My older sister is a villainous rich girl

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the outcome of the match was decided.

The final winner was contestant number 8, Jonia.

"Oh oh oh~" Many spectators on both sides of the stands stood up and cheered in unison.

Of course, there are also unlucky guys who lose money betting on horse races and sit in their seats with extremely ugly faces, not saying a word.

The harmonious coexistence of great joy and great sorrow in the same space evokes a profound sense of life's dramatic nature.

"Ah... Wayne! You've struck gold!"

Chris was overjoyed, as if the promising stock she had bought herself had suddenly become incredibly powerful.

Although a portion of the proceeds will be donated, a portion will ultimately remain; otherwise, it wouldn't have attracted so many commoners to participate. Many people entered the game with the expectation that "there will be a lot of high-ranking nobles attending this time, so the prize pool will be much larger."

Wayne wasn't surprised by the result. "Yeah, pretty lucky. But there must have been quite a few people who managed to win."

Off the field, Richard chatted amicably with the winner, Jonya, for a while. It was clear that Jonya had a very good impression of the prince, Richard.

But judging from His Majesty the King's expression on the platform, it was not very pleasant from beginning to end.

Wayne patted his trouser leg and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Splash—"

Water splashed from the sink, hitting the countertop and then sliding down the curved edge.

Wayne tidied himself up in front of the mirror and returned from the inner passageway towards the stands.

Just as the seating arrangements for the aristocratic and commoner sections were separate, even the toilets on both sides were not to be shared. The toilets in the aristocratic section were obviously luxurious and expensive, and there were hardly any people there.

Just as Wayne was secretly grumbling about this commonplace situation, Ge Li happened to come down from the stands and bumped into him.

"?" Wayne conveyed his confusion with his eyes.

But Ge Li clearly had no intention of explaining anything to him; he simply glanced at him and then walked past him.

Wayne glanced up at the stands, hesitated for two seconds, and then stepped back.

One is moving forward, the other backward, but they are both heading in the same direction.

In the corridor where no one else was around, the sound of their footsteps was strangely harmonious.

"Are you a pervert?" Ge Li suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Wayne was confused.

Ge Li stopped, turned around, and glared angrily at Wayne. "I'm going to the bathroom. What are you doing following me?"

Ah this...

Honestly, Wayne never expected this.

He just wanted to spend more time with Ge Li when he had some free time.

“I… I can stand at the door and act as a guard,” he blurted out.

Ge Li's face flushed red: "No need! You just stand here and don't move!"

Seeing her reaction, Wayne wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

"Okay, okay, I'll wait for you here. Go quickly and come back soon."

She rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, and then stomped away in her little leather shoes.

Whether it was his urging that worked or not, Ge Li really did return very quickly. Wayne couldn't help but wonder if she genuinely needed to use the restroom or was simply looking for a convenient excuse.

“Come over here and talk!” Wayne said. “I want to ask you what you found out from the Marquis O’Neill just now?”

Putting aside the fact that the two children's plight resonated with him, Wayne was already quite concerned about the rumored "curse" that the O'Neill family was burdened with.

According to Lawrence, the "curse" was a closely guarded secret passed down through generations of monarchs of the Principality of Milstein.

He hadn't paid much attention to this matter before, after all, the Duchy of Milstein had been destroyed for many years, and even the traces of its existence had been almost completely erased by the Lornes royal family.

But now...

Chapter 583 Today's Harvest

In a sense, this matter is closely related to his ancestors.

Wayne had no intention of going to claim a father based on the bloodline of this body, but he was eager to know what the "curse" was, how it differed from ordinary magic, and what its connection was with dark magic.

However, Ge Li was unaware of his true intentions and thought he was simply feeling sorry for the two children and was overflowing with sympathy.

“I didn’t expect that you would seem more real when you’re angry than usual,” Ge Li suddenly said.

A question mark slowly appeared above Wayne's head.

“Because…it’s rare to see you out of control of your emotions.” She walked slowly along the wall, speaking softly.

