Love Began with the First Meeting



"I'm starting to think that perhaps it was a waste of talent that they didn't assign little Molly the rank of foreign minister," Eric said with a faint smile. Brian gave him a sideways glance but said nothing.

Addison fixed his eyes on Molly and said to Eric, "I have a feeling that your mom is doing this to return a favor to you. She knows what you have done for her and Papa Brian. She has always wanted to do something in return for you. Now, it seems this is a good chance."

Eric's face darkened visibly. "Addison, you should realize, silence is golden."

Addison chuckled, revealing his adorable dimpled cheeks. "I'm just telling the truth. Right, Aunt?"

Wing nodded, and smiled as she winked. Her shining eyes wickedly swept over Eric, and Eric's expression became disdainful. Everyone at the table burst out into laughing.

"I heard that you would personally oversee the ceremony," Brian asked, turning to Eric with a curious look.

"Yes," Eric replied. "Yates has been too busy of late. The city is really afire with news of Yates and that woman. Besides, I happened to be available. So I have decided to take it out of his hands. It's a good chance to find out what those people are up to."

Brian nodded. "It works in your favor to have both Y Country and Z Country on your side. If the Island's economic growth and export trade cannot reach a new high, the population are all bound to come after you over this."

Eric's eyes darkened, though his face remained indifferent. "I will be gone for a while. It will fall to Addison to handle the situation. Show them what you are capable of, Addison."

Addison grimaced slightly. "I won't play the fool for you. This is your business. And I don't want to have anything to do with it. I am still a child. And a child shouldn't grow up in a dark and cruel world like yours." To emphasis his point, Addison walked away determinedly once he had spoken. Addison sat down beside Evelyn and began to play with and tease Evelyn and Katie.

"Your son is getting more and more defiant recently," Eric said with a disgruntled look and slightly shook his head in disapproval.

Brian laughed. "That's a good thing. I thought that you had said that you were worried he was too tractable, and that people would take advantage of him."

Eric felt as if he had now tasted his own medicine and it was bitter. The thing with Little Molly and his old brother had been the first dose, while this thing about Addison was the second.novelbin

Since Edgar, the life-long bachelor, was finally going to get married, and the case involving Cain had ended perfectly, the leaders had rewarded them with an invaluable two-day holiday. Sadly, it passed very quickly. After the wedding, Edgar and the others immediately buried themselves in meetings. They were making a series of rules and battle plans for the coming maneuver between S Army and the Dragon Island Army. Days of endless meetings exhausted them. When they returned to the hotel room from the conference room, all they wanted was a good night's sleep. According to the decision reached at the meeting, the mock battle would take place in appalling conditions to closely simulate the conditions of real war. The soldiers would find it almost impossible to rest since they would need to be constantly on guard. Because of their busy days, the newly wedded couple, Edgar and Maggie, were suffering from increasing tension with each passing day. They could only hug each other briefly at night before falling into exhausted sleep. It seemed that they had become ships sailing past each other at night.

Finally, the scheduled maneuver commenced as planned. A month-long confrontation would take place on a desert island near the Dragon Island. Every soldier participating in the operation would only get a meager portion of fresh water and food on a daily basis. Clearly these couldn't sustain them for a month. This was then also a test of everyone's ability to survive in the wild and forage where possible.

Maggie, who had spent some time with the Falcon Commando, seemed to adapt well to the island and its hardships. But Benjamin, Monica, Lorraine, Sam, and the rest of the trainees were clearly out of their depth. They were all student soldiers and had never before seen combat, whether real or simulated. It was natural then that they had a hard time when their willpower was put to the test. The island had become their crucible.

But war wouldn't stop because of their weaknesses, nor would it end because they couldn't sustain their efforts. To win the final victory, everyone had to grit their teeth and see it through to the end. It was a case of buckling up and sticking it out.

However, time passed at its own pace. The confrontation had now become a struggle for even the experienced soldiers, and much more so for the inexperienced trainees. Even Maggie hadn't been able to sustain her efforts. The best of them collapsed ten days before the maneuver ended.

A month of intense training had passed. When Edgar and Eric met face to face, they had both lost a lot of weight and their skin was dry and rough from hours in the sun and rain.

"You want to make a bet?" Edgar was the first to speak. "I bet I win."

