Meeting Roger Dickens was the event after which I could not recover for a long time. Everything that had happened seemed too unexpected. The last thing I planned in this life was to meet the heroine's love interests.

«Grace, pull yourself together!»

No, I couldn't get involved in this dangerous adventure.

Being right in front of Roger, I couldn't really concentrate. But now she was thinking quite soberly. And she was determined to refuse this offer. The quiet life of Ruby and me was much more important. Therefore, even though it was a chance to get closer to one of the most influential heroes of the game, I deliberately let him go.

Love interests should stay close to the heroine! Please do not involve those who just want to live a peaceful life in your showdown.

With this thought in mind, I took a blank sheet of paper, intending to write a refusal and send it to the Dickens Estate. Roger may have been a nice guy, but I didn't plan to meet him in person anymore. God forbid if the plot of the game goes to one place ahead of time because of me…

I dipped my pen in ink and had just brought it over the paper when there was a knock on my office. Of course, who else could it be at seven in the morning.

— Come in, Edison,» I sighed.

An elderly butler squeezed into a nondescript little room, which I designated my «office». In fact, it was a random room where I put a table and other accessories. Since the real Grace had never been involved in the affairs of the estate, there had never been a separate workspace here before. I intended to fix it with the next repair.

— Madam, are you doing business?

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

Edward Edison laughed softly.

«It's so unusual for me to see you like this,» he confessed, «as if you've become a completely different person in a month.

— Ha ha… — I smiled tightly, although it's unlikely that the old man could really reveal me, — Everything happens in life. I just woke up one morning and realized that I wanted to start a new life.

— It sounds very realistic!

Despite the fact that the butler of the Weinstein family was very old, at the same time he was very wise. Sometimes it seemed that the old man's narrowed eyes saw right through me. Of course, he might have had certain suspicions. Until recently, he took his mistress out of the brothel every day — and now she has suddenly changed by one hundred and eighty degrees. Moreover, she doesn't even look in the direction of young men!

Any reasonable person would think that the real Grace was kidnapped and replaced with a humanoid. But no. The development of the technologies of this world did not correspond to such a theory. Therefore, Edison could only believe that I had really changed my worldview so dramatically.

«You met Mr. Dickens recently, didn't you?»

I already choked. And how does he know everything?

I nodded reluctantly.

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

— Don't think about it! — She hastily waved her hands, — I didn't meet him because of…

«I know,» he objected, «Even if you had returned to your old habits, you would not have taken the child with you. Probably, this meeting was for another reason.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

— Really! I had another reason.

— And I can guess which one.

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

— As you know, our business is not going well right now.

—Yeah,» I chuckled.

— Do you already have an idea how you will cope with this?

«It's not so easy to get out of the hole where we are,» I said eloquently.

Grace left the estate with a pile of debts that no creditor dreamed of. Moreover, she has a large number of detractors in secular society. The youngest daughter of the ducal family was known as a quarrelsome lady — whose character could only be endured by her lovers. And while I had no idea how to solve all this «bouquet» of problems.

At least my older sister definitely wasn't going to help us. Having sent her daughter home, she lived happily with her new husband. And hardly ever thought about us…

But fortunately, it wasn't just me who was puzzling over this question. The butler was also concerned about the future of the duchy.

— Madam, I think you know yourself. We cannot do without the support of other noble families.

— And…?

— It will be extremely difficult to restore reputation and material well-being… Unless some powerful family doesn't support you.

—The Mighty Family?» — I grinned, — Of course, how could I not have thought of such an option.

This irony was not accidental.

It seemed to me that Edison suggested the easiest way. And at the same time the most unrealistic. Would anyone want to help me…? Even that nasty boar Scream looked at me with disdain. What can we say about more influential families. Especially if I had nothing really to offer them.

«Madam, don't give up on this idea so easily,» the old man insisted.

«Of course,» I frowned, «who wants to help the duke's ruined daughter. Moreover, with «glory» for the whole empire?

— For example, Duke Dickens.

My pupils widened in surprise.

— what?

— I think that this meeting was very convenient, — he continued, — We should start the return of former prosperity with him.

Every second it became more and more obvious to me that the butler was not joking. But because of this, bewilderment also grew. Why did Edison suddenly decide that Roger's father would want to help me…? We didn't even know each other.

«Nonsense,» I objected, «Duke Dickens is one of the most influential in the empire. Why would he contact me?

In my opinion, there was absolutely no logic in the butler's theory. But even so, he managed to insist on his own.

The man expressively adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

— Madam, you probably forgot. The Weinsteins are a family of villains.

I was surprised when the old man's gaze flashed sharply from under his brows. The golden pupils were like those of an animal.

— We have something that is not available to anyone else in the empire.

— What do you mean…?

After these words, the man suddenly took out a token from his inner pocket and showed it to me. I was involuntarily stunned. Dark with a golden spider engraving. A family heirloom of the Weinstein family. Before that, I had only seen this in the game.

—E-this…

— The gentleman left it to me before he died, — the old man sighed, — He said that I should give it to the next heiress of the Weinstein family.

— what? — I was even more surprised, — But then why …?

Isn't Magrit the rightful heir? What does it have to do with me at all?

«You were the master's favorite daughter,» Edison continued, «I always knew it was for a reason. You definitely have potential. Therefore, I decided to keep the token until better times and not give it to your sister.

I was amazed that the butler made such a serious decision alone. To some extent, it was a direct violation of his father's order — but he did it for the sake of the whole Weinstein family. The old man really had strong nerves.

And yet it could well be unjustified. Because in the game itself, only Rubiella received the token. With the help of him, she called on the secret forces of the family in order to make a coup.

Noticing that I wasn't too surprised, Edison fell into a stupor.

— You're seeing a family heirloom for the first time in your life. So why does it seem to me that this is not the case?

— Ahm, this… — I cleared my throat, — Of course, for the first time!

I chose not to mention my numerous walkthroughs of this storyline. I hurriedly took the badge from the butler and pretended that I was really in shock.

— So you're saying that this will help me…? — I was looking at the engraving of the golden spider.

— Of course. The strength of our organization cannot be compared even with the imperial army.

«Legion of the Spider» was the name of the secret community founded by Harris Weinstein. It numbered about three hundred assassins. All of them were former criminals—whom the Duke took under his wing and raised as his army. They were devoted to the Weinstein family more than their own lives.

One man of the Spider Legion was worth a hundred imperial warriors. That is why the current emperor was so afraid of them. However, all this did not last long. After Harris' death, everyone naturally decided that the organization was dissolved and the danger was over. The fear of the Weinstein family disappeared by itself.

Only Rubiella in ten years will try to regain the former greatness of the family. The girl called on all the forces of her grandfather and was going to make a coup. However, then everything turned out to be a failure. Because when the battle between the villain and the heroine took place, the result was determined in advance.

And now this thing was in my hands. The one that in a few years should be with Ruby and determine the future of our family.

— Madam, so what have you decided? Edison turned to me again.

I chuckled.

— And what is there to decide?

A window popped up in front of my eyes. System: The Spider Legion Quest. Would you like to participate?

This time, the reward was not crystals, but an improvement in reputation. If I agree, I can completely reverse our current situation. However, then I really have to become a villain.

Although… What's the difference? After all, I have already been reborn in a family of villains… One more, one less.

Deciding that somehow I was not losing anything, I did not wait for the strip with a limiter and immediately agreed.

Well, with God.

System: Accepted! The quest has begun!