It Turned Out to be a Useful Fraudulent Marriage – Chapter 7 – 1. Precognitive dream

Author: amourtentia

Philip and I were escorted to the Duke’s luxurious reception room.

“You are becoming more and more beautiful, Emeline. Philip is also getting more handsome. Isn’t this the second time you’ve visited the Duke’s residence? Last time we couldn’t properly tour around, so tell the butler to show you around anywhere this time.” The Duke said kindly to us. He treated us like a good father who wanted to get closer to us.

Philip pretended to be moved and said disgustingly, “Thank you very much. It feels like we’re really becoming family… I’m in tears…”

Tears. What nonsense. Didn’t I tell you to practice your fake tears?

I looked at the side of Philip’s face and muttered to myself.

Talking about family. I had no intention of welcoming a person who enjoys shooting bullet holes into others as a father figure.

While Philip continued his bad acting, Eric didn’t take his eyes off me.

Moreover, the sticky gaze he had been giving me since earlier made it clear that he still harbored resentment towards me for the threat I made to him.

‘Why does it seem like nothing is going according to my plan….’

I felt disheartened because all my plans seemed to have failed miserably.

As we sat on the soft sofa in the splendid reception room, the Duke spoke up.

“Emeline. I have something I want to ask. Why did you hit Vivian?”

Moreover, the Duke had a kind face as he looked at his troubled daughter.

At the Duke’s words, I glanced briefly towards Lily, who was waiting outside. Did Lily not say anything?

Philip quickly spoke on behalf of me who hesitated.

“I know Emeline would never hit someone without a reason. Surely Lady Vivian must have…”

“I’m asking Emeline, Philip.”

The Duke interrupted Philip’s words firmly. At that moment, the Duke’s red eyes glowed dangerously.

While he normally appeared kind and gentle, his gaze turned fierce when he felt his authority was being challenged.

‘He’s showing his true colors.’

I thought like that as I glared at the Duke. He seemed slightly taken aback by my provocative gaze and frowned.

“Emeline?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“I’m asking you, aren’t I? I wish you could tell me why you did that.”

I bit my lip.

The Duke and Philip might have thought I was flustered due to being in a difficult situation, but I wasn’t.

I was trying to figure out what to say to make the situation even more chaotic.

When I finally looked up, I met Eric’s gaze. I flinched. It was because Eric’s eyes looked somewhat anxious.

‘Anxious…?’

Anxious. Considering how he had threatened my life just the other day, “anxious” was a word that didn’t quite fit with Eric.

I turned away from Eric. Duke Orleans spoke. “Fine. If you don’t want to speak, you don’t have to. But you must apologize to Lady Vivian. Tomorrow, I will arrange a suitable setting for both of you to resolve any misunderstandings.”

“I don’t want to.”

I said firmly.

Philip pinched my thigh in response to my words. Ouch. What a troublesome older brother.

I endured the pain and glared straight at Duke Orleans.

“You asked me why I did that, right? From my perspective, Vivian didn’t need those hairs anyway. She already has her head as a decoration.”

The reception room instantly froze at my words.

The maids who were preparing the tea set exchanged shocked glances upon hearing my words. It was a look that said, ‘Can you believe such a crazy person exists?’

“Ha.”

Eric Orleans snorted as if he was dumbfounded.

Our eyes met in the air.

Eric looked at me like an adventurer who had just discovered a mythical creature. Those eyes meant something like this, ‘So, there’s someone like you who threatened people the other day and beat people up for fun after that living under the same sky as me.’

Now, what I said will be talked about in the Dukedom for a while. Along with unfounded rumors about how I must have received a terrible upbringing growing up. Even if I hadn’t done this, there might already be a rumor that was going around.

I observed Duke Orleans’ face distorted slightly.

It must be difficult. If you want to acquire coastal lands, you have to marry my mother, and I’m ruining my own reputation.

Just give up now. On marrying my mother, I mean.

You psycho bastard.

Duke Orleans’ gaze turned cold. He looked as if he were about to slap me in the face at any moment.

It was then. Eric stood up as if he was going to say something. But Philip moved first. He quickly got up from the sofa and knelt in front of the Duke.

“Your Grace! I have something to say.”

“Philip…?”

What are you doing, you bastard? Get up.

I glared at Duke Orleans and poked Philip’s side.

It was a golden chance to see Duke Orleans’ true nature and possibly break off the engagement, damn it!

But Philip, whether he knew my intentions or not, suddenly said this. “The truth is, my sister has been hurt by Lady Vivian for a long time. Here! This is the proof!”

Philip pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

I saw written words on the piece of paper that Philip held out.

Both of you and your mother, who has been married four times, go and die.

It was written in red ink.

I realized it as soon as I saw it.

Oh, that’s one of Vivian Cavendish’s old notes…

… and it looks fake.

Of course it was.

I didn’t bring anything properly with me when I came from the South to the Capital, let alone such a note. It was just a crude forgery, similar enough in handwriting and content to one of Vivian Cavendish‘s notes to be convincing.

I realized Philip’s plan and frowned.

‘If you come out like this, all my plans….’

Is that plan a fake letter?

‘Ugh! How can there be a family who’s doing a crime daily, every single day!’

Duke Orleans picked up the letter. As the Duke read the letter, Philip spoke.

“Lady Vivian and Emeline were taking etiquette classes together in the South. But during those classes, Vivian would harass Emeline every day.… Sniff… It was really painful. It affected our entire family. That’s why we quickly moved away from the South…”

The reason you moved out from the South is because you tried to seduce a wealthy commoner’s daughter and failed! And you were caught cheating with her friend! Then you ended up in debt to a loan shark and suffered for a while!

I gritted my teeth.

