Chapter 17

As soon as Philip returned from the Imperial Palace, he went directly to the annex where Asella’s room was located.

“Speak. What did you and Sir Kadan talk about?”

Ryzen was the most difficult type of man for Philip to deal with.

He rarely uttered unnecessary words, was very loyal, and could not be coaxed or intimidated. If he tried anything half-heartedly, he would get the wrong end of the stick.

In fact, Philip had had a bad experience whilst trying to make connections with Ryzen when he found out that his business was stranded due to the influence of Calix.

This was the reason why Philip couldn’t treat Ryzen recklessly even though he despised him.

Even to this day, he could not even utter a single word to Ryzen, so he scolded Asella instead.

“What was that thing he couldn’t say unless the room was empty?”

“He didn’t say anything special.”

Asella replied, moving her lips carefully. She was telling the truth. There was nothing special in their conversation, except for the brief exchange before Ryzen had left. Philip’s face twisted, and he assumed that Asella was trying to hide something from him.

“That’s why I asked you what you mean by that.”

When Asella failed to give him a satisfactory answer to his follow-up question, Philip’s face turned bright red with anger. Expecting what was about to come, Asella flinched and closed her eyes.

A few moments later, she didn’t feel any pain whatsoever.

She opened her eyes slowly, and to her surprise, Philip was clenching his hand.

This man, who always raised his hand at her whenever he felt like it, was now holding back! That alone was surprising.

Of course, there was a reason for a change in Philip’s behaviour.

‘What the hell was he thinking for giving this to her?’

During this, Philips’ gaze remained fixated on the jewelry box, which sat on his desk. It was so extravagant and luxurious it looked foreign in this small and dull room.

The tiara “Glory of the Goddess” had several meanings.

It was a jewel and an ornament of astronomical value on its own, a work of art of the highest quality in the empire made by the craftsman of the century, Rosen, and finally….

The mistress of the House of Benvito.

All previous Grand Duchesses wore this tiara when appearing in official occasions.

However, this did not mean that the tiara belonged to the Grand Duchess personally. It was the property of the Benvito family and had been passed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom.

However, Ryzen did indeed refer to the tiara as an engagement present.

He meant to state that it now belonged to Asella as her personal property.

‘I don’t understand his ulterior motive.’

Calix Benvito had no love for the woman who would become his wife. Philip was confident of this all along.

Furthermore, wasn’t the Grand Duke hostile towards Chartus? It was obvious what a proposal under such circumstances would mean.

Asella would have to live with just the dazzling title of the Grand Duchess.

She would live her life where she could not leave, a life with little to no affection, and maybe she would encounter things she couldn’t say in public, like what happened here.

It was for this reason that Philip was pleased with this marriage.

Adele Chartus, the previous Marchioness, was graceful and an elegant woman.

It was only with the help of “him” that Philip was able to marry her.

Unlike what was known to the world, Adele wasn’t in love with him, nor was she blinded by the second love that came her way.

In any case, even after marrying her that way, Philip suffered from an inferiority complex during the entire time Adele was alive.

It was to the extent that even now, seven years after her death, he was unable to escape from his own remorse.

She was a woman of status, title, wealth, not to mention an extraordinary appearance.

The thought of throwing the life of her eldest daughter, Asella, into the abyss made him shudder with joy.

Not to mention the fact that it was a great way to make that happen without the need to worry about the attention of the nobility.

That would be like blowing your nose without touching it. Philip had nothing to lose.

‘Having an heir is important.’

It seemed that Calix was trying to pay the proper amount to get the tool he needed to produce his successor.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the other way around.

If the Grand Duke accepted Asella as his wife, in its own way, it was good.

Benvito’s wealth and connections were beyond imagination. If he could invest even a small amount in Benvito’s many businesses, it would be a great gain.

With the Grand Duke’s connections as a foundation, perhaps he would be able to form a close bond with the Imperial family as well.

“Princess Veronica was about the same age as Anthony.”

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t think of a better opportunity. After finishing his calculations, Philip’s anger disappeared from his mind like a melting snowflake.

‘She’s more useful than I thought.’

Then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to strike in advance. Philip relaxed his face and his lips curved into a sneaky grin.

“You must be in a lot of pain… especially your wounded area…”

Asella was surprised by the sudden gentle tone in Philip’s voice.

There were usually two cases when Philip would speak this way: when he was conscious of other people’s eyes on him, or when he wanted to get what he wanted through physical punishment.

And right now, Philip and Asella were the only ones here.

Asella’s body began to shudder slightly. Her lips quivered in horror, and she bit her lips shut with all her might.

“I guess I was a little harsh earlier. I did it out of anger so don’t take it to heart.”

“…”

“You need to get treatment as soon as possible. I’ll send a doctor.”

Up until now, whenever she got sick or suffered from pain throughout the night, no one in the castle would care for her, nor would they summon a doctor to give her proper treatment.

It was only when she was in a very severe condition that they had no choice but to bring a doctor in because they didn’t want her to die due to a lack of proper treatment. However, this was not the case with wounds from whipping.

“I will call for a priest when the wounds are healed. It would be better to use their divine power to erase the scars.”

Phillip smiled widely, for he did not want to send damaged goods.