Asher calmly took a breath as he turned around and said, "For the most part, I only know as much as you do, and I am also curious about my origins, just as you are. I was really a cripple all these years and woke up a month ago. But that is when things took a turn for me."
"What do you mean?" Rowena asked with furrowed brows.
"Do you remember the mysterious expert who saved my life when the assassination attempt happened?" Asher asked with a tilt of his head.
Rowena nodded with a focused gaze, wondering what he was trying to say.
"Well…that expert is the one who fixed me and the one who trained me for the past month. That expert…was actually ordered by your father to help me out. I don't know how he fixed me, but maybe your father left that expert with the necessary knowledge and tools to help me out," Asher said with a shrug. He knew he was stretching his hand a bit too much, but this was better than letting her know the true reason.
Rowena's eyes blinked in confusion, feeling it hard to believe. But then she thought that considering how her father wanted Asher alive, he must have already planned things to help him out even after his death, to the point of even appointing someone to watch him from the shadows. Otherwise, that assassin would have killed Asher for sure that day.
Did this mean her father knew the potential Asher had, especially the fact that his bloodline was of the Immortal class? Was this the reason why he let the 'treatment' continue for so long?
But her expression hardened as she looked at him and asked, "This expert has been helping you for an entire month, and you never told me. Why would you try to hide this from me? Do you understand how important this is or how it will affect not only us but the entire kingdom?"
Asher sighed and said, as he looked into her eyes, "Do you seriously think I wanted to hide things from you? You are the only I can trust in this damn world."
Rowena's expression softened slightly as she became silent for a moment before asking, "Then?"
"It was because he told me to not tell anybody else…At least not until today. He was the one who told me to request a month's time from you to train for this. He said if I prematurely revealed myself, it won't be wise. He also said you won't let me take quests if you knew I was no longer a cripple. As for his identity…I don't know why he wants to keep it a secret. Maybe there is some good reason for that. Let's hope one day he will reveal himself to you, though I feel like I may not even see him again."
Rowena pressed together her lips, knowing he was right about not letting him take quests if she had known.
"So, in that time, he also helped me train to complete quests. That is how I managed to level up quick. He was quite harsh on me when it came to training, but I don't regret it, considering what I learned. And this is the reason why I said to you that I have a surprise for you. I trained hard every day till my hands and feet bled so that I could make up for the fact that you had to endure me as a burden. I thought you would be happy to know that you won't have a useless consort anymore. You are…happy, right?" Asher softly asked as he looked at her.
Rowena saw Asher's expectant eyes and didn't know what to think after seeing him do all this for her. She stroked the side of her left brow and took a step to the side as she said, "My happiness doesn't really matter, but…it's good you are not a cripple anymore. I never thought this would be the surprise. But since you took quests and leveled up so quickly, it must mean you must have endangered your life at least once. It also means that you will continue to take such risks in the future as well. I don't want you to do that. I can provide for you…whatever you need. All you have to do is not put your life in danger, at least not until you have gained more experience."
"No," Asher firmly said as he added, "I don't want to hide behind you or leech off from you. I already did enough of that," Asher shook his head.
He knew that she was telling this based on her belief that his life experience was no longer than a 1 month old baby. What she said was logical since simply having combat training doesn't help one survive. But she had no idea his life experience was more than hers.
He continued as he looked at her from behind, "I am a man and your husband, Rowena. Are you going to rob me of my right to be there for you, my dignity and pride, by not letting me be both? I am not a fragile vase that needs protecting. I want us to support each other. Your father only made you promise to keep me safe until I woke up. Otherwise, do you think he would have sent that mysterious expert to help me if he really didn't want me to risk my life? Don't you think he probably wanted to find my calling and become something?"
Rowena fell into contemplation as she felt that perhaps that might be true. Did her father want her to keep him alive until he was ready to stand on his own feet? Did her father want him to gain power and be a source of strength for the kingdom? Did he appoint an expert to help him achieve this? Then why couldn't he confide in her if he really wanted some help? Was he hiding something from her? No...her father wouldn't hide anything important from her. He has always been open with her. Still, she just couldn't get rid of this feeling of uncertainty.
