TMLOP 85

Chapter 85

The Male Lead is Obsessed with Proposing

79. Change of Thought

To be honest, Senelia felt wronged.

What had she done besides talking to Demonic?

Moreover, Demonic was Senelia’s only true confidant in this world.

And now she was being told to stay away from him.

Meanwhile, Benerucia was steadily calling Lucalina “Luna.”

Senelia felt that Benerucia’s jealousy was unreasonable.

It was a change in her thinking that she never would have had before.

So she withdrew her hand from his grip.

“I wish I could have a friend like Demonic, just like Your Grace.”

Senelia spoke softly.

For eight years, she hadn’t had anyone she could truly call a friend.

This was partly because of Clifd and partly because of Benerucia.

If she had made a friend, she could already guess what Clifd would have said:

“You even have time to play with someone, and my dog seems so relaxed.”

Clifd would have surely said that.

And he would have used whoever became Senelia’s friend as leverage, shaking her a little more, just a little, to exert control.

For eight years, making someone close to her carried that kind of risk.

Of course, she had never even had the opportunity to get close to anyone.

It had been a year since she came to the capital.

All that time, she had only followed Benerucia around.

After that, another year passed, and whispers filled the air that a newly-adult young lady was trying to claim the Grand Duke’s bed.

Even then, six years went by, and throughout all those years living with Benerucia, Senelia had been focused on suppressing her own presence.

She had to, otherwise he would be annoyed by her.

Moreover, during those six years, Benerucia hadn’t said a single word about her marriageable age, and there had even been scandals.

She had become the laughingstock of the social circle.

Who would want to be friends with such a person?

“…That is…”

Benerucia faltered, looking at Senelia.

Only then did he realize that for the past eight years, he had monopolized Senelia.

He fell silent for a moment.

Unfortunately for her—though perhaps fortunately for him—those years when he had been able to monopolize Senelia weren’t unpleasant.

In fact, they had been quite pleasant.

The fact that she looked only at him.

That her gaze always lingered on him.

Benerucia had never been certain of Senelia’s love, and only those moments confirmed it for him.

“…Then, shall we have a tea party at our mansion?”

But Benerucia couldn’t isolate Senelia just for his own desire.

For the past eight years, in order to survive, her world had only been allowed to contain Clifd and Benerucia.

And that had left Senelia desolate.

Benerucia at least knew that much.

“Not ‘my’ mansion, but ‘our’ mansion.”

It was a small selfish hope that Senelia would consider the Apron Mansion her home instead of Daphnen’s townhouse.

“…Of course, if we hold a tea party at the Grand Duke’s mansion, everyone would gladly come.”

But Senelia knew that they would come not for her, but for Benerucia.

Could that even be called friendship?

She was skeptical.

Yet Benerucia, at that moment, was focused on something else.

The Grand Duke’s mansion.

The very words bothered him strangely.

The moment Senelia mentioned going to the townhouse, Benerucia’s heart sank.

He remembered her room without her.

A room that was perfect in every way, yet empty without her.

A room where there was nothing to hold her back.

So when he ordered the Grand Duchess’s room to be prepared, he told them to bring in nothing from that room.

Why would he need things that could not hold Senelia even a little?

So even the word “Grand Duke’s mansion” from Senelia’s mouth was unsettling.

To Benerucia, that word still sounded like nothing in his mansion could make Senelia belong there.

“It’s your mansion too, Celi.”

Benerucia insisted on correcting her.

She paused at his words.

In truth, if Senelia had ever held a tea party at the Apron Mansion during the six years she had been his lover, her standing in society would not have been so poor.

Even young ladies who had only been Benerucia’s lovers for a few weeks or months had once held tea parties at the Grand Duke’s mansion.

But Senelia hadn’t, because she had clearly known that the Apron Mansion was not her home.

Though she had spent long periods at the Grand Duke’s mansion, she had never once considered it truly her room or her possession.

