As I walked towards my father’s study, I rehearsed what I needed to say in my head.
Everything had to be perfect.
My father, the Duke of Armeny, was not a complicated man. He took what was given to him, and assumed if he did the same as his father and grandfather before him did, that the world would stay the same. Trusting, naive, he thought everyone had their place… and that mine was on the throne next to Prince Ronan. I often wondered if he had ever considered me anything more than a commodity to the family. We had not been very friendly in my first life.
Given what I was about to do, I doubted we would be very friendly in this one either.
I arrived, standing outside the door to his study, taking a few deep breaths to steady myself.
“You can do this, you can do this.” I muttered under my breath, trying to bolter my confidence.
“Shall I announce you, Miss?” A calm voice spoke out behind me.
Shocked, I let out a very quiet shriek and turned around to see Hallers, our family’s head butler. He was a cold, capable man. I had never seen him fumble, stutter or even hesitate to complete any task given to him. He was actually the exact opposite of my cheerful, friendly but incompetent father. In my former lifetime, when the family fell to ruin, he was quickly hired by the royal palace, and worked for the king as a head butler. He seemed at the time almost… relieved … to be free of us.
I needed to keep him in the family this time. His talents would be useful.
I nodded to him. “Please do. Also I would appreciate if you would stick around, it may be useful to have your input.”
Hallers raised an eyebrow at my words, but otherwise did not comment. He knocked on the door, entered and announced me.
As I walked in, my father stood up to welcome me with a bright smile on his face. “What brings you here today, dear?”
I was about to answer, but stopped dead in my tracks, looking around in horror. The room, no matter how you looked at it, was a disaster. Piles of papers were stacked everywhere, haphazardly placed on every available surface. I recognized the account ledgers, thick green books, at the bottom of a pile, covered in dust. Several bills worth thousands of crowns were partially crumpled up and thrown in a corner.
I thought I had understood the depths of my father’s incompetence.
I had been much too optimistic. I glanced around the room, wanting to curl up in a ball, sobbing. Put the family back on track for financial stability? I would be lucky to simply figure out how much money we had and how much we owed!
“Dear?” My father was concerned; I had been silent too long. I took several deep breaths, rubbing my forehead as a headache started to form.
“Father, I have concerns about the financial status of our family.”
“…” He was shocked, definitely. He had probably thought I was here to ask for a new dress or accessory. A bright grin broke out on his face as he chuckled. “You don’t need to worry about that, sweetheart. We’re doing just fine.”
__________________________________
My father, depressed and defeated, knelt in on the street in front of our home… the house we had been evicted from, tears running down his face. He never spoke another word to either my mother or me. He was…broken.
__________________________________
I shook my head, trying to forget the empty look in my father’s eyes on that day.
“No, we’re not.” I sighed. “You are not collecting even close to the appropriate amount in taxes. This would be fine if the people were keeping the money, but more than likely our tax collectors and local government officials are just pocketing the extra. The people still pay the price and only the corrupt see the benefit. We have no private income, other the land we lease to farmers, and even that is lost before we see it due to corruption within the staff.”
“My men would never…!” My father sputtered, “They’re good and honest men!”
I picked up one of the crumpled bill papers off the ground, smoothed it out and held it out in front of him. “We have too much debt with too many merchants and stores. What would you do if they called in what we owe them now? It would ruin our family.”
“…” Again there was surprised silence. I noticed Hallers had a slight smile of approval on his face, which was reassuring. Father cleared his throat uncomfortably.
“Even if we have… a few debts… you are the future queen of this country. I’m sure…”
I interrupted him. “We cannot hang our family’s survival on an engagement with a temperamental child…”
“Lenora! You cannot speak that way about His Royal Highness!”
I ignored his interjected complaint. “What will we do if the royal family changes their mind? What will we tell those we owe money to then? No. We need to sort out our financial problems now.”
“But…” He was shaking his head, his hands gripping the edges of his desk so tightly his knuckles had turned white. I needed another tactic.
“Father, don’t you want me to be prepared in my role as future queen?” Confused by my apparent change in topic, he relaxed, letting go of the desk.
“Of course dear, but I don’t see what that has to do with…”
“You know that the Queen keeps watch over the Royal Families personal accounts. She has been teaching me to do the same.” Only a partial lie, she did look over household expenses to ensure the staff was doing their job. It was a lot less work intensive than actually managing accounts.
“I need to improve and the only way I can is by practicing. So please hand over the bills and ledgers.”
The Duke of Armeny did not look convinced. “I really don’t think this is appropriate for a young girl…”
“Don’t you want me to be a good wife to Prince Ronan?” The wheedling tone I used, as well as the words I said, unsettled my stomach, but I pushed forward, silently convincing myself it was for the greater good. “I have to work as hard as I can if I’m to be the best fiancé and future Queen that I can.”
“…” It was working, I could tell by the look on his face. His opposition to change was being overcome by his desire to see me fulfill his plan to marry our family to the throne. He just needed a little more convincing…
“Are you quite sure?”
“Hand over the account ledgers!” I kept my voice stern. He jumped, and automatically reached out towards the green, tattered books, handing them to me.
“Dearest…” Father started to object, but by then it was too late, I had taken the ledgers. I clutched them tightly, sneezing as a cloud of dust enveloped me.
“Don’t worry so much! I will look over all our accounts and help our family get back on the right path.” I turned towards Hallers. “Could you set me up a desk in a nearby room? Please move all the related financial records that are here as well.” Glancing around at the crumpled papers piled on the floor and wincing, I added. “Take what time you need.”
Hallers was smiling widely. “My pleasure, Miss. It will be done within the hour.”
