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

Although he did not tell Olivia about the specific cooperation between him and Elsa, during this period of time, Olivia obviously knew that Orson was on Elsa's side.

There are only two possibilities for the royal family to be forced to make concessions.

One option is to relax the authority of private investigation and provide the previously investigated information to the Duke of Orleans free of charge. The other option is to directly choose someone from the royal family to take the blame.

And that person is very likely to be Arthas.

After all, it was the coat of arms of the House of Toulouse that was found in private property in Alsace, and this coat of arms, after identification, was obviously authentic.

Even if someone framed him, Alsace's reputation would plummet before that person was found.

In this way, the resistance to Elsa's promotion will be greatly reduced.

Imagine that one is a stubborn conservative who can protect the interests of the nobles, but has a history of murdering nobles.

Although the other was a reformist, he had never murdered any nobles, and even the trials he had previously conducted in the Imperial Court were fair judgments based on Imperial law.

Although the nobles will still prefer Alsace, they will definitely have some reservations because Alsace's suspicion has not been cleared.

In addition, it is rumored that Giovanni, the current traitor to the Empire, also had close contacts with Arthas in the past.

Whether Arthas is worthy of everyone's trust or not is a big question mark.

Olivia looked at Orson and expressed her thoughts, and asked doubtfully: "Orson, don't you also want the royal family's influence to be too great?"

"Well, after all, I am not a member of the royal family. At most, I can only be considered to have some friendship with some of the people there. Antica is where I was born and raised. How could I not consider the interests of Antica?"

……

On the other side, in the palace.

Ever since Odysseus learned that the Toulouse family crest had been discovered, he had been dealing with the related aftermath for three consecutive days.

First, the original task force was disbanded and a new group of people were put in charge of the investigation.

Then he replaced the files in the Imperial Court and brought all the important files back to the palace.

After these things were dealt with, Odysseus thought he could keep it secret. After all, he had paid enough hush money, and those who knew about it would not spread it.

But who knew that the Duke of Orleans would suddenly put pressure on them and insisted on personally intervening in the investigation, saying that if Orleans was not allowed to participate in the investigation, it would prove that the royal family was hiding something.

It's very strange. In the eyes of Odysseus and the high-ranking officials of the empire, Sean, the new regent of the Dukedom of Orleans, is an honest man who would never have the courage to challenge the royal family.

But the other party not only did so, but also brought in other dukes to jointly issue a statement.

The situation has now even become serious enough to require additional troops to be deployed to the border.

In desperation, Odysseus could only order the front-line troops to return to defend while discussing countermeasures day and night.

The discussion finally came to a conclusion, but it required Arthas's consent.

Today, he plans to meet Arthas again and ask for his opinion.

Chapter 85: Conversation

"Father, it's been a long time since we last met." Arthas looked at Odysseus in front of him and bowed respectfully.

"Well, you know I'm your father." Odysseus snorted, "Then do you know what I've been busy with these days?"

"I know." Arthas nodded. He had heard all the rumors about the outside world in the palace. When he heard that the emblem of the Toulouse family was found in a property he had acquired not long ago, and it was a genuine one, he was shocked.

Of course Arthas knew that he was framed, because he had never thought of taking action against any noble from the beginning to the end, but the evidence was irrefutable, and the other party was using some means to throw dirty water on him.

The only thing that could make Arthas feel a little relieved was that this matter was also related to the royal family. Even if it was just to clear the royal family's suspicion, Odysseus had to help him.

But these days, there have been a lot of rumors from the outside world, and even the dukes have jointly issued a statement, saying that the royal family must make concessions.

Whoever started the incident should be held responsible. Arthas understood why Odysseus came to him today.

"But Father, please believe me. I was wrongly accused and I have never done anything to murder the Duke."

"Of course I believe you. I also know that you would never do such a thing. But, Arthas, this matter cannot be resolved simply by my trust. Now the dukes are anxious to get an explanation. If the deceased was a count, we might be able to make a big deal out of it. But the person who was assassinated this time was a duke after all. This kind of thing has never happened in the empire for hundreds of years."

"So... what does father mean?" Arthas looked at Odysseus in confusion.

"If we can't cover it up, we can only give them the information. In this way, they will also know that Francois's death is related to you."

"And you are the only suspect in the open. Their anger will undoubtedly be vented on you, and then it will also affect the royal family."

Arthas felt a chill in his heart when he heard Odysseus' words.

"Father...I don't understand why you can't push a scapegoat to the throne?"

"Oh, scapegoat?" Odysseus couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

"Alsace, do you know how strong the guards around Francois are? Can a scapegoat be found at random?"

"Looking at the entire Saint Laurent City, how many families do you think have a force of warriors above level eight? If we randomly pull out a scapegoat, will they believe it?"

"And if we find someone with that ability to take the blame, do you think he would be willing to be our scapegoat?"

“……” Arthas was silent.

After a moment, he spoke again, trying to buy himself a last chance.

"Father, what do you think we should do? Do I have to take the blame?"

"Again, this matter started because of you. If you hadn't taken action against those industries before, the ones who would be suspected now should be the original owners of those industries, right?"

Odysseus said this and sighed helplessly.

"..." Arthas nodded after hearing this. "Father, you are right. I shouldn't make this mistake. However, as you said, Saint Laurent City does have a force that can mobilize strong men above level eight, and we don't have to worry about affecting their interests. On the contrary, we can completely wipe out all the evil forces in Saint Laurent City through this action."

"Oh?" Odysseus heard this and looked at Arthas curiously.

"What do you think."

It was helpless to let Arthas make the sacrifice, but if Arthas had a better plan, Odysseus would not mind adopting his suggestion.

……

Let’s go back to the night before François was assassinated.

