My older sister is a villainous rich girl

...Is this considered liking to admire one's own talents in solitude?

My teacher is so arrogant, it's almost real.

Wayne's expression was complicated.

Chapter 557 Wealth and Power Look Good

After dinner, Elliott pulled Wayne and Chris into the study to discuss matters with them.

“You two are both grown up now, it’s time for you to take on family responsibilities. Let’s start by participating in internal meetings,” he said sternly.

However, Chris wasn't buying it at all and immediately started grumbling, "Why don't we just let Wayne participate instead..."

“I also have publishing house matters to attend to. I have to draw, read, and do my homework every day. Where do I find the time?” she complained.

Wayne knew that she probably just didn't want to attend the meeting.

When it comes to handling family affairs, Elliot doesn't let Chris do whatever she wants. Once he's made up his mind, no one else has a chance to object.

As a result, the two people responsible for listening in on such meetings can only serve tea and water, daydream, and take notes.

—You might get criticized if you don't listen carefully.

Not only did Chris not want to participate, but even Wayne wasn't very interested.

"No! You have to participate!" Elliott, who is usually very easy to talk to, was unusually unreasonable today.

"Only when you manage your family well will you have enough spare energy to manage those side businesses. You must be clear about the priorities."

After forcefully suppressing Chris's protest, Elliott turned to Wayne and said, "Wayne, you're in charge of keeping a close eye on Chris and making sure she doesn't slack off!"

“…Okay,” Wayne agreed.

Asking me to tattle is asking too much.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Chris's expression, and unsurprisingly, I noticed that her little mouth was pouting so much that you could hang a soy sauce bottle on it.

Wayne secretly gave her a wink, a silent sign of his loyalty.

Chris received his wink and suddenly felt like laughing, but she held it back.

The two sat side by side at the end of the conference table, quietly observing Elliott meet with his subordinates in different positions one by one.

Elliot's attitude towards those he received varied depending on their level of intimacy. Those who came to report on their work, even if they noticed Chris and Wayne's presence, almost all of them chose to ignore them.

After the private conversations, another round of group meetings followed.

It took about two hours to finally finish dealing with these matters, and Chris, who was sitting next to her, was getting restless.

Watching the last subordinate leave the study, Duke Elliott stretched wearily: "Things were handled rather quickly today..."

"Good heavens!" Chris couldn't hold back anymore. "Is this considered relatively fast?"

"of course."

Elliott said matter-of-factly, "If a very urgent emergency occurs, it's possible to go out and discuss things all night."

Hearing these words, Chris completely deflated.

“This kind of thing… let Wayne handle it next time.” She said weakly, slumped on the table. “Only one of us needs to step in. Dad, you can just let Wayne handle everything from now on.”

Elliott frowned as if he wanted to say something, but then swallowed his words.

“We can’t rely on Wayne for everything. What if he can’t find the time?” he whispered.

"Then let's put it off for now and do it when he has time!"

Even she herself probably felt that such a perfunctory explanation was a bit outrageous. Chris paused for a moment, then gave an embarrassed laugh.

“…Sigh.” Elliott couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment.

"You've always been like this since you were little."

Glancing at Chris's somewhat guilty and uneasy expression, and then at Duke Elliott's face, Wayne said softly, "Wouldn't it be nice if Chris could focus on doing what interests her?"

"Once Chris's plan is fully formed, it will be no less impressive than the other businesses in the family."

Elliott tapped his hand unconsciously on the table, remaining silent for a moment.

Having received support from Wayne, Chris suddenly regained the courage to defend herself.

"That's right, Wayne really understands my ambitions!"

She confidently boasted, "Once I've built my media empire, I, Chris Wincher, will be the uncrowned queen of Lornes!"

Elliott suddenly looked up and stared intently at Chris's face.

"What did you just say?!"

That overly sharp gaze was as menacing as a blade.

Chris was taken aback by her usually mild-mannered father's sudden reaction and paused for a moment: "I mean... I'm sure I'll be able to make a lot of money then."

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat stiff.

After staring at Chris for a while, Elliott let out a long sigh of relief.

"You can go out first. Wayne, stay and chat with me for a while longer."

Chris looked at her father with a puzzled expression, then turned to look at Wayne.

Wayne nodded to her, telling her not to worry.

"Chris, you should go back to your room first. I'll come find you later," he reassured her.

Seeing that her father still didn't react, Chris could only snort and get up to leave in a bit of anger.

So, only Duke Elliott and Wayne remained in the study.

After a brief silence, Elliott raised a hand to his forehead and sighed in distress, "Sometimes I don't know whether to call her naive or ignorant."

Wayne did not join him in blaming Chris.

He understood that Elliott just wanted to be a quiet listener.

“Wealth, power… these things all seem wonderful,” he murmured. “But what truly enables us to enjoy these things is power!”

Elliott never showed any disappointment at Chris's lack of power.

But his silence doesn't mean he doesn't care.

As the powerful Grand Duke of the Kingdom of Lornes, he could certainly ensure his daughter's safety while he was alive, but what if he died?

