“How about you? Do you have anything to say?”

“Oh, um…”

The man was surprised to be called by the duchess so suddenly. He started to talk about how well the building was being managed and what kind of advantages living at Claymore had been compared to living under other noble families’ protection. Rubica listened carefully to what he said and gave an order to Ann.

“He said the water tastes wrong, have someone check the water source.”

“Yes, yes, Your Grace.”

Ann’s eyes were sparkling. She was deeply moved by Rubica’s kind actions and so were others on the spot. They murmured among themselves in a low voice.

“The new duchess is so kind.”

“She came here herself instead of sending the butler or other servants.”

“I was actually worried when I heard she was from a baronet’s family… but I guess I had no reason to be worried.”

“It seems our duke married the right woman.”

They used to have some prejudices toward Rubica, but now they thought they had been wrong. However, they were actually getting another wrong idea about her. Rubica had completely different thoughts on her mind.

‘Oh, I might get to spend a lot if I have this and that all repaired. Should I also get new duvets as well? They said the current duvets are old, so it wouldn’t be bad to get new ones.’

Rubica was excited at the prospect of meeting the fairy and spend money. She didn’t know her actions of the day would make people praise her as a ‘wise’, ‘generous’, and ‘kind’ duchess instead of criticizing her as an ‘extravagant’ duchess.

***

As the ground and the first floor in the east annex were inhabited by families and people who handled the main businesses in the family, they were in quite a good condition. People, however, tried to stop Rubica from entering the basement as it was for maids.

‘Well, it’s not good for the superior to go to his or her inferiors’ places.’

She had also hated it when the abbot visited her and the other’s rooms at the abbey. He said it was okay to show how they lived, but of course, that wasn’t possible. Everyone had to get up early and clean up when it happened.

After all, she didn’t decide to look around the building because she really wanted to know about how people were living there. Instead, she was only after the fairy.

“The head of the maids would have told Ann if there had been any problem.”

Rubica didn’t forget to compliment Ann as she skipped the maids’ rooms. Ann really looked happy to hear that as she cared about Rubica more than anyone in the mansion.

‘She does take it too far sometimes, but she cares about me more than anyone else.’

No one had shown their fangs to Rubica as she was still under Ann’s protection, but she knew she had to have many enemies. Of course, she didn’t mind being bitten by relatives hungry for gossips. That was what she wanted, after all. However, she didn’t want that to happen to Ann since she was easy prey for people determined to attack Rubica. Therefore, Rubica needed to give Ann a good reputation to stop that from happening.

“The second floor is for the girls and boys sponsored by Claymore.”

Rubica reached the second floor and took a quick look around. Most children sponsored by Claymore had parents who were noble but didn’t have enough money to raise their own children. They were certainly going to be a great resource to the family, but that was only going to happen in the future. Even the flooring was poor compared to the ground and first floor where people who could be of help to the family right now.

“Should I call them and have them meet you?”

Rubica looked at the boys studying hard through the open door and shook her head.

“There’s no need. I want to see how they normally live, Ann.”

“Yes, there’s a need to check if the children at the annex are being educated properly.”

Ann smiled. After Rubica gave birth to the baby, he or she would need some friends. Children raised while being surrounded by adults like tutors may be fine for now, but they tended to be troublesome as they grew up. Children should grow up with peers, fighting and competing and getting friendship sometimes. Moreover, that role was going to be taken by the children sponsored by Claymore. Of course, children of the retainers could also be the child’s friends, but there had to be children to study with the child every day.

“Your Grace!”

James, who had been teaching ancient language at the classroom, saw Rubica and jumped to his feet. The boys, who had been reading, also hastily got up and politely bowed to Rubica. They made perfect bows. Rubica recognized all of them as they had all visited her.

“Please go on. I came because I wanted to know how you all are doing.”

“Oh, hu. I was really surprised. Let us all sit down first.”

