Chapter 245: Are they two already… Watching Lorne's back disappear through the mansion's doorway, Liyana Macht fell into a long period of contemplation.
"Just—ordinary friends?" she murmured to the empty living room.
Obviously, she didn't believe Lorne's explanation at all.
The moment she thought of her daughter's haggard appearance, as if she had been crying, and her complex reaction upon seeing him—a mix of panic, shame, and a hint of almost imperceptible shyness—Liyana knew that their relationship was definitely not as simple as "ordinary friends."
Could ordinary friends make her usually proud daughter react so strongly?
How could that be—
She, as a Mother, knew her daughter Hazel's personality all too well. Hazel had always been more mature and proud than her peers since childhood, especially in the past few months, this pride had almost turned into arrogance.
Around her, let alone male friends, there were even very few female friends she could talk to. Yet now, a male friend with a deep connection had suddenly appeared.
This was too suspicious—
Hazel was already at an age where she would develop curiosity and interest in the opposite sex. She had always attended a strictly managed girls' public school, with almost no opportunity to interact with peers of the opposite sex. It was entirely possible that an accidental encounter led to love at first sight, and then she was—
Liyana's mind involuntarily recalled Lorne's various behaviors from earlier.
Although he didn't seem to be of noble birth, his manners were impeccable, his looks were decent, and his conversation skills showed he knew how to please others without appearing overly flattering. This type of young man was indeed very attractive to young girls who were inexperienced and had a certain admiration for strength.
Perhaps, her daughter really did like this type.
This made her suddenly remember something. A few days before her daughter locked herself in her room, she had heard a report from the family's bodyguards that Hazel had tried to climb over the wall late at night, but seemed to have accidentally made some noise due to her haste, and was then discovered by the patrolling bodyguards.
She had originally planned to ask her daughter what was going on the next day, but who knew that she would lock herself in her room the next day and refuse to come out.
Moreover, according to the bodyguards, Miss Hazel—might not have been doing this for the first time.
Late at night, climbing over a wall, and not for the first time—these keywords combined couldn't help but make Liyana's imagination run wild.
Although their entire family were devout followers of the Evernight Goddess, compared to the more conservative followers of the lord of storms, neither the Evernight Goddess's followers nor the God of Steam and Machinery's followers believed that Lovers must remain chaste before marriage. But—as a family in high society, especially one involved in politics, they were quite concerned about their reputation! If any bad rumors got out—
To do such things, it should at least be after engagement! Or at the very least, wait until adulthood!
Wait!
A terrifying possibility suddenly flashed through Liyana's mind.
Her daughter's recent abnormal and huge emotional fluctuations, those obvious traces of crying, her loss of appetite, locking herself in her room—this seemed very similar to the early stages of a certain special condition!
Oh my goodness! Could it be—she already—
"No! I need to have a serious talk with Hazel!" This thought, once it appeared, could no longer be suppressed. "No, that's not right, I should go directly to the hospital for a check-up!"
Liyana could no longer sit still. She lifted her skirt and quickly went to Hazel's room door, pushing the Door open forcefully. Fortunately, her daughter hadn't locked the Door this time.
"Mother?"
Looking at her Mother who had suddenly burst into her room, Hazel was a bit bewildered. She was still processing what Lorne had just said, and her head was still a mess.
"Why did you come in without knocking?"
"I—." Liyana stared intently at her daughter, her expression anxious, her eyes filled with worry and scrutiny, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to begin.
"Never mind." Hazel was in a state of confusion at the moment and didn't pay too much attention to her Mother's abnormality. She sighed and spoke first, "Mother, I actually have something I want to discuss with you."
Liyana's pupils widened slightly. Was her daughter finally going to confide in her?
"Mother," Hazel's expression was a bit bashful, and her voice lowered, "Can you—advance me a year's worth of pocket money?"
"Ah?"
Liyana was completely stunned, frozen in place. Her daughter suddenly asking for so much money, could it be—was she trying to—
"Mother? Mother?" Seeing her Mother frozen in place, her face constantly changing, Hazel called out softly.
"Whatever about that!" Liyana suddenly snapped back to reality. She grabbed Hazel's arm and pulled her towards the Door.
"Mother! What are you doing?!"
"To the hospital!"
Clearly, the misunderstanding deepened.
"I'll visit Councilor Macht another day."
After agreeing on a time to visit Hazel again, Lorne walked on his way back, feeling quite good.
"However, Hazel's embarrassed expression was really quite amusing." Recalling Hazel's shy, angry, yet helpless look just now, Lorne couldn't help but chuckle softly.
He suddenly found that when playing the role of "James Scott," he felt more joyful and relaxed.
Whether it was the conversation with Hazel just now, or the way he interacted with Hugh before, it was very different from when he was Lorne Di Sen Ke.
Ultimately, the Scott persona is good—he sighed inwardly.
This persona didn't carry too many moral burdens or constraints, allowing him to be more unrestrained and release some emotions and mischievous tendencies that he usually had to suppress. To some extent, this counted as a kind of alternative stress relief, like playing a simulation game.
"First, I'll visit the Beyonder gathering to see if there's any news about materials." Lorne planned the next steps in his mind.
"At Mr. A's gathering before, someone was selling the venom sacs of a Dark Lurker. Let's see if there's a heart of a Demon-Throat Honeyguide this time; if so, Lachi's potion will also be complete. Sigh—I haven't been back for days—"
"Later, I'll have to write a letter to the Captain and the others, to talk about weapon sales—the firearms factory, it's officially on track—"
And those scattered shares I inherited before, as well as the factory's profits.
Raw materials, labor, and freight costs, there's still a lot of money to spend, ten thousand pounds won't last too long—.
Never mind, as long as Backlund doesn't suddenly experience a large-scale financial crisis, the capital chain shouldn't have problems."