My older sister is a villainous rich girl

"Would you commit suicide to fulfill Archduke Laird's wish?"

"No." To think for even a second longer is to disrespect the question.

"That's settled then! Eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired," Wayne said irritably.

"Then could I..." Lawrence hesitated a little, "...go with you tonight..."

“No,” Wayne refused outright. “But you can share a room with Bishop Mellen so he can protect you. The royal retainers you brought with you also need to cooperate with his arrangements.”

If even the three enemies with a blood feud gather at Grand Duke Laird's house every day and nothing unusual happens from beginning to end, then the rumors of a curse will naturally be disproven.

Those who boast of the extraordinary power of the curse for various reasons would never admit that Archduke Laird's curse would also bully the weak and target the innocent and vulnerable who are powerless to protect themselves, because bullying the weak is the opposite of strength.

Lawrence's objections were forcibly suppressed.

That night, Wayne went straight to Archduke Laird's bedroom, while Lawrence and Bishop Mellen stayed in the empty room upstairs directly opposite.

This was the first time he had ever spent the night in Archduke Laird's bedroom.

Although he had effectively occupied the Radiant Palace, sleeping in the monarch's bed was still somewhat impolite to him. To avoid being criticized upon returning to the capital, Wayne had previously only stayed in the attic of the spire, where the view was better, offering a panoramic view of the entire city of Buffalo at night, as if the huge murals in the Radiant Palace's hall were displayed in three dimensions before his eyes.

But now, with the investigation into the curse underway, Grand Duke Laird's bedroom has become the most dangerous place in the entire Radiant Palace, and Wayne naturally takes the lead.

Chapter 723 The Form of the Curse

The tunnel entrance that was previously hidden under the bed has been sealed again, and Wayne has set up another layer of magic circle.

As for the mattress, bedding, and other daily necessities that Wayne brought, they were just temporarily laid on the floor and were only for emergency use, so they weren't anything fancy.

It must be said that experiencing the feeling of bare walls in such an extremely luxurious palace is quite a strange experience. Wayne lay on the mattress, which was not very soft and still had a firm floor, under the light of an ordinary candle, staring blankly at the intricate patterns on the ceiling.

Bishop Mellen wanted to live with him, but he refused.

Previously, under his own threats, Sandoval finally betrayed Count Sivers, revealing everything he knew. This naturally included the incident where Count Sivers and Sandoval were secretly talking in the back garden when Urban overheard them and suddenly attacked and killed them.

Count Sivers had always known about the underground passages in Buffalo, and he even actively participated in concealing them. As for silencing people and then pinning the blame on the Laird Curse, this wasn't the first time he'd done it; even Sandoval had handled it several times, including with one of Minister Franz's subordinates during his audit.

Wien then understood why Minister Franz had specifically sent Erben to carry out such an assassination. He must have known what was going on but couldn't find any evidence, and he simply couldn't swallow his anger.

The only frustrating thing is that Count Sivers and Sandoval didn't connect the dots at all with Minister Franz, and because they felt guilty, they directly regarded Urban as someone they had sent.

Wien tacitly accepted Sandoval's view and did not refute it.

But he still couldn't figure out whether Sievers had cooperated with the rebels.

What Earl Sivers told him back then didn't seem like a lie. Their naturally hostile stance left him no room to back down, and in fact, his open suppression of the rebels over the past few decades had indeed been quite brutal.

However, the noble class in Buffalo was far too corrupt, and the hatred towards the nobles left the common people and lower-ranking nobles with no other choice but to rebel. If the rebels succeeded, Count Sivers, who was in effect the governor of the southwest, would hardly survive and would most likely be hanged on the city gate, serving as a means for the long-exploited lower classes to vent their anger.

However, everything he did was indeed condoning the rebels. If he had intervened in time, the rebels would never have been able to grow and expand under the noses of all the nobles in Bufania.

Could it be that they are using their military power to their advantage?

If there had been no rebellion in the southwest, then naturally there would have been no series of financial expenditures and policy adjustments resulting from the suppression of the rebellion.

Sivers's position of absolute power, much like that of a governor, the funds that Buffalo intercepted annually for local stability maintenance, and his repeated appointments as aristocratic generals to quell rebellions—all these transfers of benefits would eventually form a solid group.

The Duke of Winchester, who was also his nominal grandfather, refused the real governorship because he did not want to be bound by the interest groups in this line of business.

Although the governor's power was later divided, creating several more positions for other nobles to share, Siphus, as the highest administrative official, still had the right to intervene in all aspects of government affairs. This meant that the actual situation in the southwest was difficult to hide from Siphus's eyes.

