My older sister is a villainous rich girl

"—Go to the city guard and bring back the truth."

Wayne remained silent for a moment.

After a long pause, he asked softly, "The truth? If the final result is not ideal, or even if its release could cause chaos, would you still seek such a 'truth'?"

In his instructions that morning, Duke Elliott was clearly implying that he shouldn't delve into the details and should just accept whatever people said.

Wayne believed that with Elliott's keen intuition, he must have sensed something inside to specifically remind him of this.

“Why not?” Harold countered.

"Advances in magical studies stem from the pursuit of truth."

He smiled as he spoke. "Actually, there is a secret room in Qingxi Academy, which only the chairman of the academy's board of directors is qualified to enter."

Harold spoke in an extremely casual tone, revealing a secret that seemed very important.

“It contains many rare books and ‘truths’ that are not allowed to be known to the outside world. If you agree to be my special envoy, I can make an exception and let you in to have a look.” He tried hard to arouse Wayne’s curiosity.

But compared to any other thought, Wayne's first reaction was doubt.

"Do you think it would be so easy for me to sneak into a secret room that only the chairman of each council can enter?"

He couldn't help but think to himself, "Could it be that they just threw together a random room to fool me?"

“How is this considered cheating?” Harold protested. “This is with my permission as the owner; you're walking in openly with the key, okay? Just tell me, are you going or not!”

"Don't go."

Wayne stood up, dusted himself off, and prepared to leave. "I don't have any secrets I particularly want to know."

But Harold had come prepared, and with just one sentence, he made Harold freeze in his tracks: "—Even if it's a secret about light magic and dark magic, you don't want to know?"

Wayne's leg, which he had stepped out with, simply wouldn't land.

……

City Guard Headquarters.

Bulwer was feeling very anxious.

He knew that doing this would offend many people, but he now had no choice but to stand against them. In particular, the fact that he had made such a mess of the case was clearly a harsh warning to him.

While dealing with his tail, that person was also subtly reminding him that everything within the city guard was still under his control.

Bulwer now only hopes that Miss Echoes has truly revealed her true stance to Prince Richard... at least to let him understand that her heart has always been with him, but she has no choice in the matter!

Richard sat expressionlessly at the head of the table, listening to the ramblings of the guards below.

Yes, he knew these people were lying. In fact, everyone present knew it was a ridiculous lie.

But no one dared to expose it.

Even though everyone was saying the same thing, he couldn't hear a single voice that came from his own heart.

“Where is the cell where Peggy was held? Take me to see it,” Richard said, his eyes closed and a little tired.

He was not familiar with this person named Peggy.

On the one hand, he was his classmate; on the other hand, he was imprisoned only at his strong request.

—Mistakes should be punished.

This statement is certainly not wrong.

But the punishment I want him to receive doesn't mean taking his life!

Is this a "lesson" for me to keep pushing things to the bottom of things?

Richard clenched his fists tightly.

“Uh… Your Highness Richard, the sanitary conditions in the prison are appalling; it’s not a place for someone of your stature…” Bulwer struggled to find an excuse to refuse. “Besides, the locks have been broken by the prisoners, and no other valuable clues have been left—”

As Prince Richard's expression grew increasingly grim, Bulwer inwardly groaned.

He had never felt that this job was so hard.

Perhaps his heartfelt prayers finally won the mercy of God, for a guard suddenly entered the meeting room, slightly easing the suffocating atmosphere.

"Your Highness Richard, Lord Bulwer! The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qingxi Academy has sent a special representative to request participation in the investigation of the unexplained death of a student within the city guard."

Before Bulwer could even catch his breath, he was put on the hot seat again.

“Wait, what does ‘died without cause within the city guard’ mean?” He blurted out, then realized that getting angry at the guard who was just delivering the message was pointless.

Trying hard to suppress his anxiety, Bulwer looked at Prince Richard, who was in a dominant position beside him, and hesitated to speak.

“Let him in,” Richard said.

Chapter 593 [The Middleman] Peggy

Passing through the city guard's long corridor, whose overall architectural style deliberately emphasizes majesty and solemnity, Wayne waited outside the meeting hall at the guards' request.

He rarely came to the city guard headquarters, even though his other identity often operated under the guise of the city guard.

Compared to military forces, whose every move is highly sensitive, having the city guards handle the security affairs of the capital is obviously more flexible and convenient in terms of methods.

However, such convenience comes at a price.

That is, anyone who wants to stay here long-term will find it difficult to avoid dealing with various influential figures in the capital. Once these interactions increase, compromises will naturally become more frequent due to various factors.

He didn't have to wait long before the guard who had gone in to deliver the message opened the door again, bowed respectfully, and invited him in.

Wayne calmed down slightly from the sudden surge of emotion in his heart, turned around, and stepped inside.

In the spacious conference room, besides Richard and Bulwer sitting at the head of the table, there were several unfamiliar faces.

"I hope I haven't disturbed you all."

Looking around at everyone present, Wayne spoke calmly.

When Richard saw him, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but then he seemed to realize something and finally looked relieved.

“Wayne, you’ve come at the right time! I was just about to go check on the cells, we can go together.” He stood up.

Bulwer was startled and, before he could even greet Wayne, hurriedly got up to stop him.

"Your Highness Richard, wait! This is not in accordance with procedure!"

Upon seeing Bulwer move, the other adjutants and guards in the conference room could no longer remain seated and all rose from their posts.

The way the group positioned themselves subtly suggested that they were surrounding Wayne and Richard.

