My older sister is a villainous rich girl

"……Um."

Chris nodded, her expression slightly troubled.

Modric originally wanted to interview Echos himself to obtain firsthand intelligence—

Please, please don't!

"—Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected as soon as it reached the city guards." She seemed to feel very sorry.

Upon hearing this, Wayne breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It seems the city guards are quite respectable; they don't treat the special treatment they receive as if it doesn't exist.

After all, Aikos was a "maverick" who had publicly stated that she would refuse all private invitations and would not attend any social gatherings.

“Sigh.” Chris sighed. “If Bulwer hadn’t had that accident, maybe we could have asked him to act as an intermediary and meet with Miss Echo. But now the city guard is in chaos, and we can’t afford to cause any more trouble.”

Wayne was starting to lose his composure.

"Does Chris also want to meet that Exos?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"Hmm... well, it's fine whether I see her or not," Chris said ambiguously. "Although I'm curious, but..."

"If it will cause extra inconvenience to my life, then forget it and just let things take their course."

Although she spoke with a carefree attitude, her expression suggested that she was still quite conflicted inside.

Seeing this, Wayne couldn't help but subconsciously imagine what it would be like if he met Chris as Echo.

Then, he couldn't help but shake his head vigorously, trying to banish the terrifying images that came to mind.

We must firmly distinguish between these two identities!

Otherwise, if the secret is exposed, it could lead to a tragic ending, like the end of the world.

"I heard he's a guy with a terrible temper and very difficult to get along with." Wayne didn't hesitate to badmouth himself. "We don't understand why he's staying in Lornes, so it's best to keep our distance from him."

"That's true."

Chris remained noncommittal.

"The city guards' attitude is that it's fine to want to know the details of the case, but it must be published according to their requirements."

"Stephanie came to me today about this matter, asking for my opinion. The publisher has to give a response by next Monday."

With her legs bent on the sofa, Chris looked annoyed.

“Starting something is easy, but sticking with it is hard,” she sighed.

Wayne smiled slightly. "What? Feeling discouraged?"

"No, I didn't."

She immediately denied it.

But then she muttered softly, "Anyway, in the end, it's not like I'm the one who has to do it."

Tsk, Chris, you're so scum.

Perhaps having figured out the trick, Chris clapped her hands and perked up again.

“Fine, it’s fine to write it according to their requirements. If it weren’t for the city guard’s official disclosure, we would never have known the details,” she said.

Listening to her rambling self-consolation, Wayne suddenly realized something.

"Is this suggestion a request made by the city guard as a whole, or by an individual within the city guard?" He sat up straight.

Chris paused for a moment.

"I...didn't ask."

She only spoke briefly with Stephanie before decisively postponing the matter until next Monday.

Oh dear... since it's the weekend, it's okay to be a little lazy, right? I'm sure I can!

Feeling slightly guilty under Wayne's gaze, Chris awkwardly changed the subject: "By the way, Wayne! I've invented a new dessert, come and try it with me and see how it tastes!"

As she spoke, she forcibly grabbed Wayne's arm and dragged him off the sofa out of the room.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her otherwise, Wayne had no choice but to follow Chris helplessly, though his mind wasn't on the dessert.

He was thinking about the question that had just been mentioned.

Is Simon the real mastermind behind the current city guard?

Wayne couldn't help but have doubts about this.

Chapter 465 Who is that...?

Inside the city guard.

Difty's situation is now very different from what it used to be.

Given the previous situation, with Bulwer out of power, he should have been plunged into the abyss once again.

However, because he made the right choice at that crucial moment, after taking office as the new acting commander, Lord Simon arranged for himself to be placed in a better-paying position, specifically in charge of the city guard's external reception work.

Since the city guards bear the heavy responsibility of maintaining order in the entire capital, they naturally deal with all sorts of people from various social classes every day. And the most basic rule of reception is—equality of status.

No matter what, a nobleman would never be allowed to receive a commoner.

That is precisely why people like myself have room to operate.

Although no one approached him directly to test him, Dave knew that rumors were definitely spreading like wildfire behind his back.

While despising those who wanted to see him fail, Dave found himself not as happy as he had imagined.

Contrary to his expectations, Bulwer obediently accepted the punishment, but did not truly fall from power.

Perhaps in the near future, or even in the next second, once the storm has passed, he will still be that promising new official.

But what about myself?

I did betray him once, framing him for murder!

If their positions were reversed, he felt it wouldn't be surprising what kind of retaliation Bulwer would take.

Such worries filled his mind, which made Dave even more eager to curry favor with Lord Simon, hoping that he could protect him.

After all, if what he did were exposed, it would be detrimental to Lord Simon.

