The man who came with Aisya caught Eleonora's attention. She hadn't met this man since she possessed the body of this rich girl. The old man with crescent-shaped glasses and a black coat was clutching a pile of papers. From the information she had received from the loyal servants, Eleonora knew the man's identity.
"Sebastian?" Awkwardly, she said the name of the old man who would have been the same age as her parents had he lived in her past life.
Sebastian, the butler, was surprised and bowed. "Yes, Lady!"
"I have just dismissed the four servants the prince assigned here. I asked them to come to you for their final paychecks. Take care of it!"
Sebastian looked surprised at this information. But he wasn't angry at all. Eleonora could see how pleased Sebastian was to hear the news. "Well, lady, I'll make sure you don't have any complaints. But are you all right?" Sebastian looked at her worriedly.
No wonder Sebastian was worried. From what he had heard, the power of the lord in this residence was quite great. That was because of the people he had brought into the residence. Eleonora could imagine how those people looked down on her. But it wouldn't be long now.
"Yes, I'm fine! As the rightful owner of this manor, I can't have a shrew living here instead. Do you have a list of all the things that were taken from the treasure room and my wardrobe?"
Sebastian lowered his head. "Yes, my lady, I have recorded everything without exception. Including the items taken by the prince and his concubines."
"They are bastards!"
Eleonora's scolding made Sebastian jump. His face turned red with shame. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief that appeared out of nowhere. "Lady, a noblewoman doesn't swear like that!" he warned.
To Eleonora, the warning sounded like a parent's advice to a daughter. "I only curse people who deserve to be cursed, Sebastian. They're such bastards! How could they steal from the house of a girl who has no mother or father? I want to strangle them!"
Sebastian coughed easily. "Then you can go through the list in your room, lady!" Then he was silent for a while. "You'd better have dinner first, Lady, it's about time!"
"Dinner? With food that looks like fodder from the point of view of digestion?"
"What?" Sebastian was surprised to hear this. He turned to Aisya and asked for an explanation.
Aisya looked down in fear. Anyone would be afraid of being accused if their boss looked at them with those eyes. "Mr. Sebastian... last night Lady was asked to eat a soup that was too mushy without salt. He said it was because she might not have digested it properly."
The butler immediately staggered in shock. He held his head. "Yet we always order the finest ingredients for you. Those cooks - how could they not pay attention to their mistress?"
"Are those cooks also among the people the lord sent?"
"I'm ashamed to say it, Lady, but it's true. I can't do anything because you authorized the prince to manage the residence. So the servants who served you for a long time have been replaced because of inefficiency." Sebastian looked down.
She could imagine the many reasons the prince had used to pick a fight with Eleonora. But that was as far as it went.
"Show me the office! There must be a study in this residence, right?"
The butler looked at her with a beaming face.
It was as if he had spoken a magic word. As if he had found a treasure in the house and did not want to share it with anyone. He moved quickly with all the papers in his lap.
"Prepare a dinner of grilled father, mushroom soup, and freshly baked bread. If that's not on the table, evict them today without compensation!" Eleonora ordered Aisha before following the butler.
Aisha, the good maid, smiled and nodded vigorously in agreement. She took a short walk in the direction she and the butler had come from earlier.
She followed the butler who led her to the study. It was to the right of the living quarters. A large door made of heavy wood was pushed open. Inside, there were tons of shelves that held a library. In the middle of the room, with a large white-curtained window, was a desk. Beyond the window was a balcony with several small chairs that seemed to be used for resting when tired.
"Can this room be locked, Sebastian?" asked Eleonora.
"Yes, my lady. I have one key, and you gave the other to the prince!"
She cursed again in her head. How stupid had Eleonora been? She took a deep breath. She thought carefully about what she could do to cut off the prince's access to the office. "What about the key to the treasury? Did I give it to those bastards too?"
Seeing how Sebastian reacted when Eleonora cursed, she knew that the old man was not used to hearing curses. So she was determined to minimize the cursing that would come out of his mouth.
"Fortunately not Lady! However, you ordered me to allow Lady Ebe, the Prince, and the Concubine to enter whenever they want!"
She was grateful that there was still some sense left in the old Eleonora's decision. "Very well, now I revoke my permission for them. No one is allowed to enter, take or borrow anything from the treasure!"
She could see the butler smiling happily. "On the door of the treasury is the magic of your ancestors, lady. Only you and those you authorize can go in. So even if the Prince, Lady Ebe, and Her Highness the Concubine try to force their way in, they will be stopped by the magic!"
She looked up, gazed at the ceiling of the study, and thanked the ancestors. She went in and told the butler to leave the door open. The maids and servants of the prince's envoy needed to see what she was doing so they could report back to the prince.
"Put all the information I want here! I'll check it out!" She ordered the servants.
The papers in the butler's lap were placed in the middle of the study. She checked and found that there were quite a few items that had been taken from the house. Now she had to make sure she could get them all back.
"Will I be able to get back all the things I gave them?" Eleonora asked.
"The items taken from the manor are on loan, lady! If the Prince, Lady Ebe, and Her Highness the Concubine want them - they must pay for them! I don't think they have enough wealth to take them all!"
"Great! So I can take them, right?" She grinned happily. It was no fun being a benefactor to someone who was going to stab him in the back.
"Lady, are you going to take it?" the butler asked.
"Yes, of course! I wouldn't be so generous as to give my possessions to a bastard prince, a damned lady, and an old man who was supposed to bring them to their senses but instead became a parasite. My ancestors would not be happy if I were so generous!" She said it very firmly.
Sebastian looked at Eleonora with tears in his eyes. It seemed as if he had waited a long time for his little mistress to see the error of her ways. Then he wiped away his tears with a handkerchief that suddenly appeared.
"Have you also prepared a file on the people the Prince has sent?" That was the most immediate and necessary action.
"Yes, my lady. That is all--"
"No! Don't give it to me!" She stopped the papers from landing in the middle of the table. "Collect all of them in these papers and fire them all! Then can you call back all the servants who were fired by the prince?"
The butler's eyes widened, but he looked pleased. She nodded vigorously and clutched the papers tightly. "I'll do it right away, Lady!"
"No! Fire them all today. Gather them after dinner and announce the dismissals. I don't want to see their faces in the morning. Give them their last paycheck and make sure they remember what I said."
"Yes, Lady?"
"You will regret underestimating Lady Eleonora!"
There was a moment of silence. It seemed that the butler was very surprised by her sudden change. Indeed, she should have done all this as soon as possible. But, as her kind maids said. She did it all out of love. It was not her fault.
"Well, lady, I will say it very nicely!" The butler sounded very pleased. Then he bowed and turned to leave. It seemed he was going to tell all the servants and maids to gather in the hall.
Just as Sebastian was leaving, Aisya entered. "Lady, the meal you requested is ready!"
She stood up and walked with quick steps. She looked at Aisya happily. "Will you be able to cook breakfast tomorrow, Aisha?"