My older sister is a villainous rich girl

But is this the real her?

Wayne always subconsciously avoided the question, just as deep down he didn't want Chris to know his secret of also being a time traveler. It seemed that as long as he did so, he wouldn't have to worry about the world deviating from the script.

Both of them wore masks, and neither of them needed to delve into the other's true secrets. That was fine.

He only wanted to be Wayne in this world, and correspondingly, she only needed to be Chris in this world. The past would never come back, so everything in the other world was no longer important and could be forgotten.

But past experiences have shaped the present, and all those memories have irrevocably left deep imprints on the soul. At certain moments, one may suddenly feel out of place in this world, as if no one can understand one's situation.

Except for Chris.

But because he understood the other person's situation so well, he was unable to take off his mask.

Because they are afraid that the other person will see their naked true feelings.

"before?"

Wayne asked a question that was ambiguous.

"Ah! No, I mean, I've grown up now, so I'm a lady who can handle confessions that used to leave me speechless."

"puff--"

"Hey, what are you laughing at all of a sudden! I'm serious!" Chris said, annoyed and embarrassed.

“No, no, I just think Miss Chris is very cute.” Wayne patted his trouser leg and stood up. “Maybe I will change too, or rather, grow up.”

One day, he will definitely find a reasonable solution to the problem. One day...

in the afternoon.

In the office of Harold, the school's chairman, Wayne met Professor Conley, who had just finished compiling a series of records on the use of magical items.

“Wayne! My prized student, you’ve come at the perfect time. It’s time to study the future direction of our school.” Professor Conley sat casually in Harold’s leather chair, propping his legs up on the gleaming desk without any hesitation.

"...A school of thought? You mean, a group of only three people, including myself and Senior Sister Olive?" Wayne was always speechless at Professor Conley's rambling. "Where is Chairman Harold? I was about to report to him on the progress of the Mage Tower."

"Him? He's been having a passionate affair with his assistant lately." Professor Conley scoffed dismissively. "I don't know what that old geezer saw in her, but she's been by his side for over ten years and hasn't given up. Harold used to act all high and mighty, saying he didn't want to waste her youth, but now he's finally given in."

Although it sounded like a merciless mockery of Harold, Wayne inexplicably sensed a sour taste in it.

"So, Professor, what about you? Have you settled down regarding your marriage?"

Conley, as if struck on a sore spot, immediately bristled and glared. "Listen to what you're saying! It's completely upside down! It should be me, your teacher, who's concerned about your life's most important matters."

Wayne asked in surprise, "I was just asking casually, why are you suddenly so agitated?"

With no hint of feigned innocence in his expression, Professor Conley was caught between a choked breath and a hard swallow.

"...Hmph, I've just been so engrossed in my research that I haven't had time to deal with those personal matters." He forced a defense, "Women only slow down my meditation! Wayne, as my disciple, you should also learn from my focus."

Haha, am I going to learn from you and after every theatrical performance I have to bother the female lead hoping to get to know her privately?

"Yes, yes, I'll understand." Wayne gave a few perfunctory replies and prepared to slip away.

"Wait, don't rush off. I'm serious about forming a school of thought." Conley quickly jumped off the chairman's throne and blocked Wayne's path. "Come, come, sit down. Let's sit down and talk."

Without a word, he pressed Wayne down onto the sofa in the living room, as if afraid he would run away.

"Think about it, once the mage tower is completed, there will be many mages exchanging ideas inside, including some powerful ones."

"Of course, the Mage Tower was established to provide a platform for all mages to communicate freely."

“That’s it! This is the perfect opportunity for our school to make a name for itself! With fame comes credibility, with credibility comes the market, and with the market comes money!” Conley was ambitious, his eyes burning with desire, his mind filled with dreams of a bright future.

"..."

What you said makes a lot of sense.

“So, in the first step of gaining recognition, I need your help, my most outstanding disciple!” He looked intently at Wayne.

If you hadn't started flattering me today, I might have believed you more.

"You didn't secretly sell off the experimental subjects while your senior sister was away from the capital, did you?" Wayne was highly suspicious. "Or is there some kind of deficit you urgently need to cover?"

"Of course not!" Conley said guiltily. "What kind of person do you take me for? I just happened to buy some extra research materials recently and am a little short on cash. Once my product is launched, my cash flow will improve immediately."

“I hope you’re telling the truth,” Wayne said. “Tell me, what do you need me to do?”

"Actually, it's not difficult. Didn't you bring a lot of my equipment with you on your trip to the Southwest? Now we have reliable operating records. By leveraging the exchange platform of the Mage Tower and promoting it in the name of our school, we're sure to attract many customers to purchase it."

"Row."

