Hopefully this plan would work.

Duke Eden, he is one of the most powerful man in the empire. The power was a shock to many because he took over the Eden dutchy from an extremely young age.

He had been a business rival of Zeke’s family and had really wanted their downfall. Making him an excellent candidate to form an alliance with.

After that came the most difficult step: getting an audience with the duke, specifically without gaining the attention of anyone else in this household.

I was about to call for Lea to prepare a carriage for me when I heard the cause of my suffering in the past.

“Sister!” I heard her shouting for me before turning around and seeing Marie entering my room.

After what she had done to me in the past, I no longer cared about maintaining a good relationship with her. “I had asked to not be disturbed, so what brings you here?” I said with annoyance in my tone.

“Sister! Why are you suddenly being so mean to me?”

“I’m busy and you’re in my way. Leave if you don’t have anything important to say.”

“Sister! I just wanted to spend some time with you! You don’t have to turn me away like this!” She whined, tears starting to form in her eyes.

I sighed as she ran away, wondering how I didn’t see through her acting sooner.

“Lea!” I shouted, “Prepare me a carriage to town, quickly.”

I knew I’d have to act quickly now that Marie had started getting in my way. She wouldn’t say it directly, but I knew she’d be going to father and play the pitiful mistreated child act, meaning I’d have to hurry up and leave before she did.

“Young Miss, I’ve got the carriage ready–but why are you in such a hurry?”

“Nothing too important, Lea, let’s go quickly,” I told her, grabbing my money and a cloak over what I was currently wearing.

I made my way to the carriage with Lea and once we got to town, I head over, dragging Lea along with me and quickly blend into the crowd. I had to get away from anyone in the Lassen household.

I headed over to get a carriage to take me to the Eden Dutchy. I was quite nervous–it’s rude to show up somewhere uninvited, especially the Eden Dutchy where nobody even knew who I was–but I had limited time and had to convince the duke to work with me.

“My Lady, what are you doing going to the Eden Dutchy without even sending a word in advance?!”

“You shouldn’t worry about it too much Lea, I have everything under control.”

That was clearly a lie; I had no idea what I was doing, and I didn’t really want to think about what would happen If I couldn’t convince the duke to sign a contract with me.

“Your Grace, I was just informed that the eldest Lady Lassen has arrived,” the butler carefully walked into the duke’s study.

“Why would Count Lassen’s daughter come all the way here?”

“I’m not sure, Your Grace, but she said she had a proposition for Your Grace and wouldn’t leave until you’d hear her out.”

Sighing, the Duke gets up from his desk, making his way down to the drawing room.

“Well then, I should see Lady Lassen so she can hurry up and leave, and I can get back to my work.”

I never thought waiting could be this stressful, I almost jumped when the doors to the drawing room suddenly opened.

“Greetings, Lady Lassen, what is the reason for your visit?”

“Greetings, Your Grace, I apologize for the sudden visit, but I wanted to discuss a proposal i have with you.”

After lifting my head and making eye contact with the duke I was quite surprised, I knew from my past life that he had been considered one of the top bachelor’s in the empire, with almost every noble lady trying to get his attention. I had gotten a glimpse of him in the past but now that I had gotten a good look at him, he’s definitely as attractive as people made him out to be.

“What proposal do you have then?”

I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the duke’s sudden questions, as he heads over to take a seat.

“let’s hear this proposal of yours then, lady Lassen, I don’t have much time, so I’d prefer for you to hurry it up.”

Taking a deep breath Estelle pulls out the documents she had put together prior to her departure and sets them down on the table.

“I’d like for you to sign a marriage contract with me.” Estelle states, with no humor in her tone.

“Pfft, is that a joke, Lady Lassen, besides aren’t you already engaged, if you’re done humoring me, I’ll take my leave now.”

Cassian starts getting up when Estelle stops him. “Wait!”

“I’m not finished!”

Cassian turns to look at her “I don’t have time for these jokes Lady Estelle, I do have a dutchy to manage.”

“I think you’ve mistaken my intentions; I know that you are currently competing with the Viscount on a business front, I have some business ideas that can help you.

I also know that you have no interest in getting married.”

“And what are you suggesting with that.?”

