Having transmigrated into the body of Camilla de Walte, I thought a lot about my future life plans.
Despite the fact that the main threat to this world's security in the person of the main villainess would soon be eliminated, I still didn't know what to do with my life.
The reality of life as a duke's daughter turned out not to be as magnificent as I had imagined. One way or another, all power was in the hands of my father and brother. And they, in turn, hated me to death. From this perspective, it became more than obvious that I couldn't lay claim to the family inheritance.
If I wanted to continue living a luxurious lifestyle without ending up on the street, I had only two paths. The first — try to "appease" those two. Using the proven tricks of main heroines from novels, I could, in the end, "melt" the icy hearts of the Duke and Yufil.
But in this case, I would have to trample on my own pride as well...
When I imagined myself fawning over that blue-haired cretin, trying to win his favor, my gag reflex immediately kicked in.
Oh, no way!
I'd rather eat sewer rats than try to make eyes at that arrogant idiot. Besides, the Duke was no better than him. If not worse. After all, conflicts often arise between brothers and sisters, but I am his daughter. How can he treat his own child like that?
Anyway, this idea was doomed from the start. So I immediately moved on to the second option.
Try to survive on my own.
But considering that I'm just a fragile lady who amounts to nothing without my father's support, this was quite a difficult task.
Knowing their eagerness to marry me off, I definitely had to leave the estate before another "profitable" contender appeared.
Thus, sooner or later, I would have to start living independently anyway.
And although this contradicted my ideas of a carefree life, unrestrained spending of money, and fun until death, I had no other choice. Either marriage or business. And of the two evils, I decided to choose the lesser.
Only... What could I even do?
Of course, if I'm lucky, I might still get some small portion of money from my father. Perhaps even a low title. Only the main problem was — what would happen next.
Although I had received almost all my knowledge from the previous owner of the body, it didn't help me much. Camilla, like most ladies, was taught little. Basic etiquette accepted in high society, fundamentals of humanities, dancing, embroidery, and writing. In short, nothing useful.
And that was definitely not enough for running any kind of business. My knowledge from my past life also couldn't help me. I spent three years studying information technology at university, which in today's reality was quite promising and would have allowed me to earn a lot of money.
And I needed money.
I lacked just one year until graduation to get my coveted diploma as a programmer. Only... What good is this education in my current situation? How, tell me, could writing code on a computer possibly help me in a fantasy medieval world?
So, I found myself in a rather hopeless situation.
Not knowing which field to enter, I also clearly understood that not everyone is capable of running a business. I possessed neither eloquence nor business acumen. Nor did I have extensive connections. Thus, I would most likely face debt and bankruptcy...
Coming to such an unsatisfactory conclusion, I took a deep breath. Elisha, who had been watching my torments from the sidelines all this time, inquired uncertainly:
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"My Lady, is something bothering you?"
"Uh..."
"Perhaps I can help you with something?"
I smiled and weakly shook my head.
"Don't bother. I don't think you can do anything."
My head had been filled with these ideas since morning, when I realized there was no turning back. Yesterday the imperial banquet took place, and accordingly, the main villainess should already be dead. Soon, news of this would spread throughout the empire.
I experienced euphoria about this for the first five seconds. And then I seriously began to think about what to do next. After all, the villainess's death would solve only one of my problems, not all the others.
Since the banquet was held late, the Duke hadn't yet returned from the capital. And Yufil had left for classes at the academy. Thus, I was left completely alone in the estate.
Stretched out on my favorite spot on the summer veranda, I was in real despondency.
The personal maid was probably shocked by such sharp mood swings in her mistress. Just yesterday evening she was beside herself with joy. And today she suddenly became so gloomy.
Needless to say, sometimes I didn't understand myself.
Elisha, who had been vainly trying to cheer me up all morning, asked:
"My Lady, wouldn't you like to take a walk?"
Generally, I wasn't in the mood for a walk. But giving in to the maid's persuasion, I finally agreed.
Maybe during physical activity, fresh ideas would come to me.
As we were casually strolling through the de Walte residence, I involuntarily noticed a place I hadn't noticed before. Right next to our manor was a large forest, more like a taiga.
It was separated from the duchy's territory by a wall, so it had never occurred to me to look in there before.
Noticing my interested gaze, the maid asked bewilderedly:
"My Lady, why are you looking towards the Wolf Forest? You always avoided this place before."
"'Wolf Forest'?" I asked again in surprise.
It seemed this was one of those moments when I needed to demonstrate the knowledge of the real Camilla. The maid looked at me distrustfully, and I strained every neuron.
Oh, damn... Nothing's coming.
Some memories were jumbled in my head in a chaotic manner.
In other words, I could remember Yufil's birthday and all his habits with precision, but at the same time remember absolutely nothing about my own. Probably because during her life, Camilla was more fixated on her brother than on herself.
Be that as it may, I vainly tried not to show that I didn't know something.
"Uh... You know, I think I haven't fully recovered yet."
"Huh?"
"I had to go through many procedures in the hospital," I fabricated on the fly, "The doctor warned me that side effects might occur. I think this is it... I have small memory lapses."
The suspicious expression on the maid's face deepened.
"I knew it..."
It seemed that to avoid unfavorable rumors, His Grace lied to the servants and the public that he simply sent his daughter to "improve" her health. But in reality, he sent her to a psychiatric hospital... Probably because of her constant hysterics and mood swings.
No wonder the Duke decided to get rid of such a noisy daughter one fine day.
After being there, it became clear why the mistress suddenly started acting so strangely. And who could keep their sanity sober if they were forcibly kept within four walls for a whole year?
"My poor mistress! — Elisha barely held back tears, — Not only does His Grace and the young master dislike her. She also has mental health problems... I must treat her more gently."
"My Lady, ask me anything you want!"
Why did I suddenly feel pity in the maid's voice? Hmm... Strange.
"Well... I'd like you to tell me more about this forest."
"You were afraid of this place when you were little. So I wasn't particularly interested in it either..."
"Afraid? Why?"
"A long time ago, the former master, His Grace's father, created a legend that demonic wolves lived in this forest. And when you were a child, you also believed it."
"What? Why did my grandfather make up such a legend?"
"To protect the forest from smugglers."
I was surprised.
Smugglers? Why would they need a forest with nothing in it but trees and squirrels?
"The thing is, there is a valuable relic in this forest. It's under the protection of the Emperor himself."
"What?"
Now, from this point, please, more details.
"Frost Mushrooms," the girl explained, "A rare natural resource of the empire, which is listed in the black book. After almost all these mushrooms were used up by underground traders a hundred years ago, their collection became illegal."
Honestly, the maid's story caused me some bewilderment. How could some mushrooms cause such an uproar, and moreover be under the Emperor's protection?
Unless they were made of gold.
"What's so special about them?" I asked with genuine interest.
"They say these mushrooms can cure almost any illness..."
"Really? Any?!"
My eyes widened.
"Yes," the maid nodded, "Once upon a time, my grandmother told me that she managed to save my grandfather from a deadly disease with a decoction of frost mushroom. True, that was before they were banned in the empire."
"And?" I asked, "How valuable are they?"
"Well... After they were put in the black book, frost mushrooms greatly increased in value. A full five hundred gold per mushroom."
At that moment, I almost choked. "Five hundred? And you kept quiet?!"
The maid stared at me.
"Well... I... You didn't ask."
I waved my hand impatiently, now looking at this forest as if I had found a gold mine.
It seems I now know what I'll build my business on.