"Like you, I too would bet on my team," Eric said playfully. "What are the stakes?"

"A contract of two billion in revenue from trade and exports," Edgar said calmly as if he were discussing the weather.

His cheekiness made Eric laugh. "I have the right to decide it and you don't."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that." Edgar laughed heartily. "Take a look at this. Then you can make your decision." After that, he took out a piece of paper, which seemed quite dirty, from his pocket and threw it to Eric.

Eric caught it with a questioning look and then his eyes fell on the scribbled writing on the paper in his hand. It only had a few words on it, but the meaning was very clear. It said that the leaders all agreed with Edgar's assessment of the products of the Dragon Island and wished to have a more detailed report about it after he finished his expedition.

Which meant, to some extent Edgar did indeed have a say in this.

Eric looked up at him. "A bet like this... Then as the ruler of the Dragon Island, I ought to take it more seriously. But what else can I do? I never was a serious person."

Knowing that Eric had agreed with his proposal, Edgar turned around with a laugh. "Let's go check out our captives."

The rest of the soldiers were returned to the Dragon Island by helicopters after the maneuver was concluded. But this didn't include those in the prison camp.

Edgar and Eric gave the orders to count their respective captives. There were different scores assigned for captives of different ranks.

Eric sat quietly, sipping his tea and waited for the result. He seemed not at all worried about it. Edgar said something to Gordon, who left quickly afterwards.

They had the result one hour later and the Dragon Island had won by half a point.

Edgar and the others were quite dispirited. He turned to look at Eric. "You didn't cheat, did you?"

Eric shrugged. "Have you ever read the 'The Art of War'? It teaches us, 'Never trust anything comes from your enemy.' The truth is, the strategy which I had used in the maneuver was the same one which I had showed you last time."

Edgar's face darkened. "You tricked me, and you did it on purpose."

Eric grinned and rose to his feet. "Well, I'd better go home and have a good shower. Don't forget that you lost."

Edgar muttered an ugly curse. After Eric had left, Edgar gave commands to get ready for evacuation in batches to S City. After that William approached him with a sour face. "You miscounted that half point deliberately."

Edgar gave William a faint smile. "I think I should go get Maggie now." He walked to the prison camp as he said this. This was how things worked in this world. You return the favor after someone gives you a hand. There was no such thing as a free meal. And this held especially true when it came to friends and family.

No one would unconditionally give you whatever your heart desired. If you didn't reciprocate, then their affection would finally wear off. Only those who knew how to repay their debts were able to safe keep everything that they cared about in life, including their loved ones.

Edgar couldn't help smiling when he saw a downhearted Maggie sitting in the prison camp. "Well done, though you didn't make it to the end. Maggie, I am still proud of you." Then, uncaring of the watchful eyes of the whole army, he took Maggie in his arms.

Excited exclamations erupted around them and banished the gloomy aura of the prison camp. They could hardly suppress their laughter and merrily chanted, "Kiss! Kiss!"

Quite abashed, Maggie pulled away from Edgar. With her cheeks flaming, she stamped her foot, and said meaningfully, "I need to take a shower." She glared at Edgar, turned on her heel and stalked off.

When it came to sheer cheekiness, a woman didn't hold a candle to a man. Maggie had once considered that she would be happy when their relationship finally came to light. It was much better in her imagination. But the reality was completely different. Edgar was happy, but she was teased all day, and made fun of. It was a bad deal for her.

For a whole month during the maneuver, nobody had taken a proper shower. But thanks be to God, it was early spring rather than summer. Otherwise everyone would have been as stinky as a skunk by now.

After the maneuver was concluded, the soldiers all took a comfortable shower, sought out their beds and fell into an exhausted slumber. But someone didn't seem tired at all and still wanted to do a little more exercise before going to sleep.

"Let me get some sleep..." Maggie was bone tired. She hadn't managed to get much rest during the confrontation, or in the prison camp. She'd kill for some sleep now.

"You can sleep. I will take care of the rest," Edgar said cheekily and held her close.

Maggie swore at him in exhausted rage.

Edgar stiffened and then answered quickly, "If you are in a war, you should be able to sleep under any conditions."

"It's different," Maggie snarled. "The brain cannot go to sleep alone while the body is still awake."

Her words made Edgar laugh out loud. He whispered in her ear, "You are right! How about we go to sleep together after the exercise?"