The Villainess Lives Twice
chapter-37

As Artizea entered, the mansion of Duke Evron began to change.

For Cedric, ‘house’ meant the people of the Grand Duchy.

He seldom stayed in the mansion itself. By nature, he did not pay close attention to the atmosphere of the mansion.

Ansgar, who had to take care of the mansion, always followed Cedric to and from the camp.

No one stayed at home, so the house was naturally desolate. The Grand Duke’s residence in the capital was close to a space where Cedric and his knights could only sleep for a month or two of the year.

Artizea renewed the atmosphere.

“Thanks to the Lady Heiress, the whole house is full of life.”

The butler and the head maid’s face bloomed.

For the Grand Duke of Evron, for the first time in nearly two decades, he finally felt like a homeowner.

A new maid was hired, and flowers were decorated. In the dining room, fine new cutleries was placed to replace the old silverware.

The wardrobe was filled and the bedroom was lively.

The servants opened the door of the empty room and polished the old furniture. Simple construction was also done in several places, including the living room and bedroom.

The real purpose of the construction was to decorate the house with needed equipment such as installing a sound collector and a secret passage.

But on the outside, it seemed like they were simply installing ornaments or changing wallpaper.

Cedric replied happily to Artizea asking for permission.

“Do whatever you want. You can use the budget of the mansion as you like. Don’t just think about what you need for your work, but make sure you have whatever you need to be comfortable.”

“Thank you.”

“If you need me, feel free to tell me. I’m not very useful for this, but I will do my best,” he added, a little awkwardly, “Isn’t it also going to be your home now?”

Artizea wanted to say thank you for his care, but somehow the words couldn’t come out smoothly on her tongue.

‘Your home’.

She never thought so. For Artizea, moving to his residence was part of the plan.

But Cedric says this will really be her home.

Even though it was only a two-year contract, it was as if it was a real marriage.

Her face heated up.

The marriage was nothing. She only intended to naturally stick to Cedric’s side and influence the Grand Duke.

However, every time he said things like this, she didn’t know why her face became hot and why her heart shook.

Seeing Artizea’s face, Cedric made an awkward face.

He looked at Artizea several times as if he had something else to say, then coughed and just left the room.

Artizea bowed behind him and rubbed her hand on her cheek. She was worried that she might have had a strange attitude.

—–

The maid, Loa, breathed in a deep and tense breath in front of Artizea’s study.

“Lady Heiress, This is Loa.”

Artizea rarely called in her employees directly for work.

What would it be?

Artizea was a generous master.

Routine chores, such as washing or cleaning, may not have been touched because they are not yet married.

However, she seldom interfered with the things she was holding in the bedroom.

There were no attempts to win over the mansion’s maid. She was not directly involved in hiring a new maid, and she did not even try to pick someone she liked.

At first, Loa was worried that Cedric’s fiancée was the lady of Marquisate of Rosan. She had imagined her to be discerning and extravagant.

The same would be true even if she was not of the Marquisate of Rosan, but instead another central noble.

But Artizea didn’t show that at all. She was generous to the maid and left most of the work to herself.

Rather, Loa became uneasy. She had never had such a mistress.

Not to interfere. So maybe she did too much work on her own?

After being called to the study, she became more anxious.

When she knocked on the door, the door of the study opened.

“Come in.”

Alice greeted Loa with a grin and a smile. Then Loa went inside carefully.

Artizea sat comfortably on the sofa in the study.

Loa politely bowed to her. Artizea beckoned to Alice.

Alice opened the box in front of Artizea and gave the pouch inside to Loa.

“Use it to replace curtains and bedding.”

“Too, too much.”

Loa was surprised to learn that what was in the pocket was gold, not silver.

“Half of this is enough.”

“I’m giving it to you generously on purpose.”

If you were an employee of another noble family, you would know the meaning of a generous budget and handle it well.

However, the employees of the Grand Duke of Evron had no such experience.

Artizea said softly.

“I have a lot of work to do, but wouldn’t it take a lot of time to talk through the butler? If necessary, hire a person temporarily with this money and share the money with the working people.”