For all these reasons, Deeve spent all his savings from his working years to anonymously purchase a storage service from the Edgeworth Family Chamber of Commerce.

He wrote down the whole story in a letter.

If you fail to renew your subscription within the allotted time, the ordinary letter will be returned to Lord Gavin Warren.

—Diff loathed this man.

But... when all else fails, perhaps only his identity can help him.

After calming himself down a bit, Dave managed to pull himself together and get ready for his work for the day.

I haven't been involved in this task for very long, so I still need to learn from my senior colleagues in the department for a while. But unlike before when I was often bullied, these senior colleagues who are in charge of reception are now very friendly to me.

They were so close, it could even be described as being overly polite.

Duve, no longer so naive, knew perfectly well that they had probably misunderstood him and thought he had some deeper background.

"As arranged by Lord Simon, I am to meet with several 'reporters' from Leaf Publishing House today and be interviewed by them..."

The department head relayed the instructions from his superiors.

The wording was rather vague, but in short, the core requirement was only one thing—

That means we must publicize the city guard's achievements and reliability.

As for the truth, it can be concealed or exaggerated as appropriate, since outsiders can't see the case file anyway.

“This should be easy,” Dave said casually. “Please let me join in.”

He remembered that he had once asked to join the Leaf Publishing House, but was rejected outright by another arrogant young nobleman.

For reasons unknown, he wanted to see how those who could have become his colleagues worked.

Leaf Publishing House is now quite famous in the capital, unlike those small, insignificant workshops.

Upon hearing his volunteering, the head of the reception department hesitated for a moment.

But in the end, he did not refuse.

"Okay, just remember to read the case file several times."

……

At the appointed time, Wayne followed Chris to the outside of the city guard headquarters building.

Accompanying the two were Barto, the head of the editorial team of the Wangdu Morning Post, and several ordinary staff members of the newspaper.

Originally, the two behind-the-scenes bosses didn't need to come out for this interview, but it's unclear whether Chris was concerned about the industry or was provoked by Wayne's clumsy provocation last time, but she insisted on coming along to "observe".

Wayne certainly wouldn't feel comfortable letting her handle things alone.

Actually, Modric and Stephanie originally wanted to accompany them as well.

But this would have meant the entire publishing house had come out in force, which at first glance looked like they were there to cause trouble. Coupled with the two individuals' clear refusal, the proposal was reluctantly abandoned.

Therefore, the task of leading the team fell to Barto.

Barto, who hadn't had much interaction with Chris and Wayne, seemed a little cautious at this moment.

"Miss Chris, Master Wayne, shall we go up now?"

He was very cautious and always prioritized the opinions of both of them.

Chris rested her hand on her forehead and gazed at the towering buildings of the city guard headquarters. She snapped out of her reverie at Barto's words. "Yes, let's go in."

"Oh, right!" she suddenly added a strange request.

"Just treat Wayne and me like any other interns. Don't worry about us. Just do the interview as usual."

Barto replied with a pained expression.

Heaven knows that they usually start by secretly giving gifts, then inviting people over for drinks, and finally handing over money and information at the dinner table.

However, only those in the city guard who, relying on their high status, would do such a thing if they wanted to skim more money.

If ordinary citizens could get the chance to be published in the newspaper, they would rush to report the news even if they weren't paid.

...Hopefully nothing unexpected happens today.

He prayed in secret.

After entering the city guard building, Barto handled all the handover procedures, and the group smoothly arrived at the conference room on the second floor of the city guard building.

Not long after, the city guards' representatives, who were there to give interviews, appeared at the meeting room door.

Hearing the commotion, Barto and the others immediately surrounded them, exchanging polite greetings. Wayne and Chris blended in at the back of the crowd and didn't stand out.

However, Wayne's gaze was fixed on the face of the young man on his left.

Why is it Dif?

Wayne frowned slightly.

Wayne, who had never expected to run into him here, felt somewhat inconvenienced, but it was not an easy time for him to leave alone.

He had indeed considered coming to gather some information, but he didn't want to do it by bumping into her face.

However, it was too late for him to realize this now. When Dave looked up and scanned the group of people from the publishing house, his gaze also paused when he saw Wayne.

"And that gentleman is..." he asked instinctively, "Young Master Wayne Winchester?"

His shout caused a moment of silence in the conference room.

Then it became noisy again.

Chapter 466 There is more than one prisoner

“Young Master Wayne Winch? Isn’t that…”

The guards who came in with them couldn't help but change their expressions slightly. They bypassed Barto and the others who were blocking their view and came to Wayne and Chris.

After carefully examining their attire, although it wasn't glamorous aristocratic formal wear, its quality was clearly far above the average consumer level.