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Chapter 53
He Was Already Mad
The banquet hall was on the 7th floor of the Imperial Palace.
Perhaps because of that, the sound of the champagne glass shattering after falling from the terrace couldn’t be heard at all.
Benelucia, with his exceptional eyesight, must have already known what happened. But maybe because there was no one below the terrace, not even a scream followed. The moment was eerily silent.
“…What do you think you’re doing?”
As the glass she had brought vanished helplessly into the darkness, Yeneloph asked sharply without meaning to.
Benelucia smirked, lifting the corner of his lips in ridicule.
The two men stood facing off, but to Senelia, only one of them was visible.
That was because Benelucia had completely blocked her from Yeneloph’s sight.
“If you want to pull this kind of stunt, go ahead.”
His words weren’t an answer to Yeneloph’s question.
Benelucia continued, his tone oozing arrogance.
“It’ll all be thrown away by my hand anyway.”
Of course, the content wasn’t pleasant at all.
“By what right… does Your Grace the Grand Duke—!”
Yeneloph raised his voice in frustration.
But Benelucia didn’t allow him to finish.
“Don’t tell me… you think what you’re offering her is better than what I’m giving her.”
Yeneloph’s mouth shut instantly.
In other words, Benelucia was saying that no matter what anyone gave Senelia, he would always give her something better—so nothing else was needed.
And that wasn’t necessarily wrong.
To be honest, Benelucia’s sense of beauty and judgment surpassed even the Emperor’s.
He also had the wealth and power to possess whatever met his refined taste.
So who in this empire could possibly offer a better gift than Benelucia?
“If you understand, then leave.”
Benelucia arrogantly jerked his chin toward the terrace door.
It was a clear dismissal directed at Yeneloph.
Naturally, Yeneloph’s gaze drifted to Senelia.
But because Benelucia stood so perfectly in the way, Yeneloph couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her hair.
“…Then I’ll see you next time, Lady Dafnen.”
He added the parting words and reluctantly left the terrace.
Even though he knew he wouldn’t get a reply, it was a deliberate provocation toward Benelucia.
Only after Yeneloph left and the terrace door shut did Senelia finally speak.
“No matter how high Your Grace’s rank may be, I don’t think it’s appropriate for a third party to interfere in a private conversation between me and Lord Pendragon.”
Her tone was cold.
She felt as though even the small comfort that had been offered to her had been snatched away by Benelucia, and it put her in a foul mood.
Still, no matter how much Benelucia claimed to love her, embarrassing him in front of Yeneloph would do no good. So she had restrained herself.
But for him to react this way just because she exchanged a few words with Yeneloph after dancing with Lucalina—that made Senelia furious.
Even though Benelucia’s obsession was something she had longed for to achieve her own goals, it still angered her.
Unbeknownst to herself, Senelia was more emotional when it came to Benelucia.
Probably—and regrettably—because he was the only person she ever expected anything from.
“A third party?”
The phrase was one Senelia had deliberately used to hurt him.
And just as she intended, he reacted strongly to the word.
“You consider Yeneloph Pendragon someone to have private conversations with, and I’m the outsider?”
Benelucia clenched his teeth, swallowing down his rage.
The idea that someone like Yeneloph might be close to Senelia enraged him. And being labeled a “third party” by her—he absolutely could not accept it.
“If you’re not a stranger, then what are you, Your Grace?”
Officially, the two of them had broken up.
They were no different from strangers now.
Senelia pointed that out precisely.
Benelucia, struck by her piercing words, blurted out unconsciously.
“So, do you plan to get involved with Yeneloph Pendragon—because he looks like your first love?”
Senelia’s eyes widened.
Realizing he had said something foolish, Benelucia’s eyes blazed.
Wasn’t she always the one who never backed down, always replying even when retreating?
And yet, the mention of her first love had completely shut her up.
Benelucia felt his insides turn.
“What? Did you think I didn’t know that Yeneloph Pendragon resembles your first love?”
“How did you…?”
Senelia, truly shocked, trailed off.
Her reaction instantly devastated Benelucia.
He was never one to be bothered by his lover’s past relationships.
But Senelia… was the only exception to every rule.
The thought that she might still remember her first love—he simply couldn’t stand it.
“I’ve always known… that your first love was nothing like me.”
That was why—
Benelucia placed his arms on the terrace railing, caging Senelia between them.
Because otherwise, she looked ready to run.
“He was so painfully average. I couldn’t understand why you ever said you loved me.”
He would never have said such self-deprecating words to anyone else.
He had no reason to.
He had power, wealth, fame, and looks. There was nothing he lacked.
But none of those things worked on Senelia.
If they had, she wouldn’t have turned down his proposals time and again.
“I heard you got along quite well with your fiancé when you were in your territory.”
Senelia’s eyes trembled.
Of course, she had deliberately spent a year hovering near Benelucia before approaching him.
It was to avoid giving the impression she had dumped her fiancé for the Grand Duke.
But she had overlooked one thing.
Even if he didn’t know her as well as she knew him, he had shared enough time with her to understand her more than she realized.
“When you told me you loved me—you were the first person who ever said those words so casually. But your eyes… they looked too desperate for it to be a complete lie.”
That was why he remembered it.
At the time, Senelia really felt like she couldn’t breathe without Benelucia.
Even so, she never begged for love.
Many people were desperate for him.
But she was different from them.
From the beginning.
“…So, you were suspicious of me.”
Senelia finally spoke.
Since he had never brought this up before, she had unknowingly felt relieved.
She had thought he didn’t care enough to investigate her past, and that he’d never mention her ex-fiancé.
“Yes, I was. I questioned whether you truly loved me. If not, then why had you approached me? You weren’t after my status or what you could gain from it like the others.”
As he spoke, Senelia forced herself to suppress the rising panic in her chest.
Just imagining how deeply he might have doubted her made her feel dizzy.
“And while investigating… I found out. That you and your fiancé were deeply affectionate.”
Affectionate?
Senelia felt he was exaggerating.
Even if she had once thought of her fiancé as her ideal, she could say with certainty—they had never been passionately in love.
They had simply enjoyed a peaceful life and shared similar visions of the future.
So they cared for each other.
“Affection” wasn’t quite the right word for that kind of relationship.
“You always acted like what I gave you wasn’t truly yours.”
After that first outing with Benelucia, when she wore a dress more suited for Lucalina, Senelia had never once believed that the things he gave were truly for her.
In her mind, everything belonged to Lucalina.
She was just stealing it.
“To be honest… if you hadn’t stayed by my side for those eight years no matter what, I wouldn’t have believed you loved me.”
Benelucia finally voiced the thoughts he’d always kept to himself.
“I figured it out—that you would’ve been perfectly happy with that ordinary future you would’ve had with him.”
The woman who always kept her distance.
The woman who never once asked anything of him.
The woman who now didn’t even say she loved him.
There was no reason for such a woman to remain by his side.
And yet, she endured everything to stay with him.
“I love you. But this will be the last time I say it to you.”
Those were Senelia’s words from before.
If not for that reason, there was no way to explain her actions.
And at times, her gaze lingered on the most trivial things…
A commoner couple holding their child.
A noble lady and gentleman shyly holding hands at a banquet.
Lovers whispering sweet nothings and getting caught in the act.
Small gifts and peaceful, quiet, ordinary days.
Just those simple, everyday things.
He couldn’t not know.
Because at some point, Benelucia’s eyes had begun to follow Senelia.
“…So you knew?”
Senelia asked before she could stop herself.
But it wasn’t to confirm his words.
“You knew… and still pretended you didn’t?”
It was a quiet accusation.
