My older sister is a villainous rich girl

Wayne, as if facing a formidable enemy, replied, "Okay."

For the sake of my dignity, it seems I have to be at my best!

...Ten minutes later...

"game over!"

Wayne very stylishly tossed down his last card.

At this point, Goli had only two cards left, while Chris had five.

It must be said that Asley's card skills were surprisingly good; he didn't seem flustered at all, typical of a novice, suggesting he had practiced a lot.

As for Chris, she remains as bad at the game as ever, yet loves to play.

"Ugh..." she threw the rest of her cards on the table in frustration. "This doesn't make sense! Why are you all better at it than me?!"

Ge Li also let out a soft breath and put down the cards in his hand.

It turned out to be a pair.

Fortunately, this round started with single cards from Chris onwards, otherwise Asclepius would have had a much better chance of winning.

Hmm? Did Chris do this on purpose?

Suddenly, Wayne seemed to understand something.

"This is boring," Ge Li said, seemingly finding it quite dull.

"Next time you provoke me, you'd better be prepared to accept defeat before you step onto the field." With that expressionless remark, she stood up and left the Lily Society's activity room.

Seeing that there was finally no more good to watch, the people around dispersed.

Chris wanted to retaliate but couldn't find the right words. The other party had already left gracefully, leaving her alone, furiously slamming her fist on the table: "Aaaaah! She provoked me first, and now she's blaming me!"

She was both angry and aggrieved.

While Wayne found it amusing, he also understood what he should do at this moment.

He walked behind Chris and gently patted her head.

"It's okay to lose this time, as long as you win it back next time... right, little Chris Wincher?"

When he read her last name, Wayne paused deliberately.

Chris immediately understood what he was implying and blushed slightly for a moment.

The more arrogant she was before, the more cowardly Chris is now.

"W-what are you doing... Aren't you in a hurry to go home? Hurry up!" She pushed Wayne hard to walk out, as if Wayne was the one who had been dawdling all along.

Shaking his head helplessly, Wayne reached behind her and pulled her back.

In Chris's eyes now... perhaps, this world where she can act spoiled and act cute is very gentle.

When the two returned home, Chris saw him go straight upstairs to his room and asked with a puzzled look, "Huh? Wayne, aren't you going to send someone to bring the notes to Tasia?"

“I’ve already asked the chairman to take it with me,” Wayne replied casually.

"Hmm." Chris nodded thoughtfully.

After climbing just two flights of stairs, Wayne stopped and turned back, inviting her in a low voice, "Want to come along?"

Chris shuddered on the sofa.

"W-what together?" She clearly understood what Wayne meant, but pretended not to understand.

"Together--"

Wayne drawled out his words, subtly changing direction as he approached Chris step by step.

"Wait, wait a minute!" Chris jumped up from the sofa in a panic. "I just remembered I have something to tell Karen. You go upstairs first."

Before Wayne could say another word, she hurriedly ran into the yard.

Although she left him behind, Wayne didn't seem disappointed at all; instead, he even smiled.

I knew this guy was all bark and no bite.

He went upstairs again.

Since he was planning to meet with some old acquaintances tonight, he naturally had to do some preparatory work.

Sometimes, the rumors that seem bizarre are actually quite simple. Instead of following the guesses of other uninformed outsiders, it's always easier to go straight for the center.

Wayne's planned order was to visit Bulwer first, then Diff, and if time allowed, to also take a look at Chapman.

Yes, of course, in the guise of Aikos.

After all, Echo was an accomplice personally recruited by Bulwer. It wouldn't be right for him not to show up when something big happened to her...

……

That night.

Wayne donned his beloved black cloak and his favorite monster mask.

This concealed identity can be seen as a disguise for Aikos.

If she were ever exposed, people would be surprised but also easily accept it—for some special reason, Aikos was unwilling to reveal her true identity.

However, those people would never have imagined that there was another identity beneath the other identity, and that I, Wayne, am actually the one behind the alias!

Standing on the bricks and tiles of the palace's outer wall, he surveyed the layout of the various buildings inside the palace from his elevated position.

Chapter 443 What exactly is Your Excellency's identity?

Overall, the palace does not actually cover a very large area.

However, the main building alone, standing in the center of the palace like a majestic castle, was already beyond the reach of ordinary nobles.

The maintenance of such castles alone would cost a considerable amount of money.

"It seems they recently used money from the national treasury to renovate the palace... even though they clearly don't have any money left to support the army in suppressing the rebellion." Wayne sighed.

