Chapter 4
“Are you determined to ruin the family, Adelheid Ulmer?!”
Even after seeing the pathetic state of his adopted daughter, Duke Ulmer couldn’t suppress his rage and shouted with a twisted face.
“Pfft.”
Standing nearby, Paula Ulmer—another adopted daughter of Duke Ulmer and my legal sister—couldn’t hold back her laughter.
But Paula couldn’t avoid Duke Ulmer’s sharp glare either.
“You dare to laugh when you were the one who dumped the matchmaking on your sister?”
“I-I’m sorry, Father….”
“Useless fools.”
Frosty reproach spewed from Duke Ulmer’s mouth.
“You should be grateful I took you out of the slums. You should be repaying the family, not humiliating me like this! Filthy lowborns with no roots…”
Here’s one key background detail about Adelheid Ulmer!
Duke Ulmer is not her biological father but her adoptive one. Both Paula and Adelheid were adopted from a slum orphanage to be used for political marriages.
And one of those attempts was the arranged meeting with Marquis Vente…
Isn’t this too much?
Usually in games like this, the father isn’t this heartless.
But since this is a villainess-raising simulation, Adelheid’s home environment is exceptionally harsh.
I vaguely suspected they created such an environment to justify the daughter turning into a villainess…
But after hearing Duke Ulmer hurl nonstop insults, it felt like a very plausible theory.
“Stupid wenches. Born of filthy blood…”
However, after enduring five years of nonsense from Manager Kim, this kind of verbal abuse didn’t faze me.
Besides—
[SYSTEM] Your Notoriety score exceeds 50. Mental damage from verbal abuse is reduced by 10%.
My doubled Notoriety over the past 24 hours was actually providing a small buff.
It didn’t seem all that useful, but judging from the tears welling up in Paula’s eyes—despite her usual thick skin—it seemed to have real impact.
“…So get out of my sight already! I don’t want to see the disgusting faces of you useless leeches!”
Fortunately, Duke Ulmer seemed to be aware of his own sore throat and wrapped up his rant.
As soon as he issued the expulsion, Paula ran out in tears.
“Adelheid Ulmer. Are you defying my orders?”
Just as he said, I remained in place and stood my ground.
But it wasn’t because I had lost my sense of fear—it was because I still had unfinished business.
“Well…”
My Notoriety was currently doubled for the next 24 hours.
And in this game, a Notoriety buff meant one thing—opportunity.
“I have something I’d like to say to Your Grace.”
I steeled myself and looked straight into Duke Ulmer’s eyes.
Status window!
Even though the Duke looked like he might devour me at any moment, I resisted and checked my stats first.
Thankfully, the system displayed my status right away.
Name: Adelheid Ulmer
Age: 19
Occupation: Adopted Daughter of Duke Ulmer
Title: Elderly Abuser (NEW!)
[Basic Abilities]
-
Core Power: 5/100
-
Intelligence: 3/100
-
Grace: 10/100
-
Charm: 0/100
-
Stress: 50/100
[Special Abilities]
-
Notoriety: 25/999 (Adjusted to 50 due to current buff)
-
Karma: 5/999
-
Persuasion: 0/100
-
Pushover Factor: 95/100
By slapping faces 100 times, I managed to raise Core Power by 1. If lucky, Grace might increase by 1 occasionally. The reward system was miserly and random.
Creating these stats in such a barren environment was the result of desperate effort.
But if I got stuck on stats alone, I’d never reach the “objective completion” the system talked about.
So I decided to try a quicker path.
The first step? A negotiation with Duke Ulmer.
“Did you get into trouble again?”
“Not exactly…”
“Then speak your business quickly.”
The chill in Duke Ulmer’s face made it painfully clear—I hadn’t earned a shred of his favor.
But this cheat move couldn’t be used without a deal with him.
I only learned this after 100 playthroughs.
In the Calamari Mines, there’s a deposit of magical stones. The location only unlocks after meeting certain conditions.
In the magic-driven Bregenz Empire, magical stones are more valuable than gold of equal weight and can be quickly liquidated.
The problem is that even unlocking the area costs money.
That’s why I need to team up with the Duke.
With just 10,000 daling, I could buy a mithril pickaxe for mining.
Even if the Duke had tried to sell off his adopted daughter out of desperation, even if he was so broke his title was meaningless—surely 10,000 daling wouldn’t be that hard to produce.
