Chapter 9

Reasons for Marriage

Asella stood blankly and looked with a hazy gaze.

She wasn’t feeling well. She had a bad headache to the point she felt her head was about to split at any moment, yet she couldn’t say anything.

Besides the fact that her back hurt because of all the beatings she received earlier, her back was still throbbing even after she applied some pain relief ointment.

“My Lady, please hold still.”

As Asella’s body wobbled slightly, the maid, who was tightening the frill around her chest, immediately let out a cold remark.

Asella stared silently at the unfamiliar maids. She had seen their faces a few times but knew nothing about them other than the fact that they were Rebecca’s maids.

“…”

She suppressed her pain and struggled to keep her consciousness as her vision got blurrier.

She then bit her lip and strained her toes to maintain her posture as best as she could. If she were to relax at any moment, she would collapse in a matter of seconds.

Looking at Asella’s pale complexion as she bit her lip, the maid smirked as a way to blatantly ridicule her.

“I don’t know what you’re doing with this expensive dress.”

The other maids continued to mock her, fixing the sleeves and shortening the hem of the dress.

“We will have to throw it away after this. What a waste!“

“It’s a crime to wear a dress that looks so expensive.“

“The luxurious dress is going to be ruined. It’s going to look hideous…”

“Oh, I’m not saying you’re ugly, My Lady, so please don’t misunderstand.”

Rude words kept coming out of the maid’s mouths. It was not the kind of thing someone could say or do to the daughter of a marquis, but they didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

Asella endured their insults silently.

In a few days, they would become people she would never see anyway.

The knights and servants who had sworn allegiance to the Chartus family had been cast out for a while now. All the servants in the mansion had been replaced by those who suited Philip’s tastes.

“Ah!”

A sharp needle pierced her wrist. The needle was quite thick as it was to fix the frill.

“You’re a lot more sensitive than I thought, My Lady! It’s not a big deal.”

“I heard you were good at enduring. “

“Compared to being whipped, this should be nothing, right?”

Asella could hear the blatant sarcasm in their voices.

Instead of replying, Asella slowly lowered her head and stared at her wrist, which had been pierced by the needle. A small drop of blood appeared on her skin. She stared at it until one of the maids wiped the blood off her skin.

Would it turn out differently if she were to say anything?

They were right after all; it was better than the lash of the whip.

When there was no response from Asella, the maids looked into each other’s eyes and smiled wickedly.

“As I thought, you seem to be alright, Miss.”

The clever harassment continued. The needle continued to prick her body in various places. In visible areas, the pricks were shallow to avoid leaving any scars or marks, and in invisible areas, the pricks were a little deeper.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay, My Lady?”

“It was a mistake. Even though I pierced the same spot four times, it was a mistake.”

“But I’m sure the Young Lady would be able to bear it, right?”

They burst into giggles, unable to contain themselves.

Asella looked at them with a blank expression.

If she closed her eyes, would the commotion die down? The subordinates were sensitive to the structure of power more than anyone else.

It was Philip’s unspoken rule that the servants didn’t attend to Asella.

Asella sometimes thought she resembled a marionette, with her hands and feet tied and being tossed around from one place to another. She even had an expression where it was difficult to tell if she was laughing or crying.