My villain wants to save himself, but the yandere heroine disagrees

"The Duke allocates a huge amount of money every year so that you can train an army that can protect yourselves when the orcs attack."

"In order to avoid military and territorial disputes, the Duke gave you full authority over border defense. Is this how you treat the Duke?"

"But..." At this time, a border earl stood up and said in defense: "We didn't expect that the orcs would attack us with all their best troops this time."

"All the elite troops? Then what did my troops encounter on the front battlefield? A small group of orcs? A small group of orcs is even harder to defeat than the elite troops you call them?" Orson said this, pointing at the duke's nose and began to attack him.

"Do you know why I asked you to toast Count Carls? Because everything you did is treason! You should resign.

Hell to Count Kars!"

"Mr. Orson, aren't you being too polite?!" At this time another earl also stood up and began to suppress Orson by using his age.

"Many problems are not as easy as you think. We also have many problems within the Earldom. In short... you are still too young. For some things, you will understand us when you become a real power holder."

"Ha." Orson smiled when he heard that.

"In that case, why don't you tell us about your difficulties?"

"I found an account book in Count Carls's house. He spent all the money he used to maintain the border garrison on himself. Could the difficulty you mentioned be that your mansion is not luxurious enough?"

"Will you be satisfied only if your house is built like a palace?"

"Don't say that!" Another earl slammed the table and stood up. "Master Orson! We praise you because you helped us resolve the crisis, but there are some things that are not your business, so you should stay out of it!"

"Once the money is in our hands, it is our territory's business. Even if you are the Duke himself, you cannot interfere in the affairs of our territory."

"That's right. We are willing to come here to give you face. Who do you think you are? Are you the Duke himself? I tell you, even if Lucius himself came, we should still say this."

"Don't say you haven't become the Duke yet. Even if you want to become the Duke in the end, don't you still have to look at our faces?!"

"Oh? I heard you were calling me?" At this time, a voice suddenly sounded outside the door. The count present was stunned when he heard the voice.

"Duke... Your Excellency the Duke, didn't Master Orson say earlier that you were ill in bed? How come..."

"My Lord, are you all right?"

The nobles who had just been bullying Orson became servile in front of Lucius in an instant.

Orson has no power to punish them, but Lucius has the power.

The reason why they dared to say this in front of Orson was that they were threatening Orson.

After all, Orson is not the only heir to the Dukeship now. If they are pushed into a corner, they will turn around and support Litt. When Litt becomes the Duke, Orson will be nothing.

But now that the Duke himself had come, they could no longer speak like that.

"Heh, do you really want me, an old man, to die?" Lucius said this, walking past the crowd and coming to Orson.

"Orson has already told me everything about you. None of you can escape today."

He stretched out his hand and pointed at the nobles in the audience with a stern look on his face.

"You are responsible for the defense of not only the earldom, nor the dukedom, but the entire empire. You made a mistake in the defense. Do you think that even if I let you go for the sake of our past friendship, will His Majesty the Emperor let you go?!"

It has to be said that Lucius had been the Duke for more than ten years after all, and as he was a military man, he still had a strong aura. Even though he was ill now, he still intimidated all the nobles present, making them dare not even breathe a single breath.

"I... Your Excellency the Duke, I am very sorry. I have betrayed your trust, but I was forced to do this by others..." At this time, seeing Lucius speaking about the Emperor, an earl finally couldn't stand the pressure and began to beg for mercy.

With one person taking the lead, the others also knelt down and begged for mercy.

Lucius just snorted coldly when he saw this.

"Your crimes will be judged by someone."

At this time, Elsa walked in from outside the house.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, please have mercy!"

"Your Highness, do you still remember me? I was your bodyguard when you were young. Please give me some leniency!"

Elsa stood at the door and looked at Orson.

The latter smiled and nodded.

Then, Elsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and waved.

"take away."

Then, a group of soldiers came out of the door and arrested all the earls one by one.

The next process is interrogation, investigation, verification and conviction.

The lightest punishment for this crime is to temporarily take back the territory for ten years.

The most severe punishment may be direct conviction for treason and the person may be beheaded.

This time, the Duchy of Antica is really going to have to undergo a major reshuffle.

Only after the group of dukes were sent away did Orson and Lucius sit down.

"Okay, everyone, all the people who are in the way have left. Now is the time for the real celebration party."

Orson's approach of clearly distinguishing between rewards and punishments and being moderate in both internal and external matters made all the generals see his ability, and everyone had a higher opinion of him.

……

On the other hand, Lit returned to Antica City ahead of time.

In a private room of a tavern, she and Chelinina sat opposite each other.

"Sister Chelinina, thanks to your financial support, you helped us get through the most difficult times." Lit said this and bowed his head to thank Chelinina.

For this war, the Lison Chamber of Commerce almost emptied out all of its working capital, and even sold its assets in the Naples area.

However, thanks to Cellinina's timely sale of assets in the Napoli area, Giovanni's subsequent attack on the Lison Chamber of Commerce was avoided.

"It's okay." Chelinina smiled and shook her head. "Your brother helped me, so it's only right for me to help him back."

"By the way, Sister Chelinina." When Lit heard Chelinina mention Orson, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "What do you think of Orson?"

"Eh?" Chelinina was stunned for a moment. "What do you mean by that, Lit?"