“I personally have no desire to get married either, of course my engagement was planned my parents so I can’t just cancel it, which is why I proposed an engagement, it’ll be strictly by contract, for at least 2 years, it’ll help you get rid of all the marriage proposals you keep getting, and I’ll help you take down your business rivals. On the other hand, you help get out of an unwanted marriage. I think you benefit from this contract the most, Your Grace.”

Estelle explains her proposal confidently while handing Cassian the paperwork she had prepared. As Cassian looks through the documents, she feels as though she lost several years of her life from all the stress.

“Lady Lassen, how are you so sure that your business proposals will help me. You have been engaged to the young viscount from a young age, how do I know that these won’t cause me to go bankrupt instead.”

Since Estelle had gone to the Eden Dutchy on a whim, she had not prepared for such a question, she couldn’t just tell the duke that this was her second life and that these were some of the top industries in her past.

“I apologize your Grace, but I don’t have any way of proving that these will bring you profit, I do know that they will, for a fact work, if your Grace chooses to trust me, I can surely prove my worth.”

Still a bit skeptical, Cassian decides to take to documents, “Very Well Lady Lassen, I shall think through your proposal and visit you to discuss the details further if I accept.”

“Thank You Your Grace!” Estelle if filled with relief, hoping he’d accept.

After meeting with Duke Eden, Lea and I headed back to the carriage, Once Lea and I stepped into the carriage I was able to finally relax and sigh with relief, I never thought meeting with the duke of Eden could be so stressful.

My relief didn’t last too long however because I realized I’d soon have to deal with Marie and my father once I got home, but I wasn’t going to put up with them like I did in my past life.

“Young Miss, I’m quite worried about you, why would you all of the sudden request a meeting with the Duke of Eden, I don’t believe you’ve ever even met before.”

“Don’t worry too much Lea, I’ll tell you when the time comes but for now you just have to listen to what I tell you.”

Estelle got out of the carriage, her silver hair almost sparkling under the sunlight as she headed inside, as soon as she walked in, just as predicted, Count Lassen and Marie were waiting there for her “Estelle, why would you upset your sister like this like this?” His voice was stern, you could practically see the veins in his neck.

“Father! I myself do not know why sister started crying! I simply asked her to leave because I wasn’t feeling well and she suddenly ran out in tears, maybe she’s not feeling well either!” Estelle began acting pitiful.

“Ah… well then…. I’ll let you go rest and Marie, why don’t I get a doctor for you…”

“Yes father, I’ll go do that now, thank you.”

As I left, I smirked at Marie’s shocked expression and headed off to my room to wait for a response from the Duke of Eden.

It was lucky for me that the Duke of Eden was an efficient person, I didn’t have to wait too long for a reply, although, I was expecting a letter, not a personal visit from the duke himself

Many people in the Lassen mansion were captivated by his dazzling appearance, his silky black hair which was darker than the night complemented by his lavender eyes. He rarely made public appearances, so few people knew what he actually looked like.

I saw Marie starring at him along with the other maids. I couldn’t blame them, if I was in their position, I would’ve probably been starring too.

However, I had seen him before in my past life, he was one of the few people who didn’t believe I had attempted to poison my sister, another reason why I decided to ask the duke of Eden to be my contracted lover.

I joined the duke in the drawing room as he dismissed my father. “So, I assume you’ve made you decision?”

“Yes, I’ve decided I’ll accept, it”

“You were quite hesitant at first, what changed your mind?”

There was a drawn-out silence between the two.

“Is it something I shouldn’t know?”

“Well… yesterday alone, I got around 18 letters from young noble ladies confessing their love to be and asking for my hand in marriage…” He says looking away with a hollow expression.

It took almost everything to keep myself from bursting out laughing, I never thought he’d accept my offer for such a silly reason

“Well then, let’s sign the contract.” He says while pulling out the papers I left with him last time.

After both of us signed the contracts, I left so I could let the duke discuss our engagement with my father, and have him annul my previous one.

To my relief, everything went smoothly, maybe it’s due to the vast power and wealth the duke has.

“I look forward to seeing you again Lady Estelle.”

“As do I, Lord Cassian”

And with that, the duke of Eden had left our estate, and from there, marked the beginning of my revenge.