If it weren't for the tireless efforts of his father-in-law, Minister Franz, and the small favors that Wien provided through Goethe's connections, the financial conflict might have erupted by now.

Just like that magnificent and splendid building, this country may still appear strong, but the seeds of its decline have long been sown.

Will things change after Richard is crowned king?

Wayne didn't know, but he hoped so.

Based on his previous experiences visiting the palace and the current on-site investigation, Wayne checked all the functional areas in the dark.

Generally speaking, prisons specifically used to hold special individuals are usually built underground.

This is not based on anyone's personal preference, but rather on the objective requirement to ensure that powerful mages can be kept out of the loopholes.

Guided by this law, Wayne successfully discovered the secret prison in the palace.

To his slight surprise, the cell was located just beneath the royal palace’s underground library, though the entrance was not in the same building.

Come to think of it, he had noticed it during his last infiltration of the Chapman Manor dungeon; the construction method was very similar to that of the royal palace's underground library. At that time, he simply assumed that the methods of digging underground tunnels were all basically the same.

In retrospect, it's possible that the same group of people originally built both sides.

As a royal palace, the security here was not as lax as at Chapman Manor. As soon as Wayne infiltrated, he sensed faint magical fluctuations coming from almost all directions.

A rough estimate suggests there are at least ten magicians here, not including the royal retainers guarding the upper library.

If I were to cause a scene here, it might not be so easy to resolve the potential troubles.

However, he hadn't originally planned to bring Bulwer and the others out. He just wanted to find a gap in the gear shift and exchange a few words with the target, which would be considered a great success.

He quietly hid in the shadows, waiting.

Time passed slowly, and he continued to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the internal guards' patrols to delve deeper into the area while searching for Bulwer and the others.

……

In a prison surrounded by walls that resembled metal on all four sides, Bulwer sat silently cross-legged on the floor.

There was nothing else here; even the bed and pillows were integrated with the wall and were made of very hard material.

The only slight gap was a window that opened only at specific times, through which meals were delivered every day.

This is the prison built by the royal family specifically to hold high-ranking magicians who are criminals.

It is said that the church sent people from the Papacy to cast it at the request of the royal family.

I never imagined I'd have the chance to enter a place like this...

Bulwer gave a pale smile.

He didn't even understand why he had come to this point. In just one day, he went from being a high-ranking city guard commander to a prisoner with no dignity.

He clearly still had so many things to do, and so many important missions waiting for him to fulfill.

Unexpectedly, his grand plan was abruptly cut short at this crucial step.

To date, he has not been able to meet His Majesty the King.

His mindset shifted from initial anger and injustice to confusion and panic.

What exactly happened outside?

Because I am not perfect, I am afraid that someone will expose my life-or-death secrets when I do not receive any feedback from the outside world.

In this state, every minute and every second of confinement is exceptionally agonizing.

After an unknown amount of time, the food delivery window in the cell was opened.

Bulwer heard the sound, but did not react.

He knew that the guards here were all His Majesty the King's loyal followers and would never exchange a single word with him.

However, this time seems to be different.

"Thump, thump..."

Two soft knocks came from the window.

Bulwer was taken aback at first, then looked up at the food delivery window in utter astonishment.

The other side was pitch black; you couldn't see anything.

...Was I hallucinating?

But he soon realized that this was not an illusion, and that his chances of turning around had come!

“Bulwer…Bulwer?” Echo’s voice came from the other side of the window. “Can you hear me?”

Recognizing Aikos's voice, he jumped up with great joy.

"I can hear you, I'm inside!" He deliberately controlled his volume to avoid making too much noise.

But as soon as he replied, he suddenly remembered something, and his expression froze.

Wait, how did Aikos get in?

Could it be because—she has been recruited by His Majesty the King again, and is therefore ordered to extract information from me?

Oops!

Mrs. Cherry is in danger!

Outside the window, Wayne had no idea that Bulwer had imagined some strange scenarios for him. Hearing the response from inside, he finally felt relieved.

Although this prison seemed to employ some special method to distort my perception, the impact was ultimately limited; at most, it would only take a little longer.

After setting up a magic array on the spot to prevent his escape route from being cut off, Wayne continued to sneak into the prison under the cover of shadows.

A shadow flashed by, and the scene inside was clearly revealed to Wayne.

Bulwer was startled to see such a large, living person suddenly leap out of the shadows.

"you……"

He stared at Wayne with wide eyes.

“It’s me.” Wayne lifted a corner of his mask, revealing half his face to confirm his identity.

"What, don't you recognize me?"

"No... not."