My older sister is a villainous rich girl

Wayne felt himself becoming increasingly distant from people.

Just this once, to dispel all unnecessary delusions and doubts, just this once!

Wayne made a silent vow.

With the maids' meticulous styling and makeup, Chris chose a light blue tulle dress in the afternoon and dressed herself up quite nicely. Now, she wore white leather boots with crystal high heels and a white velvet hat on her head. A few white ostrich feathers on the side trembled slightly with her gentle movements, making her look graceful and elegant.

To someone who doesn't know her, she would definitely be seen as a beautiful lady with impeccable manners and a gentle personality.

"Wayne, remember to introduce him to Aikos for me later," she said softly with a smile that didn't reveal her teeth.

Wayne only responded with a brief "Heh."

Before long, the carriage entered the palace. Greeted by the palace servants, Chris gently hooked her elbow around Wayne's and walked side by side with him into the banquet hall, following the red carpet embroidered with gold thread on both sides.

As soon as you enter the hall, you can see a tall, silent hooded figure sitting alone in a corner next to the door, which everyone avoids. Subtly, while people deliberately ignore that corner, they can't help but glance at it, as if the temperature in the room drops slightly when that person appears in the frame.

Wayne's current experience is very strange, in every sense of the word.

He was able to share Echo's perspective, and when he looked at himself through Echo's eyes, he always had a dazed feeling, like looking in a mirror.

Chris, who was next to him, suddenly brightened up, immediately let go of his hand, and gracefully walked towards Exos, slightly lifting her skirt.

"..." Does it have to be such a difficult challenge right from the start!

Wayne took a deep breath and followed closely behind.

"Hello, you must be Miss Aikos, right?" The girl squatted down slightly, her beautiful eyes sparkling, her smile charming. Her golden curls under the brim of her hat were playful and flamboyant, pleasing to the eye and hard not to feel a sense of goodwill. The aura she exuded made no attempt to hide her great interest in the person in front of her.

Wayne manipulated Echo to look up at her, but didn't say anything.

There are subtle differences between the clone and the original Eikos; the clone isn't as agile as the original. But it's still enough to deal with Chris. At worst, you can just act aloof.

Just as the hood lifted at a slight angle, Chris, who was directly opposite, happened to see Echoes's face.

What kind of beauty was she?

Chris was originally quite confident in her beauty, thinking that the praise others gave to Echo was just an exaggeration. But the moment she saw Echo, her mind went blank. All the prepared remarks vanished, and all the words she had prepared seemed to lose their meaning in that instant.

Chris suddenly stopped moving.

Seeing the scene fall into a moment of silence, Wayne stepped forward and broke the unspoken calm: "Ahem, Lady Exos, it's a pleasure to meet you."

He felt like he was a very young child in his past life, playing role-playing games alone at home, raising one hand and saying, "Patrick Star, you are my best friend," and raising the other hand and saying, "SpongeBob, you are also my best friend," and then watching his two hands intertwine as if glued together.

“Me too, it’s nice to meet you, Wayne.” Aikos smiled faintly, which added to her charm.

Actually, it was just that Wayne felt a little embarrassed and couldn't laugh, so his expression was unnatural.

Hearing their familiar greetings, Chris seemed to wake from a dream, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes. But she quickly regained her senses and remembered the occasion. "You...you're so beautiful!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with undisguised envy. "Lady Exos, no, may I call you Sister Exos?"

"Just call me Exos. That's what the Edgeworth family lady calls me too."

Chris felt a slight displeasure upon hearing the name of Miss Geli, who had been getting on her nerves lately, but she quickly put it aside. She pestered Aikos, chattering on about interesting things. Fortunately, Chris did have a talent for finding fun in life, and she talked endlessly about all sorts of topics, not caring that Aikos's responses were not enthusiastic.

It's clear that she really wants to be friends with Aikos.

After listening quietly for a while, Wayne intended to leave quietly to find Richard in order to advance his strike plan, but was stopped by another person who forcibly joined the conversation.

"Sister Aikos~" Ge Li walked over with a smile, as if he was already very familiar with Aikos.

Wayne's lips twitched subtly.

At the Edgeworth family's party, she had spent a short, amicable time alone with Gore as Exos, and even took the opportunity to probe into her thoughts. If Gore also wanted to appear close to Exos, it would be difficult to avoid conflict with Chris.

Wayne, danger!

Chapter 747 Ge Li's Unwillingness

At some point, a corner of the banquet hall, which was originally reserved for the neglected invitees, began to subtly attract the attention of everyone present. Even Wayne could sense that some people couldn't hide their expressions of waiting to see a good show.

Before the king appeared, it would have been difficult for anyone else to achieve such a remarkable effect.

