in the world that she had created for herself and her beloved, someone was glaring at her with fury in his eyes. Had it not been for the orders from the princess, the old man beside Candice would have smitten Christina into oblivion.
He was responsible for upholding the honor of the royal family and had been detailed with the Princess as her guard and it was his responsibility to take care of all ignorant fools who dared to step on the dignity of the royal family in his presence.
What Christina had done in front of all the witnesses was an affront to Candice's dignity and was punishable by death in his eyes. Even though the princess needed Christina alive, that didn't mean that he would allow her to do anything she wanted in Candice's presence.
He opened his eyes beyond normal and a fierce reddish light surfaced vaguely around his pupil but remained unnoticed due to the vicious expression that replaced his previously calm countenance.
"Uh-uh...I am as free as..." just as Christina was structuring those words into a sentence in her mind, static buzzed her ears, and she felt a sudden shock inside her ears.
Ouch~
She flinched heavily in pain and almost missed her footing as she pulled out the headphones from her ears that had been ruined. She tried to push the one that still appeared to be in one piece but all she heard was consistent noise.
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