I called to a maid and found out Rebecca was currently in our bedroom. She did not know many places in the mansion yet, so she must have went there hoping I would leave her alone for a while.
'Sorry Rebecca', but this talk needs to happen today or the rift between us might be unrepairable.
I stood in front of the door to our room. I took a moment to take a deep breath and calm my heart. On the way here, I had gone over the things I would tell her in my head multiple times.
If she answered all my questions the way I think she will, then it should be safe to reveal the truth to her. But no matter how much the risk was minimized, it would still be a leap of faith. How would she react to my revelation? There was no way to be certain. However, I knew she was strong-willed. I am choosing to place my trust in this person.
I tapped my chest with my fist to steel my resolve and entered the room.
Rebecca was sitting on a sofa. There was a plate of half eaten food in front of her. She must have been hungry after her long session of studying.
I sat down on the sofa across from her. Her head was lowered so I could only see her hair. The moment I enter, she started to tremble in fear. She must think I am going to punish her for the outburst earlier.
"Rebecca look at me." I said in a gentle voice.
When she raised her head, I could see how red her eyes were from crying before I got here.
I reassured her, "I am not mad at the you. I actually agree with everything that you said earlier. However, right now we need to have a serious conversation. I need you to answer all my questions honestly. Even if you think your answers will get you into trouble, it is of utmost importance that you answer truthfully. If you can promise me that, I promise to not punish you for any of your answers as well as for what you said to me earlier. Will you agree to that?"
Rebecca was obviously skeptical, but she answered "yes, I promise to only tell you the truth from now on.
I nodded my head, "ok, let's begin. Answer my questions with a simple yes or no."
I leaned forward with my arms on my knees and spoke in a serious tone,
"Is your biggest dream in the world to become a Royal mage?"
"Yes."
"Do you hate the man that you have been engaged to for 12 years?"
"Yes."
"Would you care if he was killed?"
"No."
"Do you hate the current society that says wife must submit to their husbands?
"Yes."
"Do you wish there was a way that you could change this society for the better?
"Yes."
"Do you feel that you have no ally in this world?"
"Yes."
"Okay that is all of my questions."
She had answered all the questions how I hoped she would. I believed I could tell her the truth because: I could give her the thing she always wanted, she did not care if anything happened to the original Duke, and she wanted to change this society. With these three factors, I don't see any reason why she would betray me or this Duchy.
Now was time for the moment of truth.
I looked Rebecca straight in the eyes.
"Rebecca, what I am about to say to you might sound crazy, but it is absolutely the truth. I also want you to know that I am not an evil person and that none of what about I am about to tell you is something that I chose or wanted."
Rebecca was cautious due to my preface, "just get on with it."
I stated in a serious tone, "I am not Duke Nicolas Harrison. I am not from this world at all. On our wedding ceremony, at the moment where I was supposed to kiss you, I was waiting for a vehicle in my original world. Out of nowhere, a black magic circle appeared under me and the next thing I knew, my consciousness was in this body. I have no idea what happened to the original Duke's consciousness, but he is definitely not in this body anymore.
I want to reiterate that none of this was my choice. I didn't want to take over the body of the original Duke. I didn't even know that this world existed a little over 2 days ago. Some outside force did this to me. Now I am stuck here in a strange new world with no one to rely on."
Rebecca was annoyed because she thought I was joking. "What are you talking about? There is no way I would believe such a fantasy!"
"Rebecca, you are the first person I am telling this to. I am trying to keep it a secret because I may be executed if they think I did this on purpose to kill the Duke. Also, enemy territories could take advantage of my lack of knowledge in this world to try to conquer this Duchy. The only person that knows that something is wrong with me is James because after the wedding ceremony, I told him that I had lost my memories.
That way he could help me learn about this world and the Duke's original life without me revealing the real truth of why I don't remember anything that happened to this body before 2 days ago."
To be honest, I was thinking about revealing the truth to James when we shared an emotional moment earlier today, but I am still cautious because I know that I am not the person he pledged his lifetime loyalty to. The original Duke is the one that saved his life, not me.
Rebecca stammered… "it is just so outlandish. Magic using magic circles have not been used in this Kingdom for 300 years."
My eyes lit up. "So there used to be magic with magic circles in this world? In my world, there was actually no magic at all. Someone from this world must have used some ancient magic to switch my and the Duke's bodies. We actually have the same name so I wonder if that is part of it."
That reminded me. "Rebecca please call me Nick from now on. That is what everyone in my world would call me. We were not very strict with formalities. Think of the me now as Nick and the man that you were engaged to Nicolas.
Rebecca was holding her head. "This is too much for me to accept!"
I expected this much but I was not sure how to 100% prove I was from another world and not the original Duke. I believed the best way to convince her was to go with an emotional appeal.