Chapter 8: Passing Away

In Harrods, Bermuda, when Zhou Ming and Caitlin finally consummated their relationship in their room, not far from them in another room, Caitlin's father, the last Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, sat in a chair.

If there had been an expert here, he would have been able to tell from the openwork pattern of the chair and the gilded material that it was definitely a handicraft from a famous master and and was very expensive. As a matter of fact, it was Ferdinand's favourite piece of furniture. However, at the moment, he didn't have time to look at it, because he was still holding a black and white photograph in his hands.

The photo showed a woman. Ferdinand looked at the photo blankly, and tears flowed involuntarily from his eyes. He choked and said, 'My wife Sissi, I think I need to apologise to you, because not long ago, I personally sent our daughter Caitlin to another man's room;;;; novel.+.'

'You sharp-nosed idiot! I knew you would call me that, didn't you? But this time, you really need to listen to my explanation.'

Ferdinand smiled sadly, as if remembering something from the past. He then said, 'Zhou Ming is the name of a Chinese man from a very distant country in the East. He is the husband our daughter daughter's own choice of husband, someone she recognised after a trip to Huaxia, and once recognised, never changed. Our daughter is obviously much better at this than I am!

'Of course, in order to prevent Caitlin from causing trouble, I also got in touch with this Zhou Ming. And guess what? My worries were completely unnecessary. This Zhou Ming is a very reassuring man. I'm not saying he has any great wisdom, but his attitude is very reassuring.

Ferdinand continued: 'He is a man who can face himself and reality, without all that ridiculous so-called dignity. I have only ever felt that with Julius Caesar, reading his autobiography.'

Ferdinand paused for a moment, and then said, 'I know, Sissi, you'll say that I'm doing this for the House of Harburg, and you'll call me a selfish bastard who doesn't care about Caitlin's happiness, right?'

Ferdinand then lowered his head: 'I do not deny this, because it is Caitlin's responsibility as the first successor of Harburg, and it is also something that I, the head of the Harburg clan, must consider. After all, Harburg has been in decline for a century, and now it has been betrayed by that bastard Andre. I can't even save this Harburg. Harburg needs someone to help it revive, and Zhou Ming will be that person.'

'Of course, the most important thing is that I believe he won't abandon Caitlyn!'

Ferdinand said firmly, but then he sighed and said, 'But you don't believe me, do you? But I don't want to argue with you. I just want to tell you that our daughter has found her own place in the world and doesn't need us to worry about her anymore. Maybe... we can argue again soon. I just hope God can forgive my sins!'

The night passed quickly. When the sun shone in through the window, Ming slowly opened her eyes. She felt Caitlin curled up in her arms at once, and her hair tickled her chest.

Zhou Ming then remembered that last night the proud Harburg princess came to his room in the middle of the night to ask for his company. He had been very sensible, after all, when a woman falls in love, all you have to do is take off your pants. But the problem was what happened after you got a woman into bed. However, later, unable to withstand her tears and pleas, he could no longer remain a virtuous man, and let his lower half make the decision for him.

Zhou Ming looked down. Caitlin looked like a sleeping kitten, with a faint smile on her face. He thought that after all this time, she was finally able to sleep peacefully, which made him feel very relieved.

But looking down, there was a different kind of beauty: a field of snow-white, delicate skin, a clean back, a slender waist that could be held in one hand, and a pair of long, round and beautiful legs. All of this reminded Zhou Ming of the incredible softness of Caitlin's body last night, and of how she was able to twist her waist to match his own when he was pressing her ice-cold body against his chest.

She may have been an untouchable goddess in the past, but she was now his woman.

Recalling this, Zhou Ming couldn't help but let his hands wander all over her body again. Caitlin's body was indeed so sensitive that even in her sleep, she still let out moans that made people's blood boil.

After a while, Caitlin slowly woke up from the sensations all over her body. The first thing she saw was Zhou Ming, who was causing trouble on her chest. She blushed and scolded, 'Naughty, you're not being honest in the morning!'

Although Caitlin scolded him, she held Zhou Ming's head in her hands and didn't want him to leave.

'My princess, I can feel that it's already slippery there. May I come in?'

