A Guide to Raising a Villainess Chapter 14: The Serpens Plan

Despite Roger’s statent that we could stay at the estate longer, I still felt uncomfortable staying in soone else’s house. Especially since no one but the guy himself was happy to have us there. It was quite tiring to catch sidelong glances every ti I stepped into the hallway...

So Ruby and I returned the very next morning. The girl was so tired that she fell asleep right on my lap during the carriage ride. Smiling, I stroked her hair.

Nura, for once, ca out to et us on ti. I handed her the sleeping Ruby and put my finger to my lips.

"Shh."

The maid looked at in surprise.

"Aren’t you coming in...?"

"I have things to do," I explained in a whisper.

"Business? What business could you possibly have so early in the morning?"

I sighed. The only maid on my estate was truly one of a kind. Not every servant would dare to pry and take an interest in their masters’ affairs. It was considered extrely rude and, depending on the aristocrat’s temperant, was severely punished.

"To keep them in line, servants must know their place."

But that was clearly not the case with . That’s what happens when you hire a maid off the street. Nura behaved like a cat that could do whatever she wanted. Just a couple of days ago, I witnessed an outrageous scene: as soon as I stepped away for a couple of minutes, the girl sneaked into the kitchen, where I was preparing snacks for our picnic with Ruby. After that, a whole set of pastries disappeared...

Did she really think I wouldn’t notice anything?

And now Nura opened her brown eyes wide with curiosity, without even thinking that such questions were not her place.

I sighed heavily.

"Maybe I should write you a report?"

"That won’t work," the maid replied innocently. "I can’t read."

"Would you have agreed otherwise?" I couldn’t help but smile.

Nura scratched the back of her head in her usual manner.

"Well..."

"All right," I waved her away wearily. "Just take Ruby to her room and keep an eye on her."

The girl watched disappointedly as I left without saying anything else to her. anwhile, I got into the carriage and ordered the coachman to drive faster. Since I didn’t have a quest this ti, the automatic teleportation button didn’t work. I had to get to the capital on my own.

It took about an hour and a half. Upon arriving in the city, I followed the directions of passersby and made my way to Thorn Alley. It had a dubious reputation among the locals, which was not surprising.

Lionel was already waiting for at the armory. More precisely, a man who looked very much like him.

"Lady Weinstein, you’re here."

I nodded.

Serpens hung a "closed" sign on the door and invited us to sit in the chairs for visitors. We sat across from each other. The man brewed us so fruit tea.

This was our second eting, but I unconsciously continued to eye him suspiciously. He seed tired and already accustod to this.

"I’m not Lionel," he reminded once again.

I sighed.

"I know..."

"Then why do you keep looking at like that?"

"Because you still seem very suspicious to ."

Serpens rolled his eyes. anwhile, I decided to get straight to the point.

"What happened?" I asked. "Why did you call here so suddenly?"

"I wanted to know about your next steps."

"Steps?"

"Now you have control of the Order of the Shadow. I’m interested in what you plan to do."

I frowned.

"What should I do?"

The man seed to have asked an obvious question.

"Aren’t you going to usurp power in the empire?"

I almost choked on my tea.

"Usurp?!"

"It’s quite normal," Lance said calmly. "Your father intended to do the sa."

"Ha..." I smiled weakly. "Who said I’m the sa as my father?"

He was surprised.

"Then why did you ask the Order of the Shadow for help?"

"Well..." I decided not to play the noble card and answer honestly. "Because I want money and fa."

This ti it was Serpens’ turn to choke. Although everything seed quite obvious. Who in my place would not want a better life for themselves?

Either way, I had only two options left. The first was to wait until Rubiella ca of age and led the Weinstein family to a better future. But in that case, I would have to wait eight whole years...

Or resort to the second option and take matters into my own hands. In the end, I chose the second option. Of course, my first priority will be to fulfill my main goal and raise the villain to be a decent person. But at the sa ti, I will improve my own life. After all, I’m not even the main character, so who cares what I do? I can’t influence the main storyline anyway.

Serpens Strange was skeptical of my answer. Apparently, he considered my plans too insignificant.

