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Chapter 21
The Reward She Had Always Longed For
“You cannot have the future Viscountess Daphnen sitting there collapsed on the ground. Your father’s sudden death has left you with many matters to handle. So stop lingering there and come inside.”
The Viscountess turned away sharply and entered the mansion first, leaving her daughter behind.
It was a cold act, as though even looking at Senelia was unbearably painful.
Her mother’s icy attitude pinned Senelia to the spot.
Slowly, unsteadily, Senelia rose to her feet. Each step felt unbearably heavy.
Her legs had no strength left, and with painfully slow steps, she finally reached the entrance of the mansion.
She stopped there and turned toward the head maid.
The suspicion she had held in her heart ever since hearing about her father’s death—just a small possibility she had desperately hoped was not true—finally left her lips.
“Amelia… could it be… that Father was coming to get me…?”
Amelia remained silent.
That silence was the answer.
After that, Senelia stood blankly before the entrance for a long time, unable to step inside.
There was nowhere left that would welcome her now.
Senelia’s father and mother had met through a political engagement, but they had fallen in love and married each other.
That was why, having suddenly lost her husband, the Viscountess’s eyes were red from crying.
Yet Senelia could not offer even a single word of comfort.
Because she knew that her mother had already endured far more than she should have for her sake.
If I had married sooner… or if I had broken up with Ben sooner…
Unable to even look at her mother, Senelia lowered her head deeply.
If she had done so, Viscount Daphnen would never have been involved in the carriage accident.
Regarding that fact, Senelia’s mother was desperately suppressing her emotions so that she would not blame the tragedy of losing her beloved husband on her beloved daughter.
Because of that, the Viscountess appeared extremely cold.
But considering how many times she had begged her daughter to leave Veneluccia—and how Senelia had never once listened—her mother was actually showing an extraordinary amount of patience.
Knowing this, Senelia could not meet her mother’s eyes.
She had ruined the peaceful, ordinary family they once had.
That was why Senelia had always felt like a sinner who did not even deserve to breathe in front of her parents.
And finally, today…
She had caused even her father’s death.
Senelia felt shameless for having struggled so desperately to keep living until now.
Did I really have to survive… even if it meant sacrificing Father’s life?
Under the rejection of the mother she loved, carrying the death of the father she loved upon both shoulders, Senelia continued sinking deeper and deeper.
At this moment, more than ever before, she found herself unable to endure her own existence.
“Now stop this and return to the estate.”
Her mother’s voice pulled Senelia’s sinking self back from the endless depths.
She looked up in surprise.
“I believe you are not foolish enough to still cling to that man now that your father has died and you have completely ended things with him.”
That man.
Those words revealed the Viscountess’s hostility toward Veneluccia.
Senelia’s throat closed.
If she could, she wanted to answer her mother that she would do as she said.
She always had.
But when it came to her mother’s words, Senelia had never been able to say what she truly wanted to say.
When her daughter simply closed her mouth again, anger flashed across the Viscountess’s face.
“Senelia!”
Senelia’s body jolted violently.
It was the first time she had ever heard her elegant and strict mother raise her voice like this.
Her mother’s shoulders trembled with anger.
“Your father died because of—”
The Viscountess stopped herself when she saw Senelia’s face.
Realizing she had made a mistake, she tightly pressed her lips together.
But neither of them needed to hear the rest.
Both Senelia and the Viscountess already knew what she was about to say.
“Please, Selly. Do not disappoint me any more.”
The Viscountess covered her face with both hands and pleaded desperately.
She could never accept a man who brought another woman to an official event instead of her daughter.
Yes, they had been lovers for eight years.
But he was a Grand Duke who had never made any promise about their future.
The Viscountess could no longer endure watching her daughter waste herself on such a choice.
She had reached her limit.
“Mother, I…”
Senelia thought she must look foolish.
She could not say anything. She only moved her lips soundlessly.
Then—
A voice calling her name came from outside the window.
“Sel…”
Without realizing it, Senelia immediately turned her head.
The voice sounded like salvation.
…Ben?
And the moment she recognized who the voice belonged to…
Senelia suddenly felt like crying.
Of all times, Veneluccia had come to her now.
It was an unbelievably cruel coincidence.
And just as expected, her mother’s expression became openly displeased.
