I stared at my image in the mirror but i look the same,armandilion did say they would be no change in my appearance so I should believe him.
Now that I have solved all that, i should plan for things going forward. I don't plan on becoming a villainess so i need a clear goal in life.
The biggest issues in the duchy is food and the cold during winter, I'm not planning on going down as a villainess so I might as well become the best duchess ruhan has ever seen.
I spent the whole night coming up with a plan for how to revitalize the duchy.
Now that I moved to the main building I have taken over the duke's room. It's the biggest room in the diamond wing, just like the name the diamond wing, the rooms was adorned with furniture that sparkle. I guess it's true that dragons love things that sparkle because I really loved this wing. Every room in the wing was adorned with different colored diamonds.
Knock knock
"Greetings your grace, the previous head maid and the maids who worked in the duchy before they were replaced by the previous duchess are waiting to have an audience with you" Stefan walked in but unlike yesterday he was actively avoiding my eyes.
"Thanks Stefan, bring them to the black wing. I'll be using the duke's office there." The black wing was the duke's office wing, it had a library, an office space, a reception room and other rooms the duke would need to do his duty.
"Greetings your grace, i am baroness Mary Felton. My family served in the castle for generations as the head maid, it is an honor to be in your presence, the lady on the left is selena and the one of the right is misha. Their family's have worked in the castle as maids for generations too."
"Greetings your grace"
When mother tried to suffocate me with a pillow Mary and these two maids were the ones who saved me, so i owe them my life.
"I would like to reinstate you to your previous position, i know you have not worked in the castle for years now and it will take some time to adjust, so for now I'll let you employ as many temporary workers as you need to clean the whole castle. But I want to only keep the three of you as the main staff." I don't want the castle flooded with workers, so once they have every room cleaned and prepared, I'll cast preservation magic on the rooms not used and that will not need cleaning, that way they would stay frozen in time in their clean state.
"Thank you so much your grace, if its temporary workers I would advice a 1 week employment period, with a fixed income given daily" the other 2 ladies have had their eyes down and their mouths shut, I guess being commoners they are careful of speaking to the acting head of house.
"Do as you wish head maid, i have a new contract drawn up for you and these two. You can come up with the terms of contract for the temporary maids and have it on my desk before the end of the day, come grab a contract from my desk, you have till tomorrow to submit the signed copy"
They picked up their new employment contract and exit the office.
"Stefan, i want every document that on the duchy, I know father has been neglectful and you have been trying to keep things afloat to the best of your abilities, but I'll be taking over it all now."
In order to live the life of a lazy lord that i want, I'll need to bring the duchy to a point it can function without my active participation.
It's all a mess..... the finance is a mess, there are obvious signs of embezzlement that were not even hidden. It's like the person was asking to be caught.
"Stefan this viscount Fillion is mother's uncle correct?"
"Yes your grace"
To think he has been diverting all the money from the sales of mana crystals straight to his pocket. He acts as a middle man between ruhan and the magic tower in the 4 empires of the continent, so he took that as an opportunity to line his pocket.
"Stefan what's the punishment for embezzlement in the empire?"
"The perpetrator is stripped of his title, his hands and feet are cut, his eyes are taken out and his tongue is ripped out before he is thrown to the monsters in the forest. As for his family they are stripped of their nobility and sentenced to a life of servitude"
"See that it is done, also bring me the family in charge of the mana cove that the crystals are found and the family that were in charge of dealing with the mages tower before the viscount took over"
"Yes your grace" I think making Stefan do all this would be too much for him alone.
"Also Stefan, do you have someone else that can help you with your duties? I wouldn't want you collapsing from overworking" in most novels, the protagonist always dies from either a truck or from overworking I wouldn't want my capable aide dying from hard work.
"I have been training my daughter to take over from me your grace, she may not be as capable as me but I can attest to her skills"
"Good job Stefan, bring her in starting tomorrow, we will need all the help we can get to revitalize this duchy"
I'm meeting with the head of the miners. His and 2 others are the only ones authorized to enter the mana cove, if any other person tries to go in the barrier magic protecting the cave would rip them to shreds.
"Welcome Peter, I heard you were the head of the miners"
"Greetings your grace, yes I am"
"Dont worry you are not in trouble, I read in your report that you have been working everyday for the past 10 years without break. I would like to reward you all for your hard work all these years. I'll be renewing the contract you have with the duchy with better wages and working environment. But before then you all will be given 2 weeks off with pay of course. Once your 2 weeks are done we will have a sit down session to discuss how we can improve the working conditions for the miners." He was a man who looked to be in his 70's, to think that the duke allowed such loyal people to be mistreated, it just makes me hate him more.
"Thank you, your grace. We all are truly grateful and pray for a prosperous ruhan under your guidance" I handed him pouches with 50 gold each to be given to each miners.
"May the magic of the founding dragon continue to guild you" it was a saying that was almost lost, the ducal family never said it so it was almost lost, to think he would still remember.
"May his golden light continue to illuminate your path."
"Your grace, you have been working all day without food or water, I think it's time you took a break" because I had perfect vision at all times I didn't know it was already evening and the sun was starting to set.
"Were you able to grab something to eat?" He stayed by my side all day, I should be more attentive going forward, I may not need to but normal humans need rest and food.
I'm so glad I had a past life, i may not have emotions but i can still try to mimic what I learnt in my past life, that will have to work.
"I had a light lunch your grace"
"Stefan, I would like to meet with the castle cook and their assistant. Do we have other employees in the castle?"
"No your grace, the previous duchess hated the idea of people finding out she gave birth to you, so she kept the staff to the bare minimum" thats good, it reduces the restructuring i need to do in the castle.
"Thank you Stefan, once you call for the cook, you can take the rest of the day off. You worked really hard today."
"You must be Roger the head cook" now I have confirmed it, the only emotions I can feel from others is fear. Is this also one of the side effect of being mostly dragon?
"Dont worry, you are in no trouble. I wanted to commend you for your hard work all these years. I'll be depending on you for my meals going forward, I just wanted to if you were serving the previous duchess tasteless meals on purpose" I could feel his fear intensify, so I wasn't imagining it yesterday.
"Like I said you aren't in trouble good work the duchess deserved it, i plan to revise your employment contract so if there is any condition you wish to add to it, let Stefan know when he is back tomorrow "
"Thank you, your grace..... I'll bring you dinner now, is there anything you wish to have or any food you cannot have?" His voice was timid but his fear had faded.
"No, I'm good to have anything"
The duchy is in even worse situation than I thought, most of the people are unemployed and suffering, there is high crime rate, the knights are the worst in the empire, death rate is high..... anything that can be wrong with a society is wrong here. How can they head of house be so utterly useless? Now i see why he was so happy to transfer the title to me, dammit.
There is so much corruption, the cost of food is high and the quality is terrible, hygiene is almost none existent and mercenary hoping to hunt monsters are terrorizing the people, even assassin's have assigned this place their safety space.