"You could rule the country, but all you want is money..." — that phrase was clearly written on his face.

It seed that the man really disliked the current governnt.

"Do you dislike the emperor so much?" I decided to ask.

Serpens looked up at with his violet eyes.

"Yes, I do," he said slowly.

The man did not deny it, but he did not go into details either. It seed that it was none of my business.

A aningful pause hung between us.

"Serpens, how exactly did you threaten the emperor?" I was actually very curious about this question.

The man seed to be waiting for to ask about it.

"See for yourself."

Serpens handed an envelope with a black wax seal. It had a spider on it. I opened the letter, which contained only one line.

"The imperial dog is tired of sitting in a cage."

I couldn’t help but laugh. The phrase struck as funny.

On the one hand, it seed aningless. But on the other... It was imdiately clear that it was about Duke Dickens. I couldn’t believe that the emperor could be intimidated by just that.

"Are you sure that’s all you did?"

Serpens nodded affirmatively.

"Our man put the envelope under the pillow."

Now everything beca clearer. The palace, and especially the imperial chambers, were very well guarded. Even a mouse couldn’t sneak in without being noticed by the guards. And here, not only did the man sneak into the emperor’s bedroom, but he also got out of there without any consequences. This ant that he himself could easily beco the next victim.

I understand why this could terrify the emperor... I didn’t even know that the organization had such experienced rcenaries.

"Well, it’s good that everything worked out for you."

Serpens, apparently, had already resigned himself to the fact that I planned to waste the organization’s potential. He sighed and said:

"If that is indeed your goal, I will not argue... However, let remind you of sothing."

"Hmm?"

"To win the hearts of the aristocrats, you must first win over the emperor."

"Win over"? What does that an?

"The opinions of the aristocrats vary all the ti," he continued, "but one thing remains unchanged. Those who are honored by the emperor have great power."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"You’re not suggesting...?"

"Of course not," Serpens replied calmly. "He’s not the type to fall for that. Since the emperor ascended the throne, too many ladies have tried to ensnare him. It’s too easy. There’s a more profitable way."

I was even curious to know what it was.

"In a month, there will be a banquet in honor of the emperor’s birthday," Serpens reminded unobtrusively.

"And? So what?"

"You must attend."

"?! How co...?"

I really didn’t understand what he was up to.

"We must show the emperor that the Order of the Shadow is still strong," he said, "and the best way to do that is in front of the entire upper crust of high society."

...

I bit my lip doubtfully.

"Don’t worry. We’ll prepare a surprise for the emperor’s birthday," Serpens smiled. "I’m sure he’ll be pleased."

What was happening reminded too much of the typical plans of villains from any movie or book. The only things missing were the dark music and the screen fading to black. If a holiday or any other event significant to the heroes is ruined, there’s no doubt who’s behind it. I think I first saw this cliché in a children’s cartoon.

But anyway, it’s a typical oto ga. There are bound to be a lot of clichés that I’ve seen a hundred tis before.

Except...

"What does this have to do with ?"

"The emperor already has certain suspicions," Serpens took a sip of tea. "But he doesn’t know yet who exactly revived the organization, you or your sister. We must take advantage of this to temporarily keep our identities secret."

"You still haven’t said why I’m needed there."

Serpens looked at stubbornly, as if I was the only one who didn’t understand anything.

"If you both attend the celebration, everything will beco even more confusing. The emperor won’t know who to bla, you or the duchess."

I sighed. It seed there was no choice. I would have to put on a dark cloak and do evil deeds.

"But how will I get there?" I snorted. "Do you think invitations to the emperor’s birthday party go to just anyone?"

This event was significant on a national scale. You couldn’t just show up at a celebration like this because you wanted to. Only the select few received the elite invitations.

Magrit, as the head of the Weinstein family, undoubtedly received an invitation. But it was unlikely that she would be kind enough to take her younger sister with her. So this question remained unanswered for .

But it turned out that Serpens was already ready to offer a solution.

"Ask Duke Dickens about it."

"Huh?"

"Ask the duke to make you his companion at this banquet."