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

Most counts own a city and the surrounding villages and towns, while dukes directly govern several cities and exercise suzerainty over the counts within their de jure territories.

The emperor himself is similar to a larger duke. In addition to having more direct territories, the emperor exercises suzerain power over the duke and the earls within the territories.

As the saying goes, "My vassal's vassal is not my vassal", the emperor cannot directly command the duke's vassal.

Because of the chaotic feudal order, the empire fell into a hundred years of chaos after the death of the founding emperor. Eventually, five grand dukes were chosen, and these five grand dukes and their families have survived to this day.

They are the Eisenberg family that controls the Duchy of Prussia, the Florence family that controls the Duchy of Naples, the Toulouse family that controls the Duchy of Orleans, the Lisanus family that controls the Duchy of Aragon, and the Petrov family that controls the Duchy of Lucia.

As for the territory of the newly promoted Duke Lucius, the Duchy of Antica was formed because Lucius led the imperial army to conquer all directions and expanded countless territories to the east twenty years ago. The emperor of the empire divided a part of the territory originally directly governed by the royal family, and combined it with the newly conquered eastern region to piece together this duchy.

This action broke the delicate balance that had been maintained between the emperor and the dukes. For a moment, several dukes began to win over Lucius.

As a new noble, Lucius cleverly remained neutral in the open and secret struggles, waiting for the right price.

Eventually, he arranged a marriage with William Eisenberg, Duke of Prussia, and when Orson was three years old, he was engaged to William's second daughter, Lienka.

In this turbulent situation, the major local forces of the empire will of course train talents and recruit talents through academies in order to strengthen themselves.

Among the dozens of colleges in the empire, only that one can be named "Empire".

If people refer to "Imperial College" in public, there is only one.

Located in the imperial capital of Saint-Laurent, its full name is the National Imperial College of Saint-Laurent, or simply the Imperial College.

The fact that the academy is named after both the capital and the founding emperor shows how high its status is.

The Imperial Academy is the highest-level institution of learning in the empire, and its predecessor existed before the establishment of the empire.

Because it is supported by the royal family and many famous teachers teach in the academy, the Imperial Academy has always been the most ideal institution of learning for the best and brightest people in the empire. Students who graduate from the Imperial Academy will also receive olive branches from major forces.

Of course, the prerequisite is to be able to graduate successfully under the strict review and screening system.

In order to ensure the quality of students, the Imperial College adopts two admission systems. One is the aristocratic recommendation system, where each earldom can nominate one person for admission every year.

Because there are a large number of nobles in the empire, many nobles will use the recommendation quota to send their family members or confidants to study in the Imperial Academy, because the proportion of students recommended into the academy reaches 20%.

Another way, which is also the admission channel for most students of Imperial College, is through examination.

Every year during the Imperial College's enrollment season, a unified test will be conducted. At that time, aspiring young people from all over the country will gather in Saint Laurent City. In the end, the top 800 students who take the exam will be admitted to the Imperial College.

Of course, since the nobles receive the best education since birth, most of those who can actually pass the test are also nobles.

An exam that can select only 800 candidates from tens of thousands of candidates is naturally not easy.

In the original novel, although Leeteuk had the aura of the protagonist, he only had less than a month to prepare. He failed to pass the exam and was finally admitted with the recommendation of Lucius.

Because of this, he was looked down upon by others in the academy.

I have to say that the task Lucius assigned to me was quite difficult.

He had no idea whether Li Te could pass the exam within a month.

Just then, a maid came over.

Orson had some impression of her, and she seemed to be Mary's maid.

"Master Orson, Madam is looking for you." The maid said this and bowed to Orson.

"Mother is looking for me?" Orson looked at her in confusion, then nodded. "Okay, you lead the way."

Then the maid led Orson to Mary's study.

Since Mary was Lucius' second wife after his wife became a widower, she is only thirty years old this year.

She was born

In the Toulouse family of the Duke of Orleans, when Orson was ten years old, she, then twenty-two, married Lucius, who was forty years old.

The age gap between her and Lucius was even greater than that between her and Orson.

Considering her family's background and the actual intention behind their marriage, although the relationship between the two can be said to be respectful, Orson always felt that there was still a vague sense of distance between them.

The two of them each had a bedroom and a study at home. Mary and Lucius only shared a bed in the first three years of their marriage. After that, for various reasons, Mary rarely lived in the same room with Lucius.

Because Lucius was born a warrior and his ability to govern the territory was average, and Mary happened to have management skills, Lucius later simply handed over the decision-making power of territory governance to Mary. Mary did not disappoint Lucius' expectations and governed the territory quite well.

Of course, although the territory was well governed, the private treasury in the Duke's mansion had not increased, which always made people suspicious.

When I walked to Mary's study, I saw the servant Randall guarding the door.

He was a handsome middle-aged man, about thirty-four or thirty-five this year, and was one of the personal servants that Mary brought from her family.

"Uncle Randall." Orson greeted him politely.

Randall looked at Orson with a smile, and then said, "Master Orson, the lady is waiting for you inside."

"Yeah." Orson smiled, then opened the door and walked into the room.

Chapter 9: I hope you understand

Walking into the study, Mary had changed out of the dress she wore to today's party and put on a red long skirt. With her long brown hair and well-maintained skin, she looked like a woman of about 24 or 25 years old.

It has less girlish vitality and more maturity and charm.

"Did the master ask you to go to his study just now?" Mary seemed to be dealing with official documents at first. When she saw Orson coming in, she immediately put down what she was doing, looked up at Orson, smiled, and then said.

