My older sister is a villainous rich girl

"The rift between you and your brothers is the best tool you can use to gain His Majesty's trust."

Wayne said, emphasizing each word.

He did not speak these words to Raphael without ulterior motives.

If a thorn could be planted in Raphael's heart, his tolerance for the increasingly oppressive pressure from his brothers would only decrease when he returned.

Given the current delicate situation, the increased internal strife within Stuart is, in another sense, a sign of Lornes' growing strength.

As a member of a representative family of the kingdom's military nobility, Wayne was naturally sensitive to such matters due to his daily exposure to them.

If this groundwork is not needed, that's fine. But if relations between the two sides continue to deteriorate to the point that they have to resort to arms one day, Raphael would be an excellent breakthrough point.

After all, this continent has seen stories of exiled royalty returning to the capital with reinforcements from allies and reclaiming their thrones.

Raphael clearly understood what Wayne meant, and his feelings were complicated.

But in the end, he made up his mind.

Between the potential future crisis and the imminent crisis at hand, he can only concern himself with the latter.

After having a friendly and cordial conversation with Raphael and giving him instructions on how to proceed, Wayne quietly left the mansion he was renting.

Perhaps it won't be long before this senior is allowed to leave this place, and he will not return in the foreseeable future.

If he loses, then of course everything will be over.

But what if he wins in the end...

Then I'm bound to become rich.

At that time, the Winchester family would not even need to obtain additional titles or lands from the Stuarts; they would only need to propose to renegotiate a fair bilateral treaty to gain immense prestige and ensure that their power would remain undiminished for the next few decades.

As for the simple matter of incidentally extending the family business's reach into Stuart, that's not even worth mentioning.

Indeed, to do business, you have to do something big like this to be truly exciting.

Chapter 504 Chris's Leisure Time

Before the holidays arrive, everyone looks forward to having time to go somewhere fun. But when the holidays actually start, there are always all sorts of miscellaneous things to deal with.

Finally, after Wayne submitted a revised version of the manuscript, Chris could no longer tolerate it and threw it aside.

"So why should our holidays be like working holidays?" she asked herself, utterly speechless.

"Ever since we left the academy, it's like we've been constantly busy with publishing."

"..." Wayne didn't know how to answer either.

Isn't this normal? Even when not busy with publishing, it's hard to truly have a moment of leisure.

“Chris, this is the price of growing up.” He smiled and took the monthly financial report submitted by the publishing house from her desk.

As the sole investor, the publishing house's entire operation revolves around Chris's plan. Furthermore, it's currently in the early stages of establishing its operations, with relatively low net profits as the majority has been invested in new projects.

"Ah, no way~ Work is work, and life is life!" Chris, who was always good at slacking off, couldn't stand it anymore.

"I've made up my mind, I'm going to slack off!"

She demanded it with a perfectly reasonable tone.

Wayne joked, "Where are you planning to go slacking off in the dead of winter?"

Even if they wanted to visit famous tourist attractions in neighboring provinces as they used to, the Duke of Elliott would likely object out of concern for their safety.

After all, the kingdom's situation is not what it used to be.

Chris couldn't give a suitable answer for a moment. After agonizing for a while, she slammed her hand on the table and said, "I don't care. I'll just go to Eve's house again. I'm definitely taking these three days off!"

After making up her mind, she ran back to her room and began packing her suitcase.

Wayne, who was following behind her, was both amused and exasperated by what he saw.

Chris can be just like a child sometimes, willful and mischievous.

But, as long as it doesn't lead to anything bad, being able to be willful and unreasonable in front of loved ones is perhaps a kind of happiness...

So he simply replied considerately, "Wherever you want to go, I'll go with you."

Upon hearing this, Chris paused in her tidying of clothes, and a smile appeared on her lips.

However, she wasn't about to back down so easily. "Of course you have to come with me! I won't let you get away with this!"

"Should I go and tell Mom and Dad?" Wayne offered to help her out.

Because of distrust of Chris's reckless behavior, no matter how much she was usually pampered, her requests were always rejected.

However, if the same request were made by Wayne, the treatment would be completely different.

Thinking about the stark difference in treatment between the two, Chris pouted and huffed in dissatisfaction.

"Mom treats you much better than she treats me," she said bitterly.

Wayne was amused by her cute and funny words and couldn't help but reach out and pat her head.

"Hey!" Chris was about to hit him with her hand.

“Fool… Of course we’d be more polite to our son-in-law.” Wayne grabbed her hand and looked intently at Chris.

She retorted without backing down, "You're the idiot."

"Okay, I'm an idiot."

Wayne extended his fist towards Chris and asked, "So, may I ask Miss Chris why you fell for such an idiot?"

Seeing that he could continue so easily, Chris had a new understanding of how shameless he was, and was speechless for a long time.

But after much thought, she finally found a powerful countermeasure.

"—It's not that I like idiots, it's that idiots like me." After making the above declaration triumphantly, she looked like she was invincible.

Wayne was speechless at this stroke of genius.

Chris is indeed a modern girl that ordinary people cannot handle.

……

Chris, a modern-day girl, finally went on vacation to a hot spring resort with her friends.

