Chapter 671

Melody smiled helplessly. “Alright, six glasses of water then. You’ll drink the last three glasses after dinner.”

The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly pleasant. Margaret seemed to be in a much better mood.

“I’ll make you lunch. What would you like?” Melody asked.

Margaret didn’t request anything specific and simply told her to make whatever she liked.

“Alright, I’ll handle it,” Melody replied.

Noticing it was almost eleven o’clock, she headed straight to the kitchen.

But as soon as she went downstairs, she sensed something was wrong.

An unfamiliar person was wearing a butler’s uniform, and the original butler was nowhere to be seen.

Taking a closer look, she realized that many of the servants were new faces.

Just then, James passed by the front door, and Melody hurriedly chased after him.

“James!” she called out.

James stopped and inquired about Margaret’s health. After learning that Margaret had nearly recovered, he told Melody about Ken’s arrangements.

“I understand the situation,” Melody interrupted. “But there’s no need to deport all of them. Listen to me, leave one or two of the more deeply embedded hidden traitors, and then have people secretly keep an eye on them. They might come in handy later.”

James hesitated, but Melody’s commanding tone left no room for discussion as she stated firmly, “James, I’m not asking for your opinion.”

Her authority was surprisingly on par with Ken’s.

Subconsciously, James nodded and responded, “Yes.” After Melody left, he berated himself for his compliance.

‘How does Melody always manage to get the upper hand with me? We are both working for Ken, after all. Hmph!’ he thought.

With a mind to “squeal” on Melody, James called Ken to tell him everything, but to his surprise, Ken agreed. “Her plan is sound. Do as she said.”

Foiled in his attempt to gain favor, James had no choice but to follow Melody’s instructions. He left two of the deeply hidden ones, pretending not to know they were Ulric’s and Astrid’s men, and found reasonable excuses to dismiss the others.

Everything was arranged, and by eight o’clock in the evening, Ken was back.

He went to see Margaret first before looking for Melody.

When he didn’t find her in the bedroom, he asked the maid and learned that she was in his study.

The study was adjacent to their bedroom.

Ken didn’t like the idea of the study being connected to the room, where people tended to become lazy, so he set it up in the next room.

As a child, he was very strict with himself. He wouldn’t go to bed until he had finished his homework for the day. This self-discipline has stayed with him ever since.

Ever since the incident when Ulric broke his vase, Ken hadn’t allowed anyone into the study. Not even James.

When the servant reported to Ken that Melody was now in the study, she wore a timid expression, eager to absolve herself of responsibility. With her head lowered, she said, “I meant to stop Mrs. Swanson, but by the time I found out, she was already inside. I… I didn’t dare go in.”

Ken looked at the servant coldly.

The servant felt the intimidating pressure from his gaze, and her legs trembled with fear.

But to the servant’s surprise, Ken suddenly said, “In the future, if she wants to enter the study, don’t stop her. She can go in whenever she wants.”

The servant was stunned and only after several seconds managed to reply, “Yes…”

When he looked up, Ken had already entered the study.

After this incident, everyone Ken had stationed in the manor realized that Melody held an extraordinary place in his heart.

They couldn’t understand why Ken was so good to such an… unusual-looking woman, and they spent quite a while secretly discussing it without coming to any conclusion.

Of course, none of them believed Ken’s behavior towards Melody was because of love.

Love? That was ridiculous!

In the study, Melody was deeply absorbed in sketching a design in her notebook.

Since finishing dinner with Margaret, she had been working here for over three hours without feeling tired.

Time flies when one has a goal to accomplish.

So focused was she that she didn’t even notice Ken entering the room. She continued to concentrate on her work.

It wasn’t until Ken walked up beside her that he saw she was drawing a dress design.

Melody had so many skills, and each time she revealed a new one, it shocked Ken.

He didn’t know much about clothing design, but even he could tell at a glance that her design was impressive. Once it moved from paper to fabric and hit the market, it was bound to be a big success.

Ken looked at the drawings on the right side of the desk, where five completed designs were neatly arranged, each showcasing a unique style of dress or skirt.

What made them even more remarkable was that they all featured Halcyon-style elements, perfectly blending classical and contemporary fashion.

Noticing that Melody was at the most critical stage of her current design, Ken subconsciously slowed his breathing, afraid to disturb her.

For half an hour, he patiently stood by, waiting for her to finish.

Finally, Melody let out a long breath and put down her pen.

“Nice work.” Ken’s voice broke the silence beside her, startling Melody.

“When did you get here?” she asked, surprised.

“Not long ago. You were so focused that I didn’t want to interrupt,” Ken said.

“I see…” Melody stood up, a little embarrassed. “I haven’t done design work for a while, so I’m a bit rusty.”

“If this is what you call rusty, then you’re definitely being humblebragging,” Ken said with a smile.

“Humblebrag” was a recent internet slang term for subtly showing off.

Melody blinked in surprise. “Wow, you know that word too?”

Ken gave her a playful look. “What do you mean? I’m not so old that I can’t keep up with the times.”

“That’s not what I meant…” Melody trailed off, feeling slightly awkward.

Ken usually carried himself with such formality that she hadn’t expected him to be familiar with internet culture.

Ken smiled and waved off her concern. “Don’t worry, I didn’t take it the wrong way. By the way, are these designs intended for the Justalion Group?”

Melody nodded. “Yes. Didn’t you tell me last time that the Clark family was secretly approaching Justalion Group’s designers? I suspect they’ll take action quickly, especially after hearing about what happened to Ulric. They’ll definitely accelerate their plans. When that happens, the Justalion Group might lose all its designers. A fashion group without designers is like a glamorous woman without substance, and it can’t do anything.”

Ken asked, slightly puzzled, “Are you planning to help Russell get through this?”

“Of course not,” Melody replied with a smile. “Ulric now can’t even help with his own problems, so it’s impossible for him to help the Justalion Group establish cooperation with the Swanson Group. Even if he wanted to, I doubt Ramon would just agree to it. In that case, all of Russell’s previous efforts would be in vain.”

Ken quickly caught on to her meaning, “Once the Justalion Group can’t make ends meet, Russell will have no choice but to sell it if he doesn’t want to end up sleeping on the streets. And you want to seize the opportunity to take over and rebuild the group,” Ken said.