CHAPTER 80: MAIN GOAL

For a moment, my heart skipped a beat.

Of course, I was always concerned when it came to my niece.

Any mention of her made me alert — Ruby was too precious to me to remain indifferent.

And so, when Madame Glover so suddenly expressed a desire to speak with me alone, I couldn’t help but tense up.

"Ruby?" I frowned, trying not to betray my growing concern. "Has something happened?"

"No, no," the governess shook her head hastily. "Nothing dangerous or alarming, milady. I assure you."

She paused, as if gathering her courage, and only then added:

"But... there is one matter that I believe I should discuss with you."

I felt the tension ease a little, but I remained wary.

"Go on," I said more evenly, gesturing with my hand.

Madame Glover nodded and straightened up. Her posture always reminded me of a straight string, and even now she carried herself with a certain teacherly solemnity.

"The fact is, Lady Rubiella and I have been working together for four months now," she began.

"Ah, yes," I allowed myself a faint smile. "Time really does fly. And how is your progress? Is Ruby doing well?"

"More than well," the woman’s voice flashed with sincere warmth. "Your niece is exceptionally talented. She has a good memory, perseverance, and natural grace. She easily masters what takes others weeks to learn. I am sincerely pleased with our lessons."

I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but then the governess’s expression became more serious, and her tone changed.

"And yet..."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Noticing some hesitation on her face, I asked her about it.

Madame Glover paused.

"The fact is, theory alone is not enough," she finally said. "Lady Rubielle also needs to reinforce her knowledge in practice."

"Practice?" I repeated, frowning.

"Yes, milady." The woman nodded slightly, and her voice regained its firmness. "Lady Rubielle has mastered the skills of etiquette and the rules of behavior in society. But knowledge that remains only in theory quickly fades away. It needs to be practiced in real-life situations."

I pursed my lips slightly, pondering her words.

"So what do you mean?"

"I believe," the governess said cautiously, "that the lady should attend social events more often. Let them be small receptions or gatherings, but there she will be able to interact with other children from noble families and learn to hold her own in lively conversation."

Silence fell in the room. I paused for a moment, thinking about everything I had heard.However, it is possible that the pause lasted a little too long, and Madame Glover, noticing this, became slightly embarrassed.

"I apologize, milady, I may be expressing my opinion too freely. But this is only my professional judgment. The decision is, of course, yours."

I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled slightly to lighten the mood.

"No, on the contrary. You are right." I nodded. "I will definitely listen to your point of view."

Relief appeared on the governess’s face. She relaxed her shoulders slightly and bowed her head modestly.

"Thank you, milady," she said more softly. "It is also important to me that the young lady receives the best education."

In the end, we talked a little more about Ruby’s progress in her studies — Madame Glover told me how enthusiastically the girl was learning and how surprisingly quickly she was grasping all the new material. I listened to this, and my heart was filled with quiet pride for Ruby.

Finally, the governess took her leave, leaving me alone in the study.

I rested my hands on the armrests of the chair and sighed deeply.

"No... to be honest, the governess is right," flashed through my mind.

In the future, Ruby will have to take her place in high society, and she needs to start preparing for that now.

In fact, this thought had crossed my mind before. I wanted Ruby to have people and connections from childhood who would support her when she became a duchess. But then Ruby herself flatly refused.

"Auntie, you, Sir Edison, and Nura are enough for me! I don’t need other people. I don’t want to socialize with them."

She said it so seriously and with childish stubbornness that I couldn’t insist. I didn’t want to pressure the child by forcing her to socialize with people she didn’t know.

But now, after talking to Madame Glover, I understood that there was no way around it. Sooner or later, Ruby would enter society, and she would need connections there. Without them, it would be much more difficult for her to adapt to high society, as she would have no real support among the aristocracy.

Ultimately, establishing connections in society was one of the primary responsibilities of the heir to a noble family, and even more so for someone who would become the head of the family in the future.

So yes, after hearing these words from Ruby’s governess, I was convinced that I couldn’t put it off any longer.

With that in mind, I called Edison.

The butler entered the office with his usual unhurried gait and a slight bow.

"You called, ma’am?"

"Yes," I clasped my fingers together and looked at him over the table. "Have I received any invitations to events this month?"

"Ah..." He visibly hesitated. "Yes."

His face reflected genuine surprise at my sudden question.

"You didn’t throw them away, did you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"What? No, of course not! I wouldn’t dare throw them away without your permission. Everything is stored in a safe place."

"Okay," I nodded and couldn’t help but sigh. "Then bring them to me."

Edison’s face showed even more confusion.

I could understand his reaction. After all, until now, I had ignored such invitations for a long time. Each time, the old man would simply put them aside, expecting me to wave them away as usual, and eventually, at the end of the month, they would have to be burned. But now I had asked for them myself.

"As you wish, madam," he said after a pause, a slight caution creeping into his voice.

A few minutes later, the butler returned with an impressive stack of envelopes tied with ribbon.

The paper glistened with seals and ornate monograms.

I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows.

"Wow..." I muttered quietly. "There really are a lot of them."

Despite my bad reputation in high society, the invitations kept coming one after another. It was a real paradox.

I couldn’t understand what was motivating these people. Was it a desire to see the woman whose name had become something of a sensation? Idle curiosity? Or was it all about the Weinstein name, which was still one of the oldest and most respected in the Empire?

Or maybe... the reason lay in my connections with Duke Dickens.

I snorted and dismissed the thought. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter now.

I returned to the pile of invitations, sorting through them one by one.

"The Viscount Montville’s ball..." I said aloud, scanning the lines. "Too crowded."

I put the envelope aside.

"A musical evening with the Lafarge family..." I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes slightly. "Possibly. But... it’s unlikely to be of interest to a child."

Another invitation landed on top of the pile.

"A banquet at court..." I frowned without even opening the letter. "Completely unsuitable."

My fingers almost mechanically pushed the letters aside, each of which seemed completely unsuitable for Ruby to attend.

But then my gaze involuntarily lingered on one envelope. I broke the wax seal and slowly unfolded the letter. The paper smelled pleasantly of flowers.

"Tea party at Countess Rowan’s..." I read aloud quietly. "Small circle... children are welcome."

My heart skipped a beat.

It seemed like just the thing.

I reached decisively for the bell and rang it. A few seconds later, the door opened quietly, and Edison appeared in the study as quickly as if he had been standing behind the door all this time, anticipating my command.

"Did you call me, milady?" he asked, bowing slightly.

"Yes," I said, handing him the letter. "Send a reply to the Rowan house immediately. Write that I accept the invitation and will attend the tea party this Saturday. Together with my niece."

Edison looked up, his gaze lingering on me for a moment. A barely perceptible spark of surprise flashed across his face, but he immediately regained his usual composure.

"Yes, milady," he bowed respectfully. "Everything will be done."

Left alone, I leaned back in my chair and sighed deeply. A slight anxiety still lingered in my chest, but with it came determination.

"Yes, to hell with Roger Dickens and all these stupid system notifications," I thought.

After all, first and foremost, I must not forget my main purpose for being in this world. The main villain and her upbringing were what should come first for me.

Yes, let this world continue to play its strange games with me. But I had to focus on this.

With that thought, I placed the envelope from the letter on the table as a symbol of the beginning of a new phase.