—If she were to die, how would Chris, who was of noble birth but weak in power, protect her property, power, and even her life?

Whenever he thought about this problem, Elliott Winch would toss and turn, unable to sleep at night.

He made many, many preparations in order to better protect his family.

He doesn't care much about the gains or losses in a short period of time, even though some of the preparations he made beforehand were extremely useful, while others have now become almost useless.

None of the mistakes he had ever made could compare in severity and damage to the one sitting before him now!

He originally just wanted to observe how far this promising young talent could grow, and incidentally use the child as bait to fish once.

But now, the big fish has indeed taken the bait.

But then he suddenly realized that the bait he had thrown in was too precious to be lost...

Chapter 558 He could clearly walk

Why is this child so talented?

He is now even more outstanding than when I first met him.

Even those who didn't interact much with him or weren't particularly close would always mention the child when they talked to him, trying to curry favor with him by praising him. If this child could take the lead in the next generation of the Wincher family, it would undoubtedly stabilize people's hearts.

Elliott had thought that as long as he kept the secret behind the scenes, no one would know about the child's origins.

Although the fact that Chris and Wayne had developed feelings for each other made him both happy and worried, in a way it helped him make up his mind not to worry that Chris would not accept his arrangements for his daughter's marriage.

As long as the two hold a wedding ceremony with their own witnesses and have lovely and intelligent children, who would dare say that he is not a member of the Winchester family?

By then, even if he inevitably learns his true identity, he probably won't be able to give up his current happy life because of those long-gone memories.

But he never expected that the Ryder family would be so ruthless!

When the fragile baby was born, they baptized the newborn with dark magic, just so that the offspring would be more adaptable to dark magic... He could not imagine how much pain the child had suffered because of this, how many times he had to continue to endure the abuse from his closest relatives while crying for his parents' protection.

But the biggest problem is that he can't be sure if the child will follow in his father's footsteps and actively pursue the power of dark magic, and forcibly create descendants of dark magicians in the same inhuman way if the child finds out everything in the future.

Power is too important in this world; he dares not gamble on that one in ten thousand chance.

Wayne felt extremely uncomfortable under Elliott's scrutinizing gaze.

He understood that Elliott was probably thinking about how to deal with himself in the future, but from his perspective, it wasn't the right time to know those secrets.

“I will protect Chris,” he simply said.

“I promised her—my strength is her strength.”

Ignoring Elliott's unsettled expression, Wayne began to analyze his own thoughts. "I know you are very worried about Chris's future, Father, but she doesn't have to face the hardships ahead alone."

“By her side are you, her family, me, and many friends.”

Chris may seem silly at times, but Wayne never thought she was really not smart.

She was just... used to having someone solve her problems and was indulging in this kind of care and pampering.

“Even if she alone is not strong enough to withstand the risks, with the help of all of us, she will surely be able to live freely.”

Compared to Duke Elliott's fervent expectations of becoming parents, Wayne was more able to understand Chris's feelings.

Having finally transmigrated, everyone naturally comes here to make up for their shortcomings and realize their dreams, not to continue their escapades in another world because they didn't have enough fun in their previous life.

Therefore, he didn't think that Chris's tendency to be lazy or lack of ambition was a serious flaw.

Elliott stared at him silently for a while.

“Remember your promise,” he said in a deep voice. “This is a contract between the two of us men.”

Wayne's expression was firm: "Of course!"

……

As Wayne emerged from the study, he let out a soft sigh.

Although Elliott's expression was still somewhat troubled, he seemed to have relaxed his guard a little.

Having spent so long in the Duke of Winchester’s mansion, he may not be as carefree as he was at home in his previous life, but he has truly accepted the kindness of Elliot and Ashville in raising him.

—Another, more important reason is that, regardless of their status, those two are still his parents-in-law.

Therefore, he wouldn't be so ungrateful as to turn around and draw his sword against someone just because of the grudges from the previous generation, or even several times that, that this body was involved in.

Even if you understand this principle, the feeling of being suspected is still not pleasant.

"Wayne~" came a soft call from the side, "Wayne!"

Wayne turned his head and saw Chris hiding like a thief at the corner of the stairs, her hands gripping the wall, only her eyes showing.

"Come here quickly~"

She called out in a low voice, waving anxiously at him.

He glanced at the door he had just closed and walked towards Chris.

However, as soon as Wayne got close to Chris, she eagerly grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the study floor's corridor.

Dragging Wayne's arm, Chris strode briskly back to her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

"What were you two talking about just now?" Chris asked.

Before Wayne could answer, her next question immediately popped up.

"Are you hiding something from me? I have a feeling something's off about you guys." Chris glanced at Wayne suspiciously, her mood becoming agitated.

"When I ask you, you never tell me anything. You keep everything from me. How am I supposed to communicate with you?!"

"Don't worry, don't worry..."

Wayne pulled her to sit down on a nearby sofa chair. "Before I even started to say anything, you shut me down completely."

"Oh."