Chapter 16: Nightmare - A Guide to Raising a Villainess - NovelsTime

A Guide to Raising a Villainess

Chapter 16: Nightmare

Author: Meredit_Yuri
updatedAt: 2025-10-08

CHAPTER 16: NIGHTMARE

The duke’s conversation with his son was interrupted by an unexpected visit from a servant. The butler announced that Lady Weinstein had arrived and was waiting for an audience in the drawing room. The two exchanged surprised glances.

Why had this woman come so suddenly?

"Father, I’ll go."

Dickens Sr. nodded to him. Watching his son go to meet Grace, the man was overcome with vague doubts. He hoped that everything would go according to their plan. Meanwhile, Roger went downstairs and saw that the duchess’s younger sister was indeed waiting on the sofa.

The young woman looked calm and relaxed. She smiled when she saw Roger.

"Sir Roger, what a wonderful morning, isn’t it?"

The young man was embarrassed.

"You are right, ma’am."

The young gentleman ordered tea and snacks. They sat across from each other in a friendly atmosphere. At the same time, it was impossible to guess that Grace was seething with anger inside. The woman’s fingers clenched around the cup handle.

"Lady Weinstein, what brings you here today?"

Before I could start talking, white rectangles appeared in front of me with answer options. There were three of them. Roger and the rest of the world around me froze, as if I had pressed pause in the middle of a movie.

"Sir Roger, don’t you have anything to say to me?"

"You hypocritical bastard, how dare you and the duke deceive me?!"

"Act as if nothing happened."

Ha... I couldn’t help but smile. As expected, the game had even anticipated such a turn of events. Or maybe it just knew in advance and deliberately led me to this betrayal? Nevertheless, I only had thirty seconds left to make a decision.

As much as I wanted to get angry and make a scene, I had to keep myself under control at that moment. A fleeting burst of emotion was not worth my future. Before breaking off my relationship with the duke, I had to think carefully.

I chose the third option. My mouth opened and I automatically uttered the following sentence:

"Sir Roger, actually, I wanted to discuss your proposal."

"Huh?"

"I remember you saying that you wanted to really work with me," I smiled, "I thought about it and decided to agree."

Roger stared at me in surprise. It seemed he hadn’t expected me to actually change my mind.

"Are you... Are you serious?!"

I nodded.

"I came to plan our schedule," I took a sip of tea, "I think we should start with the basics of fine art. You’ve never done this before, have you?"

Roger slowly shook his head.

"In that case, we should start by studying the theory. We’ll go to the art museum soon. I’ll personally give you a tour."

Roger’s eyes grew wider and wider. A couple of days ago, he had invited me to an exhibition, but I had declined. Now I had invited him personally. It was really hard to believe that I had changed my mind so quickly.

Grace, as a daughter of the Weinstein family, had received the best education in all fields. She was also well versed in literature and painting. It would not be difficult for me to pass on some of my knowledge to Roger, especially since my body remembered most of the skills on an instinctive level.

That was not the point. Was I really going to teach him? It seemed that neither of us knew.

"Sir Roger, what do you think?"

The young man looked at me intently.

"All right... I agree to be your real student."

***

This time, I returned to the estate completely exhausted. After spending half the day on the road, my legs were aching with fatigue. On top of that, there had been so many discoveries in such a short period of time... I definitely needed a rest.

Nura informed me that Rubiella was already asleep. When I asked what she had been doing all day, the maid replied:

"The little lady... Um... She was playing in her room."

"You mean she didn’t come out once?"

"Yes," the girl nodded vaguely, "I called her for dinner, but she refused."

"I see," I sighed, "Then you can go to bed too."

Before going to bed, I decided to look into my niece’s room and check on her. Rubiella was indeed fast asleep, hugging her teddy bear. I smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed.

In the darkness, I brushed a couple of dark strands of hair from her face.

Come to think of it, this child was my only family right now.

I was going to sit with her for a while and then go to my room, when I noticed Rubi’s strange behavior. The girl suddenly began to toss and turn in her sleep. It seemed she was having a nightmare.

"No! Ruby will behave herself! Please, don’t...!"

Suddenly, Ruby started screaming. Her face contorted as if she was in pain.

"Let me go! Let me go! I don’t want to... It hurts!"

Ruby’s condition was getting worse. Out of concern, I decided to try to wake her up.

"NO!!"

The girl resisted for a while, then finally opened her eyes. Rubiella was breathing heavily, and when she saw me, her pupils dilated. She stared at me intently for a few seconds, seemingly unable to understand whether it was a dream or reality.

This was the first time Ruby had ever behaved like this in front of me. Of course, I couldn’t help but be worried. But before I could calm her down...

She had another seizure. Noticing that the room was dark and that it was the middle of the night, the girl hid her head under the pillow and covered her ears.

"Ruby..." I could only say one word.

"Light! Turn on the light! I’m scared...!" she screamed.

I was stunned. It was really strange. However, seeing Ruby’s reaction, I immediately rushed to fulfill her request. I fumbled in the dark for the wick lamp and, after several attempts, successfully lit it. I placed it on the bedside table next to the bed.

Looking at the small flame, Rubiella calmed down a little. I didn’t expect that at ten years old she was still afraid of such things.

At that moment, I didn’t know how to behave myself.

While the girl was coming to her senses, I helped her get back into bed. And just in case, I decided to spend the night here today. I lay down next to her, hugged Ruby to my chest, and stroked her. I did everything exactly as my mother did when I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time as a child.

"It’s okay..." I whispered, "The nightmare is over."

Ruby trembled in my arms. After a couple of minutes, her breathing finally returned to normal. As I was calming her down, I involuntarily began to fall asleep myself.

"...Auntie, I’m so glad you’re here."

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