CHAPTER 8: THE GREATNESS OF THE WEINSTEIN FAMILY

Meeting Roger Dickens was an event that left me reeling for quite some time. Everything that happened seemed unreal to me. Finally, after a moment’s thought, I decided that I would not get involved in this dangerous adventure.

At first, after meeting one of the main characters of the game, I was so confused that I could hardly think straight. But now that feeling had passed. And I was determined to refuse the guy’s offer to protect me. More precisely, to have any contact with him at all.

A peaceful life for Ruby and me was much more important. So, even though Roger might have been a nice guy, I had no plans to cross paths with him again in the future. God forbid the game’s plot should go awry because of me...

Love interests should stay close to the heroine! Don’t drag those who just want to live their lives into your mess.

With that in mind, I took a blank sheet of paper, intending to write a polite letter of refusal and send it to the Dickens estate. I dipped my pen in ink, and just as I was about to put it to the paper, there was a knock at my office door. Of course, who else could it be at seven in the morning?

"Come in, Edison," I sighed.

The elderly butler squeezed into the modest room I called my "study." In reality, it was just a random room where I had put a desk and other supplies. Since the real Grace never dealt with estate matters, there was no separate workspace here. I intended to fix that during the upcoming renovation.

"Madam, are you busy?"

"As you can see," I leaned back in my chair.

Edward Edison chuckled quietly.

"It’s so unusual to see you like this," he admitted. "It’s as if you’ve become a completely different person in a month."

"Ha-ha..." I smiled tensely, although I doubted that the old man could really see through me. "Anything can happen. I just woke up one morning and realized I wanted to start a new life."

"That sounds very realistic!"

Although the Weinstein family’s butler was very old, he was also very wise. Sometimes it seemed to me that the old man’s narrowed eyes could see right through me. Of course, he might have had his suspicions. Not long ago, he had been picking up his mistress from a brothel every day, and now she had suddenly changed completely. What’s more, she didn’t even look at young men!

Any sane person would conclude that the real Grace had been kidnapped and replaced by a humanoid. But no. The technological progress of this world did not fit into such a theory. Therefore, Edison had no choice but to believe that I had indeed changed my worldview so dramatically.

"You recently met the young Mr. Dickens, didn’t you?"

I choked. How did he know all this?

"Yes," I nodded reluctantly.

The butler looked at me intently, and I suddenly realized what he meant.

"Don’t get the wrong idea!" I hastily protested. "I didn’t meet him because of..."

"I know," he replied. "Even if you had returned to your old habits, you wouldn’t have taken the child with you. This meeting was probably about something else."

I sighed with relief.

"Of course! I had another reason."

"And I can guess what it was."

Edison. Damn psychic. I wonder if such wisdom really comes with age?

"As you know, things aren’t going very well for us right now."

"Yeah," I grunted.

"Do you already have an idea of how you’re going to deal with it?"

"It’s not so easy to get out of the hole we’re in," I remarked eloquently.

Grace left the estate with such a pile of debt that no creditor could have dreamed of. What’s more, she had a large number of enemies in society. The youngest daughter of the ducal family was known as a quarrelsome lady whose temper could only be tolerated by her lovers. And so far, I had no idea how to solve this whole "bouquet" of problems.

At least my older sister was definitely not going to help us. Having sent her daughter away, she lived happily with her new husband. And she hardly ever thought about us.

But, fortunately, I wasn’t the only one racking my brains over this question. The butler was also concerned about the fate of the duchy.

"Madam, I think you know this. We will need the support of other noble families."

"And...?"

"It is very difficult to restore our reputation and financial situation. I would even say it is almost impossible. Unless... some influential family supports you."

"An influential family?" I smiled. "Of course, how could I not have thought of that option?"

The irony was not accidental.

The idea proposed by the butler really seemed to be the only way out of our situation. The family business was completely in the hands of my sister and her husband, so there was no way I could get involved. And starting something from scratch was even more difficult. It would take at least a few years before I could reap any rewards. Therefore, the option of patronage remained the most advantageous.

