I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree-Chapter 28 - Gnats Shaking a Great Tree

“Your Majesty, strictly speaking, this matter should be considered a family affair between dukes, shouldn’t it?” At this moment, Duke Ivan of Lucian, who was sitting beside François, also spoke.

The meaning expressed in his words was very subtle.

However you, the Emperor, usually assert your presence, or even how the Antica Duchy, an anomaly among duchies, displays its sense of presence, the dukes will not say anything, and will even cooperate very well with you, but if you extend your hand into other duchies, perhaps that is going a bit too far.

Therefore, even if Mary truly was a traitor to the Antica Duchy, selling the interests of the Antica Duchy to the Orleans Duchy, all Emperor Odysseus could do was limit the punishment to the areas he could interfere with, and not involve other duchies.

“I naturally know,” Odysseus heard Ivan say this and nodded.

At this moment, Lucius’s usual old rival, Giovanni, remained silent.

Because he knew that this matter didn’t even require his intervention. The other dukes, and even the absolute ally of the Antica Duchy, Duke William of Prussia, when considering the interests of their own duchies, would not allow Odysseus to interfere with the Orleans Duchy.

Whether this debt could be recovered or not entirely depended on whether François himself had a conscience.

“Oh, right, Mother,” Orson said this, taking out a recording magic stone.

“Surely no one present here doesn’t recognize this item, right?”

When Mary saw this item appear in Orson’s hand, her heart trembled.

Subsequently, Orson poured magic power into it.

As expected, the scene that appeared within it was Lucius’s bedroom. At this moment, Lucius was sitting in the center of the room.

“Using a recording magic stone as a form of will, while not common, has existed in history. Although recording magic stones are extremely precious, using them to record more valuable evidence is worth it.”

As Orson’s words fell, everyone saw that in the image, Lucius began to move.

“Cough, cough, Albert, the recording magic stone is working now, right?”

“Yes,” From outside the image, Albert’s voice came.

“Good,” Lucius nodded, then spoke, “My mental state hasn’t been well recently. I may experience memory loss and similar conditions later. To avoid causing confusion regarding the family inheritance because of this, I will state it clearly here first.”

“I, Lucius, as the head of the Stranick family, which is the hereditary Duke of Antica, hereby make my will. If I die, or lose the ability to manage the duchy, the position of family head... will be inherited by...”

Upon seeing this part, everyone held their breath.

Because the words Lucius was about to speak in the image would signify the establishment of the will, and thus the establishment of the heir to the Antica Duchy.

Below, Olivia and Lianca looked at each other worriedly.

Celineina, who was attending as a special guest, also showed a complex expression.

“...will be inherited by my son, Litte Stranick.”

As these words fell, everyone was utterly astonished.

Although everyone knew Litte was your biological son, it shouldn’t be like this, should it?

How was the current Litte better than Orson?

However, everyone could also understand this. As for the heir, it was a choice between two, and choosing either was justifiable. Perhaps Lucius had his own considerations.

“At the same time, my son Orson will receive half of the duchy’s property.”

“Master, is that the end of the will’s content?” One could hear that in the image, Albert’s voice was also unexpectedly surprised.

“No, there is one more thing,” Lucius said this, looking at the center of the image.

Everyone could see the anger and dissatisfaction contained within Lucius’s eyes in the image.

“Expel my unchaste wife, Mary, from the Stranick family!”

Upon hearing this sentence, Mary directly knelt on the ground in fear.

“Master! Is what you said true?”

“Yes, my mind is very clear now, Albert,” Lucius nodded. “This is my will. I hope you will keep it properly and make it public one day.”

“Alright.”

Subsequently, the recording magic stone stopped.

Everyone present didn’t know what to say.

This family drama, a family shame that was originally not meant to be made public, would now likely become the gossip of the Empire for a long time to come.

And the meaning conveyed from the short few minutes of the image was already clear and unambiguous enough.

Litte inherited the ducal title, Orson could only take half of the property and would not gain power, and Mary’s treatment was even more outrageous.

The words “unchaste” were not a joke. Once spoken, they could not be taken back.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards Mary.

At this moment, Butler Albert also walked out.

As the witness to the will, he needed to appear at this moment to prove the authenticity of the will.

“As you have all seen, when this image was recorded, I was the witness. I can guarantee the authenticity of the will.”

“As for the extra words the Master said, it is entirely up to you all to discern.”

Then, he respectfully bowed and withdrew.

“Mother, you might not have expected it, but the one who betrayed you is precisely the person you trusted the most,” Orson said this, walked to Mary, and crouched down.

“Mr. Randall has confessed everything, about your relationship with him,” He whispered into Mary’s ear.

“Sometimes I just don’t understand. Clearly, in this family, as long as you fulfill your duties as a mother, wouldn’t praise and wealth come easily?”

“You also know that a daughter who is married off is like a rootless duckweed. These past years, you colluded with subordinates to channel money to the family, all for the sake of gaining their support, didn’t you? But what was the final outcome?”

“Even with the Emperor’s arrival this time, you must have also wanted to ruin our reputation and have the Emperor strip us of our right to inheritance, thereby granting it to the child in your belly, right?”

“Your talent is indeed remarkable, but unfortunately, your ambition is as high as the sky, yet you walk the most dangerous tightrope. One mistake, and it is eternal perdition.”

Saying this, Orson mocked, “What’s laughable is that you made so many mistakes, and it was always Father who pulled you back. But Father is kind-hearted and gave you so many chances, yet you turned a deaf ear. In the end, you still lost to your inner desires.”

“A gnat attempting to shake a great tree, laughable and overestimating oneself, Mother. Oh no, should I call you Miss Mary now?”

Orson’s words, without question, bit by bit broke through Mary’s inner defenses. Mary just froze in place, not daring to speak, and not knowing how to speak.

After speaking, Orson stood up and looked at the people around him.

“Regarding this matter, there should be no objections, right? Everyone?” He first looked at Duke Ivan of Lucian. “Just as Duke Ivan said just now, this is all a private matter of our family. If you were to make arbitrary accusations and conclusions, wouldn’t it be somewhat unreasonable?”

Then, he looked at Odysseus.

“I apologize for making you witness this, Your Majesty. It was originally just a small internal family matter, but it has reached the point where you had to intervene.”

“It’s alright,” Odysseus said this, shaking his head.

As for Lucius, during the playback of the recording magic stone, he had been taken upstairs by Vivian to rest.

Downstairs, it was already the domain of the younger generation. He was tired and needed to rest for a while.