Looking at Mary in front of him, Orson felt a little complicated.

It is said that it takes two to tango. In the original book, Orson and Mary teamed up to frame Leete.

If I didn't have this idea now, Mary would not continue to persecute Litt.

"Mother, I was indeed called to the study by father just now." Orson nodded.

"Yeah." Mary nodded and continued, "What are you talking about? About Leete?"

"I can't hide it from my mother, it's true." Orson smiled.

"Orson, what do you think about the inheritance rights?" Mary said this, sat up from the chair, walked to Orson, and helped him straighten his collar.

She is a head shorter than Orson and has a younger face, so she doesn't look like a mother at all, but more like a peer.

More like a sister, or...

As soon as Orson thought of that, the memory of the original work came to his mind again, and the romantic thoughts that arose in his mind as a young man were instantly dissipated.

After all, Mary is your stepmother, and she is a villain in the original book!

"As for the inheritance rights..." Orson watched Mary continue to help him straighten his clothes, thought for a moment, and then said, "I will listen to my father. In my opinion, my father has raised me, his non-blood son, for eighteen years and given me the best education. I am already very grateful to him."

"Whether it's me or Leeteuk who inherits, I support my father's decision, and even say..."

After a pause, Orson continued, "Because of an accident, Lit lived in the countryside for eighteen years. If our identities were switched during these eighteen years, Lit would have lived a better life, and he would not be like this now."

"So, if possible, I would prefer Leeteuk to inherit his father."

Hearing Orson's words, Mary paused for a moment, then she smiled and looked up at Orson.

"Orson, I always thought you and I were the same kind of people."

"The same kind of people? Me and you, mother? Then, mother, what kind of people do you think we are?"

"With a broad vision and lofty ambitions, some unimportant things can be abandoned for the sake of the goal, right?"

Mary said this, standing on tiptoe and whispering next to Orson.

"Think about it, you have achieved such a high level at such a young age, don't you want to go further?"

"With your ability, the position of Duke isn't the end of the road, right?"

"Have you visited Saint Laurent? It's much more magnificent than Antica. Don't you think it's the place where you can show your talent?"

A place for talent? "

After saying that, Mary took a few steps back and looked at Orson with a smile.

There is still some girlish cuteness in her movements.

Orson was stunned for a moment, his expression changing again and again, and finally he showed a relieved smile.

Mary hasn't changed, at least, her desire to persecute Leeteuk in the original book hasn't changed.

In this case, she and I are already opposites.

"Saint Laurent is beautiful, but home is more comfortable."

"Besides, family is definitely one of the most important things, isn't it?"

"Haha, it seems that you and I are a little different." Mary smiled. "Orson, you are more powerful than I thought."

"Mother, what do you mean?"

"Nothing." Mary finished laughing and shook her head. "Then I believe you can do something that you won't regret."

"Maybe."

"Okay, it's getting late, you should go back to your room and rest." Mary said this, sat back in her chair, and waved to Orson.

"I understand. Mother, you should also go to bed early." Orson said this and turned to leave Mary's study.

After walking out of the study, Orson found that cold sweat had already seeped out of his neck.

After all, this was a conversation related to his own destiny, so he really didn't dare to take it lightly.

"Master Orson, take care." At the door, Randall bowed to Orson.

"Ah."

……

When I returned to the door, Vivian was still standing there.

Seeing Orson coming over, she quickly bowed.

"Okay, Vivian, you should go back and rest. It's getting late." Orson said this and prepared to open the door.

"Um, Master Orson, Master Lit is still in his room. His room is ready. Do you want to wake him up..."

"I'll do it myself." Orson smiled at Vivian, who took a breath and bowed quickly.

"Okay, Master, I'll go back first!"

Orson watched Vivian trot down the stairs, and only when she disappeared from his sight did he open the door and walk into the room.

According to the original novel, the only confidant and the person who is 100% trustworthy in the family should be the maid Vivian.

Both mother Mary and father Lucius are not easy to deal with.

After entering the room, the first thing Orson saw was Lit lying on the bed.

Leeteuk looks like he is sleeping soundly now, with a relaxed complexion. He looks much cuter than when he was tense during the day.

He went to bed without even taking off his clothes. Doesn't this kid feel uncomfortable...

Orson looked at Litt and saw that he hadn't even taken off his tuxedo. He shook his head and was about to help him take off his clothes.

But when he got close to Lit, he suddenly felt like a pervert.

Litt has long hair and his face looks very much like a girl. If it weren't for his ordinary chest and the fact that he was indeed a man in the original book, Orson would have really thought that Litt was a girl.

But even so, Orson couldn't bring himself to do it when he saw the girlish-looking Leeteuk.

There is always a feeling that I am doing something bad.

And seeing that the other person was sleeping so comfortably, it didn't seem right to wake him up.

Orson thought about it, then sat at the desk and started reading a book.

Another hour passed, and seeing that Litt had no sign of waking up, Orson also felt a little sleepy.

He glanced toward his bed.

The bed was the size of a standard double bed, and since Leeteuk was rather thin and had a good sleeping position, he only took up a very small space on one side.

We are brothers anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem if we share a bed for today.

Maybe you can take the opportunity to get closer to him.

Orson thought so, yawned, took off his coat, changed into pajamas, and lay down on the bed.

"Boy, I can't tell that you will become the protagonist in the future." Orson sighed and then closed his eyes.

Chapter 10: Getting Grumpy