(I imagine the solution she comes up with may involve making Karhan the heir for real, but the point remains that for them to get married without Ilya sacrificing her own ambitions, he'll have to step down from that role eventually anyway.
It's also possible she won't actually make him any more of an heir than he currently is, but will make sure everyone else BELIEVES he's the heir. Because legally he's already the heir, the fact that the duchess is planning to swap him out for the other son is just hearsay about what *might* happen someday, it has no bearing on Karhan's current position in court or society.)
Yep agree ok and so what if he isn't the "real" heir. He is a official heir right now and no one else knows so whatever. And yeah she did choose him bc he has a higher title then that bastard but she doesn't care for the title much. She can just resolve the engagement faster when he's still the official heir and there would be no problem on her part bc she got what she wanted. And you're right if he isn't a heir it will make their potential marriage easier (once they both admitthey lile each other) the biggest plus would be that shouldn't need to deal with that awful mother in law
She did approach him because of his status in the first place, but it's not crucial to her. Ilya's smart and resourceful, and she has her whole family on her side in this - if she puts her mind to it, she can end this engagement in some other way.
Rather, Karhan not being the heir solves a much bigger problem down the line - their marriage and Ilya's inheritance. She said she wants to be her own family's heir, she wouldn't be able to do that if she has to marry into Karhan's family. If they married, Ilya's family would either be led by her brother, or be absorbed into the ducal family and disappear.
This isn't a problem for her currently because she doesn't plan to actually marry him yet, and nobody else knows she wants to inherit her family and therefore doesn't question their relationship. But we know how these things go - once she realizes she's fallen for him for real, she's probably gonna wanna marry him, and him being the heir would force her to choose between her family and his.