This was not only because everyone was curious about Echo's first time attending a royal banquet, nor just because the people under the lights were all exceptionally beautiful and talented, but also because the rivalry between the new generation of the Edgeworth and Winchester families was a topic of great interest in aristocratic circles.

Once upon a time, the rivalry between Minister Franz and Duke Eliot for Lady Ashville's affections was a sensational news story in the capital, and it seems that the younger generation of these two families still has no chance of reconciliation. Many nobles in the banquet hall, noticing the sudden tension, exchanged subtle glances, their reactions quite nuanced.

Chris didn't notice the various glances she was receiving, but even if she had, she wouldn't have cared.

She is currently only furious at Ge Li for provoking her.

This guy must have realized that I wanted to make a good first impression on Aikos, so he deliberately came to sabotage me!

In the past, the two had a tacit understanding of "the king and the queen do not meet" in the academy. Chris would generally not join in occasions dominated by Kareem, and vice versa.

But lately, Goli seems to have taken some drastic step in his body, constantly seeking trouble. Although he doesn't cause any real damage and often ends up getting himself into trouble, Chris believes her patience has its limits! She can't let others provoke her without retaliating!

If I were to slink away after just a few sarcastic remarks, wouldn't it make me look like I've given up on this guy?

"Heh." After yet another disagreement, Chris haughtily raised her chin, mimicking Ge Li's usual demeanor perfectly. "Miss Ge Li, may I interpret your inexplicable hostility towards me as jealousy?"

She lightly covered her mouth with a small folding fan painted with spring flowers, as if quite surprised. "Why would you do that?"

“If I possess something that you lack, to the point that it causes you to lose the good qualities of a lady, then I sincerely apologize for my mistake. But jealousy is the greatest sin in the world; it only makes you ugly and causes you to lose the self that you already possess. It is not the path that a wise person should take. Therefore, I must advise you, not as your enemy, and certainly not as your friend, but simply out of pure compassion.”

After she finished speaking, she looked at Ge Li with a pitying gaze.

Ge Li clenched his fists in anger at her sarcastic words, but as if his weakness had been hit, he couldn't say anything to refute her for a moment.

Wayne, who had been trying to change the subject to no avail and racking his brains to find a way to smooth things over, watched helplessly as the tension between the two grew stronger and stronger, feeling like he was about to have a heart attack on the spot.

In a moment of inspiration, he suddenly remembered that he could try to interrupt the conversation using Echoes.

"I'm tired, I'm going out for some fresh air," he said mechanically, controlling Echo. "If you want to keep arguing, then go ahead."

After saying that, Aikos didn't wait for their reply and got up and walked out of the banquet hall on her own.

The scene where the two were fighting over Eikos suddenly became even more awkward, so awkward that there was nothing more to say, because only Wayne remained standing in the middle.

Goli took a deep breath, glared at Wayne, turned and left, seemingly heading to find Aikos.

While feeling terrible, Wayne also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This was simply inhuman. The thought of his future life being like this was hell. How did he end up like this?

Chris's plan to befriend Exos and gain her favor was forced to a halt, leaving her in a very bad mood. Even cleaning up the mess after the great battle was fraught with danger.

"Wayne, why did you side with her just now?"

"I... I was just advising you not to fight..." Wayne said weakly.

……

Outside the banquet hall, Aikos sat on the steps without any manners, staring blankly at the spacious courtyard, seemingly lost in thought.

Not long after, Ge Li also came out of the banquet hall and sat down next to Aikos.

It was almost time for the banquet to begin, and His Majesty the King would be arriving soon, so there was no one else in the outer courtyard. But the moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, as if the courtyard were draped in a silver veil, making everything crystal clear even without the lights on.

"Are you...crying?"

Echoes' silence could not be maintained in the end.

"No." Even though her sobs were so obvious, she stubbornly refused to admit it, burying her head in her arms as if no one could see her.

I instinctively raised my hand to comfort her, but after holding it in mid-air for a moment, I put it down again.

Both Aikos and Wayne felt that their existence was a mistake.

He didn't intend to press her for details, but Ge Li seemed to have made Aikos the only person he could confide in. "I'm so unwilling... so unwilling..."

With a silent sigh, Wayne followed her example, curling up with his knees drawn up to his chest and burying his head in his arms. Strangely enough, this posture seemed to offer a tiny, elusive sense of comfort.

Why is this so?

She had gotten everything she wanted in her life, she had decided long ago that she would prioritize satisfying herself after transmigrating, she could easily handle any situation, and she knew perfectly well that she would pretend nothing was wrong the next day, so why did she still feel so heartbroken?

Listening to her sobs, which she tried so hard to hide, felt as if my own soul had been torn in two.

“You’ll be alright,” Wayne heard himself say. “You may feel that others have things you don’t, but you also have things that others don’t have. Just like she said, don’t trade your rightful self for a future where you end up with nothing.”