And if I sold the magical stones afterward and invested the earnings into the Duke’s business…
It’d be a win-win situation, wouldn’t it?
Let me repeat: magical stones are expensive.
If I could mine and sell all of them, I could probably buy an entire castle.
That kind of money could serve as seed capital for items to boost my lacking stats.
“Umm… would you be willing to lend me some money?”
I proposed with ambition, but the Duke furrowed his brow.
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?”
Ugh, this guy really knew how to stress a person out…
Before I could even start my explanation, his response set me off.
Then—
[SYSTEM] Your Stress exceeds 50. ‘Persuasion’ is reduced by 50%, ‘Pushover Factor’ increased by 5%.
-
Persuasion: 0/100
-
Pushover Factor: 80/100
(Currently adjusted to 84 due to stress mismanagement.)
Oh come on, really?
I was seriously annoyed, but I managed to calm myself and forced a smile.
“It’s not nonsense… I want to use it as capital for a business venture.”
[SYSTEM] Duke Ulmer is enraged by the absurd proposal.
The system window flashed red. And then—
“…What did you just say, Adelheid Ulmer?”
“Pardon…?”
“Did you say business capital?”
“Y-Yes, Your Grace…”
“A girl who can’t do a single thing right, whose brain rattles like an empty can, wants to start a business? Ha!”
Duke Ulmer’s face twisted like the Grim Reaper.
I felt something was going very wrong, but as his mouth kept moving, I was powerless to stop it.
“Even asking for money to buy a dress would’ve been more convincing. You idiot.”
[SYSTEM] Your Notoriety exceeds 50. Mental damage from verbal abuse is reduced by 10%.
His harsh words continued, but the system calmly filtered the blow.
Despite the system’s buffer, the scolding was relentless.
“A lowborn girl obsessed with luxury now dares to lie to my face?”
Listening silently, I suddenly remembered—Duke Ulmer was a complete sociopath.
Right. The game lore said even the maids trembled when Adelheid looked at them. It was because she’d learned all her cruelty from watching the Duke…
“W-Wait a moment!”
Snapping out of it, I quickly prepared my rebuttal.
Couldn’t I just persuade him with reasonable logic? Never underestimate a corporate survivor’s grit.
“Da-eun, if there’s one thing you’re good at—it’s making a killer PowerPoint. I’ve got th—”
“Da-eun was really good at making PPTs, if nothing else. This, I can do confidently.”
Taking a deep breath, I met Duke Ulmer’s glare and began explaining.
“I’ve discovered a promising business opportunity. There’s a mine—Kalamarie Mine—that holds valuable magic stones. All I need is 10,000 darlings to buy a mithril pickaxe.”
“A mine?”
Duke Ulmer narrowed his eyes, as if only now mildly interested.
“Yes. It’s not widely known yet, but once it’s unlocked and exploited, the magic stones there can easily bring in tens—no, hundreds—of times the initial investment.”
“You want me to invest in a pipe dream based on a brat’s nonsense?”
“No, not invest. Lend me. I’ll pay you back with the profits. In fact, I’m willing to write a contract stating that all proceeds will first go toward repaying the debt with interest, and any extra will be yours to keep.”
He looked unconvinced, but at least he wasn’t shouting.
“…You think I’d believe that a witless girl like you could mine such stones and sell them profitably?”
‘Damn, I need to play my cards right.’
Then, like a stroke of luck—
[SYSTEM] Your “Infamy” is influencing Duke Ulmer’s suspicion.
A hidden option has been activated.
→ [Bluff] “I already have an interested buyer.”
“Actually, I already have a noble ready to purchase them. I just need the stones. That’s why I’m moving now, before anyone else finds out.”
“…You’re bluffing.”
He was clearly skeptical. But I didn’t flinch.
“Do you really think I’d come in here and humiliate myself if I weren’t serious?”
He went silent.
It was working.
“…Hmph. Fine. But just this once.”
Really?
“You’ll get 10,000 darlings. But if you fail—don’t even think of crawling back to this house.”
‘Deal!’
But outwardly, I bowed my head with practiced humility.
“Thank you, Father.”
As I turned to leave the study with the money secured, I clenched my fist in victory.
[SYSTEM] You have acquired 10,000 Darlings.
A hidden path to Kalamarie Mine has been unlocked.
→ New Quest: “Claim the Magic Stones.”
Reward: Reputation Increase / Ability Boost / Equipment Upgrade
Things were finally moving forward.
From now on… the real game begins.
