30 Days of Passion and Revenge-Chapter 212: Japanese Imperial Family

"I don’t need to hear your nonsense!" Ethan’s tone was icy and terrifying.

Cipher Stone stopped speaking, instead pulling out a file. "Per your instructions, the Blackwood family’s servants haven’t been detained yet to avoid raising Miss Anderson’s suspicions."

"Stop talking about useless things. How many people are left to capture?" Ethan asked impatiently, glancing at his watch.

It was already 2 a.m.

At this hour... Lily should already be asleep.

He wondered how she was doing today. He didn’t want her to work, but she was stubborn...

"Regarding the people Miss Anderson has been in contact with over the past two months... there’s her father, Henry Anderson, the Carter family, Alice Johnson, Aiko Nakamura, and several others she interacted with during your trip to Denmark. The list is extensive. Should we detain all of them as well?" Cipher reported meticulously.

All of Ethan’s enemies had already been captured. The next step was to investigate those who had interacted with Lily.

But the number of people involved was staggering, and the scale of such an operation would be enormous.

Aiko Nakamura.

At the sound of her name, Ethan’s expression turned cold. "Have we still not uncovered Aiko’s background?"

After all this time, they still hadn’t gotten to the bottom of her history.

"On the surface, Miss Nakamura appears to be the daughter of a wealthy Japanese family. However, her deeper background is complicated to trace," Cipher explained. "So far, we’ve only discovered that she is the granddaughter of the Japanese Emperor, technically a princess. However, her father’s involvement in business led to her family being removed from the imperial registry."

"And her mother?"

"We’ve found nothing about her maternal lineage."

Cipher braced himself as Ethan’s temper flared. "After all this time, that’s all you’ve found?! The Japanese imperial family is nothing but a hollow title! Do you think my father would push me to marry a woman with no real benefits?!" Ethan roared.

His father was not interested in a so-called princess; the imperial family’s prestige was superficial and held no real value for the Blackwood family.

After all this time, all they had uncovered was surface-level information.

Damn it!

He needed to deal with Aiko Nakamura before his father’s arranged marriage plans took effect. But now, they couldn’t even figure out her background.

And with everything happening so quickly—his large-scale operation, the search for the poisoner, and his unresolved issues with Aiko—time was running out.

Despite being the recipient of Ethan’s fury, Cipher didn’t utter a word of complaint. He stepped back and asked cautiously, "Should we also detain Miss Nakamura?"

"Start by detaining Alice Johnson, the Carter family, and Henry Anderson!" Ethan growled darkly.

"Understood, Mr. Blackwood."

Cipher sighed inwardly. The Carter family was one of the most influential members of their circle, and now, they were even being targeted. How much longer could Ethan keep this under wraps?

"Can you smell blood on me?" Ethan suddenly asked, shrugging off his bloodstained shirt and replacing it with a clean one prepared nearby.

He sniffed his arm and frowned.

"Mr. Blackwood, I can’t smell anything anymore," Cipher replied honestly.

After days in the blood-soaked underground base, he had become desensitized to the smell of blood.

"Damn it!"

Ethan kicked the bloodied shirt on the ground. "Bring me some cologne!"

"Mr. Blackwood, Miss Anderson should already be asleep at this hour," Cipher reminded him gently. Ethan was worried about Lily noticing the blood scent on him.

"When I tell you to do something, just do it! Stop talking so much!"

Ethan’s temper flared again, and he kicked Cipher hard enough to knock him over nearly. Without another word, Cipher hurried off to fetch the cologne.

It was the darkest part of the night when Ethan returned to the villa.

Sitting in the car, Ethan moved his left arm slightly. Every time he used it, he couldn’t control his strength, and the injury would reopen. It would heal, only for him to hurt it again.

If Lily saw it, she would nag him again.

He opened the car door and stepped out, pushing the villa’s front door open. Even the servants were asleep by now, though the lights inside the villa were still on.

Ethan’s eyes darkened as he noticed this. Without changing into slippers, he strode inside.

In the living room, Lily sat quietly on the large sofa, hugging a pillow, her head slightly lowered.

Ethan froze, staring at her in surprise.

She yawned occasionally, clearly exhausted, but rubbed her eyes to keep herself awake.

As if sensing his presence, Lily suddenly looked up at him. Her eyes were red, and her delicate face showed no particular emotion. She gazed at him silently.

They stood there, one standing and one sitting, staring at each other without breaking eye contact.

Suddenly, Ethan roared, "Are you kidding me?! Do you know what time it is?! Why aren’t you asleep yet?!"

Why wasn’t she resting yet?!

Did she want AuroraVirus to spread through her body faster? Did she like the pain to come sooner? She wasn’t in a normal state and could collapse at any moment...

Lily remained seated, staring at his furious face. Her heart ached so much that it was hard to breathe.

She had waited for him all night, and now that he was finally back, he first yelled at her.

