"So you're my aunt?"
This question was asked by a little girl who looked like a doll. She had dark brown hair and big blue eyes. She had a cute face and chubby cheeks that I just wanted to squeeze.
Actually, I barely managed to resist the urge to do just that.
The future villainess and the person accompanying her fell on me like a bolt from the blue that morning. The "kind" duchess didn't even bother to send me a warning letter, but simply sent the girl with all her belongings. Which, as it turned out, weren't that many.
Rubiella was dressed in a worn blue dress and was clearly freezing in her thin jacket. From the very first moment, I felt sorry for her: poor child.
The man who brought her looked extremely annoyed: he had to travel so far to get rid of the duchess's unwanted daughter. But that was not surprising. How could servants be kind to someone their mistress did not care about?
"My name is Grace," I said, trying to smile warmly despite the tense atmosphere. "But you can just call me Auntie."
Ruby nodded, and despite my attempt to make a good first impression, she looked dejected.
Obviously, I guessed the reason for this.
Despite her young age, she understood everything perfectly. Her own mother had sent her away so that the girl would not interfere with their family life with her new husband. It was likely that she had not given her the best send-off.
And now, she felt unwanted and abandoned.
I didn't have much experience with children before, so I had no idea what to do to calm her down.
In the end, I had to do what I could.
"There's no need to stand on the doorstep, let's go inside," I suggested, enthusiastically escorting the girl into the living room of my estate.
My older sister's butler left Ruby's small luggage in the hallway, clearly wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"The lady asked me to tell you not to write to her about trivial matters," he said dryly. "If anything happens to the child, deal with it yourself."
"I understand."
As soon as Ruby was out of earshot, my tone immediately became unfriendly.
"The lady promised to send a monthly allowance for her upkeep," the butler didn't even bother to mention Ruby by name. "If that is not enough, compensate her from your own funds."
I snorted.
"Allowance...?" I wondered how much that would be. Considering that the duchess had found herself a good match, their family's income should have increased. But it was unlikely that she would send even a quarter of it to her own daughter.
"Tell your sister that I am very grateful for her generosity," I replied skeptically.
The butler pretended not to notice my dismissive tone.
"As you say, Lady Weinstein."
The man bowed farewell and left the estate.
I sighed. It seemed that the most important stage of my life as a character in the game was beginning right now.
The next eight years were going to be quite difficult for me.
I returned to the living room, where Ruby was sitting modestly on the edge of the sofa. Being in a strange house for the first time, she was clearly nervous.
I hadn't expected her to be brought to me so soon and hadn't had time to prepare the house properly.
Grace Weinstein's estate was huge, but it hadn't been renovated in a long time, so it looked more like an abandoned building. In many places, the paint was peeling off the walls, a lot of the furniture was broken and hidden in the attic, and the floorboards on the first floor creaked throughout the house.
Grace herself had brought the estate to this state, as she didn't care about its maintenance at all. She spent all her money on clothes and jewelry, as well as on her lovers. As a result, she was almost completely ruined.
I got a huge dressing room with a wild amount of expensive dresses, but at the same time, there was no money even to hire a craftsman to repair the house.
The number of servants was also not very encouraging.
All the servants had fled from Grace when she could no longer pay their salaries. In the end, I was left with only one old butler, who was of little use.
But that doesn't mean I immediately gave up and fell into despair. There is a way out of every situation! At least, I hoped so...
"Madam, you haven't paid me in six months," the butler complained on the very day I first arrived here. "I have nothing left to cook you dinner with."
"I understand!" I waved him off, even though I knew it was a big problem. "I'll get the money soon."
The man sighed humbly.
"You always say that..."
"Always, but this time for sure!" I promised, although I myself had some doubts about my words.
Butler Edison had been working at Grace's estate for more than ten years, ever since she inherited it from her late father. He was a very old man who, judging by his appearance, should have been in his grave long ago. But despite his age, Edison was very spry and remained the only one who did not abandon his mistress in a crisis.
This was because he was very loyal to the Weinstein family and had served them since the time of the previous master.
For centuries, the Weinsteins had been associated with a powerful family of villains, feared by the entire empire. They controlled the country from within, and even the emperor did not dare to enter into conflict with them unnecessarily.
Harris Weinstein became the most influential head of this house in its entire history. Not only did he increase the duchy's wealth to the size of the imperial treasury, but he also subjugated a good half of the aristocracy. Few dared to contradict him in anything.
However, with Harris's death, all these achievements faded into oblivion.
The awe and fear that surrounded this family disappeared as soon as power and title passed to his daughters. Magritte became the next duchess after her father, but she did not lead the Weinsteins to even greater greatness; on the contrary, she destroyed it.
She proved completely incapable of managing such a large business and, as a result, lost her enormous fortune in less than a few years. Because of this, she had to marry several times to maintain at least a minimal status as an influential duchess.
Her younger daughter Grace was not much different from her. She squandered the inheritance left to her by the duke on useless entertainment. As a result, she did not even have enough money for the bare necessities.
In order to improve the situation in some way, I ruthlessly went through Grace's box, where she kept all her most valuable trinkets.
I hired craftsmen to carry out the first repairs to the house. After that, I started looking for servants.
I expected that the famous name of the Weinstein family would attract many applicants. But on the day of the interview, only one girl showed up.
Apparently, the rumor that I was ruined had spread much further than I thought.
As a result, she became the only maid on my estate.
A simple country girl of about sixteen, who came to me only because she had nowhere else to live. Two red pigtails and a freckled face were the first things that caught my eye when I looked at her appearance.
"Madam, do you know what rumors are circulating about you?" Nura asked me during our first interview.
"Um... Yes..."
"I want to be sure that you won't abandon me once I start working for you," she said, "so I'm asking for an advance payment."
She was the only one who came to me, so I was ready to accept her even without any skills. Anything is better than one old butler.
I took off a ring with a huge ruby of several carats from my finger. At the current exchange rate, it should have been worth quite a lot.
I handed it to the maid, who stared at me in amazement.
"Will this be enough as an advance for six months?"
Nura was initially stunned by such generosity, but then quickly caught on and even learned to address me politely.
"Of course, ma'am!" the girl exclaimed hastily. "Everything will be done in the best possible way!"
"I hope so," I grunted.
Thus, I increased my fortune to two servants and a house that was more or less suitable for living in. But that, of course, was not enough, and I intended to continue improving the living conditions throughout the year.
I wanted Rubiella to feel comfortable in this estate.
However, in the end, I had to settle for this modest set.
A maid I had hired a month ago and a butler with one foot in the grave. I think we'll be able to become an "excellent" family for the main villain.
I smiled at Rubiella, who was sitting modestly in the living room, not knowing where to put herself.
"Would you like to see your room?"