My older sister is a villainous rich girl

She refused.

To avoid a possible end, she refused to start anything.

That's good enough, she thought.

She's gotten used to this kind of life, and nothing will be different in the future.

However, Wayne's expression at that time still flashes through his mind from time to time.

His eyes... were like a beam of light that had been extinguished, dimming in an instant.

Rather than worrying about being abandoned one day, he seemed to be—

They were abandoned on the spot at that very moment.

"Lady Chris, did you have a falling out with Wayne?" Her two attendants asked with concern as they sat by the stone table in the courtyard.

She was a little unsure how to respond.

"...Well, right?"

"Huh? Lord Wayne can get angry too?" Molly looked on with a sense of novelty.

“How could anyone never get angry?” Eve said, stuffing a cookie into her mouth.

Chris was lost in thought.

Yes, Wayne rarely gets angry, and he always speaks to me in a gentle voice.

Even if he gets angry, you can coax him with a few small sweet treats, such as praising his good looks or holding his hand and acting cute.

But this time, it seems to be more serious than ever before.

For the first time ever, he refused to talk to himself or meet with himself.

Why...why the reaction is so intense...?

That's true. If you confess your feelings and get rejected, you usually can't be friends anymore.

But if we lose Wayne...

A strong sense of bitterness welled up in Chris's heart, and she suddenly felt very wronged.

Perhaps that would be a bit selfish; she simply hoped that Wayne could always stay with her.

Can he and I ever go back to the way things were?

After having snacks with her friends, she wondered if she should go check out the drama club.

perhaps--

He will be there too.

……

Wayne was lying on the back row of the drama club activity room, in a seat by the window.

He stretched his hand out the window, feeling the breeze brushing against his fingers.

Gentle and tender, just like water.

It's just like……

Like Miss Ge Li.

The thought startled him.

He withdrew his hand and stared blankly at his palm.

Then, using your other hand, slowly stroke upwards from the bottom of your palm...

Until their fingers were intertwined.

"From now on... every time you do these things, you must think of me first."

These words, like a spell, took effect immediately.

Why do I want to see her again so soon after we parted ways?

The uncharacteristically strange Miss Ge Li from earlier felt completely unfamiliar to him.

I also felt a longing.

They did too many things... things they shouldn't have done.

However, he stopped at the last moment.

She was too young, and he didn't want her to regret it when she looked back on it in the future.

Moreover, her expression was so desperate, and her gaze was so intense and frantic.

It's like wanting to burn to ashes with him.

Ge Li simply hugged him, sliding his fingers down his smooth back little by little until they stopped at his tailbone.

If I had a tail, I probably wouldn't be able to resist wagging it.

“If you miss this chance, there won’t be another one,” she said.

Wayne pondered her tone and expression at the time.

Then he let out a long sigh.

Miss Ge Li still doesn't understand—

Anything, once it happens the first time, will happen a second time... and countless times.

“Wayne Winch!”

Prince Lawrence walked in with a confident smile.

"Look at this, it's a new script I commissioned the playwrights to write. It's sure to give us a decisive victory at the school fair."

He slammed a thin booklet on the side of his table.

So why does everyone seem more enthusiastic than I was, the one who wanted to join the drama club in the first place?

"Aren't we supposed to write it ourselves?" he said dismissively.

Lawrence frowned. "How could our own writing possibly be better than the Playwrights Guild's?"

—If it were Chris, it might actually be better.

Thinking of her name still causes a dull ache in my heart.

Will she, like in the original storyline, suddenly marry Prince Richard in the final episode?

...It doesn't really matter how things turn out.

I've kind of lost interest.

Lawrence, standing next to him, was still promoting the script he had received.

The story is about two princes in an unknown country. The elder prince died in battle, while the younger prince led his army to a great victory and became a wise and benevolent ruler through a series of governance.

Hey! Your ambitions are completely exposed!

“By the way, Lawrence,” Wayne suddenly asked, “Does the King really want Richard and Tasia to marry and create the kingdom’s first commoner queen?”

Lawrence's expression changed upon hearing his question.

"Don't tell anyone about this," he said after a moment's hesitation, lowering his voice.

"In short, the future queen will not come from the country's great nobles."

Lawrence intended to use this inside information to mislead Wayne and prevent him from interfering with his plan to sabotage Richard's scheme.

However, Richard remains unresponsive to His Majesty's instructions and has made no progress with Tasia Louis.

Ha, he was really careless.

While he is still infatuated with that strange woman named Aikos, this period of time is my precious opportunity!

Lawrence glanced at Wayne, who claimed to be Tasia's friend, and a plan formed in his mind.

“Wayne,” he said, leaning closer, “since you’re Tasia’s friend, you must want her to be happy, right?”

Of course.

After answering casually, Wayne looked up and stared at him warily.

“If Tasia encounters any difficulties, I certainly won’t stand idly by,” he said with a hint of warning.

Chapter 123 What am I doing?

Lawrence smiled. "Of course I didn't mean to hurt her. Everything before was a misunderstanding."

You think it's a misunderstanding? Do you think I'm that easy to fool?

Wayne chuckled coldly twice.

“Since we’re all friends of Miss Tasia, let’s invite her out next time!” Lawrence said, sounding quite familiar with her.

“Dream on.” Wayne ruthlessly shattered the fantasy in his mind.

"The date is between me and Tasia, so you can just get out of the way."

"You!" Lawrence's tone seemed to turn somewhat angry. "You really did have designs on Tasia."

Wayne joked, "You're only realizing this now? I like any pretty girl!"

No sooner had those words been spoken than the minister's questioning voice rang out from outside: "Hey, Miss Chris, why are you standing here instead of going in?"

Then came Chris's somewhat flustered voice.

"Oh, I... I just remembered I forgot something in the classroom. Sorry, I have to go now."

"Eh?"

Before the minister could utter another word, Chris had already run off.

"Why is it so strange..." He pushed open the back door and walked in.

Then, I saw Lawrence with his butt sticking out, lying on the table, his head close to Wayne's.

"Bang!" He slammed the door shut with ten times the speed of before.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!"

His shouts and the sound of footsteps fleeing in panic came from outside the door.

Wayne glanced outside the door, then at Lawrence's actions.

"grass!"

Wayne's reputation at the academy has once again taken a strange turn.

……

By the time Wayne returned to the Duke's mansion, it was already very late.

Seeing that all the windows of the mansion were brightly lit, he hesitated to go forward while standing outside the gate.

I used to really look forward to going home.

But now, just thinking about having to face Chris again when he goes back makes him...

Ugh, this is so annoying.

He was already starting to regret confessing his feelings so suddenly.

Perhaps they were misled by their seemingly ordinary daily interactions, which resembled those of an old married couple.

I thought she, like me, would have completely gotten used to the other person's involvement in her life—

It turns out that he only just realized that the relationship he longed for was neither expected nor accepted by the other person.

That's true. She's just a tree. If she were to accept him, she would have to give up the whole forest. That would be too much of a loss.

"Young Master Wayne, aren't you coming in?"

Karen's voice suddenly rang out from inside the gate.

Wayne tensed up instinctively for a moment, as if his secret had been discovered.

But he quickly relaxed again.