My older sister is a villainous rich girl.

The rain poured down.

Even with an umbrella, Wayne felt it was difficult to withstand the biting wind and rain.

"No...don't kill me..." Baron Colclough cried out in anguish, his face already indistinguishable between rain and tears.

But his hands seemed to be completely out of his control.

Wayne held the umbrella in his left hand, stretched his right hand forward, and closed his eyes.

"The bondage of earth!" he murmured.

Mud dragons were pulled from the blood-stained ground, binding Baron Kolclough's limbs and suspending him in the air.

"Ahhh..."

In mid-air, the bearded man looked pained, his right hand still twitching as if trying to break free of his body.

"Go find the city guards—"

Just as Wayne was about to tell the coachman standing to his side to go out and find reinforcements, the figure suspended in the air by earth magic suddenly roared.

"Grand Duke Laird has returned! You will all pay the price! The Kingdom of Lornes is about to be destroyed!"

In an instant, a huge burst of flames erupted from his body, igniting it instantly.

"Hahahaha—" The man laughed wildly in the firelight.

"this!"

Wayne was taken aback and tried to extinguish the flames with earth magic, only to discover that the flames were generated by Baron Colcliffe igniting the magic power within his body. As long as his magic power was not exhausted, the flames would continue to burn his body.

The raucous laughter gradually grew hoarse and eventually subsided.

In no time, only a charred human figure remained, which broke into several pieces with a "crack" and fell from the mud.

The courtyard has returned to its former tranquility.

All that remained was the sound of raindrops pattering against the eaves and the umbrella.

Wayne stared at everything before him, remaining silent.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from the street outside, accompanied by the clanging of armor against armor.

"This is it! We detected intense magical fluctuations in this area just now!"

With a loud "bang."

The courtyard gate was pushed down, and a tall, muscular man walked in first.

Upon seeing the horrific scene inside the courtyard, everyone who broke down the door couldn't help but shrink back in shock.

Upon seeing these people, Wayne's coachman's expression changed, and he immediately took out the Wincher family's token to reveal his identity.

"This is Young Master Wayne Wincher. May I ask which city guard you belong to? We need to contact Duke Wincher to handle this matter."

The tall, burly man took the token, examined it carefully, and then returned it to the coachman.

"I am Bulwer, the captain of the Second City Guard."

He bowed to Wayne.

"Let's go somewhere else," Wayne said to him. "And bring my classmates with us."

It was then that Bulwer noticed a girl sitting in the mud near the corner of the wall, completely soaked.

……

That's how it is.

In front of Duke Elliott and some unfamiliar officials, Wayne recounted what had happened to him.

This is the headquarters of the city guard. Elliott rushed over immediately after receiving the news.

"Grand Duke Laird..."

Upon hearing this title, everyone present fell silent for a moment.

Wayne looked at Camille, who was sitting blankly on the sofa next to him, with some concern.

She changed into clean clothes and held a cup of hot tea that she hadn't even taken a sip of, but her hair was still wet.

It seems that ever since she left Baron Colclough's mansion, she has been in this dazed state.

"Grand Duke Laird died thirty years ago, and could not have died any longer."

Captain Bulwer of the Second City Guard looked serious. "Could it be those rebels from the southwest playing tricks again?"

Elliott hesitated for a moment, then asked Camille in a gentle tone, "Has your father ever said anything unusual to you?"

Camille's eyes were glazed over, as if he hadn't reacted at all.

But her hand holding the teacup began to tremble uncontrollably.

The water in the glass was sloshing around, about to spill out.

Wayne snatched the teacup from her hand and placed it on the table in front of her, preventing the tea from splashing.

This action seemed to open a floodgate in her emotions, and Camille snapped out of her daze.

Her tears streamed down her face instantly.

"I...I don't know either."

She murmured indistinctly.

"Nothing happened this morning... Everyone was fine... Waaah..."

She tried her best to suppress her sobs, but the tears just wouldn't stop, so she lowered her head and covered her eyes with her hands.

Duke Elliott let out a long sigh.

"Alright, you should rest for a while. Leave the rest to us, and we'll do our best to find out the truth."

He turned to the city guard commander and said, "I'll take Wayne back with me. This girl will be under the protection of your city guard for now. We'll discuss the details after contacting the church tomorrow."

After making some rough arrangements, Elliott, looking exhausted, boarded the carriage.

There were only the two of them in the car, but they were accompanied by a number of guards.

"Father, who is Grand Duke Laird?" Wayne asked in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Duke Elliott's silvery-blue pupils fixed on the little boy before him.

"He was the last ruler of the Principality of Milstein."

"Did he die in the Battle of Fog Moon thirty years ago?" Wayne asked doubtfully.

"Yes."

Elliott looked out the car window at the night sky.

"At that time, the Duke of Winchester was my father. He was leading an army to fight against the neighboring country that was originally located in the southwest, under the orders of the late King George I."

"This war was a joint effort by almost all the countries on the continent, plus the church, against the royal family of the Millistan Kingdom, so it was over in just one month."

"And Baron Kolclough was one of the generals who defected and surrendered at that time."

Wayne frowned and pondered for a while.

"So, could it be a remnant force seeking revenge? But thirty years have passed, why are they only now saying things like 'Grand Duke Laird has returned'?"

Generally speaking, thirty years of rule is enough to erase the traces of a destroyed power's existence.

"It's still uncertain, because according to the detection, the only traces left at the scene are your earth magic fluctuations and his own spontaneous fire magic fluctuations." Duke Elliott tapped the edge of the carriage lightly with his index finger.

"Is there any kind of magic that can control someone without them even realizing it?"

Wayne was deeply impressed by Baron Colclough's insane behavior at the time, "His hands seemed to become independent, as if they didn't belong to him anymore, and you could tell he was really terrified."

Elliott paused for a moment while tapping, then resumed his normal tapping motion.

"Perhaps... the 'dark magic' that Grand Duke Laird is said to possess might be able to."