Chapter 43: Grace’s birthday
It’s been three years since I found myself in this world — a world that previously existed for me only in the form of bright pictures, cloying dialogues, and predictable plot lines of otome games.
Sometimes it seems like an eternity has passed since I last saw my laptop screen, keyboard, mug of cold coffee next to the mouse, and the mountain of reports that needed to be sorted out by morning. Now all of that seemed incredibly distant, almost fictional — like a memory not from a past life, but from a dream that had begun to fade and blur over time.
Now I am no longer an office worker with a phone that never stops ringing and chronic sleep deprivation.
Three long, exhausting years have passed since my new, extraordinary life began.
When I, an ordinary modern girl from the real world, found myself trapped in the body of Grace Weinstein — the villainous aunt who was destined to wreak havoc in this fantasy story.
I could talk endlessly about what I have achieved during this time.
But without a doubt, my most important achievement was that I was still alive. Alive and relatively unharmed, despite all the moments when what was happening around me really seemed on the verge of disaster.
So, overall, my life in this world wasn’t going too badly.
Yes, the original plot of the game clearly went awry at some point. But I still hadn’t lost hope — that when the main characters grew up and the main storyline began in the imperial palace, everything would fall into place, at least a little.
At least, I tried with all my might to believe it. And hope, as we know, dies last...
Although, to be honest, sometimes it seemed to me to be just an illusion that I imposed on myself so as not to go crazy from all this fantasy nonsense that was happening to me here.
Oh well. Instead of indulging in dark thoughts, it was better to think about something more pleasant. For example, my birthday, which happened to be today.
Today, I — or rather Grace Weinstein — turned twenty-four. But since I was now living in her body, I don’t think it made much difference. So yes, you could say that today was my birthday.
To be honest, I never felt particularly excited about it.
More precisely, after a certain age, you simply stop considering this day a holiday. After all, unlike in childhood, you are no longer growing up — you are simply getting older...
True, my current age could still be considered quite young, and perhaps it was too early for me to think about this.
But still, deep down, I never considered my birthday to be anything special.Well, what is there to celebrate? Just another year lived, and another anniversary of being stuck in this world with its stupid rules.
But, as it turned out, I was the only one who thought that way. For some reason, everyone else around me sincerely considered this day important and couldn’t understand why I refused to have even a modest celebration.
The aristocrats in this world loved this occasion for holding all kinds of balls and events, and my refusal to celebrate seemed almost sacrilegious to those around me.
"Madam, it’s your birthday! How can you just ignore it?!"
The first time I told Edison that I wasn’t going to celebrate my birthday, the old man was clearly concerned — he even raised his voice, which was rare for him.
After all, it’s no secret that almost all aristocrats prefer to celebrate this day in style.
Even my father was once known for such traditions — he used to throw balls attended by all the local nobility, with orchestras, champagne, and gifts that cost a fortune.
So when I decided to do without any festivities, the butler was genuinely shocked. His gray eyebrows shot up, and his face expressed a mixture of shock and reproach.
"But what’s so special about that? It’s just a birthday..."
"Madam, a birthday is an important event in anyone’s life! And when it comes to a young lady, don’t you always throw a big party for such an occasion?" the old man objected.
"Don’t confuse the warm with the soft. Can my birthday be compared to a child’s birthday?" I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.
It was true. Over the past three years, since I took care of the future villain, I have always tried to make her holidays special.
Because I understood perfectly well that for a child, a birthday is a truly important event — a moment that they will probably remember for the rest of their life.
For example, last year I threw a real party for Ruby.
Although it turned out to be expensive, I didn’t spare any expense: I bought a bunch of decorations and turned our estate into a child’s dream.The halls were strewn with flowers and garlands, there were tables with candy and cakes everywhere, and we organized games with prizes in the garden.
I even invited puppet theater actors to put on a show especially for Rubiella. And, of course, there were so many sweets that she was beaming with happiness.
In short, I took her birthday very seriously — which is more than I can say for my own.
For the past three years, I have preferred to avoid noisy celebrations because they seemed like a waste of time and energy.
Instead of balls and guests, we had modest feasts where Rubiella, Edison, and I sat at the table, ate cake made by Nura (who, fortunately, had improved her cooking skills), and just talked.
And honestly, that was all I needed. So today, I expected my birthday to be the same — without fanfare or surprises.
However, a holiday is a holiday, and work hasn’t gone anywhere.
Realizing that I would have to spend time at the feast in the afternoon, I decided to finish everything in advance and therefore got up early to deal with the paperwork.
Over the past three years, my life has become both easier and more difficult.One significant change was that I finally got out of the debt hole that Grace had gotten herself into because of her extravagance, and now we were living much better than before. Of course, it wasn’t easy for me. But the main thing is that I achieved results.
However, along with the improvement in my financial situation, my responsibilities in many areas have also increased. Because of this, I spent almost every day buried in paperwork — so tedious that sometimes I wanted to howl.
Bills, contracts, various reports — all of this piled up like a snowball, and I sat at my desk sorting through documents until the sun was high in the sky.And yet... Gritting my teeth, I continued, as always, to fight my way through all these obstacles.
After all, I had only one goal — to make my niece happy and give her the life she deserved. And that’s why I kept working day after day, ignoring any fatigue.
Deep down, I sincerely hoped that someday all my efforts would pay off. But for now... For now, I was just surviving, balancing between my roles as the mistress of the estate, aunt, and head of a villainous organization.
That morning, as I sat doing my dreary paperwork, there was a sudden knock at the office door. It was still quite early, so I doubted it could be Ruby.Without hesitation, I tore myself away from the hated documents and said confidently:
"Edison, you may enter."
As expected, the estate’s butler entered.Three years had passed, and Edison had grown even older, but despite this, he clearly had no intention of going to his grave.
At least, that was evident from his ambitions and energetic lifestyle, which did not match his appearance.
His piercing eyes still burned with the same fire as the day I first met him.
As always, he bowed politely and announced,
"Madam, Lord Dickens Jr. requests an audience with you."
Huh? What?
To be honest, I was a little surprised.
Why on earth had Roger come here so suddenly?
But in any case, I couldn’t refuse to see him, could I? So all I could do was sigh.
"All right. Let him in."
After I spoke, the butler bowed to convey my words to the guest, and I put down my papers and leaned back in my chair.
I had no idea why Roger had come here at such a time. Didn’t he have his own business in the army?
Well, it seemed I was about to find out.
A few seconds later, the door opened again and a young man entered the room, barely resembling the person he had been three years ago.
His imperial army officer’s uniform fit perfectly, emphasizing his broad shoulders and slender figure.
With each passing year, Roger Dickens became more and more like the character I remembered from the game.
And yet, one thing about him was different.
Despite his cold and unapproachable appearance, the look in his blue eyes was not truly cold at all.
One of the heroine’s love interests smiled slightly and greeted me:
"Good afternoon, Lady Weinstein. It’s been a long time."