I ran towards him, calling his name.

"Oscar! Wait!"

He pretended not to hear me and walked faster to avoid me. When suddenly he stopped walking, causing me to run into him. At that moment I was about to argue with him but he turned around and looked at me.

"From your insistence on talking to me you must have something important to tell me," he said and I was briefly pleased, "You have two minutes to say what you want."

I looked at him, confused and speechless. What did he mean by "I have two minutes"? Did he want to hear what I had to say? It was the first time we had ever spoken and when I was sick he seemed to be worried about me. Then why was he like that? 

Oscar turned to one of the knights and asked him to start counting down until the two minutes were up.

I can't think under pressure!

I began to get nervous. I had to respond quickly but I couldn't find the words to say. 

"I wanted to tell you to claim succession" I finally said out loud.

Apparently, I got his attention with that sentence because it made sense to the knight to stop counting down. Then he told them all they could go and took me by the hand.

We reached the back entrance of the house when he stopped and let go of my hand.

"Explain, what do you mean?" He looked at me curiously, crossing his arms.

Okay, fine! Now I have his attention! I'm sure I'll be able to convince him.

"How many minutes do I have for this explanation?"

"Just explain what you said before!"

"Father said I should succeed him, but I don't want to. I need your help to convince him to name you as his successor."

"Why? You are the firstborn and the eldest, it is only natural that you should be the heir."

This was the second time I had heard this and I couldn't believe I had stumbled into the only world where a woman could succeed her father's title.

I tried to explain to him that I didn't feel capable enough to take such a responsibility but in the end I couldn't convince him.

"I have no reason to help you. Even if I wanted to be Duke, the final decision is Father's and he wants you to be his successor. Don't worry, you'll do fine."

He left me and went into the house. After a while I went in too. 

Walking through the corridors I was thinking. The truth is, I didn't expect him to refuse me. 

I thought he would be happy to help me if I talked to him honestly about what I wanted and told him why doing this was in his best interest. I thought he wasn't talking to me because he wanted him to be the heir apparent. But I'm not going to give up, I still have five more days. I'm not going to give up so easily.

The next morning, I tried to talk to him again after breakfast. I stopped him in the hallway but, before I could say anything, he said "No" and left. 

The next day, the same thing happened. When I approached him he walked past me saying, 

"No matter how many times you ask me, my answer will be no."

The day after that, I approached him in the library as he was reading a history book. But still I accomplished nothing but to be rejected once again.

The three days had already passed and I was nervous that I wouldn't make it. By morning I was tired and didn't want to get up but I had to keep trying.

"I still have two more days until the teacher comes but I still haven't convinced Oscar to help me," I said to Mary as I got ready for breakfast.

"If you want my opinion, Lady Alina, I would suggest you accept the Duke's offer," she said.

"You don't understand, Mary. It was not a proposal but an order. I have no say in it."

I sighed and left the room. The dinner-room was on the lower floor and by the time I got to the steps I had to walk down the corridor which was quite long.

At the same time, Oscar was coming out of his room so I took the opportunity to talk to him.

"Oscar, wait! I want to tell you something."

"If you're going to make the same suggestion again, I'd better go."

He was about to leave but I quickly caught up and held him. He turned around and looked at me, confused. 

"Why are you doing all this? You can just accept it. Why are you trying to convince me to help you?" He said to me in a serious tone.

I lowered my gaze and let go of the hand I was holding. I couldn't answer. What was I supposed to say to him? I couldn't tell him that I wasn't his sister or anything about my past life.

"But I've already told you that-"

"I know you're nervous," Oscar interrupted me, changing his tone, "but both Father and I believe in you. We know you'll make it. Stop putting yourself down by saying you're not qualified and that you're falling short. You need to get your old confidence back."

I stared at the floor, speechless. This was the first time someone had ever said words of encouragement to me. Oscar may have sounded angry, but I could tell he was saying it with love.

I didn't respond to that and the two of us went down to breakfast. By the time we got to the dining room I couldn't stop thinking about Oscar's words.