My older sister is a villainous rich girl

But he dared not say these words to the king, nor to Duke Winchester.

I can't very well confront them and ask why it's my child who's cursed and not theirs, can I?

If that were the case, the O'Neill family would probably be expelled from the Kingdom of Lornes the very next day.

Therefore, he could only bury all his doubts in his heart, trying to convince himself that it was just an accidental misfortune while continuing to search for a way to save his family's fate.

Unexpectedly, even though the relationship between the two sides had become distant, the Duke of Winchester's heir still remembered the O'Neill family, who had once made great contributions to his family, and brought a turning point to his entire family...

Marquis O'Neill looked at Wayne, his eyes full of anticipation.

Clearly, he greatly admired and trusted the handsome young man in front of him.

"Marquis O'Neill, have there been any cases similar to Roy's in your family or your wife's family before?" Just in case, Wayne asked one more question.

Marquis O'Neill answered affirmatively, "No."

"Not only have we never encountered anyone with mental insane, but we haven't even encountered any ordinary people who don't know magic."

Wayne nodded. "I understand your situation. I will report back to my father truthfully when I get back."

"However, the matter of the curse may need to be verified through other means to be confirmed."

He could sense that Marquis O'Neill harbored resentment towards the children's current situation, but dared not express it openly. It was precisely because of Marquis O'Neill's inner resentment and unwillingness that he was able to obtain the information he sought.

Are "curses" and dark magic the same thing? Actually, even Wayne can't say for sure right now.

But it doesn't matter if he doesn't know; at least there's someone around who can help him make a judgment.

……

Seonggye Academy, Library.

"Huh? This weekend?"

Tasia looked up in confusion at Wayne, who was resting his hands on the front desk.

“Yes.” Wayne took the opportunity of returning the book to arrange for Tasia to meet Roy and his sister.

He glanced around, leaned forward slightly and whispered in Tasia's ear, "I recently heard something about dark magic."

Upon hearing this opening line, Tasia was taken aback.

"Wait, wait a minute." She stood up a little flustered and said to Wayne, "Wait here for me for a moment. I'll go ask the librarian for leave. We can talk somewhere quiet later."

Before Wayne could stop her, she hurriedly ran towards the lending area.

Wayne was left with a somewhat bewildered expression, looking around the empty library hall and thinking: Isn't it quiet enough here?

However, if we could find a more convenient place to talk, that wouldn't be so bad.

A short while later, Tasia came out.

"Okay." She seemed relieved. "The librarian has given me the day off. Let's go outside."

Wayne found it a bit funny. "Is it really that big of a deal? I can actually finish this in a few words in no time."

Tasia shook her head.

"Even if you're just doing a part-time job here, you still need to show a serious and focused work attitude..."

Chapter 587 Be careful!

Tasia has her own set of behavioral norms.

“I’m very interested in what you’ve said, Wayne, and I’d like to know more details. But if someone sees me chatting with my classmates while I’m working, they’ll inevitably think I’m slacking off, which will negatively impact their reading experience.”

Goodness, now that you mention it, I feel a little guilty for bothering you while you were working.

Wayne scratched his cheek, feeling a little ashamed.

"I'm sorry, maybe I should have come to see you later."

“It’s alright.” Tasia led him out of the library through a side door. “Alright, nobody usually goes out of their way to come here, so we can continue now.”

Clearly, she took the information Wayne revealed very seriously.

"Ahem." Wayne organized his thoughts and then revealed part of the difficulties facing the O'Neill family after slightly embellishing his explanation.

“Rumors from the outside world, and even from Marquis O’Neill himself, suggest that this is a curse,” he said softly. “But I think that if a ‘curse’ is a new magical spell, it is almost impossible for it to arise out of thin air; it must have its underlying logic.”

"And this underlying logic is very likely to be dark magic."

He seemed completely unaware of his blood connection to the Laird family, calmly recounting the information he possessed.

“If it really is another manifestation of dark magic, even if the church can’t find anything, with your light magic, Tasia, you will definitely be able to expose it.”

Hearing his words of such trust, Tasia's expression was complicated.

"I... I'm not that strong. Dark magic is good at concealment, and with my current strength, I might not be able to find any clues."

Like the "seed" inside Wayne's body, he just couldn't find it, right?

Wayne reassured them nonchalantly, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you don't find anything, just treat it as a trip. In a way, this is also helping those two kids eliminate a potential problem."

Having come this far, Tasia simply couldn't refuse.

"I understand. Just let me know when you're ready to leave," she agreed.

"Thanks! To repay you for taking the time to help, how about I treat you to something to eat?" Wayne suggested happily.

“No need for food…” Tasia hesitated. “If it’s alright, Wayne, could you promise me something?”

Oh... how come you've learned this move too, Tasia?

Wayne's smile froze for a second. "Are you going to write another blank check that you'll only tell me the contents of later?"

"No."

Tasia's eyes were so pure that they seemed untouched by any impurities.

Under that clear gaze, Wayne felt that it was incomprehensible for him to have any doubts about her.

"Alright, alright," Wayne conceded. "I'd sign even a blank check."

Tasia pursed her lips, suppressing a smile.

"It's a promise, no backing out allowed."

Now that he had made the promise, Wayne naturally wouldn't hesitate any longer and firmly stated, "Okay, I won't go back on my word."

