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

Zenit's words hit Donny's sore spot. Donny lowered his head and was silent for a while, then raised his head.

His hands were still shaking, but his tone became firm, which was unusual.

"I understand, Mr. Zenit."

Chapter 71: Unable to Confess

"But, Mr. Zenit... the current situation should not be that serious. If there is really no turnaround and I have to do that, I will do this." After saying this, Donnie put away the poison and stood up.

"I understand. After all, you are the son of the Duke. It is natural for you not to want to harm your biological father." Zenit nodded with a smile. "However, Master Donny, please remember that you must not follow the Duke's orders and do too many things to fight against the coalition forces. Otherwise, even if you stop the loss in time, the coalition forces may only consider you as making up for your mistakes and will not give you more favorable conditions."

To put it bluntly, Zenit is trying to persuade Donny to defect as soon as possible.

In this case, if they defected early, the Duke of Naples would still have the capital to negotiate with the enemy, and the losses of both sides would not be too great, so everything could be reasonably resolved through negotiations.

The later you defect, the less benefit you will gain.

Of course, Donnie was aware of this, and he just nodded.

He believed in Zenit's words without a doubt.

If it weren't for Zenit's advice, he would still be under house arrest by Giovanni, unable to leave the house, let alone gain Giovanni's trust.

He believed that Zenit had to resort to this desperate measure because of the situation. Otherwise, if it were in peacetime, he would definitely have a better way to take over the responsibility of the Dukedom of Napoli from his father earlier.

"So, Mr. Zenit, how can I continue to gain my father's trust and favor in the future?" Tony changed the subject and asked about the things he talked about most with Zenit.

Zenit seemed to understand Giovanni better than Donny did, and often the advice he gave was exactly what Giovanni liked.

For example, when Donny was out on business before, Zenit asked Donny to bring back some local gifts and specialties for Giovanni. Although Giovanni didn't say anything on the surface, his attitude towards Donny was indeed much better in the next few days.

"The Duke must not be in a very good mood these days. Master Donnie, all you need to do is to ensure that no outsiders disturb the Duke. Besides that, you two should talk more about family matters."

"Okay." After getting advice from Zenit, Donny thanked him and left.

……

Back at the Duke's Mansion, Donny paused for a moment at the door of Giovanni's office, calming himself down before walking back in.

After all, he had just been discussing with others about poisoning his biological father. Even if it was a measure he had no choice but to take, it was still a matter of life and death.

To put it nicely, it is killing one's own relatives for the sake of justice; to put it bluntly, it is beastly murder.

"Back?" Giovanni asked tiredly, without looking up at Donny.

"Well, father, some earls don't seem to want to work for us anymore. They haven't withdrawn troops from their territories to support us, nor have they intercepted the enemy's army. What should we do?"

"Now that things have come to this, let them be." Unexpectedly, Giovanni did not get angry, but instead sighed dejectedly.

The blow that what happened in the past few days has brought him has exceeded that of the past decade or so.

Just a month ago, he thought he was a spectator in the audience, but now he has become a clown on the stage.

Of course, he did not completely give up resistance. If the enemy was really preparing to come to the city of Romulus, he would fight the final battle with the enemy here.

It's not that I don't have any cards.

Then, he looked at Donnie, who was standing there stiffly, and asked, "Donnie, for the sake of the soldiers on both sides, should I surrender and take the initiative to accept the trial?"

"I'm sorry, father, I don't know..." Donnie shook his head. "But if you accept the trial, father, the Florence family may..."

"makes sense."

Giovanni glanced at Donny and said sincerely, "I don't know if it's because of the hardships that the Dukedom has experienced that made you grow up, but, Donny, in my opinion

Come on, you have really grown up recently."

"The reason why I don't let you lead an army alone is not because I don't trust you, but because I don't have anyone I can trust now."

"As a lord, I have failed miserably, but I don't regret it, because at least I still have you as my son."

"I often talk to you about Lucius's two sons, and I think they are better than you, but that's not the case."

"In my opinion, you are the best. I said this to motivate you. I am very pleased to see that you have indeed grown up now."

Donnie was silent.

The more Giovanni said this, the more tormented Donny felt.

For a moment, Donny even wanted to tell Giovanni all about the conspiracy he had just made with Zenit, to let Giovanni know that his son, whom he had high hopes for, was actually discussing with others how to murder him.

But in the end he didn't dare to say it out loud.

After all, if Giovanni knew about this, he would definitely be severely punished.

Giovanni looked at Donny's hesitant expression, sighed secretly, and then said, "You have been busy outside these days, and you are a little tired. Go back and have a rest. I can handle these things by myself."

After Giovanni said these words, Donnie felt relieved and quickly fled the room.

Just after Donnie left, a man wearing a black cloak and whose face could not be seen clearly walked out from the shadows of the room.

"Your Excellency the Duke, why didn't you continue asking just now?" asked the man in black, his tone full of doubt.

"I'm giving Donny a chance to repent," Giovanni said.

"He's just a kid. It's too much pressure for him to confess." Giovanni sighed, then his tone turned cold: "The dark mouse hiding behind Donnie, you'd better not let me catch you, otherwise, you will die even more miserably than Marcus did back then."

……

On the other side, inside the Imperial College.

Although 20% of the students' hometowns are in areas where war broke out, only a handful of them actually asked for leave to go back home this time.

Among the people Orson knew, only Litt and Virgil asked for leave to go back. In the entire Imperial Academy, there were less than ten people who applied to leave.

"Good morning, big brother." Lena said this and greeted Orson with a smile.

After Lit left these days, the person who went to and from get out of class with Lena changed.

"Well, good morning." Orson said this and looked at Lianka who was standing next to Lena.

