«So you are my aunt?»

This question was asked to me by a little girl who looked like a doll. She had dark brown hair and big blue eyes. A cute face and plump cheeks that I wanted to cuddle.

Actually, I could hardly resist the last impulse.

The future villain and the person accompanying her, fell on me this morning like a snowball. The «kind» Duchess did not even bother to send me a warning letter, but simply sent the girl with all her belongings. Of which she did not have so many.

Rubiella was dressed in a worn blue dress, and was obviously freezing in her thin jacket. From the first seconds I felt sorry for her: poor child.

The man who brought her looked extremely annoyed: he had to drag himself so far to get rid of the unwanted daughter of the Duchess. But this was not surprising. How could servants be nice to someone who even their mistress didn't care about?

— My name is Grace, — despite the tense atmosphere, I tried to smile warmly, — But you can just call me Aunt.

Ruby nodded, and despite my attempt to make a good first impression, she looked extremely drooping.

Obviously, I guessed for what reason.

Despite her young age, she understood everything perfectly. Her own mother sent her away so that the girl would not interfere with their joint family life with her new husband. It is likely that she spent it with far from good words.

And now, she felt unwanted and abandoned by no one.

Before that, I didn't have much experience in dealing with children, so I had little idea what I could do to calm her down.

As a result, I had to act within my own strength.

«There's nothing to stand on the threshold, let's go inside,» I suggested, enthusiastically escorting the girl to the living room of my estate.

My older sister's butler left Ruby's few luggage in the hallway, with an obvious desire to leave as soon as possible.

— The lady asked me to tell you not to write to her about trifles, — he informed dryly, — If something happens to the child, deal with it yourself.

— I understand you.

As soon as Ruby was in an area where she couldn't hear us, my tone immediately changed to unfriendly.

— The mistress promised to send a monthly salary for her maintenance, — the butler did not even bother to call Ruby by name, — If this is not enough, make up from your personal funds.

I chuckled.

«Salary…»? I wonder how much it will be? Given that the Duchess had found a decent match for herself, their family's income should have increased. But it is unlikely that she will send at least a quarter to the needs of her own daughter.

«Tell your sister that I am very grateful for the generosity shown to her,» I replied skeptically.

The butler pretended to ignore my contemptuous intonation.

— As you say, Lady Weinstein.

The man made a farewell bow before leaving my estate.

I sighed. It seems that the most crucial stage of my life as a character in the game has begun right now.

The next eight years are going to be quite difficult for me.

I returned to the living room, where Ruby was sitting modestly on the edge of the sofa. The first time she was in someone else's house, she obviously felt excited.

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I didn't expect her to be brought to me so soon, so I didn't have time to properly prepare the house properly.

Grace Weinstein's estate was huge, but no one had restored it for a long time, so it looked more like an abandoned one. In many places, the paint peeled off the walls, a large amount of furniture was broken and hidden in the attic, and the floorboards on the ground floor creaked throughout the house.

To such a state, the estate was brought by Grace herself, who did not care about household chores. She spent all the money on clothes and jewelry, as well as her lovers. As a result, this led to the fact that she was almost completely ruined.

I got a huge dressing room with a wild number of expensive dresses, but at the same time there was no money even to hire a master to fix the house.

The number of servants also did not appeal to the variety.

All the servants ran away from Grace when she became unable to pay her salary. In the end, I was left with only one old butler, who was of little use.

But not to say that I immediately dropped my hands and fell into despair. There is a way out of any situation, at least I hoped for it.

«Madam, you haven't paid me for six months,» the butler complained on the very day I first came here, «I don't have anything else to cook you dinner from.

— I understand! — I waved him off, although I understood that it was a big problem, — I will get the money soon.

The man sighed humbly.

— You always say that…

— Always, but this time for sure! — I promised, although I was somewhat doubtful about my words.

Andrew, the butler, had been working at Grace's estate for more than a decade, ever since it had been inherited from her late father. He was a very old man, who by appearance should have been in the grave for a long time. But despite his age, Andrew was very lively and remained the only one who did not abandon his mistress in a crisis situation.

All this is due to the fact that he was very loyal to the Weinstein family, and served it since the time of the last master.

For centuries, the Weinsteins have been associated as an authoritative family of villains that the entire empire feared. They controlled the country from the inside and even the emperor did not dare to come into conflict with them once again.

Harris Weinstein turned out to be the most influential head of this house in history. Not only did he increase the duchy's fortune to the size of the imperial treasury, he also subjugated a good half of the aristocrats. Few people dared to contradict him in anything.

However, all these achievements have sunk into oblivion with the death of Harris.

All the awe and fear surrounding this family disappeared as soon as the power and title passed to his daughters. Magrit became the next duchess after her father, but she did not lead the Weinsteins to even greater greatness, but on the contrary destroyed them.

She turned out to be completely incapable of managing such a large house, and eventually lost a huge fortune in less than a few years. Because of this, she had to marry several times in order to maintain at least a minimal status of an influential duchy.

Grace's youngest daughter was not much different from her. She squandered the inheritance left to her by the Duke on useless entertainment. And as a result, she didn't have enough money for even the most basic things.

In order to somehow improve the situation, I mercilessly dealt with Grace's box, where she kept all the most valuable trinkets.

I hired craftsmen to carry out the first renovation of the house. After that, I started looking for servants.

I hoped that thanks to the big name of the Weinstein family, there would be many applicants for the position of a servant. However, on the day of the interview, only one girl came.

It seems that the rumors that I'm broke have spread much further than I thought.

As a result, she became the only maid in my estate.

An ordinary village girl of about sixteen, who came to me only because she had nowhere to live. Two red pigtails and a freckled face were the first thing that caught attention when looking at her appearance.

— Madam, do you know about the rumors that are going around about you? Nura asked me during the first interview.

— Mm… yes…

—I want to make sure that you won't dump me if I start working on your estate,» she said, «so please pay me an advance.»

She was the only one who came to me, so I was ready to accept her even without having any skills. Everything is better than one old butler.

I took off a ring with a huge ruby of several carats from my finger. By the standards of the current course, it should have cost decently.

I gave it to the maid, who bulged her eyes at me.

— Is this enough as an advance for six months?

Nura was speechless at first from such generosity, but then she quickly caught herself, and even learned to address me politely.

«Of course, mistress! — the girl exclaimed in a hurry, — Everything will be done in the best possible way!

«I hope so,» I chuckled.

Thus, I increased my fortune to three servants and a more or less decent house to live in. But of course, this was not enough, and I was going to improve living conditions during the year.

I wanted Rubiella to be able to feel comfortable in this estate.

However, in the end, I had to limit myself to just this modest set.

The maid I hired a month ago and the butler have one foot in the grave. I think we will be able to become a «great» family for the main villain.

I turned with a smile to Rubiella, who was sitting modestly in the living room, and did not know where to go next.

— Maybe you want to see your room?