I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree - Chapter 31

Time returned to when Mary had just been carried upstairs.

At this moment, the nobles downstairs all turned their gaze towards Giovanni.

Just now, Mary had mentioned that Giovanni had sent five thousand inside helpers.

Although such words might be spoken in a moment of emotional agitation, as the saying goes, flies don’t land on a seamless egg. If Mary said so, there must be a reason.

Did Giovanni really send inside helpers?

“Why are you looking at me?” Giovanni frowned.

“I didn’t give much support to the Antica Duchy during the beastman invasion, but that’s because, in my estimation, the aid provided by everyone, combined with the Antica Duke’s own strength, was more than sufficient to deal with the beastmen,” Giovanni said this, frowning.

“The actual result also shows that it was indeed as I expected, but something like what happened in Carls County can only be called a man-made disaster. This is something no one could have foreseen.”

“That is indeed true. She was speaking too harshly just now,” Orson said this, smiling.

“After all, how could we accuse the Empire’s great loyal subject, Duke Giovanni, of such a thing, right? Your loyalty to the Empire is truly as clear as the sun and moon.”

“Heh, good that you know,” Giovanni laughed, saying nothing more.

During the subsequent banquet, the center of social attention became Litte, whom Lucius had designated as the heir. Many nobles raised their glasses to Litte, after all, in their eyes, Lucius was on his last legs, and Litte might inherit the ducal title at any moment. Building a good relationship with Litte at this time was a basic skill of noble social interaction.

Many people even addressed Litte as Duke Litte in advance.

Towards these sycophants, Litte merely maintained a polite smile and declined further interaction with them.

In the end, the banquet still regained its seemingly lively atmosphere under Orson’s guidance.

After all, the nobles here didn’t care about Mary’s affairs. They only cared whether their own interests were guaranteed.

…

After the banquet ended, Giovanni returned to his temporary residence in Antica City.

Looking at the flourishing Antica City, Giovanni, for some reason, always felt a surge of anger.

“Heh, that fellow Lucius is truly lucky. Whether it’s his biological child or his adopted child, they are all so outstanding, so outstanding that even though he is now this demented in his old age, he can still enjoy his twilight years in peace.”

“Unlike me, who only has one unpromising son,” Giovanni said this, sighing.

“But at least Your Excellency the Duke is still in his prime. In your era, you can fully realize your vision, can’t you?” Behind Giovanni, a golden-haired young man walked out from the shadows. He was smiling.

He was the mysterious person whom Orson and his group had previously called the doctor.

“Mm, thanks to the information you gave me, Zenith,” Giovanni said this, showing a grateful expression. “Otherwise, how could I have witnessed this drama of a family fighting among themselves?”

“However, I am very curious,” Giovanni looked at the golden-haired young man.

“How exactly did you know about the discord in Lucius’s family, as well as the fact that Lucius had this aftereffect of dementia after the assassination attempt?”

“To be frank, I was previously serving Young Master Orson,” Zenith said. “Not only that, I was also Young Master Orson’s confidante and had earned his sufficient trust.”

“Oh? If that is the case, then why did you betray Orson and choose to cooperate with me?” Giovanni heard this and raised an eyebrow. “If you cannot provide a suitable answer, you might not leave this room today.”

Saying this, Zenith could clearly feel the atmosphere in the room change drastically.

Evidently, there was a strong individual secretly following and protecting Giovanni’s personal safety. And the reason Giovanni dared to speak like this was because this strong individual was backing him.

“Because I feel that Orson cannot provide me with what I want,” Zenith said this, shaking his head. “As the saying goes, a kind person cannot command troops, and a benevolent person cannot wield power. Although Young Master Orson appears decisive and capable to outsiders, in reality, he has a fatal flaw.”

“Oh?” Giovanni heard this and became interested.

A perfect person like Orson would actually be considered to have a flaw by others?

“Tell me about it.”

“Young Master Orson’s ruthlessness is directed towards his enemies. Once he considers someone an ally, he gives them unlimited trust.”

“A very simple principle, isn’t it? Trust those you employ, and don’t employ those you don’t trust,” Giovanni was a little confused.

If Zenith’s answer was just this, then he would have made a move.

The reason he had acted according to the information Zenith provided before was entirely because even if the information was false, it would not harm him in the slightest.

And if Zenith was a spy planted by Orson, Giovanni clearly could not accept that.

“However, he trusts Litte too much,” Zenith then said. “For him, Litte is not related by blood, and there is a clear rivalry for the position of heir to the duchy.”

“However, Young Master Orson, for some reason, has been taking care of Litte in every way since Litte first entered the house.”

“Furthermore, Your Excellency the Duke, can you guess why Duke Lucius explicitly stated in his will that Litte is his heir?”

“Clearly, he trusts Litte to the extent that he doesn’t even mind entrusting all the power to him.”

“Is it possible that he is preparing to usurp Litte and become the power behind the duchy, ruling from behind the scenes, by using Litte’s trust in him?” Giovanni asked in confusion.

“If that were the case, it wouldn’t be entirely incomprehensible. However, just a month ago, Young Master Orson said that he would no longer need me and instructed me to take orders directly from Young Master Litte from then on.”

“And I personally believe that Young Master Litte’s ability is inferior to yours, Your Excellency Duke Giovanni.”

“Heh,” Giovanni heard this and sneered. “I see. So, Orson also has this unknown side to him.”

“In that case, you may remain in the Antica Duchy and serve Litte for now. We will communicate through confidential letters.”

“Alright, thank you, Your Excellency the Duke,” Zenith heard this and nodded.

Then, he respectfully withdrew from the room.

After Zenith left, another person quietly appeared in the room.

The room was dark at the moment, with only the moonlight filtering in from outside the window.

“Duke Giovanni, I do not trust this Zenith. He is very likely an inside helper for Orson.”

“I know,” Giovanni nodded, then walked to the window and looked out.

“However, what if I make Orson believe that I trust him?”

“Your Excellency the Duke, are you planning to use a counter-scheme?”

“Mm.”

“By the way, after Jero returned to the duchy with the troops, he didn’t say anything unnecessary, did he?”

“No. His family is entirely in our hands. If he dared to say one unnecessary word, he knows the consequences he would face. His character and personality are such that he would not do something like that, and would not dare to do something like that.”

“That’s good,” Giovanni heard this and felt relieved.