TMLOP 63

Chapter 63

 Unable to Leave

57. Between Not Being Able to Leave

Senelia froze at Venerucia’s words.

His voice was anything but gentle.

Even though the situation could reasonably warrant such a tone, she was too scared to speak.

It wasn’t that Venerucia’s attitude was threatening.

In fact, the way he held her was infinitely careful.

She was too afraid to look at his face, unsure of what he might be thinking.

“You’re marrying me as planned.”

Because Venerucia rarely looked at Senelia, and she already couldn’t lift her head, she had no idea what expression he wore.

“So, don’t say anything for now.”

Moreover, his voice carried no emotion whatsoever.

In the end, Senelia couldn’t utter a single word until he carried her to her room.

The Grand Duchess’s room had blackout curtains drawn so that she, sensitive as she was, could rest deeply.

When Venerucia entered without turning on the lights, the room was pitch-dark.

Even so, he walked as if nothing were amiss and carefully placed Senelia on the bed.

“Rest.”

Venerucia immediately turned away from her.

His face, hidden in darkness, remained invisible to her eyes.

“…Your Highness.”

Unconsciously, Senelia reached out to him.

She couldn’t call him by his nickname in this situation—it felt like a tactic to sway his heart.

“…Even now, Selly, you still call me Your Highness.”

However, her choice may have been a grave mistake.

Venerucia’s voice dropped low.

From the way he removed her hand from his, it was clear:

Venerucia was hurt.

“So… so you never told me, not even once after the first time?”

He covered his face with both hands, as if he didn’t want to show his expression even in the dark.

Senelia felt she had deceived him, causing him pain.

“You never loved me from the start. That’s why you never told me you loved me, right?”

Yet contrary to her assumption—somewhat ironically—Venerucia wasn’t saddened by the thought that Senelia had deceived him.

“You should’ve just not told me you loved me from the beginning.”

Venerucia spoke with bitter resentment.

He was in despair.

All this time, he had believed that Senelia loved him.

Even the moment she admitted she didn’t, he had clung to the shallow belief that some love for him still lingered in her heart.

Today, that belief shattered completely.

“It would’ve been a little less painful if that had been the case.”

Venerucia was certain.

Senelia didn’t love him.

That was why she could deceive him for eight years.

Ironically, at the very moment Venerucia confirmed Senelia’s betrayal, he understood her more than ever:

How unstable and painful it is to remain by the side of someone who doesn’t love you.

Yet still, leaving was impossible…

This relationship, this suffocating bond.

Even so, Venerucia felt pity for Senelia.

He was filled with anger toward her, resentment for her.

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her enduring such emotions.

That only made him angrier.

Why don’t you love me?

Why am I the only one who ended up loving you this much?

Your deception had no effect on my love.

So Venerucia turned sharply.

If he stayed any longer, he feared he would unleash his resentment on her.

Senelia nearly collapsed from the tension.

He didn’t want to release his emotions onto her.

Even a Swordmaster like him, showing such intensity to an ordinary person, was a threat by itself.

Even now, Venerucia hated that Senelia was afraid of him.

“…I—”

Senelia couldn’t bring herself to call him “Ben” or “Your Highness.”

While she hesitated, he strode across the room and left silently.

The door closed without a sound.

Senelia couldn’t follow him.

As Venerucia said, the preparations for their wedding continued.

Despite his silence, the Grand Duchy’s head maid, steward, and staff remained courteous to her.

Yet, an awkwardness lingered between them.

Because Venerucia and Senelia had never entered each other’s rooms even once.

“…Your Highness, did the Duke trouble you again?”

Part of the wedding preparations involved monitoring Senelia’s condition, which the head maid took special care in overseeing.

While checking the fragrance oil beside the maid who was applying camellia oil to Senelia’s hair, Meizia apologized softly.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I may have been too attentive during your caretaker days, responding to all the Duke’s whims out of pity…”

The head maid was certain that Venerucia was at fault in matters between him and Senelia.

Given his past, it was understandable. Yet this time, he wasn’t guilty.

“…No, I’m the one at fault.”

Senelia shook her head, denying Meizia’s words.

The maid took both of Senelia’s hands.

“I was worried before, but I stayed silent because I thought you didn’t want interference. You were like a fragile glass doll.”

Senelia flinched.

She hadn’t realized Meizia held such thoughts about her.

Senelia had assumed the staff at the Grand Duchy saw her much the same way she saw herself: a fleeting woman merely brushing past the Duke’s life.

Even while thinking she’d do anything to stay by Venerucia’s side, she judged herself thus.

“And, I worried that if I spoke the wrong word, it might provoke His Highness, since you might leave suddenly at any moment.”

Meizia was right.

Senelia had always been ready to leave the Duke’s estate.

She never knew when she might be expelled from the Apron estate.

When one has nowhere to stand, stability is impossible.

Apparently, the head maid could see that.

“However… that won’t happen anymore. I just want to tell you something: you tend to endure too much.”

Meizia spoke gently.

Honestly, the head maid had a strong fondness for Senelia.

And Meizia assumed other staff members felt similarly.

Senelia might not know… but after discovering those who gossiped about her, Venerucia had ordered all unkind staff to be removed.

Afterward, only those favorable to Senelia—or those who would faithfully serve their master—remained at the Apron estate.

She was rarely loud or complaining, so the staff had no grievances toward her.

On the contrary, they found her easy to serve.

Especially when Senelia was away, Venerucia’s irritability peaked, and the staff missed her more than they realized.

Venerucia, raised at the palace and accustomed to having everything suited to him, naturally became difficult without her.

As head maid overseeing the staff, Meizia hoped Senelia would never leave the estate, even if she quarreled with Venerucia.

“If His Highness does something displeasing to you, even just raise your voice.”

“Head Maid, that’s—”

“And call me Head Maid, and speak plainly. You have no need to use honorifics toward me.”

Senelia was flustered.

Meizia, originally a countess, found lowering her tone difficult.

But she wasn’t wrong.

Senelia was now the Grand Duchess.

Yet being told to raise her voice at Venerucia…

Even when she had lost her temper before, she had never shouted.

To Senelia, Venerucia was a figure of authority, someone she needed to hold onto.

Shouting at him was unthinkable.

“Whatever you imagine, during the days His Highness wasn’t here, he was far worse.”

Until recently, even Meizia hadn’t been able to discern whether Venerucia’s heart belonged to Lucalina or Senelia.

Some days he seemed to love Senelia, yet he still clung to Lucalina.

Unable to understand her master’s intent, even as his nurse, Meizia hesitated to intervene.

Now that the Duke’s intentions were clear, she finally spoke the words she’d long wanted to tell Senelia.

“His Highness needs you far more than you think. So…”

But Meizia’s words were cut short.

Bang.

Marianne, Senelia’s head maid who had been transferred from the townhouse to the Grand Duchy and now oversaw the junior maids, entered Senelia’s room with a suddenly grim expression.