Chapter 819 INTERVIEW (XXIV)
"DON'T cry, Mr. Gilmore. I assure you, you are in no way at fault in what happened," Luo Yan said, trying to comfort the young butler. "I'm sure Mr. Harcourt wouldn't want you to think that way."Cian finally stopped howling like a baby, only intermittent sobbing was left. So, Luo Yan continued;
"If you truly felt guilty, the best way to do now is to help me in uncovering the truth."
Cian wiped the tears and the snot on his face using the sleeve of his coat. "Yes, I- I'll do my best!"
Luo Yan nodded as if he was very satisfied. "That's a good outlook. Now, let's continue on with the interview."
Cian nodded with a lot more determination. "Yes, I apologize for not controlling my emotion well."
"It's fine. I know that you're very close to Mr. Harcourt. Your mother said that he was like a father figure to you, is that right?"
"He was," Cian admitted with a nod. "I met Uncle William when I was 12. He had been very kind to us."
12? That's much earlier than Luo Yan thought. The way Mrs. Gilmore praised it, it's like they only met William Harcourt three, four years ago.
"How did you meet him?"
"I'm not really particular with the details since I was only a kid then. I only remembered that my Mum told me that a nice gentleman hired her to be his personal cook and we would be living with him. Then, the next day we were brought to a mansion. We lived there until Uncle William decided to return here in England."
Luo Yan felt a bit surprised. Because there's a lot of information hidden in there. Just waiting to be explored.
"So, you live in Boston for quite a long time?" he asked.
Cian nodded. "Yes."
"What did your mother do for a living before she was hired by Mr. Harcourt?"
"She didn't. We were living on the savings my father had left us. Mum told me that the savings were almost gone when she received Uncle William's offer. It's the reason why she readily accepted it."
If Mrs. Gilmore wasn't working back then, then why did she said that William liked her cooking therefore hiring her as his personal cook? How would William have a chance to taste her cooking? She couldn't possibly have approached the other and asked him to eat the food she made, right?
Unless they long knew each other even before that.
"From my interview with your mother, it seemed that you haven't met your father. Had he already passed away?"
"Yes, he died before I was even born," Cian answered.
Luo Yan nodded, writing things on his notepad before changing the subject.
"Living with him for so long, did you have any chance to meet with Mr. Harcourt's children? I heard he had met them a total of three times in the past 20 years. Of course, not including yesterday."
"No, I didn't meet them. I actually met them for the first time yesterday."
Sure enough. "Does that mean they never visited the mansion in Boston?"
"No. From what I know Uncle William met with them in a different location."
Luo Yan already thought that would be the case. Based on his interview with the Harcourt children, they met with their father at hotels and the visit mostly only lasted for a day or so.
"I take it that the house in Boston was Mr. Harcourt's official residence while he was staying at the Americas. Why do you think his children didn't visit him there, even once?"
Cian looked like he was at a lost with this question. "I- I honestly don't know." Then, an expression as if he wanted to say something but was hesitating to do so appeared on his face. But at the end, he still decided to say it. "I asked Uncle William about it once. He- he said that he didn't want his home to be… tainted by their presence. I was too flustered to ask further what that meant. But it always stayed in my mind. Probably because I couldn't understand how Uncle William could say that about his children."
Luo Yan had a pretty good idea why though. "Do you think he hated them?"
"I- I don't know. Truthfully, in the years that my mum and I spent with him, he never once mentioned his family on his own initiative," Cian answered. "Hate is such a strong word. I don't want to make my own assumptions and paint it as the truth when I barely understand things."
Luo Yan looked at the NPC in front of him, full of interest. That was actually such a nice answer. The game devs really put a lot of effort to make this one more human.
"Can you describe your mother's relationship with Mr. Harcourt?"
Cian seemed to be hit by a sudden curved ball, as if he didn't understand how this question came about. Although confuse, he still answered Luo Yan's question honestly.
"I think it's… normal? I mean, they both treated each other with respect."
"Like in a professional capacity?"
"I think that's too cold to describe their relationship. From what I witnessed throughout the years, they might not appear close to each other but they had this kind of tacit understanding that I think not many could develop no matter how close they are."
Now that's an interesting piece of information. That's a bit different from what Mrs. Gilmore had told him. "Why do you think so?"
"Probably because their personality was a bit alike? That's why they could easily know what the other was thinking. It's probably also the reason why they could trust each other despite the difference in station. It might be weird to say this but I always felt like the two of them had some kind of invisible connection. It's really hard to explain."
"No, I understand," Luo Yan said with a smile. [I understand perfectly.] "By the way, how old are you this year?"
"I'm 19, turning 20 soon."
An unknown smile flitted on Luo Yan's face when he heard that. "I see."
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