"Severus, oh Sirius, should I try to kill you before returning to the capital?"

Sandoval had already pledged his allegiance, on the condition that Sandoval help him fend off Siefus's revenge. If Siefus died, he could promote Sandoval to the new governor's position and then use Sandoval to install his own people.

However, since Sivers has already begun to be wary of him, he will naturally prepare in advance to deal with the power of the Duke of Winchester's mansion. Presumably, he has secretly rallied a lot of nobles to support him.

"call--"

The lamp next to the mattress suddenly went out.

It was only then that Wayne, who had been staring at the ceiling, suddenly noticed that the patterns seemed to be covered with a layer of dim red light, faintly outlining special shapes.

Wayne paused, then sat up again.

Suddenly, an ominous aura enveloped the entire room.

Quiet, utterly quiet. The chirping of insects outside the window, which could be heard just a short while ago, had completely fallen silent.

There was no magical aura present, but Wayne could definitely sense that something had been added to the room.

Mellen said that only a blessing from God could give form to a curse. Wayne suddenly realized that he had actually received a blessing.

Back in the Vatican, the former pope personally presided over a blessing ceremony for him, allowing him to "see" a huge, dark, empty, and unfathomable "eye".

He tried his best to recall how he felt at the time, and to imagine what it was like to look into that eye.

From blurry to clear, his perspective gradually shifted, as if he had become the owner of that empty eye, observing himself named [Wayne] from another angle with indifference and ruthlessness.

Then he saw it.

A dark red phantom stood beside him, still covering the candle with its hand, and black mist floated around the phantom.

What the heck?

It's a lie that Urban died from a curse, but it's true that the Palace of Light is indeed cursed.

The dark red phantom, with its blurred features, slowly reached out its hand towards Wayne.

Wayne suddenly spoke up: "Actually, I find it strange. When a person is alive, he can't change anything, so he can only die in grief and injustice. But why do people always fantasize that he can do things that he couldn't do when he was alive?"

The illusory hand that reached out stopped in mid-air.

"Man is the sum total of his social relations. When you are stripped of your true self because of resentment, and then sever all social relations because of the death of your true self, are you still Archduke Laird?"

The shadow's fluctuations intensified, making it even more ethereal, almost unable to maintain its human form.

Wayne sighed. “If you have any unfulfilled wishes, tell me, not as Duke Laird, but as yourself—the wish of a meaningless shadow dwelling in this world. Then I will decide whether to grant them or not.”

The curse of the Palace of Radiance has been around for so many years, but it has almost never really worked. Every time, it has been used as a scapegoat by rebels or people with ulterior motives like Count Siefus. It is quite tragic that the illustrious reputation of Archduke I Laird has been reduced to this state.

But what's even more tragic is that the afterimage in the curse isn't actually Grand Duke Laird himself, but merely a memory from a past moment. When Wayne gazed at it with the eyes of a god during meditation, he immediately realized this.

Chapter 724 Wish

The shadowy, indistinct features were facing Wayne; if it had eyes, this gesture would probably mean staring.

Black mist rose, and images flashed through Wayne's mind.

Those were memories that once belonged to Archduke Laird.

……

An impending storm relentlessly brought its oppressive force close to a hundred miles away, turning Buffalo's daytime as dark as night.

In the Radiant Palace, a middle-aged man with a deranged expression sat alone in his study, an expensive wool carpet covered with a jumble of papers. At first glance, he bore a striking resemblance to Wayne, except for a tuft of beard that made him appear much more mature.

He fiercely tore up another newly submitted battle report, the contents of which were now utterly meaningless.

Every decoration in his study was priceless, and he used to share his hard-earned collection with his friends and family with great joy. But those once close subordinates and relatives have now turned their backs on him one by one.

The army of the Kingdom of Lornes advanced unimpeded, leaving him with only his last guard.

Although few in number, these people had entrusted their lives to him, their loyalty was beyond question, and they were ready to follow him to the brink of death. They were just waiting for him to leave the Radiant Palace and lead them in a desperate battle.

But even if they manage to break out of Buffalo, where can they escape to afterward?

He did not lose to ordinary wars of annexation or invasion, but to light and justice!

"Dark magic... Dark magic... Hahahaha..."

The Papacy, in alliance with several powerful nations of the Western Continent, including Lornes and Stuart, launched a joint campaign against the Duchy of Milstein. After this battle, the Laird family was destined to become history.

The door to the study was pushed open.

"Didn't I say no one is allowed to come in?!" Archduke Laird roared angrily.