So even a small tea party would have cost a significant amount, and why would she spend money in a place that wasn’t hers?

“…You never thought about that at all.”

Benerucia’s expression darkened as he realized the reason for her hesitation.

And it took him less than a second to make his decision.

“Your Grace…?”

Benerucia used his communicator to connect a signal to Arante at the Apron Mansion.

Senelia looked at him with a puzzled expression.

But that puzzlement quickly turned to shock.

“Ante, immediately transfer ownership of the Apron Mansion to Senelia.”

“Your Grace!”

Senelia’s eyes went wide.

She shouted in surprise.

—Your Grace, did you drink or something at this early hour?

Arante treated Benerucia’s words as nonsense.

And understandably so. The Apron Mansion had been personally granted to Benerucia by the emperor when he left the palace.

Moreover, the Apron Mansion was larger than most palace buildings.

It was a medium-sized mansion between the Empress’s Palace and the Crown Prince’s Palace, on prime land in the capital.

Its value was beyond calculation.

Even the maintenance costs had been set to be covered by the palace when Clifd granted it to Benerucia.

So if the mansion were to become Senelia’s, she would gain everything with no loss.

It was a benefit greater than even receiving a decent fief.

No wonder Senelia was terrified and Arante skeptical.

“Arante, have you been so lax lately? Since when have you moved so slowly on my word?”

But the moment Benerucia spoke, the drowsy Arante’s eyes widened, just like Senelia’s.

He stared at Senelia in shock.

He didn’t dare speak rudely to his superior, and looked at her as though she were a dangerous femme fatale.

“Look away. Before I pierce those insolent eyes.”

Even at that, Benerucia’s elegant tone carried lethal intent, leaving Arante no choice but to comply.

“Your Grace, I really don’t need it. The Apron Mansion is too much for Daphnen to manage, and we’re not even married yet, so the gift tax would be enormous…”

Senelia frantically tried to reason.

She wanted to somehow handle this sudden, overwhelming situation.

She came up with every excuse she could think of.

“I’ll take care of all that, Celi. You just take it.”

Of course, all her reasons became useless in the face of Benerucia’s determination.

So Senelia looked at Arante.

She disliked Benerucia’s subordinate, who always seemed displeased with her, but she had to try to stop Benerucia.

—Your Grace, changing the title now will wake the palace staff in the middle of the night. They start work at nine.

Yet surprisingly, Arante gave up quickly.

He was efficient and never did what couldn’t be done.

He had seen Benerucia from his days as the crown prince.

Arante knew very well that when Benerucia lost his mind like this, there was no stopping him.

“Your Grace! Baron Samuel!”

Thus, only Senelia could not let go of this ridiculous situation.

But Benerucia was relentless.

“I’ll pay the staff I send out now ten times overtime from my personal funds.”

—Yes… yes, you’re giving me two extra tasks in the middle of the night… Of course, Your Grace gives more money than to other subordinates to get me to do this… understood.

Arante sighed heavily and ended the communication.

It was a very arbitrary action.

But he knew his superior wanted the task done quickly and cared nothing for etiquette.

And as Arante expected, Benerucia was only satisfied with the quick response.

“Your Grace, reconnect—quickly…!”

Senelia rarely raised her voice in succession.

“How can you just give me a mansion that was given by the Emperor?”

“Wouldn’t he be pleased to see his brother utterly infatuated with a woman?”

Benerucia spoke shamelessly.

And perhaps, as he said, Clifd would just laugh it off.

Senelia felt dizzy.

There was no one around her but people watching this crazy situation unfold.

Forcing too much beyond one’s limits only causes trouble.

“Just take it, Celi.”

Benerucia held her hand, determined to make her own the Apron Mansion.

“If it forcibly becomes yours, eventually you’ll come back to where I am.”

Forcefully? No, it was a firm decision.

Senelia was momentarily speechless.

“This… this… doesn’t suit my position, Your Grace.”

In the end, she muttered weakly.