Meanwhile, the Duke put down the letter. Eric picked it up. Eric’s expression changed subtly. But I had no energy to care about Eric’s changing expression.

“I really didn’t want to say something like this out of pride… but even I, if I had encountered Lady Vivian in the dressing room, wouldn’t have been able to endure the memories that came flooding back… This poor brother understands his sister’s actions… Sob… Sob…”

Philip’s terrible tearful performance continued.

I wanted to say that the letter was all fake. Vivian is a bad person, but she’s not the kind of bad person who writes something like that! But if I said that, it wouldn’t be just the engagement that’s in jeopardy; it would be Philip’s safety.

Moreover, on the surface, Duke Orleans seemed to be falling for Philip’s tears. There seemed to be an indescribable sympathy in Duke Orleans’ eyes.

However, I knew. The Duke is just happy that his marriage to my mother wasn’t breaking off.

“My goodness, Emeline. I can’t believe such a thing happened. It’s you who should receive an apology, not Lady Vivian. I’ll contact Marquess Cavendish and make sure she apologizes.”

Ugh, seriously.

I made eye contact with Philip, who was looking at me while wiping away tears at the Duke’s words.

Philip said this to me with his mouth.

‘Are you grateful to me?’

I responded with my lips by unleashing a string of curses.

✵ ✵ ✵

I put in all my efforts to prevent the Duke from sending a formal complaint to Marquess Cavendish.

The reason for stopping the complaint was not because I suddenly felt generous to Vivian.

Marquess Cavendish was well aware of the situation in the South. The Marquess probably suspected that the coastal land, known to be ours, was scattered with various overlapping ownerships.

So, if the truth about the coastal land were to come to light just from the communication between the two families…

Bang!

Without time to escape or seize opportunities, we would once again become pawns in someone else’s game.

The Duke, who postponed sending the complaint, suggested taking a walk together in the vast hunting grounds to comfort Philip and me.

However, I wasn’t in the mood for a walk, so I made an excuse of feeling unwell and decided to explore the mansion alone, while Philip went for a walk with the Duke.

Philip put on a glum expression and spoke charmingly to the Duke with his red eyes. It was such a clumsy display of affection from a burly man. I genuinely starting to feel sick.

Meanwhile, Eric approached me as if he had something to say, but I dismissed him with a low voice that wouldn’t be heard around.

“Let’s talk about our deal later, okay?“

If you want to complain about being threatened, do it later… I’m feeling dizzy right now because of Philip’s bad acting!

“No, what I wanted to say is not that…”

“Yes, yes… whatever you say.”

I answered roughly and started looking around the mansion following the butler’s guidance. Eric quietly stared at my back for a moment and didn’t follow. Instead, only his voice reached me.

“I received an urgent letter that needs a response, so I’ll go back to the mansion first, Father.”

The butler introduced me to the vast interior of the Duke’s residence. About how expensive is this statue, how ancient is that candlestick, and what story that chandelier has.

As I listened to the typical remarks a well-educated butler would give to his guests, I was absorbed in only one thought.

‘A huge mess that will break off this marriage. What could it be?’

While I was lost in those thoughts, the butler left for a moment.

I began to explore the Duke’s residence alone.

This is the familiar structure of the mansion I had seen in my dreams.

After the butler disappeared and I looked around, suddenly the statues, candlesticks, and chandeliers came into focus.

‘Right, I died there…’

The firmly closed door to the Duke’s office on the second floor also came to mind.

A week after my mother’s wedding, I went to the Duke’s office with documents Mother had given me and died there.

Come to think of it, those documents…

Where on earth did Mom get those documents? The documents were filled with numerous evidence regarding the Duke’s evil deeds.

A place where such important information might be found. It must be…

My feet were faster than my thoughts. I looked at the stairs leading to the second floor.

‘The Duke’s office!’

Yeah. No need for a huge mess. Just the Duke’s documents.

Before the butler returned, I hurriedly descended the stairs.

No one was in the second floor corridor for some reason.

I quickly opened the ajar door to the Duke’s office and slipped inside.

If I could expose the Duke’s plans to the royal family with those documents, we would be free!

Family? What family? Our family is only the three of us!

I looked around the Duke’s office, which was filled with books.

Before the mansion’s attendants arrived, I needed to find a place where confidential documents could be hidden.

I started by checking the fireplace. Next were the picture frames, and then under the desk.

For such secretive documents to be hidden, the hiding place also had to be discreet. A place that is not noticeable n on the surface.

Whenever I thought I heard footsteps in the corridor, I held my breath and hunched my shoulders.

It was when I heard the footsteps of a maid passing by the door three times. The bookshelf that filled one wall caught my eye.

‘That…’

The bookshelf and wall seemed shorter than the reception room across from it.

That means… there’s space behind that bookshelf.

My biological father liked to create secret spaces like that, so I knew.

I reached out to the bookshelf and pushed it without hesitation.

Grumble.

The bookshelf opened easily but stopped abruptly at one point with a clunk. I pushed harder.

“Ugh…!”

Even though sweat started to form on my forehead, the bookshelf wouldn’t budge. It seemed to have opened about a hand’s width, but it wouldn’t move anymore!

At that time, a voice was heard from the hallway.

“Lady Emeline? Lady Emeline has disappeared! Where has she gone?”

It was the butler.

Damn it. He noticed that I had disappeared. What should I do? Should I pretend to be lost and go outside now?

As I was thinking that–

“What is this? Why is the office door open? Hey. Take care of the study door…”

Swoosh.

The bookshelf, which didn’t budge no matter how hard I pushed, moved on its own. Then, a face appeared from the space.

Jet-black hair. Snow-white skin. Sharp red eyes like a jaguar.

I froze in place as our eyes met.

Eric Orleans was right there.

He glared at me and muttered.