I stopped the surprise from showing on my face, keeping the same stone-cold expression that I had developed over the years. I had long learned how to control my features as not to give away information to an enemy, but I had never thought that I would have to use it for something like this.

Clarissa continued on, but she looked like she was losing confidence seeing as my face didn't change one bit. However, with a look of desperation in her eyes, she advanced on.

"It may seem strange and abrupt, but I believe that we can both benefit from this agreement. I need someone to protect me in the capital and become my backer. You also need someone to marry that could be a deterrent to others. Aren't the people who are still loyal to your parents stopping you from gaining full control of your territory under the excuse that you haven't taken the proper steps to ensure the Ashford bloodline continues? I could help with that, and they couldn't easily dismiss me as I am part of the Royal family."

That was a fair argument, but it was also very suspect. For clarification, I was born from the union of the former duke and his first wife. After her death, he had immediately taken in the woman he was cheating on my mother with and cut of all support for me beyond the basic necessities. 

Then he had signed me up for the military under the excuse that his ailing body could not go to war, and he wanted his son to fulfill their obligations to the country. He was obviously hoping that I would die in a ditch somewhere, but how would he know that I was a reborn person?

Just like in the duke's mansion, I had continued to excel despite my lack of experience. I innovated tech from my world and used some of the plans that I learned in history class. With this, and the fact that my character was a cheat, I had accumulated merit and was able to advance in the ranks, moving from the West border army to taking control of the East border army.

I had also cultivated people to assassinate my parents. Of course, I did this when the hell portal appeared and the demons invaded, so that even if someone saw through my flawless plan and reported me, they couldn't afford to get rid of me under the threat of the invasion. 

This was what was suspect in her argument, as someone like her should not have known that the previous duke couple hated me. After all, they had been in the political field for such a long time, they had obviously hidden their abuses well and kept up their reputation as indulging parents. Even though the Eslinger family probably knew the true situation, as they are the ruling family and had eyes everywhere, Clarissa, who had no support in the family, should not be privy to those details.

So, either she had more support than I had known about, or she was a special character just like me. Although, the previous answer would make the most sense, the fact that she showed such desperation and went for something as cliche as a marriage contract suggested the second option.

Thus, I concluded that Clarissa had abilities just like me. Though, unlike me who had those abilities since birth, she had only just experienced them, and they had driven her to make such a drastic decision.

Clarissa Eslinger was probably a regressor, or at least a seer of some kind, if my knowledge of romance novels were anything to go by. Someone had probably managed to make the same agreement with me in the future, and she wanted to do the same as to avoid the tragic fate awaiting her.

But, instead of jumping to conclusions, I had decided to test her.

"If you put it in such a way, how could I refuse? But what are the terms surrounding such a contract? As the last remaining Ashford, I need to produce offspring for the sake of my family's future. Are you willing to commit to that despite the temporary nature of a contract?"

Clarissa seemed elated that I seemed interested in her arrangement but seemed to have calmed herself down. I hoped that she realized soon that she had a tendency to show her emotions on her face, as people could easily exploit that.

"I am willing to add a condition that if I don't give birth to a child in the next five years of the contract's signing, then the agreement is made void. That is a concession I am willing to make. Now, are you willing to make such a deal with me?" Clarissa questioned with a serious voice, though the shade of red the tip of ears changed too proved that she was heavily embarrassed by her words.

Hook, line and sinker. I could now confirm that she was a regressor/seer. My innocent seeming question had revealed her most strictly kept secret.

The dragon bloodline of the Ashford family would appear sporadically in the family, giving the house a genius every few generations. The one born in this one was me, and one of the reasons my father wanted to kill me was because he was jealous of my bloodline. However, such things do come with drawbacks.

Such as the fact that while people in this era were much more fertile, those with dragon bloodline had a hard time getting their partners pregnant. It could take years for a child to be born from such a union, while a woman in a normal marriage could get pregnant in a matter of months. So, it was strange that Clarisse would extend the date to five years, despite the fact that she would get pregnant in a maximum of two years. Unless, of course, you brought the dragon bloodline into the equation.

The fact that I had such a bloodline, of course, was something I hid as a trump card and haven't revealed yet. The only way she could have known about that was if I had revealed it somewhere in the future.

I calmly scaled the benefits of the agreement with the losses. Although I would offend most of the royal candidates by supporting her, they wouldn't actually care much since she was a woman and not a candidate. Meanwhile, her future knowledge could prove valuable along with her pedigree.

Now that I had time to think, I had soon come to a decision. Looking into the nervous eyes of Clarissa, I told her my answer to the deal that she had proposed.

"No."