The two entered the storage area through another passageway; it was deserted. Several half-open rooms lined one side of the corridor. Wayne casually pushed one open, and it opened easily.

Inside, there was a pile of equipment that was not currently in use.

He turned his head to look at Ge Li and made conversation, saying, "Probably because there's a competition going on, no one is paying attention to this place right now, and they didn't even lock the door."

Ge Li hesitated slightly at the doorway, glancing at him with a hint of suspicion. "You...you didn't arrange this beforehand...you brought me here on purpose, did you?"

“…I really don’t have that.” Wayne was also a little embarrassed.

To be honest, he wasn't that thirsty.

Realizing she had been overthinking things, Ge Li suddenly felt inexplicably shy, and the atmosphere became strange even though there were no outsiders around.

She walked into the storeroom with a somewhat stiff expression.

"Just now, I only took the opportunity to talk to Marquise O'Neill and listened to her vent some of her grievances." She first issued a disclaimer, "But in the end, this is just Marquise O'Neill's opinion, and it may differ from reality. You should judge carefully."

Wayne listened attentively and nodded.

"Marquis O'Neill participated in the Battle of Brumaire. As the captain of the advance team that pursued Grand Duke Milstein, he witnessed the scene of Grand Duke Laird's suicide," Goethe stated in a flat tone.

For her, it was just a past event that had nothing to do with her.

"For the young O'Neill at the time, forcing the enemy monarch to commit suicide was originally a great honor, and the O'Neill family received a very high reward for it. However, later, as his children began to suffer from health problems, rumors about a 'curse of national destruction' began to circulate."

At this point, Ge Li paused.

"Are you sure you want to get involved in this? Marquis O'Neill doesn't seem to have a very close relationship with your family," she asked.

Wayne thought for a moment and said, "Although my intervention may not necessarily change anything, I want to try my best for a better outcome."

Seeing his firm attitude, Ge Li continued speaking.

"Lady O'Neill didn't say much, but she complained to me about the 'curse' from her own perspective... From her tone, I could tell that she resented the Marquis O'Neill for not telling her about the fact that the Duke of Laird had made a curse. It wasn't until after the children's misfortunes happened that the rumors reached her ears from the outside world that she found out."

Goethe sighed, “Some people firmly believe that the ‘curse’ is real, while others think that these rumors are just baseless speculations, or if they exist, they are nothing more than the powerless wailing of a monarch before his death.”

"But the truth is that Marquis O'Neill's children are indeed in poor health, and Marquis O'Neill himself has faded from the center of power in the kingdom as a result. Those who know about this are basically unwilling to have any further dealings with his family."

The storage room was so quiet that you could hear the two of them breathing.

She paused. "Madame O'Neill believes that Marquis O'Neill deceived her back then, otherwise she wouldn't have faced such a fate."

"In addition, she has been trying her best to enable these two children to live like normal people for many years, and her patience has long been exhausted, so she is not very nice to them."

Wayne slowly exhaled.

He didn't know how to approach this situation.

Fortunately, few people knew the secret of his identity. Since Duke Elliott had already taken control of Norman Laird, he still had room to maneuver according to his own conscience for the time being.

"It seems that to resolve this matter, we'll have to get Marquis O'Neill to handle it himself..." he muttered to himself.

Even if Mrs. O'Neill's emotional detachment is understandable, her behavior undoubtedly condones, or even helps, outsiders to harm her children.

As the children of a marquis, Roy and Vivian didn't even own a single decent piece of clothing befitting their status, nor did they have the opportunity to eat the pastries commonly served at banquets. Furthermore, they were likely subjected to coercive measures by the servants, to the point that the two siblings were terrified of servants at the mere mention of their names…

From any perspective, Roy and Vivian are not children completely unable to communicate normally. It's truly outrageous that they have to endure this treatment when their parents are right there with them.

Is it because, as parents, they have already given up on these two children?

