My Villain Husband

Tiana headed down to the dining room for breakfast. While sitting down she ate some bread and soup and conversed lightly with Lucius. “I think I need some data on the nobles that I mentioned yesterday, can you get some?” she asked.

“Of course. Should I gather data mainly for nobles in business and low-class nobles?” nodded Lucius.

“Yes. I’ll pick out the people to invest in. I’m not sure if I’ll succeed, but I at least want to start.”

“Because you’re a business owner. Don’t make it too much of a burden; do what you want as much as you can, and it’ll all work out. If you have any questions or things you don’t know, I’ll help you as much as I can.”

“Thanks, Lucius,” smiled Tiana. How could he say such nice things? Lucius smiled back at her as she smiled with joy in her heart. Conversing back and forth with him created a warm mood in the dining room. As this atmosphere continued for days after returning from their trip, the servants, who had felt awkward at first, had a soft look in their eyes as they watched.

Tiana spent a brief and leisurely time with Lucius in the morning. After their light meal, she dressed him in his coat as he prepared to go out. He kissed her on the cheek with a shy look on his face when she fixed his front posture.

“Thank you. I’ll tell Warren to gather the data on the nobles we talked about earlier. You can check it when he is done with it.”

“Got it. Thanks. Be careful out there,” said Tiana.

“Yes. You too, Tiana. Don’t overdo yourself, take it slowly.”

“I will.”

He nodded with relief when she smiled at him, who was worried. A carriage was waiting at the front door as he left the room and went down the stairs to the first floor. Lucius, after hugging Tiana and kissing her on the cheek, turned around and boarded the carriage.

Inabelle approached her as she stood there watching Lucius and his knights ride off into the distance.

“Madam, let’s head inside.”

“Alright. Can you bring a cup of tea to my office? And call in Warren and Jane.”

“Will do.”

When Tiana saw Inabelle on her way to find the head housemaid, she went inside the mansion. Arriving in the office and sitting down, she was gathering what she needed when Warren and Jane stepped in.

“You called us, madam.”

Tiana glanced at Jane who followed behind Warren and said to him, “I heard that Lucius asked you to gather data about the nobles concerning business.”

“Right. Given the amount of material, it might take some time, but I can deliver it this afternoon,” replied Warren.

“Got it. I would really appreciate it. Warren, you can go now,” Tiana said.

“Yes madam.”

She sent him off after the short conversation. Now only she and the head housemaid Jane were left. Tiana, slightly nervous, looked at her and spoke first. “The reason I called you aside is because of the maids and servants’ personnel affairs. A few of them have been sent here, right?”

“Yes, that is correct,” Jane replied.

“What about their assignments?”

“For now, I’ve arranged temporary assignments to suit their duties at the duke’s residence.”

“Alright. Good job. I couldn’t take care of that because I had a lot of work to do, so thank you.”

“It’s alright…”

Tiana smiled softly after seeing Jane slightly bowing her head. It looked like Jane was trying hard to hide something, but from the looks of her tense face she probably still felt awkward around Tiana. Tiana passed the documents on the desk to Jane, who was standing frozen. “I’m officially assigning them as of today. Please keep them under control so that there is no friction between the new servants and existing servants.”

“Yes madam.”

“As a result of looking at the personnel matters of the existing servants, there was nothing for me to really fix. I think it’ll be fine if we keep doing how we’ve been doing.”

The personnel evaluation records of the servants assigned according to the areas in charge were well organized. They were easy to figure out as the servants were written down meticulously, one at a time.

Given that each of them did his or her duties diligently and had few complaints, they seemed to be placed properly and doing the right correct duties. That part was probably thanks to Jane’s excellent ability to assign the correct duties based on each person’s capabilities. That was not easy without some accumulated experience. As she had the skills to show, it’s no wonder she was the head housemaid in the grand duchy. It was also a good thing to show sincerity to her. Tiana wished she could have more of Jane to herself.

She smiled, “I trust your strengths. I look forward to working with you, Jane.”

Jane nodded and made eye contact with her as she looked straight into her eyes and put some strength in her voice. “Yes madam…”

It was a shame that there was still some awkwardness, but she’ll open up with time. Until then, Tiana will trust her, and in return, Jane has to show how diligent she is.

In fact, there was a difference in their status, so she would be forced to obey Tiana if she were forced to do so, but Tiana didn’t want such a relationship. She wasn’t in favor of having a stuffy, strict relationship with someone she had to see for the rest of her life.

Even if they kept their distance to some extent, wouldn’t it be a more humane life to have even a little affection for a woman she had to face every day? Ever since Tiana came into the grand duchy, she wanted to change the atmosphere little by little to get rid of her old image.

They’re all too rigid to follow their masters. It may have been because of the power of the deceptive system, but it was different now. As Lucius was changing, the people of the grand duchy also had to change. The people floating in fear will disappear.