I had no idea where he could have gotten that marriage contract. Having gotten back in time, I didn't sign it yet. There was no way he was a traveler as well was there? No! Fate would have told me. The silhouet knew everything. Why would they have stayed silent about this? Maybe it wasn't the same papers. Maybe he was just lying. I had to see it again to make sure.
"May I see that paper?
-Don't worry, I will put it in a safe place as long as the ceremony isn't done."
That was exactly what I was worried about!
"I just want to check something quickly.
-I worry that they would get dirty from the food.
-I won't let them get ruined."
Seeing Payne pinch his lips made me smile:
"Oh, it seems you don't trust me. How could you trust the enemy after all?
-I told you that I didn't care about such things.
-Then show me the papers.
-Aren't you going to eat more?
-Show me the papers.
-I will gladly show them to you in my study after you finish eating.
-I lost my appetite."
Payne sighed before getting up:
"Follow me."
We walked to his study and I immediately noticed something new on his desk:
"What is that?"
Payne looked at the shinning box:
"It's a magic box that only I can open."
He took the contract out of his coat and placed it inside the box. The translucent material let his arm pass but when I got closer, the box's color changed and the surface became solid. What the hell was this thing? Was that what he had put the contract in the last time? I wouldn't have been able to take it even if I had wanted to.
Payne stepped away to let me look at the papers. What I saw made my blood freeze. There was no way... This was impossible.
"What kind of contract is this?
-As agreed, you will get everything I own as long as you stay by my side and marry me.
-Where did you get that paper?
-You signed it.
-I didn't!
-Isn't that your handwriting?
-Yes but..."
This was going in circles. I had to ask the silhouet quickly. I had to talk to them. How did Payne put his hands on this document? Did he really think I signed it? Was that why he looked so sad when I said I didn't want to marry him? So many things had changed, in this new timeline, did I sign it before I came back? I had to know. Seeing me step away made Payne ask:
"Mister Zeidan?
-I need time to think about this.
-What is there to think about?
-Aren't you phased even a little bit? How could you be so calm? This contract means that you won't have anything!
-I will have you.
-Who cares? You will lose everything!
-I told you, I am in love with you."
I grabbed my hair with force:
"You are crazy..."
I had to breathe a few times to calm down:
"Let's just pretend it never existed. Let's just rip it apart.
-I can't do that.
-Why not?
-This is good. I want to marry you and you will have money.
-I don't want your money!
-Then I could give you anything else. You can trust me."
Trust him? I laughed out loud. I couldn't have held it back even if I wanted to. I laughed so much that I started coughing. Payne immediately rubbed my back but I pushed him away:
"I'm fine."
I didn't want to lose any more time with him and walked towards the door. Payne let me go and I rushed to my room. As soon as I closed the door, I started looking for the silhouet:
"Silhouet! Where are you? I have to tell you something! Come out."
I had called the silhouet in the past when Rubia turned out to be a huge snake. According to what the silhouet had told me, Rubia was supposed to be a sweet and caring woman. I was more than happy to give her my place. Once I saw what the Dukedom was like, I couldn't wait for her to come. At first everything was fine but I soon realized that she was all pretend. I immediately called the silhouet and they had come. So why weren't they coming now?
"Silhouet? Fate? Whatever your name is? Where are you?"
I walked around the room, worried:
"Why aren't you coming? I need your help."
I spent five long minutes talking alone and it was all for nothing. The silhouet never showed up and I had no other option than to wait. Maybe they were very busy. If they had seen what I did, they must have probably rushed to find an explanation. Everything was going to be fine. I just had to wait a bit.
Of course I couldn't sleep a wink and once sure that everyone must have gone to bed, I snuck out of my room and tiptoed to the Duke's study. The shining box was still in the middle of the table and I walked closer. There was no mistaking it. This really was the contract that Payne had made me sign in the past. Was this the reason why I came back? Was this what made everything go south?
The events changed a lot compared to what fate had told me. Rubia wasn't even that important. I helped her with her lie so she would have been fine. Everything really got messed up when I signed these papers. Maybe this was the last straw before time rewinded. Being at the origin, the papers stayed here and the Duke found them. He would of course be surprised and he would come down to the Marquis to check for himself. There he saw how my family treated me and he started developing feelings for me. Or most probably he was pretending to see what more he could learn about these papers. He must have been just as surprised as me. He didn't trust me yet so he couldn't just tell me that these showed up in his study one day.
That must have been it! I felt like a genius and was disappointed that the silhouet couldn't see me. I really needed to tell Adaranth about everything as soon as possible. I hadn't had the occasion before because of everything that had happened but I trusted him and I wanted to know what he thought.
I knew that it would be impossible but I still tried taking the papers out. The box turned red and my hands couldn't penetrate inside. I did try three other times just to be sure. I was so amazed by fate that I couldn't even be mad at that point. Who cared about these papers? I wasn't going to marry the Duke anyway. The Church would delay the wedding and this time around I would be better at hiding Rubia's true self.
Who would have thought that fate was so strong? If something too unexpected happened, it just went back. I continued staring at the papers for some more before realizing how exhausted I really was. That must have explained my sudden optimism. I decided that it was more than time and I crawled back to my room silently. Of course Adaranth was waiting for me right in front of my door, worried as usual:
"You can't sleep?
-I just went for a little walk."
Adaranth frowned and I could hear his thoughts from where I was standing:
"It's not like that. Don't worry, I am fine. I just wanted to look around the mansion."
Of course he didn't believe me.
"Next time you could wake me up. I would gladly keep you company.
-I don't think you would have been so excited about going to the Duke's study."
His eyes turned round:
"His study? What did you do?
-Nothing. I told you, I was just looking around.
-Mister...
-Don't worry. I will tell you about everything in detail tomorrow. But for now I really am tired. Good night!
-Good night..."