Goli flinched and trembled, then suddenly raised his head and turned his face to the side: "You... what do you know?"

Perhaps because of her guilty conscience, Ge Li thought of many things in that instant: shock, doubt, tension, unease, grievance... all sorts of emotions were mixed together, making her feel as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping her heart.

“I don’t know,” Aikos said without turning to look at her. “I know nothing.”

Chapter 748 The Beginning of Change

Despite having volunteered to attend the banquet, Aikos remained seated on the steps outside the banquet hall, showing no intention of going in to connect with the others.

Ge Li, having just finished crying, was in a complicated state of mind and didn't want to expose her vulnerability in crowded places.

So the two of them sat outside in silence for a long time.

It wasn't until Geli finally composed himself and until Prince Richard came outside in search of Echoes that things continued.

“Aikos…” Richard was initially excited and thrilled to see the figure of the person he longed for. The fact that there was no one outside made him feel it was a godsend. But when he went closer, he found that Ge Li was also there. “Uh…”

He stopped midway through what he was about to say.

However, what Wayne—oh no, I mean Echo—would say wouldn't be interrupted by the presence of other people.

“Prince Richard, I know what you’re going to say,” Echoes’ voice was cold and harsh. “But I want to tell you that you are a good person. Don’t make me feel disgusted by you. Please keep your distance from me, because I don’t like men.”

Richard had drunk some wine to bolster his courage, but his slightly flushed face turned pale instantly.

Ge Li looked shocked.

After realizing what had happened, Ge Li was completely flustered. He quickly stood up and stammered, "I... I have some things to do, no, I have to go see some friends. I'm very busy. Um, I'll go now."

After walking a few meters quickly, she turned back and hurriedly bowed, saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything just now. I won't take it to heart. Goodbye."

Then he left behind a retreating figure.

Inside the banquet hall, Wayne, who had been holding a glass of wine and pretending to drink it but couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, wanting to laugh but unable to.

Hmph, this is a killer move that I came up with after racking my brains all day.

Moreover, I was telling the truth and I did not deceive Richard at all. Even if I were to use a lie detector a hundred times, there would be no way to find out the truth.

"I..." Richard was caught off guard and deeply shocked, his mind a complete mess. Perhaps due to the alcohol, his words came out without thinking, utterly lacking his usual composure. "I...I'm okay...You can marry me, and you can still be with other girls in private...I can accept that! And with my help covering it up, I can protect your reputation!"

This works?!

On the other side, Wayne almost spat out his drink.

"Wayne, what are you winking at?" Chris rolled her eyes at him, thinking he was giving a signal to the chorus who was hurrying into the banquet hall.

She glanced at Ge Li, a slight doubt flashing through her mind. Why did that guy look so shaken?

"Cough cough, I wasn't making any faces, I just choked a little on the drink." Wayne stubbornly tried to maintain his increasingly shaky appearance while his heart was filled with extremely complicated emotions and anxiety.

In the moonlit courtyard, Richard had only Echo in his eyes at that moment.

With wounded yet hopeful eyes, he silently pleaded.

However, Eco's merciless judgment brought his devoted love to an end.

"impossible."

On this starry night, amidst the loneliness of being surrounded by people, Prince Richard tasted the bitterness of heartbreak for the first time.

"call--"

After the banquet finally ended and she returned home, Wayne felt as if she had been fighting an unseen and terrifying enemy all night long. She felt completely drained, which was even more torturous than transforming into a magical girl to eliminate the witch-like phenomenon.

There will never be a next time!

He gritted his teeth inwardly.

Fortunately, each clone can last for two months. He has already sent that clone to sea with the Edgeworth family's fleet as a backup plan, so things should be peaceful for a while.

As long as he stops acting as Eikos in the capital, there will be no problem.

……

For the next two months, Wayne devoted himself almost entirely to the experimentation and creation of the magic wand.

With Professor Conley's preliminary experimental data and Echo's "guidance," Wayne made considerable progress. Finally, on the day the magic tower was officially completed, he successfully created a basic earth ball magic staff using the magic he had inscribed.

It can elevate a newly awakened magical apprentice from someone who could only create a small mound to someone whose destructive power is enough to destroy a house. Although the initial version's effects are not perfect, and even though it can only release pre-inscribed spells, thus lacking flexibility and appearing somewhat useless in the eyes of truly high-level mages, it is undoubtedly a revolutionary leap for low-level mages. Chris, who used it, praised it highly.

"Wayne! I can use magic now!" Chris was overjoyed, perhaps even more excited than when she first transmigrated. She hugged Wayne and jumped around, wanting to kiss him a hundred times.

"Keep your composure, keep your composure!" Wayne was also a little excited, but he still kept his cool.