“Wait… I …” Father tried one more time, but before he could object fully, with a cheerful wave and a “Thanks!” I left the room.
Only to run into the last person I wanted to see.
Prince Ronan, my fiancé.
“Your Highness.”I plastered a polite smile on my face, performing a perfect curtsy, but all the while my mind was racing, desperately trying to figure out how long he had been there, how much he had heard.Even if I was planning to let the engagement be broken up like last time, I needed the three years to get my family back on track financially before that happened. If we broke up too soon… the debtors would come calling and my life would end very much like the first.Fortunately, Ronan didn’t seem upset or angry, he looked more bored than anything.I let out a silent sigh of relief. He must not have heard the “temperamental child” comment I had made to my father. I wasn’t too concerned If he had heard my blatant lies about the Queen managing accounts. He didn’t know enough about how things worked in the palace to know if that was true or false.
Despite my wishes, the morning of etiquette training with the Queen arrived all too quickly. I departed in a carriage just shortly after sunrise, arriving at the palace without too much delay. As I followed a footman deeper into the building I had once known so well, I felt a cold wave of a memory swell over me._______________________________________“Just lift your feet, miss!” The dancing instructor clapped his hands, looking frustrated. “You act as if your shoes are weighted down!”I stumbled, tripping on my shoes, wincing as I felt the skin tear on my elbow as it hit the floor.The instructor chuckled, the Queen looked concerned, but my mother… she simply stared at me with a look of weary contempt.A look I knew all too well._______________________________________I gripped my elbow, almost feeling the
The next week was brutal.Each day I would get up before dawn, moving to my office to get started as soon as possible. Reading, studying, I was trying to learn a lifetime of knowledge at a breakneck pace. I still was piecing together bills and tax documents, working with Hallers to consolidate all the debt I could. Fortunately, as I was still in good standing with the Royal family, the interest and repayment plans were very generous.I stayed locked in that tiny room, only to pause whenever Hallers brought up a meal, an increasingly worried expression on his face with each passing day.“Miss, you must sleep!” He broke his professional silence on the fourth day, as he walked in late into the night, finding me reading a chapter on historical government forms while taking notes by candlelight. I glanced up, surprised to see him still dressed up in a proper butler uniform despite the late hour. 
The next day’s etiquette lessons were harsher, just as Mrs. Rendler promised. I was able to keep up, using my previous knowledge and skills, but this time I did my best to make it look difficult, hoping that she would relax the pace a little. Instead my efforts rewarded me with her satisfied expression, and a gleam in her eye that promised only more pain and suffering.“You will be the greatest young lady I have ever trained.” She pronounced, looking me over from head to toe critically. “But must you dress so… plainly? I will say it’s a great improvement over those frilly monstrosities you used to wear to lessons, but the last two outfits have been simply dull.”I smiled at her words, glancing down at my plain grey gown. Over the last week I had sold the majority of my more ridiculous gowns, leaving me with surprisingly few choices. Angela had pouted, saying that I was going to be out of style, but
The day of the meeting had arrived. I paced back and forth within my office, taking deep breaths, trying to force myself into the right mindset. This would be a delicate balance of a meeting. If it didn’t go the way I planned… it could be disastrous to everyone.It had to go according to plan.“Hallers,” I called out, waiting for the butler to arrive before asking my nervous question. “Where is Jim? I thought he agreed to come?”Hallers was frowning. “He did, Miss. He was never one to be tardy, despite his unprofessional attitude in many other areas. He should be here very shortly.”“I can’t be here alone. I need them to take me seriously, and for that I need scary looking support!” I resumed pacing. “The meeting is scheduled to start in a few minutes, we may have to delay it.”He wat
When I arrived at the next lesson with Jim in the Royal Treasury, he held up his hands in apology. “I know, I know, I’m sorry! I really couldn’t get away!”I sat down in front of him, placing my finished books in front of him with unnecessary force and glaring silentl“I sent you Nate, didn’t I?” He clasped his hands in front of him, getting on his knees and pretending to beg “Oh great future queen spare me!”I couldn’t help it. I laughed at that. “Fine. You are forgiven.“Whew!” He mimed wiping a nervous sweat from his forehead and got back to his desk. “Did you really fire every single corrupt official in the duchy“First of all, I didn’t ‘fire’ anyone. They excepted an ‘early retirement’ as a reward for their hard work.” I shook my head as Jim rolled wi
Ten months passed, faster than I could have imagined.The store “Prosperity” took off. True to her word, Milane had improved upon my own designs, and after showcasing the dresses at a few parties, (I had reluctantly resumed my social responsibilities, reminding myself it was for the business), and the orders came in, faster than we could fill them. Expanding production, Milane hired a few more seamstresses, and even then we were stretched thin. We continued making and selling new designs, however, with plans to open up another store before the next season.The Duchy thrived alongside my business. The officials I “retired” left without further complaint, and their replacements worked hard to gain experience and independence. Until they were completely trained however, the bulk of the work was left to Nile, Terrence and Me. We met weekly, going over accounts and day to day issues in great detail. Fortunately we worked w
“Of course the earl of Beral is enthralled by his younger fiancé Lady Erica, but she’s in love with the captain of the Eastern guard. They’ve already started making arrangements, and will elope before the end of the year.”Rig finished his report with a satisfied smirk, having pried out some of the country’s biggest secrets and scandals. The nobility would be horrified to know of what all was passed over so easily to me each week by Rig.“That’s… interesting.” I answered slowly. I trusted Rig’s information, but in my memories Lady Erica married the earl right when I was eighteen, right before my downfall. “Keep your ears out for any plans regarding the Eastern guard.”Rig raised an eyebrow. “You think someone might try to take him out?”They likely did in another life. “Plenty of powerful peo