“Well, it’s still too much though. I didn’t even use all the money that you gave the maids to get all new clothes and shoes.”

Loa said in a trembling voice.

Artizea also knew.

And she already knew that the Loa didn’t take a separate share of the money.

“Then, how about hiring more people or buying decent tea for your breaks?”

“But …..”

“I took money out for my employees, and it’s impossible for that money to go back into the vault.”

Having said this, Loa could not dare to refuse again as an employee.

“Thank you.”

“Since I’m young and I’m still not good at the circumstances of the Grand Duchy, I will continue to rely on you a lot.”

Loa was thrilled with this trust. Then she carefully packed the pocket of gold coins and went out.

After the door closed, Alice exhaled a breath. Then she tilted his head and asked.

“Do you need to test again?”

“Why do you think it’s a test?” Artizea asked with a smile.

“You’re going to see what she’s going to do after receiving undeserved authority.”

“She didn’t put any in her pocket, so you need to know better. What kind of values does she have?”

“She could be just an honest woman.”

“Then, it’s rather good because I can leave all of the work. I don’t have time to manage a maid or a servant. It’s easier to give them a lot of authority and correct it quickly if something went wrong.”

“But yes. How hard it must be for you to return to the Rosan Estate. It’s such a waste.” Alice grumbled.

Artizea could not help but smile.

“Don’t worry. Money is just used as tools. It’s also a small amount of money anyway.”

“Yes.”

“If there’s any talk between the maids, let me know.”

“Yes, don’t worry! That’s my role.” Alice said cheerfully. She had already bribed nearly half of the Grand Duke’s maids.

That was what Artizea told Alice to do first.

It was also necessary to collect rumors among the employees of the Grand Duke.

However, rather than that, it was because she had to find out how far the Duke worked.

“I have to prepare to go out.”

“Oh, yes! I’ll talk to Sophie soon!”

Alice jumped up and went outside.

Artizea spent a leisurely time sipping tea for a while.

Now it was time to greet the second guest.

Knock, knock

The person who she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

“Come in.”

Artizea replied calmly.

It was Freil who opened the door and entered.

He politely bowed to Artizea and spoke in a firm voice.

“This is Freil, the lieutenant of Grand Duke Evron.”

“It’s been a long time, Sir Freil. This is the first time we’ve met since I saw you at the mansion of Marquis Rosan, right?”

“You remember it even though it was a bad time.”

As a sign of gratitude, Freil bowed down a little.

“Of course. I saw you at the temple as well.”

“Yes, I saw you back then too.”

And Artizea knew him much better than he imagined.

It was Artizea who assassinated Freil in a previous life.

Freil didn’t have an outstanding talent in terms of strategy or conspiracy. However, his vision was wide and he was alert.

When Artizea plots something against Cedric, the first person to notice was Freil.

It was one of the reasons why the people of the Grand Duke of Evron cursed and hated her so badly.

Conversely, he was a man who could be a very powerful ally.

In addition to Cedric’s support, Artizea needed another comrade who could move with her to support the Grand Duke of Evron.

A person who keeps a secret and can risk his life together for Cedric regardless of profit.

And if it was Freil, he was the one who could do that.

Artizea felt a little excitement.

But she couldn’t tell Freil that she was happy to be able to talk to him alive.

As she closed her eyes, Freil’s observant gaze came.

“I heard that you appointed me as an attendant while you went out today.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t do anything that I can confidently say for myself, but my skills are inferior to the other knights of the Grand Duke of Evron. Of course I can’t compare to Alphonse.”

“I’m not asking you to accompany me in case there’s a danger in the capital. It’s a bit inappropriate to be accompanied by Sir Alphonse.”

Artizea raised her eyes.

“You may want to know what kind of person I am. That’s why you responded to the request right away.”

“The Lady has made the choice. I do not dare to judge.”

As she made eye contact, this time Freil lowered it down. And he said as if he had read inside Artizea’s mind.

“What I know is exactly what the Grand Duke knows.”

Freil euphemistically expressed that she shouldn’t tell him what to hide from Cedric, but Artizea smiled.

“Make that decision after we finish our work.”

Freil bowed his head silently.