“It’s a wedding. I thought I’d tolerate it…”

Anthony walked up to the fallen Asella with a large step.

Asella was dumbfounded.

He was right. It was her wedding day. She had some idea that he was drunk and irrational and that he would be angry at her for interfering with what he was about to do. However, she still thought he would try to suppress his nature and control himself.

Even Philip had acted cautiously today.

But she was mistaken.

Anthony was far more inconsiderate than Asella had thought, and he did not feel the need to suppress his nature for such a reason.

The fact that Asella had interfered with his business only made him more enraged.

“The only thing you could do was toss your pride away and beg, but where did the pretense of being a savior come from?”

Anthony grabbed Asella by the collar and lifted her straight up. Her body was forced up like a dog pulled on a leash.

Her frail body half-floated in the air.

Asella felt a strangling pressure on her neck as she held Anthony’s fist around her neck. But she was unable to resist the firm grip of a drunk person.

“No! Please don’t do this, Young Master!”

“What the hell is this?”

Cecile grabbed Anthony’s leg and held him back, but to no avail. Instead, she was thrown straight to the floor with a wild kick.

He kicked Cecile’s body a few more times and then stopped.

“Hey, you! Go and get a priest.”

“Yes? Oh, yes, yes!”

The servant, who had looked aghast at Anthony’s words, understood what Anthony meant and rushed off.

“How arrogant.”

Her hair, which had been carefully braided into a side braid, was now gripped violently. Asella tried to shake his hand off, flinching, but there was no way she could.

“Where’s the nearest empty room from here?”

“At the end of that hallway, around the corner…”

Before the servant could finish his reply, Anthony turned his hand to wrap Asella’s long hair around his wrist.

“Go and get a new dress and a whip. Watch for anyone passing by.”

Education was necessary for those who misbehaved.

“Let me go!”

A groan escaped Asella’s lips.

She was in a lot of pain from the impact of her body hitting the floor so hard. Anthony’s intense smell of alcohol was making her feel like she was about to pass out.

Due to the wide gap in power, it was not long before Asella’s body was dragged across the floor.

She tried to keep her feet on the floor to avoid being dragged, but her efforts were futile.

That was when it happened.

“Now.”

A low, eerie voice echoed down the hallway.

“What on earth is happening here?”

Their eyes were wide open in shock as they recognized the owner of the voice.

Even Anthony’s mouth dropped open, and he stared blankly at the person walking towards him.

His hand, which had been dragging Asella, released.

The sound of the man’s shoes echoed through the hallway. The man’s massive shadow approached in the blink of an eye and landed on Anthony’s head.

“Gasp!”

With a thud, Anthony’s body was flung against the wall. Blood poured from his head as it hit the hard stone wall, but Anthony didn’t even have time to think about wiping his head.

He was looking down at himself with a frightened look on his face.

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

Ryzen reached out his hand to help Asella.

“Let me help you.”

“On my own… I can stand on my own.”

Refusing Ryzen’s offer, Asella straightened up, pretending to be unconcerned.

She felt his worried gaze turn to her cheek where Anthony had struck her, so she gently turned her head away.

It was devastating.

No matter how well known it was to them, it was another thing to have them see it in person.

Tears were threatening to flow, but Asella bit her lip and held them back. Even this insult and misery was a role that she had to endure.

As Asella endured this humiliation, she felt as if her body was being crushed.

Faced with an unexpected situation, Anthony could not even think of closing his mouth that was agape with shock.

A stunned murmur flowed from him.

“Your Highness, Grand Duke… how did he get to this place…”

As soon as Calix’s blood-colored eyes met his, Anthony’s body stiffened.

The anger that had consumed his mind earlier was utterly drowned out, and a terrible fear filled the place.

Anthony felt as if he had to say something, so he began to speak.

“Oh, you misunderstand! I just had an argument with my sister for a while! It was going to take a long time to talk about it, so I was trying to discuss it for a while elsewhere…”

“Misunderstand?”

As cold anger rose in the Grand Duke’s face, Anthony noticed that something was wrong.

‘No way…’

A terrifying sensation pierced through the nape of his neck. His lips went dry, and a shiver ran down his spine.

Clearly, something was wrong.

“Your Highness, let me- let me explain. I’ll tell you what’s going on…”

“Shut up.”

The cold command made Anthony’s face turn as pale as a corpse. He tried to make some kind of excuse, but all he could do was pout like a fish out of water.

Ignoring the trembling Anthony to his own devices, Calix turned to look at Asella.

Her appearance was clearly disheveled.

Her white dress was wrinkled and stained. Her soft, silver hair, which was falling in waves down to her waist, was now messed up and tangled.

Eventually, his gaze reached Asella’s face. One of her pale cheeks was red and swollen. It was the mark of a beating that was obvious to anyone who saw it.

Asella – he knew how Asella Chartus had lived here.

Nevertheless…

For some reason, the sight of the woman biting her lip as she stared down stimulated his nerves.

At that moment, his blood ran cold.

“How dare you?”

A short moment later, Anthony began to scream in agony.