She felt like she had a lot of unanswered questions to ask this mysterious expert but knew she won't be able to find that person herself, especially if that person somehow knew how to come in and out of her castle without anybody's knowledge.
This left her confused about what she should do. Try to protect him as her father made her promise until she feels he has enough experience or let him discover himself on his own?
"If you are still feeling confused about it, don't forget…You promised me you won't restrict me anymore if I came out of that chamber alive. So I guess this solves the confusion you have now," Asher said with a subtle smile.
Rowena briefly closed her eyes, wondering why she had made such a promise. But now that she had given him her word, she couldn't go back on it.
"But you don't have to worry. All you have to do is believe in me no matter how impossible things might seem, just like how everybody thought I was going to die in that chamber. If I say I have no plans in dying, then I won't die," Asher said with a determined light in his eyes, making Rowena feel a inclined to give him a chance based on the confidence oozing from his eyes and what he had proved so far.
"Even though I haven't personally interacted with your father, I do feel indebted to him for taking me in and protecting me for all these years when anyone else in his position would have thrown a useless cripple to the beasts," Asher said in a tone of admiration and respect, though inwardly he was cursing the demon king for letting him silently suffer for 14 years.
He very well learned from his memories and Merina later on that the demon king had made sure nobody else would learn about him getting tortured in his own room. He had no idea what that cunning old demon was planning by taking him in but letting him get mauled by dogs for years. That was how it all made sense...how even a lowly maid was allowed to spit on him without any consequences.
Everyone worshipped the demon king as a mighty and capable leader and maybe even a kind one for taking in a cripple of "low" origins. But only Asher knew this man was hiding dark secrets, more than he could think of. He was still not feeling good about the words the demon king said to him right before he died.
A man like him was in no way a kind or benevolent one to take in a cripple and even marry that cripple to his only daughter. Something was telling him the demon king did everything for reasons that could only serve him, though he failed to see how.
This was why Asher was still feeling a sense of uneasiness he just couldn't put his finger on.
At the same time, he also remembered more memories involving the demon king, Rowena and him…Memories which made him have mixed feelings but nonetheless left him with more anger.
"And that's why I want to help you avenge him. Humans should pay the price for what they did. Together we can achieve what your father set out to do. We will take over their world and bring them all to their knees and end this never-ending war," Asher said with a sharp gaze, his eyes briefly glinting with killing intent.
Rowena's lips subtly shook, feeling stirred by his words. She could feel from his words and his aura that he truly meant every word. For the first time, she felt as if she wasn't alone in this fight.
On the day her father died, all people cared about what was who was going to fill his seat. None of them truly cared about avenging what the kingdom lost that day.
Even she couldn't properly mourn her loss as some of her own family members and others were too busy trying to kill her and take the throne. At that moment, she realized how small-minded and selfish everyone was.
A year passed, and yet nobody had truly done anything to make the humans pay for what they did. She had been fighting on her own all this time.
But now, feeling Asher's gaze, she felt that somebody actually cared about getting vengeance and wanting to fulfill their true purpose…conquering the Severed Realm and freeing them from this hellish world.
Her eyes hardened as she said with a cold, bloodthirsty light in her eyes, "You are right…Maybe this is what my father wanted…For you to finally realize your potential and help us achieve what we demons have been striving for since the beginning of time. It also wouldn't be good for our people if I held you back."
Asher inwardly smiled as he held her shoulders and said while looking into her crimson eyes, "Yes…this is why he made us marry each other because he knew we will do what is necessary. Together…we will save our kingdom before any of our enemies try to crush us. Together, we will do whatever it takes."
Rowena's eyes flickered momentarily hearing his words. She then nodded with a cold, determined gaze and then asked, "We will… But for now…what are you going to tell the people? They will have the same questions as I did."
Asher took a step back and said, "I know, and that is why I want you to tell them that you were the one who trained me. As I said, we can't let them know about the mysterious expert who has been helping me. As for who fixed me, you can tell them the truth that the demon king did it. It isn't really that far-fetched that a wife helped out her husband. Let them think you already knew about my bloodline. They will then connect things together and find it as a reasonable explanation," He finished as he smiled inwardly.