On this occasion, Wayne also invited a partner to accompany him, namely—the recently melancholic piano prince Lawrence.

“Actually, I don’t go to hot springs very often,” Lawrence said.

"Then I really have to thank you for giving me this favor." Sitting in the empty guest room, Wayne took a big gulp of tea and exclaimed with satisfaction. "This place is quite well-equipped; they even offer outdoor barbecue facilities."

In the cold winter, leaving behind all your worries and indulging in a hot spring and delicious food to heal your body and mind is the best experience imaginable.

The only downside was that Lawrence's enthusiasm remained low, and despite Wayne's repeated attempts to encourage him, it had little effect.

"It's really good."

After saying that, he suddenly sighed. "This seems to be the first time I've gone out since that banquet."

Wayne raised an eyebrow.

“I was thinking of asking Richard to come along,” he said, mentioning the name they had tacitly avoided the whole way.

Lawrence knew very well that Wayne was also Richard's friend, and his expression remained unchanged.

“But thinking about it later, there are some things I can say more frankly in front of you… but if Richard is there, I can’t say whatever I want,” Wayne sighed.

Lawrence's expression shifted slightly after hearing his heartfelt words.

"Everyone has their own troubles, whether it's me, you, or Richard, no one is an exception..."

At this point, Wayne changed the subject, his smile light: "So, when you can have fun, just have fun. There are a lot of worries waiting for us in the future."

Lawrence managed a weak smile, appearing somewhat more relaxed.

After everyone had rested, the girls who were with them called out to the two of them from the doorway: "Young Master Wayne, Prince Lawrence, come out for barbecue!"

Then a burst of silvery laughter came from outside the door.

Chris invited quite a few friends this time; it was like a group of girls having a team-building event in a dormitory. Wayne and Lawrence, being the only two green leaves among this large group of beauties, naturally became exponentially more precious.

Not only were there constant people offering words of comfort and concern, but the barbecue was also grilled and served entirely by the girls, creating an extremely pleasant dining atmosphere.

With the girls around him occasionally striking up conversations, Lawrence's gloomy expression finally disappeared, and he started chatting and laughing along.

After taking a big bite of the well-roasted beef, Wayne turned his gaze to Chris, who was sitting in the crowd on the other side.

Surrounded by close friends, Chris, who is always very popular with girls, naturally felt right at home.

If it weren't for her, she could have lived the life of an undisputed winner in this world...

—If I didn't have myself.

Chapter 505 Chris's Self-Disclosure

—If I had never existed in the first place, wouldn't many things have been completely different?

Wayne occasionally couldn't help but have such thoughts.

Especially when it becomes clear that Chris's happiness doesn't necessarily have to be entirely related to herself.

Withdrawing that gaze—the one whose emotions he himself wasn't quite sure what it contained—Wien focused intently on finishing the food in his hand.

Eve once again provided the venue for this gathering. However, given the large number of guests, it was too much trouble to just eat and drink for free, so Chris voluntarily covered the cost of the entire event.

Away from the turmoil of the city, everyone enjoyed themselves. After the barbecue, there were many other entertainment options. By the time everyone had had their fill of fun, it was already past midnight.

"It seems like you've had a bit too much to drink..."

At some point, Eve moved closer to Wayne.

Wayne looked at Lawrence, who was lying to the side, muttering something under his breath.

I don't know who suggested drinking in the middle of it, but that's how it ended up like this.

Wayne glanced again at Chris, who was still happily banging on the table and pulling the others along, unwilling to leave.

“Eve…”

“I’m entrusting Chris to you.” He said solemnly. “As for Lawrence, I will take good care of him.”

The accommodations had already been arranged; all I had to do was drop Lawrence off in his room.

"Wow~"

Eve first glanced at Lawrence, then asked him in a very suggestive tone, "Or how about you take charge of keeping Chris company tonight? I can arrange a private room for you, okay?"

Wayne's expression froze, and he didn't answer for a moment.

"Although my family doesn't have as many servants as yours, my servants are not too few to take care of everything."

As she spoke, Eve bent down and waved her finger in front of Lawrence. "Your Highness? Please answer what number this is?"

"Heh...hehehe..." Lawrence had become an idiot who could only laugh foolishly.

However, Wayne eventually overcame the urge to do whatever he wanted with Chris.

"Never mind, Lawrence only came because of my invitation, so we need to take good care of him..."

Of course, the most important thing is—

Chris is already mine, there's no rush to eat her now.

Eve was slightly surprised that Wayne could remain calm under such circumstances, but then she said with relief, "It seems that you've matured a lot, Wayne."

"..."

Were you just testing me?

Wayne felt a little helpless.

As a mutual friend of Chris and herself, Eve is indeed a very reliable helper. However, she seems to have some unresolved obsession with bringing herself and Chris together.

"I'll take Lawrence back to his room first. If Chris has any problems, she can come to me anytime."

After leaving those words, Wayne helped Lawrence up rather ungently and they left the crowd's sight.

Eve watched his figure disappear around the corner, then glanced in Chris's direction, a subtle smile playing on her lips.

……