In giving up hope, one also abandons the responsibilities one bears.

“I just want to remind you not to get too involved in other people’s family affairs,” Ge Li said in a less than enthusiastic tone. “Behind every family, there are some very sensitive secrets, and sometimes it’s better not to know them than to know them.”

This is based on her own experience.

Now that she has successfully gained some power within the Edgeworth family, Miss Gehry is no longer as naive as the little girl who used to sit on the steps and cry.

Wayne first hummed in agreement, then realized what he meant and asked, "Are you worried about me?"

"No."

Ge Li vehemently denied it.

After carefully observing her impeccable demeanor, Wayne found no flaws.

But he had almost gotten used to her saying one thing and meaning another, so he didn't pursue the matter any further.

"—Anyway, thank you, I will keep your reminder in mind."

……

Marseille has finally come to an end, and of the three members of the Winche family who went out today, only one can be said to have returned with a full load.

As soon as Chris got home, she excitedly told her mother about Wayne's earnings, as if she herself had earned a large sum of money.

Then, as expected, Wayne received a compliment from Mrs. Ashville, who praised him as if he were a child: "Wow~ Wayne is great! To celebrate today's success, let's have an extra meal tonight!"

Although Wayne felt a little embarrassed by the mushy gesture, he could only put on a very happy face to make his mother happy.

"That's wonderful! I'll have a premium steak!"

Chapter 584 Loyalty to the King

After having dinner with his family in a warm and pleasant atmosphere, Wayne returned to his study.

Soon after, Chris came looking for her.

"Damn it! I was thinking of asking Ge Li about Roy and Vivian, but she disappeared as soon as the competition ended." She muttered to herself as she closed the door.

...That's probably just because she felt that the message had already been conveyed.

Wayne said nonchalantly, "It's alright, I'm planning to find an opportunity to pay a visit to the O'Neill family."

Although the Marseille match is over, its aftermath will clearly not subside so quickly. Richard brought Lawrence along this time, and after leaving the field, he didn't even bother to celebrate, going straight to supervise the progress of Bulwer and Chairman Harold's investigation.

Wien, who remained behind, could only sense that the king was in a very bad mood and could hardly maintain even a polite smile.

The king's ambiguous attitude toward the matter makes one wonder if the mastermind behind the poisoning is connected to His Majesty himself.

However, these matters currently have no impact on Wayne; even if the king is in a bad mood, it's unlikely to affect him. Therefore, he merely exchanged a few pleasantries with Marquis O'Neill, casually mentioning that he had seen his wife and children.

After a moment of surprise, Marquis O'Neill responded somewhat awkwardly with a couple of words.

It's clear that he rarely talks about his children with others, to the point that you can't find any suitable topics about children in his mouth at all.

In the end, all he did was apologize, saying that Roy and the others had "caused trouble for President Wayne."

Wayne always felt that although the Marquis and his wife kept apologizing for troubling others, in reality... they were more like complaining about the trouble their child had caused them.

"Eh?"

Chris was slightly surprised by his words, but then seemed to understand something. "That's true... there's no harm in going to take a look."

She raised her chin and demanded, "Then I want to go too! Don't even think about leaving me behind and running off to play alone!"

“This isn’t a fun trip, it’ll be very boring,” Wayne said.

His main concern was that he didn't want Chris to realize that he was intentionally trying to find out some information.

If Chris weren't around, he could easily pull Duke Elliott along and raise his banner without worrying about being betrayed by his own allies.

"I'll bring back all the latest news from here to you, sweetie~" Wayne coaxed gently.

Seeing that he said that, Chris did not insist.

"On the other hand, we can't help those two children much with their future. We still need to make sure they have the most basic life skills." She sat down in the chair next to Wayne, slumped over the desk in distress.

"But we don't know how old their minds are, or whether they will have a chance to recover in the future."

Then, a thought struck her. "How about we ask Tasia to take a look next time? We might as well try anything, maybe it'll work?"