The Duke's Daughter Is A Villainess (7)

[Task B has been completed! 40 points have been added to your point collection.]

Woken up by the sudden announcement, Dahlia panicked for a moment before falling off her bed tangled up in her bedsheets.

~Buddy? What the hell was that?

[Sorry, Host! Since Task B was completed while you were sleeping, the announcement was scheduled for when the sun came up.]

~Ugh... my beauty sleep.... but wait, how did the task get completed?

[The servants heard about how you brought in a child from the orphanage, and after you went to bed they were all talking about it! And then the chefs and the maids were discussing how you seemed to have changed overnight, and they all agreed that it seemed as if you finally matured into a proper young lady.]

~Wow.... so it was that easy to repair my reputation?

[.... You're just too strong, Host.]

~Hehe.

"Miss? Are you alright? I heard a loud noise just now..." One of the maids outside spoke before knocking on the door.

Dahlia hurriedly stood up and got back into bed before calling out, "I'm fine! I just... dropped something. I'll be out in a bit!"

Dahlia took a few more moments to wake herself up before going through her morning routine, washing her face, brushing her teeth, and then finally struggling as she got herself into one of her dresses.

She frowned as she smoothed out her sleeves, hoping that in the next world she goes to the clothes would be less of a hassle to get on.

"Jamie?"

A maid came rushing into Dahlia's room a second later. "Yes, Miss?"

"Get breakfast ready, I'm going to go wake Stella up."

Though that's what Dahlia said, when she got to Stella's room, she was already awake and dressed. The moment Dahlia stepped through the door, Stella immediately ran to her and wrapped her arms around her torso.

Dahlia almost stumbled at the sudden attack. "So you were awake already?"

Stella nodded, her face still buried in Dahlia's dress. "Yes! I always woke up at this time in the orphanage."

Dahlia laughed, and then took Stella's hand and lead them both to the dining room.

Breakfast was a casual affair, the duke was silent as he was busy reading papers while he was eating, but the air between the three of them was still comfortable, as if they had been together this whole time, even though Stella had just arrived the day before.

Stella babbled about what she planned to do at her debutante ball that was coming up just a week later, and then Dahlia informed Stella about the lessons she had to take first on etiquette so that she could perform properly during the ball.

Luckily, Stella seemed to be looking forward to her lessons, and wanted to learn even more, asking if she could go to school.

It wasn't common for noble ladies to attend school, rather most of them were tutored at home in various subjects, but it wasn't as if there wasn't a school she could attend, it's just that those schools were usually used as a place where parents could dump their unruly children.

"It's okay if you really do want to go to school instead of studying at home, but people might gossip about you if you do that. They might think we're sending you there because we don't want you here." Was what Dahlia said about it.

In the end, Stella decided to think more about whether she actually wanted to go to school or if she was okay with studying at home.

Her first lessons were today, so she would find out soon whether she liked it or not anyway.

With everyone running so smoothly, Dahlia spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. At least, that's what it looked like to everybody else, but in reality Dahlia was discussing with Buddy how to best lead Alice to her downfall.

~Noah and Lucas both think Alice is an angel... I don't think it will be easy to change their perception of her.

[Don't worry, Host! This is what I'm here for! With 70 points you can purchase the 'Rumour Rumour' talisman! Depending on what you want, whoever you put the talisman on, there will either be good rumours or bad rumours spread about them.]

~Hm... how many points do I have currently?

[After completing all of yesterday's tasks and purchasing the 'Talent Stealer', you are now left with 100 points.]

~I'll buy one talisman then.

[Purchase completed. 70 points have been deducted from your points collection, rendering the total amount of points you have to 30. The 'Rumour Rumour' talisman can now be found in your dress pocket.]

~Oh... hold on... how am I even going to get this on Alice...? There's no way for me to meet her unless I go to the palace and I really do not want to go to the palace...

[...]

~....

[Um... Host, maybe you should just use it on yourself first then.]

~Oh, good idea. Having people spread some good rumours about me would make it easier for me to become the new heroine of the story, yes?

[Yes!]

Without further ado, Dahlia slapped the talisman onto her back and then continued planning out the rest of her 'Take Down Alice' operation silently.