Zhou Ming asked Caitlin in her ear, knowing that this was her erogenous zone. When Zhou Ming spoke in her ear, the scorching masculine breath suddenly made her heart flutter. She was no longer thinking, just embraced Zhou Ming and spread her legs for him: 'Come on, my man, my knight!'

Anyone couldn't hold back any longer when they heard their woman say such flirty things in their arms. So Zhou Ming immediately rolled over and pressed down on her, lowering his head to leave one after the other kiss marks on her delicate body like fresh cream.

When Zhou Ming and Caitlin had already left the room at 9 o'clock in the morning. Ming had originally wanted to sleep in until 11 or 12 o'clock, but then he thought, 'I'm in Harrods after all, and Caitlin's father is still watching! have entrusted their daughter to him, and he had to set a good example on his first day to prove that he was the man for the job. So after a short rest, they got up.

But when when they opened the door, they saw him sitting in the living room outside, looking very serious.

'You're up. I've been waiting here for you. I hope you're prepared for what's about to happen, especially you, Caitlin. You need to be prepared to accept something very bad,' he said.

This unexpected words made Zhou Ming and Caitlin feel very strange. Caitlin nodded with a smile and said, 'Thank you very much for your reminder. I think I still have a lot of confidence in my ability to bear things. So can you tell us what happened first?'

'Your your father, Archduke Ferdinand, has passed away,' said.

With these words, the smile on Caitlin's face began to turn cold. She turned to Ming and asked, 'Is this your way of joking? If so, I don't like it!'

Ming looked at her and said, 'I don't think he was joking.'

Caitlin's eyes widened in disbelief at Ming's approval, and then she said, 'Your father, he's still in his room.'

Upon hearing Caitlyn immediately ran to her father's room. The door was ajar, so she pushed it open gently. She hoped that her father was sitting in a chair reading a book, and that he had played a joke on her with Ming.

Finally When the door opened, Caitlin did see her father sitting in the chair, but he was sitting there motionless, and at his feet there was a black-and-white photo in a broken glass frame.

Seeing this, she suddenly understood, and Caitlin's legs gave way and she sat down on her knees.

'That is a picture of my mother. My father loved my mother very much, he would never let my mother's picture be broken!' Caitlin said chokingly to Zhou Ming, who had followed in.

'I'm I'm sorry, I don't know when your father passed away, I only know that when I woke up this morning, my intuition felt that someone had died in the room, and I found your father's body,' said Caitlin, choking back tears.

Caitlin shook her head and said, 'It's not your fault. It happened so suddenly, and even if you had found out, there was nothing you could do.'

From words, Ming knew that he had already confirmed Ferdinand's death. Ming also understood that as a soldier who had actually been to war, he was very sensitive to death, so even though he was not a doctor, he was able to confirm death.

Ming thought, and then said to Caitlin, 'Since it has already happened, I know you must be very sad now, but what we should do now is to bury your father properly. However, I don't know the Harrodsburg or Western etiquette. Do you know what to do?'

Caitlin Kaitlin shook her head in confusion: 'What do you mean? I only attended my grandfather's funeral when I was young, and I never thought about my father's death. I don't know.'

This was the answer that Zhou Ming had expected. After all, she was only a young girl in her early twenties. How could she know how to prepare her father's funeral?

It was It was herself. In her previous life, her father also died very young. She and her mother were at a loss as to what to do, but fortunately, a few good friends of her father at the factory helped, and they were able to give her father a grand funeral. Although Zhou Ming didn't want to do it, but it was the only filial thing he could do as a child after his parents passed away.

Zhou Ming let out a sigh of relief when he thought about it. He said to Caitlin, 'It's okay if you don't know. Do you still have any relatives? Harrodsburg is a big family after all, your uncles and aunts must know someone, right? We can call and ask. As for the cost, don't worry, I'm not as rich as the Harrodsburg family, but this funeral is still no problem.'

After saying that Zhou Ming thought for a moment: 'Or if that really doesn't work, we can follow the Eastern funeral rites. At least I know a bit about that.'

'Zhou Ming, just do whatever you want, I'll listen to you,' Caitlin said.

Zhou Ming knew that Caitlin was confused by this unexpected blow, but it was hardly surprising. Who could have imagined that someone who was fine yesterday would be dead today? Even his past self had not been better than Caitlin.