It Turned Out to be a Useful Fraudulent Marriage Chapter 5 - 1. Precognitive dream

“Doing what?”

 

“A business.”

 

Of course, the business was a decoy. A bait to learn more about the young master Eric Orleans.

 

“You and me? Eric Orleans and Emeline Wedgwood?”

 

Eric began to simmer like a heated kettle. How absurd would such a proposal be to such an arrogant nobleman? Having seen me and my brother fawning over Margaret Beaufort last night, he would find it even more ludicrous.

 

“You lack business acumen. As you can see, I have both the information and the ability to think quickly.”

 

Of course, the reason I’m doing this right now is not because I really want to do business with this person.

 

“What do you mean…!”

 

“I managed to get the son of the most influential Duke on this continent to sit at the negotiation table. In just a few minutes.”

 

I pointed my finger at Eric.

 

Eric, with a face gradually turning red from my words, didn’t know what to do and stood up from his seat.

 

That’s exactly what I want—

 

He seemed unable to contain his anger, pacing near the window as if he couldn’t stand it anymore, then finally let out his frustration. “Ha…”

 

—is making Eric Orleans hate me.

 

I calmly drank the tea brought by the maid. Mmm, delicious. Expensive things are always the best. I would never buy it with my own money though.

 

For your information, this mansion was borrowed from a friend of our Mother’s with some conditions, and this tea was a gift from the Duke a few days ago. Neither of them were purchased with our money.

 

I remember what the friend who had her house ripped off by my Mom said when he saw her.

 

‘You parasites!’

 

Ah, yeah. Parasites. A fitting nickname for us.

 

But you know, if you don’t want to be infested with parasites, shouldn’t you have lived cleanly in the first place? Bad guys always recognize other bad guys, you know.

 

I advised Eric.

 

“It would be better not to reveal too much emotion at the negotiating table. If emotions are too obvious, it’s easy for the other party to take advantage of it, and being emotional makes it difficult to earn trust.”

 

“You speak as if you were my advisor right now. Threatening me with words.”

 

Eric glared at me.

 

I shrugged.

 

“It’s just advice as a business partner.”

 

“What kind of business partner!”

 

“Nevertheless, it quite impressive. I thought you were a courteous gentleman, playing the role of a good son to your father, but you know how to beg your father for favors.”

 

Eric’s gaze darkened momentarily at my words. I didn’t miss that moment and asked him, “Surviving in the duke’s household isn’t easy, is it? Your father marrying a Viscountess with two children, including a daughter, will surely raise concerns about the succession order.”

 

I deliberately provoked Eric. He responded with a strange reaction.

 

“Successor rank? I am not and will not do anything because of you and Philip. Both of you, especially you…”

 

“Half-sibling”

 

“…?”

 

“We’re going to become brother and sister. Us.”

 

I grinned. I said it because it seemed difficult for him to say, but why the expression?

 

But isn’t it typical for us not to worry about things like this?

 

“Then why did you betray your father?”

 

“Emeline Wedgwood.”

 

Suddenly, Eric calmly called my name.

 

He walked towards me and stopped right in front of my face. His red eyes flickered before me.

 

“If you value your life, it would be wise to stop meddling any further.”

 

My body stiffened at his words. At that moment, his voice sounded just like the Duke’s when he used to say, ‘Goodbye, Emeline.’

 

I looked at Eric with confused eyes. Is this man my enemy? Or my friend?

 

I desperately hoped he could be my friend. However, if he is a psycho just like the Duke, trying to be his friend could be very dangerous.

 

“Oh my, Young Master! I’m sorry. I’m feeling a bit unwell…”

 

That’s when it happened. At the same time as the familiar voice, someone descended the stairs.

 

It was Mother.

 

Eric suddenly turned his head towards Mother. He nodded stiffly to her with a stern face.

 

“I’ll leave the gift list here, Madam,” he said.

 

“What? Since you’re here, why not have a quick tea time?”

 

Eric gritted his teeth and glared at me in response to Mother’s words.

 

“I’ve had enough tea with Lady Emeline. I’ll be off then.”

 

Eric left calmly. Mom, who had been smiling pretentiously, clicked her tongue as soon as Eric left.

 

“That… that insolent child. Is he acting that way because he thinks we’ll take something from him? Honestly, with all that money, wouldn’t it be nice if he shared a bit? Who on earth does he resemble to have such a personality… His birth mother was completely insane, they say. Did he take after her?”

 

Instead of responding to Mother’s prejudiced words, I weakly leaned against the sofa armrest and furrowed my brows.

 

One of the Duke’s atrocities contained in the documents seen in the dream included murdering the former Duchess. It seemed to be disguised as a suicide announced to the public.

 

And now, Mother was also destined to be in the same situation as that former Duchess. Once the Duke realized that Mother didn’t own the land anymore, everything would change.

 

The beautiful Helena Wedgwood.

 

My mother.

 

I still couldn’t forget the sight of her collapsed in the Duke’s office.

 

“Mom, you know. Can’t you just not get married?” I asked in a low voice.

 

Mother’s expression hardened.

 

“Why? Because Eric Orleans behaves badly? Emeline. Since when were you such a weak person? Have you forgotten when you lived in that little barn?”

 

Mother looked at me with eyes that seemed like she might cry at any moment.

 

“You don’t know, the Duke really cares about me. I indeed started to like the Duke because of his money… But if I’m with him, I feel I could have a new life. Forget all those terrible memories.”

 

I bit my lip at Mother’s words.