The two had just given each other a high five to indicate that they were happy with their collaboration when Chairman Harold, beaming, slammed the door open and strode in.

"Conley, Wayne, good afternoon!"

It's like he's become a completely different person.

The former chairman of the board, Harold, was a lazy bum who couldn't muster any enthusiasm for anything. But now, this spirited... well, middle-aged man, has a completely new aura, and you can't tell at all of his previous listless appearance.

Is this the power of love?! It's terrifying.

“Oh, right, Wayne, I just happened to give you the invitation.” Harold walked briskly to his desk and took an invitation from the drawer.

Wayne took it and saw that it clearly bore the names of Chairman Harold and Assistant Beatrice.

"Ahem..." Harold's face showed a slight hint of shyness. "After all, I'm getting on in years, it's time for me to remarry and start a new family."

Chapter 734 Disguise

"wedding?"

Chris's expression was playful.

Although the chairman claimed he didn't want to be too extravagant, social obligations were unavoidable in a place like the royal capital, so in the end he still invited a large number of guests, making it known to everyone in the academy.

"A bunch of us were betting on when the chairman and his assistant would officially announce their relationship, but we got a wedding invitation right away. That's efficient!"

She fiddled with the invitation in her hand, saying, "Anyway, we're still settling down this year, so I won the bet."

“You guys have a lot of free time,” Wayne retorted. “So, what’s the bet?”

"The wager is that the loser has to add the word 'quack' to the end of every sentence he says on a designated day, just like a frog."

—And so Wayne met Miss Gothic at the wedding, who always ended every sentence with a "quack."

"Don't push your luck, Chris!" Gore exclaimed angrily, her face turning red, before adding a barely audible interjection, "...quack."

Wayne's abs were taut, and he was struggling to suppress his laughter, so he could only look away.

“You have to accept the consequences of your bet, that’s what you said yourself.” Chris covered her mouth with her wooden folding fan, but the mockery in her eyes was impossible to hide. “Weren’t you so confident that I would definitely lose? If you hadn’t come to me, I wouldn’t have bothered bullying a little girl. Ha, how naive.”

These words clearly dealt a devastating blow to Ge Li; her face flushed red, then turned pale, then red again—a truly spectacular sight.

Seeing the situation was turning sour, Wayne quickly changed the subject with a joke. "By the way, is it true that Mrs. Cherry is also attending the wedding?"

For so long, although Wayne knew many of Mrs. Cherry's shady secrets, he had hardly had any public contact with her. He really wanted to find an opportunity to get to know her, and the noisy occasion of a wedding was a godsend. It would be a perfect opportunity—neither too intimate nor too risky.

"It's true, of course. They say His Majesty the King didn't want to steal the spotlight at someone else's wedding, so Lady Torchery represented him with a gift."

Royal privacy is the focus of school gossip, and these aristocratic girls are, in some ways, even more informed than Wayne.

At this point, Chris couldn't help but complain, "Actually, everyone knows that the King just wants to use this formal occasion to boost Mrs. Cherry's reputation. You'd better keep an eye on Lawrence later, so he doesn't cause any trouble and ruin the chairman's wedding. He has declared that no one is allowed to mention that woman in front of him."

Chris was clearly overthinking this; His Majesty the King was far more concerned and had long ago sent attendants to accompany Lawrence. Ostensibly, this was to protect His Highness the Prince, but in reality, it was also to keep an eye on his troublesome son.

However, in the end, this only made Lawrence more resentful of Mrs. Cherry.

"You're such a good son, Richard." Lawrence was already seething with anger, but Richard had been sitting next to him calmly and without showing any sign of displeasure, as if he didn't care about such things at all. Now Richard had become his punching bag, and Lawrence was mocking and sarcastic towards him.

“Lawrence, you’re all grown up now. You need to understand what to do in what situation.” Richard’s voice was soft and calm.

Looking at his brother's utterly hypocritical smile, Lawrence just wanted to punch him.

“In this respect, I am certainly inferior to you, and will never be inferior to you.” Lawrence stared fiercely at his face, as if he wanted to turn his gaze into sharp arrows to turn the other man into a hedgehog.

Wayne regretted it the moment he appeared; the atmosphere was definitely not suitable for him to join in. However, Lawrence spotted Wayne immediately and grabbed him: "Wayne, tell me! Aren't we friends?"

“Of course,” Wayne said decisively.

"If you're a friend, do me a favor."

……

At that very moment, on the other side of the banquet hall, Mrs. Cherry, with a polite smile on her face, was skillfully handling the pleasantries of various ladies.

Although she knew that the smiles on these people's faces were just fake masks, she still felt right at home and enjoyed it.

Because of [disguise], which is exactly what she is most familiar with.