Wayne looked around and smiled casually, "What? Is there something you're trying to hide from me and Richard? -- I have to make this clear from the start: I've come here specifically on behalf of the entire Qingxi Academy to clarify the truth."

“If the incident is truly unrelated to any human factors within the city guards, and is entirely due to the detainee’s own fault, then of course I will not make things difficult for you all…” He paused here.

"However, if any student of Qingxi Academy is harmed, I and the academy behind me will never tolerate it!"

His tone was not intense, but extremely firm.

Having no choice but to confront the conflict head-on, Bulwer's headache only worsened.

"It's not that I intentionally tried to stop you, but the prison is full of people, and you two are of high status, so I was afraid you might be offended..." His excuse was hardly clever.

"Hmm? Is this underestimating Prince Richard and my ability to handle things, Lord Bulwer?"

Wayne glanced at him and said slowly, "The Wincher family was forged in blood and fire to successfully establish a foothold in Lornes. Do you really think that the descendants of the Wincher family have degenerated to the point that they dare not even see prisons and criminals?"

"No, no, no, I absolutely did not mean that!"

Bulwer didn't want to be branded with a stigma of disrespecting nobles.

Using a fabricated identity as a nobleman from out of town, deliberately created by the rebels, he already faced significant obstacles in socializing in the capital and was frequently met with cold shoulders. If he were to completely antagonize the kingdom's most powerful nobles, the situation he had painstakingly built up would likely fall into a dead end in an instant.

Just as Bulwer hesitated, a guard brought new information.

"Lord Bulwer, the search results are in!"

Holding a document in a file bag, the guard strode forward and handed it to Bulwer.

After taking out the documents and flipping through them for a while, Bulwer's solemn expression finally seemed to relax a little.

"Gentlemen, we have obtained two pieces of evidence that strongly support the claim that the prisoner Peggy deserved to die. Let's take a look at them first."

Richard exchanged a glance with Wayne, then walked straight up to Bulwer without comment and took the so-called "evidence" from his hand.

Wayne, somewhat puzzled, also stepped forward to watch.

One of them is a record of improper gains obtained by Page through various means.

As a student at Seiki Academy and having always been a social person, he had many opportunities to come into contact with people from different social classes.

Perhaps he was too clever for his own good; he keenly perceived that this stark "gap" could be used to gain some special benefits for himself, those that operated on the edge of a gray area.

There are always some things that people who are concerned about their status cannot personally show up and do.

They need a better tool, a middleman, to do the work for them.

Peggy used this to become a "friend" acknowledged by some high-ranking nobles.

With this convenient "friendship" relationship, he would carefully record and arrange the needs of each nobleman he successfully curried favor with, and in turn, use this opportunity to control nobles and commoners of lower rank than himself.

For example, under the guise of "elevating one's social class," one might entice classmates who are of lower nobility to be introduced to the extravagant circles of children of high-ranking nobles as a background figure.

Once these classmates develop a yearning for that kind of extravagant lifestyle, they become his henchmen, carrying out tasks for the nobles and occasionally for himself.

For the sons of noble families, they didn't care who ultimately got the job; they only cared that their enjoyment wasn't disturbed.

All you need to do is find such a person, and then hint to yourself what you want to "play" next, and he will naturally arrange everything perfectly.

They got happiness, and Peggy got money.

This model is both convenient and safe for many people. As a result, Peggy gradually became a popular "middleman," expanding her own network while doing things for others.

Wayne glanced at the written record in Richard's hand for a short while before turning his attention to another piece of evidence.

This appears to be Peggy's private notebook, written entirely in the first person and filled with a great deal of psychological activity, but it always glosses over the details of key events.

It also contains many of his complaints and even insults about certain privileged children.

Skimming over the meaningless groans, Wayne quickly found the more crucial information.

"...I just want to make a name for myself! After graduating from Seiki Academy, with so many friends and so many connections, I'm sure I'll achieve great things!"

"...Maybe I did some bad things...In those guys' eyes, 'people' are just tools for amusement, and they enjoy seeing a person at their lowest point."

“Recently, I have been going to church every week to ask for God’s blessing. Can someone like me go to heaven after I die?”

"Those guys seem to have it pretty good every day. If I could just be like them, I could live a happy life too, right?"

Although it is only fragmented information, when connected with another record, it is not difficult to see the process of a person's soul gradually degenerating.

Chapter 594 Wayne Chooses to Split Up

After seeing this "evidence," Richard remained silent for a long time.

Some of the people involved were actually friends or classmates I knew, or even had good relationships with...

Indeed, after all, how big is the entire capital city really? By going through a few twists and turns, one can always get connected with the top noble families.

Richard put down his notes and let out a long breath.

They always act very friendly in front of me, making it hard to believe that they have this side to them.

But he knew that the disgusting "fun" written in the record was not false.

"Indeed, based on what is written in this record: deliberately recruiting people for gambling and deceiving classmates, using debt as a threat to control others, and even coercing and enticing children from poor families to fall into an abyss from which there is no escape... if these actions were to be convicted, the death penalty would be sufficient."

There are many things that are so difficult to even state in words.

Richard then glossed over the matter and focused on the current approach.

"—But he wasn't imprisoned for those crimes, was he?"

“He can die, but only after his crime has been confirmed. Furthermore, all the other individuals listed in this record should be brought in for investigation.”

Richard remained lucid, his gaze fixed intently on Bulwer.

"Instead of suddenly announcing his intention to escape from prison without any explanation, and then trying to justify the fact that he had already killed him on the spot."

Wayne frowned, deep in thought.

If the evidence on the table were presented to Chairman Harold, the academy probably wouldn't be able to say much about Peggy's death.