Chapter 207 Looking At You From Faraway

When Carl showed up at the Mansion by Ziv’s side, Bella happened to see them. She had no idea what he was doing here, but she was eager to find out about Dora.

“Carl, why are you here? Is Dora all right? What about her legs?”

“She is fine. Thanks to those pills the Lord gave her, she does not need to be amputated.”

“The Lord has given Dora pills?” Bella was taken aback upon hearing that. Why wasn’t she aware of this? How could Charles have possibly done such an act of kindness? Was it because Dora was Bella’s only friend?

Carl and Ziv went to find Charles while Bella went back to her room. She looked at the cellphone on the desk and could not help but smile.

She turned on the phone and called Nick.

“Hi. It’s me, Bella.”

“Well, the poor wealthy lady has finally called.”

“What are you talking about? I am just an ordinary woman.”

“You have married a wealthy husband, but you yourself have no money. That’s why I called you a poor wealthy lady.”

“Did you check the file I sent you?” She did not want to waste any more time on silly jokes.

“Yeah.”

“What do you think?”

“It’s not as good as I expected. There is a lot of space for improvement.”

“Tell me what’s wrong and I will fix it.”

“We can’t talk about this over the phone. We had better discuss this in person. Can you be here by twelve p.m. tomorrow? Don’t be late, or else you shall suffer the consequences.”

She hung up and bit her lips nervously. Tomorrow was Sunday. How was she going to tell Charles that she needed to meet another man? If it was a workday, she could arrange to meet Nick during lunchtime and avoid all the fuss that Charles was going to cause.

She would have to come up with a good excuse or else all Hell would break loose.

This time, Carl did not intend to repeat the same mistake. The moment he saw Charles he fell onto his knees.

“At your orders, your Majesty.”

Charles gestured him to get up.

“Over here you do not have to greet me in such a way. Please have a seat.”

“I would prefer to stand, my Lord.”

From a distance of several meters, Charles stretched his palm out and forced Carl to sit on the sofa.

“Thank you, my Lord.”

“I want to ask a question. Do you hate me from expelling you from the Sea Kingdom?”

“We deserved such a punishment. During the war, we committed many crimes against sea dwellers and ordinary human beings. We deserved what fell upon us.”

“I like your attitude,” remarked Charles. “Now let me ask you something else. Have you contacted Nick Williams while you’re here?”

“I’ve met him a few times,” admitted Carl.

“Okay. Now talk to me about Edwin Beck.”

“Edwin’s restaurant is near my coffee shop, so we meet frequently. I don’t know much about him apart from the fact he’s in a good relationship with the Second Master.”

“Are you also in contact with the Second Master?”

“Since we left the sea, some of the soldiers stayed with the Second Master while others left to make a living on their own. I belong to that second group. We have cut our ties with him.”

Charles seemed satisfied with those answers.

“You can leave now. I have nothing else to ask.”

He took out a pill and handed it to Carl.

“Here, you can have this.”

“Is it the life-prolonging pill?”

The life-prolonging pill was made of the leaves of the Tree of Life and could extend a person’s life for three to five years. It could help those who didn’t have much time at their disposal to settle their affairs before departing from this world.

“You still have hundreds of years to live, but your woman isn’t that lucky.”

Carl put away the pill in his pocket. He knew the Lord was right. Now he had to return the gesture.

“There is one more thing I need to mention, my Lord. I heard that Edwin Beck grew up in an orphanage on Vancouver Island. He has been looking for a girl in the past few years. It seems that he has found her.”

“Interesting,” said Charles and stroked his chin.

Having nothing else to reveal, Carl left the room. Charles ordered Roy to drive him back to the hospital and pondered on the significance of Carl’s last revelation. Edwin had spent many years searching for a girl and now has found her. He wondered whether this bit of information was worth the pill he had offered Carl. A concern that Ziv also shared.

“My Lord. It may not be wise to give away the life-prolonging pills when the Tree of Life itself is dying.”

“It’s not such a big deal,” said Charles. “The life-prolonging pill may be valuable for human beings, but they’re not that important to us. Look at what we achieved at the price of only one pill. We have gained crucial information from someone who used to be our enemy.”

“Bribing him with the pill was a genius idea.”

“Now I want you to look into all the orphans that have been given for adoption all over Vancouver Island during the last twenty years. I also want you to check if there are any police files on Bella and her mother.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“By the way, who were you talking with earlier in the corridor?”

“It was the Lady. She asked me to give her back her old phone.”

“Is that all?”

“I swear, my Lord.”

“I believe you. Go now and bring me the information I’m looking for!”

“Yes, my Lord.”

He looked outside the window and saw a slender figure moving slowly to the direction of the beach. Charles pressed his slender fingers against the window as if he was holding her from the neck. He was going to make sure that she would stop treating him the way she did.