Chapter 303: A Guest Arrives

That evening.

The Lowell and Sutton Families gathered at Lowell Manor to celebrate Yvonne and Yancy Lowell’s birthday.

Oh, right. There was also Leo Grant, the tagalong, but he’s not worth mentioning.

Leo Grant: ‘…’ ‘What’s with this treatment? I’m the male lead, for crying out loud! You’re really going to do me like this?’

Just as everyone was about to start eating, the old butler suddenly entered the dining room, walked up to Old Mr. Lowell, and said,

“Old Mr. Lowell, a guest has arrived. The gentleman claims to be the adoptive father of the Young Miss and the other two. Judging by the Leogryph’s reaction, he must be telling the truth.”

He hadn’t even had a chance to ask any questions before the Leogryph charged right out and turned into a head-nudging, attention-seeking furball.

The dining table fell silent. All heads turned toward Yvonne Lowell and the others.

Yvonne Lowell froze for a moment. “I had no idea. He didn’t tell me he was coming. You all start eating; I’ll go take a look.”

With that, she glanced in the direction of Nina Jennings and the others, then stood up and walked out.

Nina Jennings and Zachary Jacobs had no choice but to lower themselves back into their seats, having just started to stand.

Old Mr. Lowell set down his chopsticks and turned his head to say,

“Old Zhang, go add another place setting. We’ll wait for our guest.”

“Yes, sir.” The old butler complied and went to make the arrangements.

When Yvonne Lowell stepped outside, she saw a man and a lion playing joyfully together.

Who else could it be but that old coot, Kai Preston?

“Old man, why didn’t you give me a heads-up you were coming? I would have picked you up.”

Kai Preston shot her a glare. “You brat! You didn’t even tell me about something as big as a marriage proposal. If I hadn’t shown up, were you planning to pull the whole ‘get married, get pregnant, have a baby’ trifecta behind my back?! And then what, just show up with a baby and make me your maternity nurse?!”

Yvonne Lowell couldn’t help but twitch her lips. “Oh, please. He said he visited you beforehand, and you were the one who said you couldn’t make it.”

“How was I supposed to know you’d agree so readily?! You should have at least strung him along a bit! And why do you believe what he says, but not what I say?!”

Kai Preston muttered under his breath.

Yvonne Lowell raised a hand and pointed. “See that over there?”

Kai Preston glanced at the cluster of unlit buildings and asked grumpily,

“Where?”

“That’s the Lowell family’s ancestral hall. Generations of Lowell ancestors have been watching over us from there for centuries. The family precepts they left behind don’t allow me to do what you’re suggesting.”

Yvonne Lowell spread her hands with an innocent look.

‘I’d love to date eight guys at once, too, but the ancestors forbid it, you know?’

‘Besides, finding a second guy as handsome and attentive as Leo Grant is practically impossible.’

‘So I’ll pass. I’m too lazy.’

“Hey, you little brat!” Kai Preston raised his hand as if to smack her.

Yvonne Lowell easily dodged him and said softly, “Alright, alright. Was it Scarlett who told you?”

She and Scarlett had met abroad some years ago and were on pretty good terms.

It was only later that she accidentally discovered the old man and Scarlett had a connection.

Scarlett: ‘Pretty good terms? Just “pretty good”? C’mon, you’ve got two minutes. Take it back and say it right!’ [draws sword]

“Hmph. If she hadn’t told me, were you just going to keep it a secret and let yourself get bullied out here?”

Kai Preston got angry just thinking about it. She’d been the same stubborn way since she was a child, always insisting on shouldering everything herself.

Even if it was inconvenient to publicize his connection to Apeiron, he had other identities in the outside world! Was he really that useless?!

Yvonne Lowell gave a disdainful smile. “Who could possibly bully me? I just didn’t want to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Seeing he was about to launch into another lecture, Yvonne Lowell simply took his arm and started leading him inside.

“Enough with the lectures. Hurry up, everyone’s waiting for you so we can eat. You can make up a cover story for your identity. And they don’t know about… that stuff, so don’t bring it up later.”

“You think I need you to tell me that? Do you take me for a fool? If I didn’t have at least that much sense, how could I have raised you?!”

Kai Preston’s feet fell into step, his arm offered no resistance, but his words remained harder than diamond.

As they entered the dining room, everyone had indeed put down their chopsticks and were staring intently at the doorway.

“Uncle Quincy.”

Leo Grant, Nina Jennings, and Zachary Jacobs all stood up and spoke at the same time.

Charles Lowell shot a glance at the wolf cub across the table. ‘How does he know him, too?! What right does he have to know more than us?!’

“This is our adoptive father, Kai Preston. He’s also the one who helped me find all of you back then.”

Yvonne Lowell introduced him to everyone, then turned to Kai Preston.

“You know my family like the back of your hand, so I won’t bother with introductions. You’ll get to know everyone better as you chat.”

Kai Preston shot her a secret side-eye before nodding to the others in greeting.

“I was simply too busy to get away yesterday to witness Yvonne’s happy moment, so I could only rush over after finishing my work. Please forgive me for this sudden intrusion tonight.”

“Mr. Preston, please don’t say that. We’ve been wanting to thank you in person for a long time, but this child of ours, Nola, never arranged it. We’re the ones who should hope you don’t mind. Quickly… please, have a seat. We can talk while we eat.”

Old Mr. Lowell said, gesturing to the seat of honor to his right.

Looking at the man before him, who was about the same age as his own son yet possessed an aura nearly as powerful as his own, Old Mr. Lowell was somewhat astonished.

‘This man is no simple character.’

‘And I don’t recall ever seeing a face like his before. It’s quite strange.’

But no matter what, he was a great benefactor to the entire Lowell Family.

Even if he were a beggar, he would forever be an honored guest of the Lowell Family.

Kai Preston reacted for only a second before obediently walking to the indicated seat and sitting down.

“In that case, I’ll graciously accept. However, you are my elder, so please just call me by my name from now on.”

“And it’s not her fault. It’s mainly because I’m busy and don’t often appear in the public eye, which is why she kept putting it off.”

‘We’ll be seeing more of each other in the future, so it’s better to just go along with their wishes from the start. That way, they won’t feel like they’re constantly indebted to me.’

“Alright, we’ll do as you say from now on,” Old Mr. Lowell replied with a smile.

He then exchanged a look with Old Mrs. Lowell. The couple stood up and were about to bow to him, and the others quickly rose to their feet as well.

Yvonne Lowell: ‘…’ ‘Wait, what’s happening? Was there a rehearsal I missed?!’

‘Looks like we need to replace the chairs in this dining room. They’re so squeaky.’

But in the next second, Kai Preston had already supported the two of them, not giving them a chance to bow.

And before anyone else could react, he had also steadied Old Mr. Sutton and his wife on the other side.

‘Wait… do you have Wind Fire Wheels strapped to your shoes?!’

“You mustn’t! You’re all going to embarrass me to death! Even if you’re that eager for Yvonne to inherit my fortune, you can’t resort to tricks like this! If you keep this up, how will I ever dare to visit again!”

Kai Preston’s head was starting to ache. ‘See? Life is so much easier back in the Prefecture.’

‘Back in the Prefecture, he was the boss. When did he ever have to deal with all this tedious, deferential etiquette?’

‘It would be even better if he could be the boss without having to manage the Prefecture’s affairs.’

‘Abdicate! I must abdicate! Abdication is imminent!’