From her appearance, her identity, her family, her friends, her lover, and her current status... all of this is a gift bestowed upon her by disguise.

Unlike their initial rejection by the capital's upper class, as the former queen lost power and they gradually rose to prominence, these opportunists began to switch sides with a sense of entitlement. After all, what was wrong with being loyal to His Majesty the King?

She cleverly concealed the disdain at the corner of her mouth by taking a small sip from her wine glass.

That smile lasted until Wayne also walked up to her with a glass of brightly colored red wine.

“Mrs. Cherry, I have a message for Prince Lawrence. May I speak with you in private?” Wayne began by stating his purpose.

The crowd surrounding them gasped. Almost everyone in the capital knew that Prince Lawrence deeply hated Lady Cherry, and sending Wayne here was definitely not to say anything good.

They hurriedly took their leave, wanting to avoid this rather undignified occasion.

If it were the old Lady Cherry, they might have stayed to watch the spectacle and spread the juicy news throughout the capital – a favorite pastime for the city's residents. But now, with His Majesty's support, Lady Cherry had firmly established herself. It wouldn't be good if their desire to see her fail backfired and earned them resentment.

Mrs. Cherry's smile froze on her lips.

But she still didn't get angry.

Perhaps having spent so much time with His Majesty the King, she seemed to have lost the ability to feel anger. Lady Cherry was understanding, gentle, and considerate, always.

“Viscount Wayne, I thought you wouldn’t be as foolish as Prince Lawrence.”

As a reward for his success in suppressing the rebellion in the southwest, Wayne received a real fiefdom, which happened to be Viscount Frode's territory, including the small castle that Viscount Frode had built in Sheri City at great expense.

Viscount Freud, however, was stripped of all his honors and his entire family was executed by order of the enraged king for falsely reporting the great achievement of killing the rebel leader Inofan, which was actually a bargaining chip in a secret deal made by Earl Sivers.

Perhaps the former Viscount Freud did indeed make contributions in suppressing the rebellion, but that is not important to His Majesty the King, just as the Viscount previously considered the lives of commoners to be insignificant.

"Lady Cherry, what exactly do you want from His Majesty the King?"

Mrs. Cherry raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Power? Isn't that enough?"

Chapter 735 Testing

The statement was flawless, and Mrs. Cherry's words seemed so self-evident.

Yes, who doesn't want power? With His Majesty's favor, Lady Cherry might even become the new Queen—provided she gains the upper hand in the struggle against the courtly establishment who support the former Queen and the two princes.

And what is especially important is to win the support of a great nobleman like the Duke of Winchester.

"But have you ever considered that this power is merely a mirage, an illusion? His Majesty the King... may favor you for now, but what about twenty years from now? What will the people at the banquet say about you then?"

Twenty years from now, His Majesty the King will likely be buried in the royal mausoleum. A mistress like Lady Cherry, lacking a strong foundation and with a strained relationship with the princes, will obviously not have a good ending.

Although Wayne didn't say it so bluntly, Mrs. Cherry must have understood what he meant.

“Well, what do you think I, a woman who has lost her husband and has no one to rely on, can do?” Mrs. Cherry said with a hint of resentment, putting down her wine glass. “It just so happens that someone is willing to protect me. Is it wrong to just want to be with my lover? But he is the king, and every move he makes makes others think.”

Oh.

If I didn't know your background, I probably would have been fooled by your seemingly devoted devotion.

Wayne gave a cold smile.

"What Lawrence asked me to convey is somewhat impolite, but you just need to understand that it is a warning."

Clearly, such warnings would be useless. Lawrence lacked real initiative; at best, he could only insult her through public arguments. Lady Cherry only needed to turn to His Majesty the King and whine a few words, and she would have the King's favor, who would protect her. Lawrence's dissatisfaction, on the contrary, became her best tool to curry favor.

Mrs. Cherry thought the same thing. She didn't even hide her indifference to Lawrence's bad attitude, and just chuckled, "Then I should thank you for your politeness and for giving me some face."

She raised her glass again to Wayne, "Congratulations on your victorious return."

Wayne had no choice but to clink glasses with her. He carefully observed her expression but couldn't detect a trace of anger or dissatisfaction in her.

"Aren't you curious, Madam? I encountered many interesting things on my trip to the Southwest," he said, seemingly casually.

Mrs. Cherry paused very slightly as she was about to drink her drink, but this unusual movement quickly disappeared, as if the moment that Wayne had captured was merely an illusion caused by a slight intoxication.

"Of course I'm curious, but I'm worried that a spirited young man like you wouldn't be interested in gossiping with a strange old woman like me. If Viscount Wayne were willing to talk, I could probably listen for days and nights without it being enough."