"Lianka, you too, good morning."

"Um... good... morning." When Lianka heard Orson greet her, she turned her head away and replied uncomfortably.

After Lit left, Lianka took the initiative to take over the task of taking care of Lena.

In fact, Lena has been in school for a while, and she has no problem going to and from school alone.

"It's just because Lena is a new classmate and we happen to be in the same class. I did this to help Li Te, not to please you, Orson."

Orson felt amused when he thought of Lianka's awkward look and her fear of being rejected.

Chapter 72: François is assassinated

Although the Imperial College appears to be peaceful and tranquil, in reality, the topic of conversation among students every day has shifted from their daily lives to the war in the south.

"I heard that Giovanni, Duke of Napoli, seems to be a member of a society that intends to resurrect the devil. Wasn't there a rumor that traces of the devil appeared outside the city of Saint Laurent before? I heard that Giovanni did it." In the college square, several students were sitting together at this moment, discussing these things.

Members of the news agency are the busiest these days. They need to obtain first-hand intelligence from newspapers in Saint Laurent City and publish it as soon as possible.

"Eh? Is that so? I feel like the soldiers on the front lines will be in danger. What if a demon appears..."

"Don't worry about that. If a creature like a demon really appears on the front line, Giovanni's men will be the first to resist him."

"He should have warned his subordinates that these were just rumors. However, as more and more people know about this, he will probably be deserted by everyone."

"I hope so..."

A snow-white figure walked through the square. After hearing the students' description, she paused slightly and then continued walking forward.

"Orson." As soon as Olivia walked into the Student Union office, she called out to the several classmates who had just

The students told Orson what they had discussed.

"Giovanni's true strength may not be what he shows. Are you really not worried about the front line?" As she said this, a hint of worry appeared in her eyes.

Although Litt is a genius, he has too little experience. It is too risky to let Litt go to the front line to command an army alone.

If Giovanni is really prepared to fight to the death and perish together, will Lit really be in danger?

Putting aside my abnormal feelings for Orson, I still like this brother-in-law very much.

It’s not the kind of liking for the opposite sex, but the kind of care and appreciation between seniors and juniors.

"It doesn't matter. I've already laid such a good foundation for Li Te. The rest is just to deal with it as it comes."

"If you can't even fight a battle when the wind is in your favor, then what's the point of talking?" Orson said with a smile.

"Besides, Giovanni is not the only one who has a trump card."

Lit is the real child of destiny. Orson arranged her to do this this time to test whether she can really turn danger into safety by relying on her destiny as in the original plot.

Of course he knew that Giovanni was very dangerous and could turn people into demons. Although he was only a hybrid demon with extremely thin bloodline, he should not be underestimated.

At that time, Mudrick made the lions of the same level seven suffer a lot.

This is a test for Lit, to test whether she has really grown to the point where she no longer needs Orson's protection.

And the reason why Orson stayed in Saint Laurent City was not just as he said, he also had things he needed to do.

"Then let's talk about something else first." Olivia said, looking at Orson. "Because Duke Lucius and Lit are both at the front, the meeting held at noon today may be planned for you to represent the Stranik family. My father asked me to inform you in advance. What do you say?"

"I'm fine." Orson nodded.

After all, they are no longer here, and Orson is the only one who can represent the Antica region.

Moreover, with Orson's ability and qualifications, he is indeed qualified to attend this meeting.

The orc problem that had plagued the empire for a thousand years was solved, and large tracts of land were expanded eastward. In the past, this would have required the granting of titles through division of land.

Then, at noon, Orson attended the meeting inside the palace as a representative of the Stranik family and the Duchy of Antica.

There were three factions attending the meeting.

The royal family, dukes, and military and commercial representatives.

Among the military and business representatives, Orson saw familiar faces.

Celinina and Scaloni.

Whenever the empire encountered a major event, it would choose to hold a conference to bring together the major interest groups of the empire for joint consultation.

This is not democracy, it is just a negotiation among a group of people representing different interests.

In this incident, each force has its own demands. For example, the royal family's biggest goal is naturally to annex the entire Duchy of Naples, but the dukes will obviously not allow the royal family to do so. The two sides will repeatedly argue over this issue and finally compromise on a plan that is acceptable to all.

The same goes for military and business representatives. The army hopes to establish a military district in the Naples area, carve out a piece of territory for the army, and improve the army's status.

Business representatives were prepared to take over the post-war reconstruction of the Naples region.

Naples had not yet been lost, and even 70% of the land was still in its hands, but it had already reached the point where it was placed on the negotiating table for division.

After all, at the moment, no one thinks that the Dukedom of Naples still has the strength to fight back.

And the mistakes he made were indeed irreparable.

The meeting lasted a whole day, but in the end no suitable result was reached.

Several dukes jointly proposed that if the royal family wanted to annex the Duchy of Naples, then an electoral system would need to be implemented, otherwise an overly powerful central government would only suppress the local areas.

The system of electing an emperor has always been the bottom line of the royal family and is unacceptable, so the problem is stuck here.

If the conference continues like this, there will be no results.

So, on the second night, an astonishing news spread throughout the city of Saint Laurent.

Francis, Duke of Orleans, was assassinated.

Yes, after the meeting, when returning to the residence, a dozen assassins suddenly appeared on both sides of the road and surrounded the Duke of Orleans's convoy. In the end, François' guards were almost wiped out.

Orson arrived at the place where Francois was killed almost immediately after hearing the news.

.

At this moment, the surrounding area has been completely blocked by the imperial army.

The person in charge of the guard duty was Prince Arthas.

Such a major event has happened. As a representative of the army and also a prince of the empire, of course he has to show up.

The Duke's assassination in the imperial city can be said to be a very serious political crisis.