Chapter 3

The marriage was decided!

It was exactly one day after the arrival of Grand Duke Benvito that the duke and the eldest daughter of Marquis Chartus, Asella, were in an engagement.

The quick decision wasn’t out of her family’s consideration for her. Instead, it was to preserve the family dignity and establish a prestigious rank.

Asella had been summoned early in the morning by her stepfather, Philip. She reached his office only to be informed of her marriage without prior notice.

She roughly clutched the hem of her skirt in order to gather up the courage to look Philip directly in the eye. She barely managed to control her trembling and finally opened her mouth.

“But… I’m not ready to get ma–”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

She spoke with a faint and desperate voice.

“Perhaps… we could look into other suitors…”

But Philip interrupted her harshly.

“The only proposal you received came from the Benvito family.”

“….”

When she lost the right as the direct heir to her family and was pushed down in the line of succession, the only path left for her was to be used in a political marriage.

Sons and daughters of noble families who come of age were to be promised to marry once they found a suitable family. She knew it wouldn’t be any different for her.

But she didn’t think it would turn out this way.

There were plenty of families who wanted Asella when she was the direct heir to the Chartus family. Until Anthony, whom her stepfather adopted as his son, came. He had yet to inherit the family formally or marry.

Despite the dishonourable words that followed her name, Asella was still the first-born daughter to Adele, the former Marchioness of Chartus.

It had been a few years, but the nobles still questioned the reason causing Asella to lose her status as the direct heir to the Chartus family.

In addition to that, opinions were divided regarding Anthony, who was distant blood of the family, and whether he could become the successor of the family. And due to that, the position of the family heir was still unfilled.

And although they weren’t yet ten years old, the Chartus family had another child, Mariel Chartus.

Philip, who went out of his way to adopt Anthony, was filled with rage every time he heard such rumours regarding Anthony. Because of this, he would always vent his anger on Asella by shouting and throwing random objects at her.

But at that time, the young Asella couldn’t escape and had to endure her stepfather abusing her with brutal violence.

Since she had no power or backing, there was no one to help her.

When Philip gained status, the servants would hide themselves in places where his gaze wouldn’t reach them, and some of them even participated in the violent behaviour toward Asella.

Philip’s harassment was brutally persistent. His abusive language and violence continued for a whopping seven years, during which Asella lost her natural brightness and liveliness.

Her blue eyes, which had shone brighter than anyone else’s, somehow became full of desperation. The once freely-spirited child, who wandered all over the mansion, grew up to become a quiet and docile lady according to Philip’s will.

It all began with the death of Asella’s mother, Adele Chartus when she was around eleven years old.

Philip showed his true colours as soon as Adele died. When the mask of the gentle, good man peeled off, the only thing left was a man full of malicious desires, self-righteousness and a fierce sense of inferiority.

Having seized the position of the acting Marquis, he forcibly stripped Asella of her succession by claiming that Adele’s death was related to her.

Another reason was because of her failure to display the powers passed down from each generation to the eldest daughters of the Chartus lineage.

She was deprived of all her rights by her stepfather. She couldn’t stand up for herself, so several vassals who had been loyal to the late marchioness for the longest time rose up against Philip and his irrational treatment. Unfortunately, after Philip showed them an example of what happened to those who disobey him, no one dared to rise again for Asella.

Looking back, even Asella thought that things wouldn’t change much even if she had been a little older at that time.

The long-term abuse had made her numb, and her heart had given up already.

But she couldn’t just stand still while this happens.