THE GRAND DUCHESS ESCAPE

CHAPTER 3

Philip hated Asella's stubbornness.

He made outrageous demands and orders to Asella, but whenever she refused them because she thought they were unfair, he subjected her to merciless beating and verbal abuse.

Along with the famous line, 'you inherited this stubbornness from your useless mother.'

Many of Philip's accomplishments had begun at the same moment he got married to Adele.

Even though he was the third son of a count, the tale of his passionate courtship and successful marriage to the Marchioness Adele Chartus, who had lost her husband, was well known throughout the empire.

Philip had demonstrated a sweet and loving fatherly affection. At least when Adele was still alive.

However, as soon as Adele's funeral was over, Philip suddenly changed. When Asella realised that all his actions were nothing but a well-acted performance, it was already too late.

In fact, it finally became clear to her that Philip hated her mother to the point of loathing her.

"You've been quite for a while to the point that I had forgotten."

"...."

"I have to step on things like you so they don't dream about retaliating."

Philip slipped his hand through a pair of bright white gloves, pulled something out of the back of a drawer, and rolled it up tightly.

Asella closed her eyes, preparing herself for the pain that was approaching.

"Whuu-psssh!!"

The sound of the whip falling on her body pierced the air sharply. She tried to hold her breath and but her lips. She prevented herself from making any sound, not even a groan of pain.

Although this wasn't the first time she had been whipped, she was till unable to get used to the terrible pain.

"Asella, my good daughter."

Unlike his brutal treatment, his speech was perfect and smooth. Asella became more horrified by the difference in tone.

"Don't you already know how this will end? I mean, nothing ever changes anyway."

"...."

The day Philip first slapped Asella, she held on without giving in.

She was confident, and she knew she didn't do anything wrong.

But the merciless stream of beatings upon the child's body did not stop.

The pride of nobility and the honour of Chartus family collapsed in the face of physical pain. The misery of the surroundings was brief, and a sense of relief came quickly when the pain disappeared.

It wasn't the kind of pain a child who had lost her mother could endure alone.

In a mansion with one one to protect her, Asella quickly learned how to survive in her own way.

She dropped to her knees in humility. She surrendered her will and desires and faced down in the the face of violence.

Even as time passed and she grew older, things were still the same.

Before she knew it, she had adapted to just giving up. She couldn't leave the house, knowing that this mansion was a prison where she would be confined and watched.

She was so used to it that she couldn't imagine another life.

But at least she knew one thing.

The only legitimate way out of this hellish place was through marriage.