The Grand Duchess Escape - Chapter 130.2
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The sudden dinner and the enormous amount of money placed in front of her were explained. At the same time, a vivid dream that felt so real came to mind once again.
The button her mother gave her before she passed away. The pattern engraved on the button and Karma’s crest was identical. And Calix Benvito, the head of Karma.
In the dream, he ultimately killed her simply because she didn’t follow his demand for a divorce.
‘Mother, I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know how to protect Mariel… I don’t know…’
The voice inside her head kept telling her that it was just a simple dream created by her subconscious, but logic was not enough in this case. The unease in her heart continued to grow. Her confused mind was filled with chaotic thoughts, and her words came out incoherently.
“I mean-.. I’m fine. You don’t have to go to such great lengths… Really.”
Calix raised an eyebrow.
As he gestured with his eyes, Ryzen and the servants quickly exited the dining room. As the door closed, the space became so quiet that one could even hear a needle drop.
“How do you see yourself?”
His question subtly changed the atmosphere.
He had been suppressing his unpleasant emotions since the morning, keeping them hidden from his wife. He was afraid that even a word of reproach would make her scared and avoid him again.
“You are the one and only Grand Duchess of Harminia. You must have the best of everything. Befitting your position.”
“But…”
“I will never allow just anyone to take the Benvito name.”
The image of her face smiling in front of that stranger was still lingering in his mind. It was a smile she had never shown him before. It was only today that he realized she was a woman with whom she could have conversations with such a comfortable face.
‘What is the big deal about a mere smile.’
At first, he didn’t think it was worth paying attention to and dismissed it as nothing. But he couldn’t concentrate on his work at all! — and every time he got distracted for even a second, that radiant face came to mind.
“The amount I assigned to Asella previously, double it.”
“Your Grace, the budget already allocated to Her Highness is the largest in history—”
“Bring the relevant paperwork right away.”
Calix still remembered the modest luggage Asella had brought on their wedding day. For a woman who had so little, he assumed she would be pleased. He thought she would be happy with an outing with her younger sister.
Almost absentmindedly, he harbored a slight expectation that he might see that smile in front of him.
It didn’t take long for that expectation to be brutally shattered.
Instead of being happy or pleased, her complexion turned pale. She seemed to try to refuse, claiming it was excessive. She looked more frightened than overwhelmed.
The woman who smiles to a strange man who offers her some dessert.
‘Is it that she doesn’t want to accept what I give?’
It made sense. She didn’t want him. Their marriage was forced upon her, succumbing to Philip’s ploy. Even the wedding night that could have made a difference in their relationship ended in a mess, so he understood why she couldn’t develop any affection.
Still, he tried to understand.
Until the bomb-like words came out of his wife’s mouth.
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