Chapter 3: CHAPTER 3: NEW BEGINNINGS

It took a few weeks, but Delic and I finally manage to come up with short term plans in accordance with my long term goal of getting revenge.

 

The first short term plan is to fix up the Winter Estate. Now that I am not drowning in misery, I actually see that the estate is in a more horrendous state than I thought it was in. After deciding on the order of importance for which buildings will be fixed, Delic and I get to work. Thankfully, school is out, so I don't have to worry about disruptions from class or those annoying retainers’ children. However, the retainers have taken notice that the estate is being rebuilt. This causes even more commotion from them bombarding my door every chance they get. Even though he can be quite unreliable, Delic does step up to the plate and manage to get the retainers to go away. In their eyes, Delic is my new secretary. He assumes a more solid appearance instead of his usual translucent look, so they can't tell that he is a spirit. Plus, his solid appearance is more capable in helping out with the rebuilding project since he can hold more things.

 

After finishing the first building in just a month, we realize that it will take us forever to rebuild the whole estate with just the two of us. This causes us to advance to our second short term plan which is hiring new workers sooner than expected. Digging around my father’s office, I find the servants' list that my parents always keep in order to start my search. Since a lot of the servants died trying to protect my parents, the estate, and myself, there is no telling how many are left. However, I do remember seeing a few of the remaining servants at the Winter Family funeral, so I will start with them.

 

I arrive at the first servant's house the next day and ring the doorbell. A tall man with scars on his face opens the door.

 

"Who's there?" asks the tall man as he opens the door.

 

I bow as I introduce myself. "Good morning, Sir Edward. My name is Viola. Viola Win-."

 

Before I even finished my sentence, the tall man quickly kneels onto the floor. "My Lady! Please excuse my rudeness for not recognizing my masters' daughter. I mean no disrespect."

 

Taken aback by his sudden gesture, I set a hand on the man's shoulder. "Please raise your head Sir Edward. I-"

 

"Edward, my Lady." The surprised man takes my hand from his shoulder.

 

I give the man a puzzled look. 

 

"I do not deserve to be called 'Sir' by the Young Lady of the Winter Family."

 

"Honey, who is at the door?" A woman appears from behind the man holding a baby.

 

The man stands as he says, "This is Lady Viola of the Winter Family. She is the daughter of my late masters." The tall man turns back towards me with a hesitant look on his face. "May I ask the Lady why she has graced us with her presence?"

 

"I have come to ask if you might be interested in coming back to work for the Winter Family?"

 

I notice the man glance back at his wife then back to me. His shifting eyes are full of conflict. He takes a moment to think things out before replying. "May I ask why you have come to recruit me back, my Lady?"

 

"In honor of my family's legacy, I am going to rebuild the Winter Family back to its original glory."

 

"But, my Lady, aren't men only allowed to be the next family head?"

 

Delic steps forward from behind me when he notices Edward getting closer to me. He furrows his eyebrows as he glares at Edward. "Lady Viola is the last Winter alive," starts Delic. "She is also the daughter of your late masters. She has more than enough reason to be the next head of the Winter Family despite the former rules. As of right now, the former rules do not even apply as none of the implementers are alive. Lady Viola makes the rules now."

 

Wow. Did Delic get mad or something? He kind of got heated there for a moment.

 

The man looks at Delic in an almost irritated way. "And who are you? I don't remember seeing you before."

 

"I am Delic. I am Lady Viola's new secretary as well as her bodyguard, so I would like to politely ask for you to not suddenly yell at the Lady."

 

Edward shifts his gaze down to me. He seems to not believe what is going on, but he sighs and thinks for another minute or two. "So the Lady is going to rebuild the Winter Family?" I nod my head in response. "Do you understand that it is rare for a lady to head a family, and that not a lot of people will be following you because you are a woman?" I nod once again. The man sees the determination in my eyes and lets out a chuckle. "You were always known to be hard-headed and stubborn, you know that?"

 

"Of course!" I also let out a small laugh. "That's why I am choosing to not sit around and do nothing. If I want to rebuild my family legacy, I have to push aside the notion that women can't be good family leaders. I can't let adversity cause me to shy away into a corner."

 

The man smiles. He kneels down once more. "Lady Viola of the Winter Family. Would you allow me to once again serve the great family?"

 

I stare at this man kneeling in front of me. If only it were this easy to recruit people. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Edward." The man looks up, and I give him a warm smile. "You may move back into the estate as soon as you are ready. However, if you don't mind, I would also like it if you can help Delic and I rebuild the buildings as soon as possible."

 

"I can be ready by tomorrow, my Lady."

 

"Good. If you would like, your wife and child can join you at the estate." I glance over at the baby who is quietly sleeping in the mother's arms. "I wouldn't want the baby to grow up not seeing his father every day." I look down remembering how my father used to always bug me. He would always try to make me laugh. "I don't want the baby to experience life without a father always around."

 

Edward notices that I'm talking about myself, so he gently strokes my head. "I may not be much, my Lady, and of course, no one can replace your father... but if you ever need a father figure, I am always around. I did practically help your father raise you when your mother wasn't around."

 

"Wouldn't that make you more of an uncle?" I joke as I wipe the quietly emerging tears from my eyes.

 

The man grunts proudly, "I would be honored if that's how you thought of me."

