"If I handled everything myself, then what would I need you women for? If I kept you all cooped up at home, wouldn't that create chaos?"
William smirked as he teased Abigail. "Look at how great things are now: Abby, you're the head steward, Jessie is busy running back and forth between London and the winery, and Nissa and Selene are stationed with Kingsman. They're leading Eggsy and his squad on missions to hunt down vampires and agents still clinging to Viktor's wealth and refusing to hand it over."
"I'm just trying to let you enjoy the fun of it all," William said with a laugh, holding Abigail by the waist. "Has this latest batch of antiques been received?"
"Yes," Abigail replied, though her expression turned hesitant as she nervously glanced around. Lowering her voice, she said, "Do you know what kind of antiques they sent this time?"
Lying back on the deck chair with Abigail in his arms, William frowned. "Don't tell me these are questionable antiques again?"
"Hehe," Abigail giggled nervously. "After you sent Selene and Nissa with Eggsy to visit Amelia's subordinates, do you think they'd dare try to fool us again?"
Recalling Abigail's first encounter with Selene and Nissa, where their bared fangs had frightened her so much that she jumped into his arms and clung to him, William smiled. Her cheeks turned red at the memory, and she shook her head quickly.
"No, the origins of this batch aren't the problem. But most of these antiques were lost during that war 87 years ago."
After a moment of thought, William tapped his earpiece. Sunday immediately provided legal information, and after listening, William raised an eyebrow.
"What's the issue? As long as there's no record of them being stolen property, hasn't the statute of limitations long since expired?"
Abigail chuckled nervously. "The 75-year statute of limitations has indeed passed, and they've changed hands multiple times through legitimate transactions. But if the public finds out, there's bound to be criticism and condemnation."
"Just criticism?" William shot her a skeptical look, knowing Abigail wouldn't be this uneasy over mere public backlash.
Seeing that her little scheme had been exposed, Abigail kissed him on the lips to appease him and cautiously added, "It's just that a few of the pieces are extremely valuable. If the French catch wind of this, they might demand their return."
"National treasures?"
"Uh... yes, sort of," Abigail admitted reluctantly, her heart aching at the thought of losing such treasures. "Some might even be considered a bit more valuable than that."
Without hesitation, William shook his head. "No way. These kinds of artifacts are nothing but trouble. They can't be sold, and even displaying them publicly would cause problems."
Seeing Abigail's pained expression, William chuckled and tried to comfort her. "Don't I already have enough antiques for you to play with? What do I have now, around 20,000 pieces?"
Hearing this, Abigail's mood brightened, and she began listing off the collection's stats proudly. "According to your classification: there are over 1,000 pieces valued at more than a million pounds each, 21,000 pieces valued between 100,000 and 1 million pounds, and about 11,000 pieces worth between 10,000 and 100,000 pounds. As for items worth less than 10,000 pounds, there are about 1,000, excluding those with special research value."
"That many?" William exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise. "So, in total, there are 36,000 pieces? How did we end up with so many?"
"Well," Abigail began with a smile, "you acquired nearly 14,000 pieces in two transactions with the Duke of Devonshire and other aristocrats. Then, you got 4,000 pieces from French Baron Daniel Caboret. This latest shipment from Europe added 6,000, while the Corvinus collection contributed 4,000 more, and Viktor's assets accounted for nearly 2,000."
She continued, "On top of that, I've been quietly acquiring pieces over the past six months. Bit by bit, it all adds up. Though, most of what I collected is just ordinary stock."
"So you're saying that once my museum is completed, its collection will surpass 99% of museums worldwide?" William asked excitedly.
Abigail rolled her eyes. "Sure, but only the top 1% of museums truly leave a mark on people's minds. Comparing yourself to the rest is meaningless."
"Smack!"
William playfully smacked her on her rounded backside and scolded, "I'm not so arrogant as to compare myself to national museums."
"You jerk," Abigail pouted, though she couldn't hide her amusement. She gave him a half-hearted slap in retaliation before giggling. "Still, if we're talking about private museums, ours is likely the most valuable in the world.
"Even without counting the treasures you've hidden away, the artifacts stored in the Bank of England's vault alone are estimated to be worth over £2.5 billion."
"Only £2.5 billion?" William shook his head, unimpressed.
He explained, "I've just received close to £2 billion in cash from Amelia, and Viktor's and Corvinus's real estate holdings in England—castles, land, and properties—are valued at roughly £2.6 billion.
"Sure, it doesn't sound like much, but these old vampires' wealth was mostly tied up in land and property. After all, the three elders each ruled for a century, so it's not like they were interested in investing in modern industries.
"Add in the current economic downturn, where land and real estate are undervalued, and it's no surprise they didn't have much cash on hand. Plus, their luxurious lifestyles wouldn't have left them with much savings anyway."
"As for Corvinus," William continued, "that old man was probably spending a fortune maintaining a private army. He only had £600 million in cash when he died and left most of it to his six knight families along with some land holdings.
"The 4,000 antiques he left behind are the only reason he had enough leverage to propose trading £1 billion worth of assets for Marcus's life."
"Do you think antiques are cheap?" Abigail snapped, pinching him in frustration. "If you hadn't hidden away over 200 top-tier pieces, our collection would easily be worth £4 billion."
Seeing Abigail's rare flash of temper, William raised both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I apologize, my dear."
"Good. At least you know when to admit fault," Abigail huffed, though her irritation quickly faded. She gave him a smug look before asking, "So, are you really planning to put Corvinus's and Viktor's fixed assets into the family trust?"
"Of course," William replied without hesitation. "The £2.6 billion in cash from Corvinus and Amelia will stay in Switzerland, while the land and fixed assets go into the trust. I'm not about to pay over £1 billion in taxes."
"But aren't you worried someone might come after us?" Abigail asked, her concern evident. "I've been anxious about this latest shipment of antiques, afraid customs might seize them."
"Relax. I guarantee no one will dare cause trouble this time," William reassured her.
Abigail sighed in relief and rested her head on his chest, basking in the early spring sunlight.
William smirked inwardly. Until Marcus and his werewolf brother's bodies were found, no one in England's upper echelons would dare make trouble for him.
Between 600 and 1,000 years ago, there were recorded "wolf tides"—werewolf outbreaks—four or five times.
The largest occurred over 600 years ago during the Black Death. That outbreak was only quelled because Viktor captured and imprisoned the werewolf progenitor, then led the vampires in helping humanity eradicate the werewolves.
Of course, Viktor wasn't acting out of kindness. He feared that if humans were wiped out, vampires would lose both their food source and their ability to win against werewolves.
Now, with William having taken the initiative to defeat both the vampires and werewolves without asking for any favors, only a fool would pick a fight with him.
Moreover, by withholding Marcus's and the werewolf's remains, William had planted the idea that he might secretly be holding the progenitors of both the werewolves and vampires.
This gave him significant leverage. Unless it was a matter of life and death, no one would dare provoke him recklessly.
And it wasn't just brute force that ensured his position. By publicly associating the advanced Mark III armor with Kingsman, William had reassured many in England's leadership.
While they couldn't take control of the armor, William's willingness to "cooperate" suggested they might borrow Kingsman's armored units in future crises.
Of course, this was all part of William's strategy. After all, the Mark III armor was vastly inferior to his personal Mark suits. It could only defend against small arms fire, had limited energy reserves and weaponry, couldn't fly, and was entirely controlled by Sunday. None of that worried William in the slightest.
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