"Why aren’t you sleeping?!" Ethan growled, his anger barely contained.

She didn’t know how to take care of herself.

He hadn’t found the antidote yet. She couldn’t collapse—not now, not so soon.

Lily looked at him, wanting desperately to ask, Are you tired of me?

But the words caught in her throat. She didn’t dare to say them. Instead, she smiled weakly and said, "Are you hungry? I’ll make you some noodles."

Without waiting for his response, she turned and headed toward the kitchen. Ethan grabbed her wrist, but Lily, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, shook off his hand and continued walking.

Ethan stood frozen, watching her retreating figure. His hand hovered in midair before slowly curling into a fist.

Damn it.

Had he been too harsh on her?

He had been so ruthless dealing with his enemies these past few days that he couldn’t seem to turn it off at home.

In the kitchen, Lily poured noodles into boiling water, added fresh vegetables, and prepared a steaming bowl of noodles. She carried it to the dining table, the steam rising.

"Eat," she said softly, placing chopsticks and a spoon beside him.

"You stayed up this late just to make me noodles?" Ethan asked hoarsely.

"No."

Ethan looked up at her.

Lily met his gaze directly and said, "I want to know where you’ve been."

She wanted to know why he had always been gone and never answered his phone. He hadn’t been like this before. He used to want to spend every moment with her, but recently... he seemed completely different.

"I was handling business," Ethan replied.

It was the same excuse he always used recently, making her feel foolish for asking.

"Sit down."

Ethan pulled her onto his lap, picked up the chopsticks, and ate the noodles. His brow furrowed slightly.

She had forgotten to add salt.

"What’s wrong? Don’t they taste good?" Lily asked, noticing his frown.

Lily stared at him. His face was so close, and she was sitting in his lap, yet somehow, she felt he was so far away.

She felt like she knew less and less about him.

Ethan brought a bite of noodles to her lips. She took a bite, her brow furrowing. "I forgot to add salt."

As she stood to get some, Ethan pulled her back. "No need."

"But there’s no salt."

How could he eat noodles without salt?

Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist and continued eating the noodles, wolfing them down as if he were starving.

In the underground base, surrounded by his tortured enemies, he hadn’t been able to eat a single bite.

Soon, he finished the bowl of bland noodles, not leaving any broth.

Lily stared at him in a daze. Had he eaten the entire bowl?

She handed him a napkin, but before he could take it, she wiped his mouth herself, her movements careful and deliberate.

"What’s wrong?" Ethan asked, sensing something off about her.

It was the middle of the night, and she had waited for him, made noodles without salt, and seemed... different.

Lily sat in his lap, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and rested her face against him. "Ethan Blackwood, I miss you."

Ethan’s chest tightened painfully.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, and kissed her forehead gently. "I’ll carry you to bed."

"Are you going to be busy again tonight?" Lily asked, leaning against his shoulder.

Ethan paused before replying, "Mm."

Disappointment flickered across her face as she closed her eyes. He was probably going back to his studies to play games again. Her friend had told her that if she acted clingy, Ethan might realize he had been neglecting her...

But he hadn’t noticed anything. He continued to do as he pleased.

Ethan struggled to his feet with her in his arms, but Lily’s voice came out hoarse. "I want to watch a movie."

"It’s late. If you don’t sleep now, it’ll be morning soon," Ethan said, glancing down at her.

What was going on with her? She had never been so clingy before.

"I want to watch a movie," Lily insisted.

Her voice was weak, almost like she was pleading with him.

Ethan’s heart ached. He kissed her forehead again and carried her to the home theater.

She chose an old classic, <Gone with the Wind> because it was a very long movie.

She just wanted to spend a little more time with Ethan.

Even if they didn’t speak, they stayed close longer.

On the comfortable sofa, Lily leaned against Ethan’s chest, his arms wrapped around her. Everything felt as familiar as it always had—the intimacy, the embrace...

But at the same time, something felt different.

The theater was dark, the only light from the movie flickering across their faces.

Typically, during moments like these, Ethan would take every opportunity to touch her. But tonight, he simply held her, making no inappropriate moves.

Lily stared at the screen silently. When the female lead’s daughter fell from her horse and died, tears streamed down Lily’s face.

She had seen this movie many times and always found this scene heartbreaking. But this time, her tears came from somewhere deeper.

She wasn’t even paying attention to the movie. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of what had gone wrong between her and Ethan, and she wondered when things would get better.

She didn’t want to give up or let this end.

Ethan felt a warm tear fall onto his hand, and his chest tightened painfully.

She was crying.

The movie scene showed the couple’s daughter dying and their relationship falling apart.

The storyline...

Ethan grabbed the remote and turned off the movie, plunging the theater into darkness.

"Enough. I’ll take you to bed," Ethan said. But the woman in his arms shook her head. Ethan frowned. "Lily, what’s wrong with you?"