She stood up, opened the door, and called for a servant.
“Tell His Grace that we are not prepared to receive guests due to the mourning period, and that we are unable to properly attend to him.”
The Viscountess’s tone was endlessly polite.
But in truth, it was nothing more than a dismissal.
Objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with her words.
Veneluccia had rushed into a grieving household without notice, which was already far from proper etiquette.
The only problem was—
The person being turned away was Veneluccia, a member of the imperial family.
“…His Grace says he must meet Lady Senelia.”
Unlike the Afron estate, the Daphnen mansion was not particularly large.
The servant returned quickly after delivering the message and spoke awkwardly.
The Viscountess frowned slightly.
Given their circumstances, she could not reject royalty twice.
Eventually, she spoke to the servant with displeasure.
“Escort His Grace to the first-floor drawing room.”
“Yes, Viscountess.”
The Viscountess waved her hand, and the servant hurried away.
After sending him off, she looked back at her daughter.
A sigh escaped her lips.
“Selly, go downstairs.”
Her tone was calm.
The displeasure from moments ago was nowhere to be found.
But that only made Senelia’s heart tremble more.
Because she knew her mother became calmer the angrier she was.
“Mother, I…”
“Quickly. His Grace is waiting.”
The Viscountess gently pushed her daughter forward with her words.
Regardless of how much she disliked Veneluccia, she could not make a member of the imperial family wait.
Senelia wanted to stay beside her mother.
She was afraid that if she went to Veneluccia now, her mother’s hatred toward the daughter who had caused her so much pain would have nowhere else to go.
But her mother’s stern gaze told her clearly.
Do as I say.
Senelia bit her lip.
In the end, she swallowed the countless words she wanted to say to her mother and left the room.
Just as she had always done since meeting Cliff.
The moment the main gate opened, Veneluccia entered.
It happened at the exact same moment Senelia opened the front door and stepped outside.
“Selly!”
Veneluccia’s voice calling her name was filled with desperation.
But Senelia was too devastated to even recognize that desperation.
The thought that her father had died because of her…
The thought that her mother hated her because of it…
Those thoughts had consumed her completely.
“Are you alright?”
Veneluccia forgot the eyes of everyone around them and examined her condition.
The hand that touched her cheek was incredibly careful.
“…Your Grace, what brings you all the way here?”
Something surged painfully inside her.
Veneluccia’s question—Are you alright?—shook Senelia.
She was not alright.
She could never be alright.
That was why her voice came out colder than she intended.
“Because I was worried about you.”
At those words, Senelia suddenly covered her mouth.
For a moment, a useless question almost escaped her lips.
Worried about me? Or… did you need me?
Senelia cleared her thoughts.
If she looked at things rationally, the fact that Veneluccia had come all the way here despite Lucalina being in the capital was actually a good sign.
She knew better than anyone.
Even in a bad situation, she had to remain calm.
She could not ruin a favorable opportunity herself.
“…There are many people watching. Please come inside first.”
Senelia swallowed a sigh as if she had no choice.
She turned around and entered first, and Veneluccia followed behind her.
“How is the Viscountess?”
The moment the drawing room door closed, Veneluccia asked again.
Senelia felt strange.
She did not know if Veneluccia realized it, but this was the first time in eight years that he had asked about her parents.
If it had not been on a day like this, Senelia might have even been moved.
“Mother is busy preparing the funeral.”
Half of it was true.
Half of it was an excuse.
The Viscountess was busy because of the funeral.
But another reason she had not appeared before Veneluccia was because she did not want to see him.
“The Viscountess does not seem to want to face me.”
Veneluccia directly pointed out what Senelia had avoided saying.
Honestly, it was only natural.
What parent would welcome a man who had lived with their daughter for six years without giving her even a single clear answer about their relationship?
“Selly, are you… alright?”
Veneluccia asked the same question again.
Fortunately, unlike before, Senelia was able to give a smooth answer.
“My father passed away suddenly. Of course I cannot be completely alright.”
However, that was apparently not the answer Veneluccia wanted.
A question immediately followed.
“That’s not what I meant…”
Confusion appeared on Senelia’s face.
It was extremely rare for Veneluccia to trail off like this.
“I meant… are you alright with the Viscountess?”
At that moment, Senelia froze.