 

We both couldn’t help but laugh. After saying a few more words to each other, we say our goodbyes and part ways for the day.

 

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While we were heading to the next servant's house, Delic begins asking, "That man. Who was he in relation to your family?"

 

"Sir Edward? He was like my father's right-hand man. My mother was my father's proxy when he wasn't well enough to go out, so she constantly had to go out to meetings and stuff which means that she wasn't always around at home. This made my father take the role of caring for me in my mother's absence. Since he didn't know how to take care of a child, Sir Edward would step in to help. He was there for most of my firsts."

 

"But why didn't your father assign the female workers to tend to you? Wouldn't that have been easier?"

 

"Well, yeah, he could have. But he told me when I got older that he didn't want to miss out on the fun of raising a child. So when he came to a loss when I was having a crying episode and didn't know what to do, Sir Edward popped into my life and became almost like an uncle. Supposedly, he was one of the people assigned to take me away from the war that was breaking out which is one of the reasons why he survived."

 

With bright optimism, I hop in front of Delic and look up at him. "Let's hope that finding and recruiting the other servants will be as easy as it was with Sir Edward."

 

Delic gives me one of his annoying smiles. "Will the lady be sad if people wouldn't want to rejoin the family? Oh, whatever shall I do when I see my Lady crying in her room from the constant rejection? Shall I comfort you by slee - ACK!"

 

I finally give into temptation and punch Delic in the stomach. "I would refrain from joking like that to me if I were you. You may be taller than me but that gives me a great punching range into your stomach."

 

"And what will the lady do if I don't stop? Will she torture me? Bind me in rope and chains in her secret dung-"

 

I slug another punch into his stomach. "You must really have a death wish." I glare at Delic as he winces and holds his stomach.

 

"My only wish is to be by my master's side... at all times of the day and night." As he says that, Delic takes off still holding his stomach but laughing. I run after him in the hopes to knock him out.

 

After a couple of months, I manage to recruit the majority of the workers that survived the war and rebuild the rest of the estate. Delic has proven his worth as my secretary and has aided me in managing all of the workers. He also does a great job of handling the retainers, so they stopped becoming a nuisance. Everything was going great until I realized that school will start back up in another couple weeks. The annoying retainers can have their children come up to me at school to get money like they did last school year. I need to come up with a plan that will stop them from approaching me... but how?

 

Delic walks towards me with a clipboard in hand. "Good afternoon, Master. The workers have finished the last of the crop gardening and the women have finished decorating the interior of the houses. All that is left is for you to check everything and sign off on them."

 

I take the clipboard from him and review the to-do list for today. "Understood. I will check the garden first and work my way from there since it's in the back where we are. Have you checked on what the retainers are doing?"

 

I have assigned Delic to do some spirit reconnaissance on the retainers to keep an eye on them since I don't know what they are planning. Apparently, he has a pack of wolves that follow him, so he’s able to spy on the retainers while helping me on the estate.

 

"The retainers are going to be having a meeting tomorrow night on how to efficiently use their children to extort money from you once school starts." 

 

I absolutely called it. 

 

"How should I proceed?"

 

Taking a moment to think about it, I answer, "Tell them that I am holding an emergency retainer meeting tomorrow during lunch."

 

"An emergency retainer meeting? But this whole time you have been trying to keep the retainers away. Why are you inviting them to the estate now?"

 

"I want to show them the estate. I want to show them that I am not sulking anymore and that I mean business. Plus, having the meeting during lunch gives them less time to think of a contingency plan for their meeting later that night."

 

Delic's eyes widen as he stares at me. He enjoys my evil antics that happen from time to time, so a wild grin creeps onto his face as he devises a plan for tomorrow’s lunch meeting. 

 

"As you wish. I will begin writing the letter after lunch." Delic bows then heads off in the direction of the kitchen. He turns to face me as he walks backwards and starts waving. "If you don't hurry, I'm going to eat your portion of the food!" He laughs and runs faster to the kitchen.

 

I swear. And here I thought he was maturing. Is he really a high-level arctic wolf spirit? 

 

Shaking my head at Delic’s childishness, I make my way into the kitchen where I meet everyone.

 

"Good afternoon Lady Viola!" Everyone stands as they greet me when I walk through the door. As I look around, I see everyone's warm smile and determination. It really has been quite awhile since I have seen something like this.

 

"Good afternoon everyone," I respond back, beginning to cry. Delic, shocked at my sudden crying, runs towards me with a tissue in his hand.

 

"Master, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

 

I take the tissue from Delic and wipe the rest of my face. "I'm sorry. It has just been... quite a long time... since I felt this happy. After the death of my parents and the rest of the Winter Family, I have been so lonely and afraid. But now... I don't have to worry about that anymore." I take another look around the room at the worried faces of my servants then clear my throat. "I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect everyone in this room and those who will soon become part of the Winter Family. I know that I am just a kid in your eyes, but I am also your new master and head of this family. So please, have faith in me."

 

Everyone looks at each other then at me. Edward decided to break the silence. "If we didn't have faith in the new Lady of the Winter Family, I don't think we would be sitting here right now." The rest of the servants nod and murmur in agreement.

 

I swear. They really have such high faith in me, but that makes me so happy.

 

"Thank you everyone..." Delic hands me a wet towel, and I clean my face and hands. "Let's eat everyone!"

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