But... it was also the most unrealistic. Who would want to help me? Even that insufferable boar, Crik, looked at me with contempt. Not to mention the more influential families. Especially since I had nothing to offer them.

"Madam, don’t give up on this idea so easily," insisted the old man.

"Of course," I frowned. "Who would want to help the ruined daughter of a duke? Especially one who is ’famous’ throughout the empire?"

I didn’t believe that there was even one such madman in the whole country.

"Duke Dickens, for example."

My pupils dilated in surprise.

"What?!"

"I think this meeting was very timely," he continued. "We must begin to regain our influence with him."

With every passing second, it became clearer to me that the butler was not joking. But that only increased my confusion. Why would Edison suddenly decide that Roger’s father would want to help me? We weren’t even acquainted.

"Nonsense," I objected. "Duke Dickens is one of the most powerful aristocrats in the empire. Why would he want to get involved with me?"

The butler’s theory made no sense to me. But even so, he managed to insist on his point.

The man adjusted his glasses expressively on his nose.

"Madam, you must have forgotten. The Weinsteins are a family of villains."

I was surprised when the old man’s gaze flashed sharply from under his eyebrows. His golden pupils were like those of a beast.

"We have something that no one else in the empire has."

"What are you talking about...?" I muttered.

Having said that, the man suddenly took a token out of his jacket’s inside pocket and showed it to me. I froze involuntarily. It was dark, with a golden engraving of a spider. A family heirloom of the Weinsteins. Before that, I had only seen one in a game.

"This is..."

"The master left it to me before he died," sighed the old man. "He told me to give it to the next heir of the Weinsteins."

"What?" I was even more surprised. "But then why...?"

Isn’t Magrit the rightful heir? What does this have to do with me?

"You were the master’s favorite daughter," Edison continued. "I always knew there was a reason for that. You certainly have potential. That’s why I decided to keep the token until better times and not give it to your sister."

I was amazed that the butler had made such an important decision on his own. In a sense, it was a direct violation of the duke’s order, but he did it for the sake of the Weinstein family. The old man really did have strong nerves.

Meanwhile, it could well have been unjustified. After all, in the game itself, the token went only to Rubiella. She used it to summon the secret powers of the family and stage a coup.

Noticing that I wasn’t too surprised, Edison froze.

"This is the first time you’ve seen the family heirloom. Why do I have a feeling that’s not true?"

"Um, that’s..." I cleared my throat. "Of course, it’s the first time!"

I chose not to mention my numerous playthroughs of this storyline. I quickly took the token from the butler and pretended to be very shocked.

"So you’re saying this will help me...?" I examined the engraving of the golden spider.

"Of course. The power of our organization is unmatched, even by the imperial army."

The Order of the Shadow was the name of the underground community founded by Harris Weinstein. It consisted of about three hundred hired assassins. All of them were former criminals whom the duke had taken under his wing and raised as his army. They were more devoted to the Weinstein family than to their own lives.

One member of the Order of the Shadow was worth a hundred imperial soldiers. That was why the current emperor feared them so much. However, it did not last long. After Harris’s death, everyone naturally decided that the organization had been disbanded and the danger had passed. The fear of the Weinstein family disappeared on its own.

Only ten years later would Rubiella attempt to restore the family’s former glory. The girl called on all of her grandfather’s forces for help and led a coup. However, in the end, it all ended in defeat. Because when the battle between the villain and the heroine took place, the outcome was predetermined.

And now this thing was in my hands. The very thing that in a few years would pass into Ruby’s possession and determine the future of our family.

"Ma’am, what have you decided?" Edison addressed me again.

I snorted.

"What is there to decide?"

A window popped up in front of me.

System: Quest "Order of the Shadow." Would you like to participate?

I hesitated for a moment. But when I saw the reward of a hundred crystals, more than I had ever had, my greedy nature couldn’t resist. At that moment, I wasn’t particularly guided by moral principles.

Since I had already been reborn into a family of villains, I had nothing to lose. Especially since the game itself kindly presented it to me on a silver platter. Better that I get this token than Rubiella staging a doomed rebellion. I was ready to get my hands dirty instead of her.

Anyway, there it was.

System: Accepted! The quest has begun!