After the banquet, François did not return to his residence directly with his guards as usual, but took a detour to a secret place before returning to his residence.

This information is unknown to the public.

"You just said that Marie left a legacy?" François sat on one side of the table and looked at the person sitting opposite him.

This is a membership-based coffee shop, where powerful people often come to discuss issues. Therefore, when registering customers, pseudonyms or anonymity are deliberately used to protect their privacy.

Such occasions are very common in Saint Laurent City, because the nobles always have some private matters that are not convenient to be handled with their real names, no matter how big or small.

"Of course, you don't want to know how much private wealth Lady Mary left for herself during her time as the ruler of Antica?"

"That private wealth has already been seized, right?"

"You are Mary's brother. You should know how smart Mary is. Do you think she would be so foolish as to keep all her personal property in one place without moving it away?"

"So, what do you mean?"

"Mrs. Mary has a lot of property under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family. These properties are either cash stored in the vault or transformed into various industries. They are all registered under the name of one person. Do you want to know the location of that person?"

"…Tell me, as Mary's elder brother, I have the right to inherit her finances after her death."

"Of course, that's why I'm here." The other party said this and handed François a business card. After François read it, he gave it back to the other party.

"I'll remember that. I'll look for it. If I can't find it, I can understand that you don't want to have any contact with me anymore."

"What if we find it?"

"What do you want me to give you? Half of the assets?"

"No, I just want you to be my friend. As for your assets, just give me a portion that will allow me to spend my old age in peace in the Dukedom of Orleans."

"Friends? Haha, sure." François nodded, then stood up and walked out.

"Mary, Mary, I never thought that after your death, you would be betrayed by the person who was once closest to you." Back in the carriage, thinking about what had just happened, François smiled and shook his head.

"But it doesn't matter, Mary. I will inherit your estate. This way, you won't be considered to have made no contribution to the Toulouse family."

On the way back, he was still thinking about how to use the property, but at this moment something strange happened.

The carriage suddenly stopped, and then there was a sound of swords clashing around.

The captain of the guard who was sitting in front of his carriage stuck his head in half a minute later.

"Your Excellency the Duke, a group of ignorant thieves just came outside and tried to rob us, but we have now driven them away."

"Well, if there's nothing else, let's continue on our journey." After seeing the captain of the guard's report, François nodded calmly.

"Hmph, if the public security in Saint Laurent City continues like this, it will decline sooner or later." Sitting in the car, he snorted coldly.

However, the end of his destiny was waiting for him not far ahead.

Chapter 86: Secret Deal

The convoy continued to move forward for a few minutes, and just when everyone had recovered from the tension of the attack, a pair of eyes were fixed on François and his group.

Just as the few people were passing a deserted intersection, the dark shadow hiding on the rooftop chose to take action. With just one blow, the captain of Francois's guard was killed. Then, with the sound of sharp weapons cutting flesh coming from the surroundings, the members of Francois's guard were being reaped like straw.

When François first saw the carriage stop, he thought the road ahead was blocked. However, when he heard the sound of people falling around him, he began to panic.

His guards fell to the ground one after another without even making a sound.

"Captain Russell? Are you okay?" François asked through the curtain of the carriage.

However, no one responded to him.

"Your Majesty! Go!" At this moment, a guard finally spoke, but then a scream was heard, and it was obvious that he was killed.

François was in a panic. The guards told him to go, but where could he go?

As a duke, he must have some means of saving his life, but these means all require someone to buy him time. In this situation, no one can guess when the other party will appear in front of him.

When I release the teleportation magic, I am extremely vulnerable. If I am attacked at this time, I will really die.

"Your Excellency the Duke, I will hold him back for you, please go quickly!" At this moment, Captain Russell, who was attacked first and should have died, suddenly woke up. As he said this, he used all his strength to stop the carriage.

"Oh? You're still alive? It seems I underestimated you." said the black shadow.

"Captain Russell, I will never forget your life-saving grace." François was moved when he heard Russell say that. He then quickly took out a magic scroll from his storage ring and began to chant the spell. Once he finished chanting, he would move to the safest place.

However, as soon as he read out the first byte, he saw some dark red liquid spilled on the curtains, and some of it seeped into the carriage through the curtains.

The next second, a pair of big hands pushed open the curtains.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency the Duke, but I'll take your life."

The other party said this without giving Francois even a second to spare and directly stabbed the sharp blade in his hand into Francois' chest.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Russell, the captain of the guards with the strength of the seventh level, couldn't even survive a single move from this person? Who was the other party?

Do I really want to die?

it hurts……

This was the last thought in his mind. At the moment when his chest was pierced, the black shadow stretched out his other hand and reached into his chest cavity along the wound.

"Is this... the bloodline of the Duke?" The black shadow sighed as he looked at the heart that was still trembling and beating in his palm.

The world is unfair. Some nobles are superior to others when they are born, especially the great nobles headed by the royal family and the dukes. The power of their blood has built a barrier between their descendants and ordinary people.

The heart in the black shadow's hand still keeps beating even after leaving its owner's body.

If he had not suffered such a fatal injury, I'm afraid he could have survived with his tenacious vitality?

"As expected of the Duke, he is so useful even in death." The black shadow said this, walked out of the carriage, and then instantly disappeared into the dark alley beside the street.

The black shadow made several large circles in the complex streets of Saint Laurent City and then stopped.

"Come out, you rat who likes to follow others." The black shadow said this and turned away.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a bat jumped down from a nearby street lamp and appeared in front of the black shadow.

If Orson had been there, he would have recognized the man's features.

That is the Killing Angel who had previously collaborated with Orson.

"Don't be so nervous, I mean no harm." The Killing Angel said this and laughed twice.

"I don't think a person who doesn't want to show his true face can have no ill intentions."