But upon seeing the figure behind the door, Archduke Laird's near-collapsed sanity instantly calmed down, and an indescribable sorrow welled up in his heart.

That was his wife, who had been with him for decades.

...She had never seen herself so disheveled and frantic; she must have been terrified these past few days.

With tears welling up in her eyes, the Grand Duchess, suppressing her grief, approached Archduke Laird.

“You must set off immediately, there can be no more delay.” She pulled the Grand Duke’s head into her arms and gave him a tight hug, but quickly let go.

"The officers of the Royal Guard are already waiting at the gate. You can lead them out through the tunnel first, while I will lead the loyal servants of the Radiant Palace to fight to the end and buy you the last bit of time."

"No!" Archduke Laird was completely taken aback by his wife's words, who was usually so engrossed in banquets and pleasures, and refused without a second thought.

"There is no other way!" the Grand Duchess said sorrowfully. "You are my husband, the monarch of this country, and the backbone of our most loyal soldiers. So you must live. Only if you live can the duchy have any hope of recovery."

Archduke Laird remained silent.

“You will die,” he said after a moment of silence in the study.

“I don’t care.” The Grand Duchess’s tone was almost pleading. “You must not give up… No one understands your heart better than me. You are the best monarch in the world and the best husband.”

"My only regret over the years has been not being able to have a lovely child with you, but now it seems that perhaps it was God's arrangement that our child was spared this calamity."

Archduke Laird closed his eyes in anguish.

"...Let them in to discuss their escape route."

The lady thought she had finally persuaded Archduke Laird, smiled with satisfaction, and turned to leave.

……

Wayne remained silent.

He already knew what happened next. Grand Duke Laird chose to commit suicide, but the Grand Duchess escaped safely under the escort of her guards. She went into hiding and gave birth to her posthumous son, Norman Laird, who took over the hopeless cause of restoring the kingdom.

It seems that Archduke Laird was in utter despair at the time and no longer wanted those who trusted him to die for him.

So, Archduke Laird's wish was for his wife to survive?

Wayne gave him a strange look.

No wonder the power of this curse is so weak; others might not even be able to detect it.

“I can move Grand Duke Laird’s remains to the Grand Duchess,” Wayne said. “I heard from the remaining people of the Duchy of Milstein that, in order to avoid suspicion, they fled to a very remote border region. The scenery there is beautiful, and the hillside where the Grand Duchess rests is covered with sunflowers.”

Although Grand Duke Laird deeply loved the Duchy of Milstein, he was also bound to this land for his entire life. By the time of his death, he had lost all his honor and wealth, and was buried in a desolate valley on the outskirts of Buffalo. No one knew that beneath that unremarkable little mound lay a noble and illustrious grand duke.

Even Duke Winchester dared not let outsiders know that he had collected the body of Archduke Laird, so naturally no one would go to pay their respects.

If I could be buried with the Grand Duchess again, even if no one knew, it would surely be some solace.

The shadow emitted another ripple, and the red light dissipated slightly, but did not disappear completely.

"Any other wishes?" Wayne couldn't help but complain. "I'm not trying to be mean, but how can you be so greedy? You go around scaring people with the name of a curse, but you can't do anything practical."

As soon as he finished speaking, the shadow lost its human form and dissipated into a wisp of black and red mist.

"..."

It's probably not that she couldn't handle the blow and her fragile heart broke.

However, he soon realized that the afterimage had other information it wanted to tell him.

The dark red mist rose slowly, drifting along the patterns on the ceiling, filling in the faintly visible designs.

"This is... a map?"

Wien had studied the maps of the Southwest Province in detail through multiple channels and was familiar with several geographical features. The pattern painted on the ceiling was clearly a diagram showing the route starting from Buffalo, crossing the mountains at the edge of the basin, and then leading to an island at sea through an outlet located in Lornes.

The map only lasted for a few minutes before the fog suddenly dissipated, this time completely disappearing.

The eerie silence that had enveloped the bedroom was shattered in an instant, as the chirping of cicadas and croaking of frogs returned from outside the window, as if a new life had been ushered in. Everything in the room remained the same, as if nothing had happened, except for the extinguished candlelight stubbornly trying to prove something.

Chapter 725 Investigation

Day two.

After a night of fear and trepidation, Lawrence, sporting dark circles under his eyes, approached Wayne.

"Wayne, I feel like something's not right here." He looked around suspiciously, like a thief.

"Something's not right?" Wayne got up early in the morning and started marking the map in his study.

Going to sea is no easy task. Lornes has traditionally been a landlocked country, relying mainly on land transportation for foreign trade. Although Lornes has a port, its naval strength is very weak.