James and the boys were very nervous. However, as Rubica was already here, James wanted her to know how well he was teaching the boys and how smart they were. Maybe he would get promoted to become the councilor of ancient language.

“Will, translate the second paragraph on page 46.”

He picked the smarted student. Will stammered at first, but he soon started to translate the passage quite well. Rubica felt happy and sad at the same time.

‘When the war breaks out, these children…’

… are all going to die. What use was such ancient language classes? They still had four years, but it was a short time that would be gone in a glimpse. Moreover, the ten-year-old boys in the class will only be fourteen at that time. Even if they managed to avoid the bombs, how could fourteen-year-olds survive the war?

“Ann, I think their pens are too old. Could you buy and give them new pens?”

“I’ll tell the butler.”

Rubica left the boys and walked down the hallways. Children who passed by bowed at her in surprise. As Claymore Family wasn’t a knight family, most sponsored kids chose to study instead of learning swordplay and a few of the smartest children were sent to the Academy. The family paid for their immense tuition. They would be able to survive, but what about the others? The Claymore Mansion was the first place to be bombed when the war broke out.

‘… I used to say good riddance.’

In her past life, Rubica hated Duke Claymore for inventing Stella. Some might say the crime is on those who use the thing and the inventor is innocent. However, what Edgar invented was a military weapon. He must have known how many people it could kill once it was up in the sky… he might have even tried to find a way to kill even more people. Edgar must have known Stella would eventually bring death to countless people, even if it wasn’t in the Seritos Kingdom. Was Edgar still innocent?

Plus, Rubica hadn’t known Edgar in her previous life. He was a stranger to her. When she found out he had been kidnapped because of his own killing machine and his family eventually perished, she thought he had been punished by the gods.

‘But what sin do these children have? And about Ann…’

Before she came to the mansion, Rubica had tried to save only herself. She had thought she did enough by sending Angela to a safe place. She had planned to get money to run somewhere safe and divorce Edgar before the war.

It had been less than a month, but she had grown fond of people in Claymore.

‘Can’t there be a way to save them all?’

Her heart hurt at seeing the children studying peacefully and Ann always support her at her side. Just imagining about their future was painful. At least they were innocent, but then she would have to stop the war.

Rubica doubted she would be able to do that.

“You are all so helpless.”

Then, Shaynie’s furious voice reached Rubica’s ear and woke her up. Soon, she heard a book thrown on the floor.

“How can I teach you anything when you are such fools who can’t even memorize this?”

Rubica stopped. That was too much. She couldn’t just ignore that and go on.

She walked toward the sound and opened the door, and she could see Shaynie’s back.

Four girls were in her manners class.

The girls were surprised to see Rubica, but Shaynie was in the middle of throwing a fit. She didn’t care and mercilessly continued beating the head of the girl with her book.

The trembling girl was trying not to cry. Surprisingly, she was the fairy Rubica had been looking for so long.

“Stop!”

Rubica couldn’t stand it anymore and yelled. Shaynie looked back and quickly bowed. The fairy managed to open her eyes just a little. She glanced at Rubica and bowed as well. How she grasped her dress, how she bowed her head, they were all wrong. So were the other girls next to her. Rubica had been taught by her mother instead of a professional tutor, but even she could do better than that.

“Mrs. Shaynie, what do you think you are doing?”

“I was disciplining the girls, Your Grace.”

“You were disciplining them by beating their head with a book?”

Shaynie realized Rubica was extremely angry, but Rubica was only a 22-year-old girl in her eyes. She thought she could easily bend Rubica to her will. Rather, this was her chance.

She thought she had been trapped by Ann who had succeeded in gaining control of the duchess three days ago. That sly Ann told the duke and now she couldn’t even go near the main building. She decided to show Rubica her true value. She thought Rubica would be interested in her if she showed her how she charismatically controlled those useless girls. The duchess needed someone to get rid of useless people instead of herself.