Chapter 7: Boys should also be careful when they are outside (K)

"Sister Chelinina, you have done so much for Orson, don't you have any feelings for him at all?" Litt said this, looking at Chelinina, trying to see something from her eyes.

However, Chelinina's eyes were evasive, and after thinking again and again, she slowly spoke.

"I...I'm sorry, Lit, I don't have any thoughts like that about Orson."

Of course she knew what Lit meant by asking her, but for the current Chelinina, she should not and dared not have such thoughts.

There is no other reason.

Orson is so good.

Just like the brightest star in the sky, although we yearn for it, it is ultimately unattainable for people on earth.

If before, Chelinina still had a little bit of that fantasy, now she only has respect for Orson.

It's not that there is no love between men and women, but that she has completely suppressed and blocked the love between men and women.

She knew what Orson needed from her, and she knew what she needed from Orson.

Orson needs Chelinina as his treasury, and Chelinina needs Orson's help to become the richest person in the empire and avenge her father and brother.

The relationship between them is just one of mutual benefit.

Although she thought so, whenever Chelinina thought back to the day at the banquet when Orson stood up for her and did not back down even in the face of sarcasm from his father and Donnie, her heart would still tremble.

Isn't there a slight possibility that Orson likes me?

But as the letters between Orson and her went on after that day, she learned more and more.

Maybe it was really just a coincidence, and Orson really just wanted to help himself at that time and had no other thoughts.

So, Chelinina buried all these thoughts in her mind, and kept herself busy with her usual work and business to suppress such feelings.

But when Lit brought it up again, Chelinina couldn't help but think more about it.

Lit was sitting opposite Chelinina. Seeing her slightly red face after she said this, he knew that Chelinina had said something against her will.

"I don't know what you think, Sister Chelinina, but if it were me, if there was happiness in front of me, even if I couldn't get it in the end, if I didn't fight for it, I would definitely regret it in the future." Li Te said.

The reason why Lit said this was that he was planning to drag Chelinina into this love melee.

It turns out that the naive Lianka has no idea what love is.

To put it bluntly, if Lianka succeeds, it will be the biggest insult to the women around Orson.

"..." Hearing this, Chelinina was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, Lit, but Orson is really too good. Someone like me is not worthy of him at all."

"Really?" Litt said this and looked at Chelinina in confusion.

"But in my opinion, if the future richest man in the empire is not worthy of Brother Orson, wouldn't that be a bit absurd? Sister Chelinina, do you mean that Brother Orson should be single for the rest of his life?"

"That's not what I meant..." Chelinina shook her head, and then was stunned.

"Sister Chelinina, do you think that the reason you are so successful is all thanks to Brother Orson?" Litt said this and began to counsel Chelinina.

"I don't know what others think, but in my opinion, Sister Chelinina, you are a very smart and capable person."

"Think about it, if it is true that whoever Orson wants to support can succeed, then why didn't Brother Orson choose someone else, but chose you, Sister Chelinina?"

After saying this, Litt did not continue.

Next, whether Chelinina regained her confidence in herself or felt that Orson was just greedy for her body, she would only make one decision.

That means officially ending this love war.

"Okay, Sister Chelinina, I'm stopping here. It's getting late today, so go to bed early." Having said this, Lit stood up.

"I hope that when I see you again, Sister Chelinina, you will have made a decision that you will not regret."

After saying all this, Lit left.

Chelinina sat there, staring at the plate in front of her.

After a long time, a tear rolled down the corner of her eye.

She belatedly wiped away her tears with her fingers, and then laughed softly at herself.

"Heh, Chelinina, you actually need a backup to tell you what to do..."

Looking at the place where Lit left, Chelinina secretly made up her mind.

"Thank you, Lit."

……

On the other hand, the day after the celebration banquet, everyone in Phoenix City left and went about their own business.

Lucius also went home to continue recuperating.

After handing over the military affairs to Orson during this period, he did not disappoint Lucius' trust and fought a good battle.

The final exams of the Imperial College also ended after repelling the orcs, and the winter vacation arrived early.

At this moment, in the city of Antica, in the Duke's residence.

"Orson, do you know what impact my doing this will have?" Elsa stood in Orson's room with her back to him, with a complicated expression.

"I know." Orson nodded.

"This is the first time in the history of the empire that so many lords have been sentenced at the same time. No matter how you decide to deal with these nobles, Your Highness, at least your name will definitely be in the history books of the empire in the future. This trial will also be recorded in history as a warning to future generations."

"Do you remember what I told you before? The nobles are the foundation of the empire. If you let me affect the interests of the nobles, even if they really deserve to die, how will other nobles look at me?"

"Would they prefer an empress with noble blood on her hands, or an emperor who has always stood on the same side as the nobles and protected their interests?"

"That's true, but, Princess, don't forget that there are many factors involved in deciding who will be the crown prince, but the most important one is the emperor's own opinion."

Orson shrugged.

"As long as your thunderous skills are recognized by His Majesty the Emperor, no matter how much other nobles hate you or oppose you, they will have to wait until you ascend the throne."

Elsa pursed her lips when she heard this.

The education she received since childhood was traditional aristocratic education. In her opinion, the aristocrats were like the roots of an old tree, intertwined and entangled.

If you want to deal with a noble, the interest groups involved behind the scenes are often quite large.