 

Terrible memories.

 

When were the terrible times for Mother? When she was chased by debt collectors and worked in restaurants? Or…

 

I shook my head.

 

“But what if the Duke is the seed of misfortune? If he doesn’t make you happy…?”

 

Mother looked like she was going to cry just now, but she looked up at me with determined eyes, as if there were smoke.

 

“It’s okay even if it’s misfortune. I’ll endure it for you and your brother.”

 

I chuckled bitterly.

 

How can I convince such a Mom? Mom, I had a dream. Like that?

 

‘That’s impossible.’

 

If only there was solid evidence. Even if I couldn’t pressure the Duke with that evidence, I might at least be able to convince Mother.

 

A solid evidence.

 

‘Like documents or something. Documents or something. Something like documents…’

 

Mom seemed relieved I finished biting my mouth.

 

“Come on, let’s go to the dressing room now. If we spend the money the Duke delivered with the gifts, all these strange thoughts will disappear!”

 

“Mom, were you pretending to cry earlier? Was it acting?”

 

“You! Be quiet!”

 

✵ ✵ ✵

 

My dress was also included among the gifts Eric Orleans personally brought.

 

Upon hearing the exact cost, I almost choked.

 

“… Wouldn’t it be better if he just gave cash instead?”

 

As I spoke, Lily, the maid sent by Duke Orleans to assist with wedding preparations for a week, stiffened her face.

 

Interpreting her expression, seemed to convey this message. ‘Is she serious?’

 

I shook off the notion with a face that clearly suggested I was joking.

 

“This is such a gorgeous dress, Lily.”

 

“Haha… I see. Lady Emeline seems quite different from what I’ve heard about you.”

 

“What have you heard?”

 

“I heard you’re a quiet person who doesn’t seem to joke around much.”

 

I looked at Lily’s skillful smile and thought to myself, this woman must be a veteran maid. That’s now what she was originally going to say, I guess she heard I was a lowly peasant from the countryside with low self-esteem.

 

But anyway.

 

I was now standing in front of a clothing store mirror.

 

Looking at myself adorned in a yellow dress, intended to be suitable for the upcoming wedding hall adorned with yellow lilies, I smirked crookedly.

 

It really didn’t suit me.

 

Seeing my displeased expression, Lily asked, “Is there something you don’t like?”

 

“No, I love it. Very much.”

 

As I grinned, I heard Mom screaming as she was upstairs doing her dress fitting.

 

“Is she trying on clothes right now? She is not fighting a dragon, right?”

 

I asked the shop assistant, and she awkwardly chuckled.

 

“It seems Madam isn’t accustomed to wearing a corset.”

 

Why would my Mother hide her belly with a corset?

 

Do aristocratic men in the capital think women have no ribs?

 

Through the 1st to 4th husband, Mother elevated the status of her husband from commoners to a rich commoner then to a Viscount, but somehow my stepfathers became more demanding and emotionally unstable as their status increased. Isn’t Duke Orleans the pinnacle of that?

 

I shivered as I vividly remembered Duke Orleans from my dream.

 

I can never give my mother to that psycho. Never!

 

I can never give up my life either!

 

In fact, using Eric was the best way to ruin this marriage. That’s why I subtly mentioned the succession rank to Eric.

 

If the Duke and my Mother get married, there will be a step-brother and step-sister who are not related by blood at all, so it’s natural that Eric wouldn’t look good in this situation.

 

So, I hoped to exploit that point and hoped Eric would ruin this marriage with his filthy temper… but…

 

Since we’re not suitable opponents, so what?

 

There was simply no way to refute it.

 

Even if it’s a legitimate marriage, how can those who are not even the Duke’s legitimate biological children, and moreover, the children of a country Viscountess, take Eric’s place?

 

What the vassals said about Eric felt threatened by me and Philip was all wrong.

 

Eric didn’t feel threatened at all even when I threatened him by exploiting his weaknesses. Rather, he threatened me.

 

‘If you value your life—’

 

It was a clear threat.

 

Real threats are made by those powerful individuals, not by someone like me, a nobody.

 

Even if I told the Duke about the business, he wouldn’t dismiss his son just for that reason. He’d probably just nagging and brush it off.

 

But I…

 

Instead, I’ll likely end up in a position where I’m caught between the Duke and his son. Facing both of them being the same psychopaths would double the threat to my life.

 

“Well then…”

 

I found myself starting to shake my legs with anxiety.

 

Lily approached me with a surprised expression as I accidentally tripped and stumbled.

 

“Oh, Lady!”

 

Why. What.

 

Is this your first time seeing a noble young lady tripping over herself?

 

Ultimately, the only remaining option is to cause some significant trouble outside instead of directly provoking Eric.

 

It would have to be an incident serious enough to declare that neither Eric nor the Duke could ever allow Mother to bring a daughter like me into their ducal household.

 

Of course, the accident has to happen without Mother’s knowledge. If she caught wind of it before I caused trouble, she could have dragged me away.

 

An incident… like crashing a night party and doing something scandalous enough to make it into the newspapers?

 

As I pondered this, Lily urgently spoke up.

 

“Miss, the young ladies over there are looking this way. Please stop shaking your legs…”

 

It would have been better if she had told me a little earlier.

 

“Oh my, who is this? Isn’t it the Redhead Emeline?”

 

At the same time, a gorgeous noble young lady approached me and smiled haughtily.

 

Redhead Emeline.

 

Calling me by my old nickname.

 

“You…”