This couldn't be.
Albert wouldn't swap out me for Ivy when Ivy hasn't even gained that much recognition.
Sure, her father was an Earl, but my father was a duke.
Consider it like this: My father was the head judge of the whole country, in which his decision was always the final decision for every huge case.
He had the power to overrule anything, even if it seemed the most unreasonable choice to take.
Though if I were honest, we have to watch our steps more than any other noble.
One mistake and accusations from the vulture nobles come in.
Not that all of them were only greedy and wanted to topple my father over.
Most of the nobles were in line, to give their share to the commoners beneath them, and also to prevent a revolt against them.
Justice was a very important factor in this country, surprisingly.
But there was an exception to my father's power, though.
In the otome game, I'm sure he did everything to prevent Roselyn from being beheaded.
But the appearance of the one and only King stepped in court.
Even thought the King judging the court was very, very, rare, he couldn't ignore it when his own son, the next king, needed it.
Albert had loved Ivy very much, and considered Roselyn as a nuisance.
Usually the King would leave it up to the Duke and nobles below them to judge because personally, my father was a very fair person who considered all elements.
That was why the King had trusted my father so much, knowing that with him as the leader of the court, nobody guilty would go unpunished.
And the people below my father, the marquesses?
The primary judges, but my father's power equaled to more than half of their votes.
And why, the lower Earls had even less power.
Barons and Viscounts almost counted as the commoners when voting, except just had a noble status.
Our territory, wealth, foundation, power, you name it.
My family's were at least double, no triple whatever Ivy's new-appointed-earl-of-a-father's legacy was.
But even when Ivy hadn't done anything particularly amazing or saintess-ish, he decided to replace me anyways?
Oh, most of the nobles were not going to agree, except the faction that was against my father but had never managed to overpower him even banded together.
In this world, marriage was simply a way to connect powers together.
Anybody would want a relationship with a high-ranking noble, and having benefits from both sides.
If my father wanted, I would get an engagement with anybody in a heartbeat.
Who wouldn't want their sons to marry the well-raised, elegant, noble daughter from a high ranking family who had immense wealth and status?
And gain a connection and possibly a bit of the inheritance while they're at it?
But obviously, they paired me up with the idiot prince because of how this rank system works.
Anybody would have done the same with their children, unfortunately.
Which is why I can't blame my father, since he didn't know and only wanted the best for me.
But Ivy, she's only regarded as a kind noble lady, nothing more or less.
While my personality is pretty much unknown and undiscussed but have theories about, the respect (or jealousy) others have for me weighs at least ten times more than the amount they have for Ivy.
That is because of my position, and the power I have following behind me.
So why, just why did Albert already reveal his relationship with Ivy, and in front of me?
Did he not think I could use it?
Oooh, I get it.
He was telling me that I was just a stupid, little noble girl who wouldn't know how to counter on this.
I looked to the side.
Oh, how I couldn't wait to see his defeated face in court.
But his status as a crown prince was a bit tricky to beat, but I could bring his reputation down a few steps........
Its too early for that, though.
I simply didn't have enough evidence in my hands to even start a trial in the court.
I turned to my right side.
"Elijah, you're still here?" I asked as he floated beside me.
"Mmmhm. Do you want something from me?" He asked.
I stared deeply into at him to see any signs of true emotions, but its not like I could really tell.
"Elijah, what exactly is your goal in this world?"
***
"Roselyn, obviously its our contract. If it weren't for your long request, I would have been long gon—"
"Stop with the acting, Elijah. I can't believe you'd consider me this dumb, as the person who went into a contract with a god such as yourself."
Silence surrounded the air between us, and its as if we reflected on each other but in stillness and quietude.
"Well, isn't this the second time you've asked me?" He pouted as the silence broke.
"Yes, and you've avoided it quite well. Do give me the answer I'm looking for this time?"
Once again, silence ran through the room.
"Alright, alright. You're right. But what do you think my motives are? I'd like to hear it from yourself. "
"Well, the first thing that might have made me think was that you only came when I called. At first, I thought it was because of our contract. Then the thought ran through my mind, 'What if you can only come to me when I allow it? What if that contract is what allows it in the first place?'"
"You said you couldn't destroy the scroll that sealed your name away? Anybody could have seen that there was some sort of limit to your actions in this human world."
I smirked, "Its almost like that contract is what allowed you to, in the first place."
"And so I thought, 'What if this contract that removes that limit is the whole reason you made a contract with me in the first place?' It wasn't a bad idea, since we both had something to gain from. The fact that I would receive your help for the whole plot while I only gave you something that measly in return didn't sound right. You didn't sound like the type to care whether we remembered you or not."
I looked at him with a curious glint in my eyes.
"Whenever I call for your name, you come immediately. But you disappear as you wish, don't you? However, I felt like today's experiment proved that right and wrong at the same time. I called you out to ask your motive, but you gave me a simple yet reasonable answer."
I don't feel like Elijah was lying about caring about this world, but there was certainly more to it.
"How exactly did you come back," flashbacks to my crying state came to me, "after I finished discussing with Albert? I don't remember thinking of you a single time, yet you were beside me. You had disappeared until that moment."
This proved that whenever I called him, he had a certain limit of time he could stay until being called again.
According to my calculations, that time had to be at least 20 minutes.
But what did he do with that extra time?
He had to do something, and that something was the exact objective I was trying to find.
"Roselyn, I'll have to admit.........You're too narrowminded."