Looking into his face, Tasia said very clearly, word by word: "I want you to promise that you will never intentionally come into contact with dark magic, nor will you ever try to use it."

"...I make this promise as your friend, Tasia Louis. And as your dearest friend, I will offer you the utmost support no matter what difficulties you face; if either of us breaks this promise, then we have betrayed this precious friendship."

When she said this, her expression became serious.

Wayne paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly.

"I know, I'm a magical genius! Even if I'm just an ordinary earth magic user, my strength will at most be only slightly weaker than yours in the future. Dark magic has absolutely no appeal to me."

If we take into account Aikos's magical girl powers, then dark magic, which is obviously a crooked and evil method, has no chance of winning.

Seeing his easygoing demeanor, Tasia seemed much more at ease.

"That's good." She breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you… but rather, there has been such a mess in the church before,” Tasia said. “The church’s internal documents record an incident in which a high-ranking member of the Vatican was corrupted by dark magic.”

"That bishop was a highly valued talent of the church, but because he craved powerful magic, he secretly colluded with the evil forces of the time and awakened dark magic."

"Later, his secret was exposed, and the Pope personally ordered the entire Papal Inquisition to execute him in one fell swoop."

Tasia, intentionally or unintentionally, reminded him of the terrible consequences of awakening dark magic.

However, for Wayne, who had no such intention, it always felt like she was scaring a child by saying, "If you don't behave, the police will take you away."

"Hmm, dark magic is really dangerous. It seems the church has been investigating related clues all along," he remarked casually.

"Yes."

Seemingly realizing something, Tasia suddenly added, "By the way, if you come across any clues in the future, just remember to tell me first, and I will decide whether it is necessary to notify the church."

“Hmm…” She hesitated for two seconds, then came up with a less conspicuous excuse. “I’m doing this to avoid mobilizing a large force due to misjudgment. There is no tool in the church that is more efficient at identification than my light magic.”

Although what she said made a lot of sense, Wayne was not fooled by her high-sounding words.

— Clearly, they were afraid that their "bomb" would be detected by the church and defused at a designated location.

"No problem! Now that I've found a clue, I'll come back to you right away, won't I?"

Wayne pretended not to notice her ulterior motives at all.

After agreeing on a time, Wayne waved goodbye to Tasia with a bright smile: "I'm going home now, Tasia, don't stay at school too late."

"Ok."

After watching him leave, Tasia turned back into the library.

Although it felt like we only talked for a very short while, it was actually almost closing time.

At the front desk, a middle-aged woman wearing square-framed glasses was sitting in the same spot where Tasia had been, organizing documents.

"Have you finished whispering with your classmate?"

Hearing Tasia's footsteps, she joked without looking up.

"No, no~" Tasia quickly waved her hand, somewhat embarrassed, and explained, "It's a very important matter."

"Tasia, although it seems I shouldn't be saying this to you, I still want to remind you to be careful of those seemingly dazzling noblemen," the intellectual woman suddenly warned.

Chapter 588 Friends and Foxes

Tasia looked somewhat embarrassed, unsure how to respond.

"We're really just friends..."

She had never truly made a close friend before.

The word "friend" is more like a term found in books or in other people's stories.

But Wayne and Chris fulfilled all her expectations of the word "friends," bringing immense warmth to her world.

Therefore, we must protect these hard-won friends.

After multiple confirmations, Wayne is currently not affected by dark magic.

Even if there were some hidden dangers in him in the past, as long as he takes proper precautions, he will not be controlled by dark magic.

Tasia made up her mind in secret.

……

“Wayne, the person who drugged Jonia’s horse has been taken into custody by the city guard.”

After a class, on the way to the practical class area, Lawrence told Wayne the news.

To this, Wayne simply said, "That's great, it's just a pity about his studies."

"Yes, he should be locked up for at least three months. Richard and I have investigated thoroughly. It turns out that a long-established equestrian club noticed Jonya's exceptional skills before the competition and feared that his participation would push their own riders out of the top spots. That's why they dared to collude with the staff inside the equestrian club."

Lawrence took a deep breath and said, "Now, all of these people involved have received their due punishment."

"Then how did this involve people from the academy?" he asked.

"This plan was devised by the owner of the equestrian club. He originally intended to hire professionals to handle it, but he first handed the plan over to his subordinates to implement, and then his subordinates continued to subcontract it layer by layer, until it finally ended up in the hands of a middleman in the academy," Lawrence said speechlessly.

"The middleman, greedy for the reward, thought of a classmate who was in dire need of money, so he made an agreement with him. He also demanded that the reward be reduced to 80% of the original amount for the person he introduced, with the remaining 20% ​​as his commission as the middleman."

He clapped his hands together, palms facing up. "And then, it turned out like this."

"Hmm." Wayne nodded, indicating that he understood.

While this explanation makes sense, it still feels a bit forced.

However, for most people, this should be the best outcome. As long as those important figures are not involved, things can always be kept under control.

"By the way, how did Richard come up with the idea of ​​going to the stables to check at that time?"

Besides, if you're going to do something so shady, you should at least try to avoid being seen by outsiders, right? The fact that they didn't even leave a lookout at the door is incredibly careless.

Lawrence was taken aback when he heard the question.

"He didn't say."