CH 35

True to his words, the love letters sent to Senelia had decreased day by day.

She assumed it was simply because her marriageable age was gradually coming to an end.

But she had assumed wrongly. 

It is because Benelucia did not leave those who dared to send a love letter to his lover.

There had been a strange letter sent from Sally’s side to someone else. 

I didn’t even have to give a separate order, I just had to mutter a word of it to my subordinates.

It was natural that no one knew about the retaliation since it was the work of the Grand Duke’s subordinates.

However, at that time, I thought that Benelucia foolishly didn’t know my feelings, and so I sent love letters to potential lovers and put a stop to those who only wanted me out of pride. 

“Sally, I was wondering if you would turn them down or not. You never said you loved me, so I had to confirm that.”

That was the only reason why Benelucia allowed Senelia to write a love letter addressed to a man other than himself.

I didn’t know why at the time, but now I know why you acted the way you did.

“You tested me again?”

Senelia frowned.

One emperor was enough to test her.

I hate being tested by such people.

However, the Grand Duke did not detach himself from her in the slightest, nor did he hide the truth.

“Because I had to make sure you loved me.”

He recognized from his own words that he had longed for Senelia’s love. 

It’s because Benelucia thought he couldn’t hold someone who didn’t have him in their heart.

Really? Was he the one who couldn’t do that?

“But it’s okay now, because I’m not such a conscientious person to begin with.”

[T/N: Conscientious person meaning a person who has awareness and self-control.]

No, he is such a person who is capable of doing that.

If Senelia could wait for him for years and years on end, Benelucia could do the same.

But if it all ended with an act of letting her go, he would become a rather even worse human being.

He knew that he could have decapitated Yenelov or trampled the Pendragon family altogether in order to embrace Senelia, however, he thought that there was no need to inform Senelia of that meanness.

“I am the only one who can touch you, and I am the only one who can covet you.”

[T/N: Obsession alert!!! ^^]

The begging was now over.

“It’s okay if you don’t love me, all you need to do is endure me.”

Benelucia would no longer aim to try and win Senelia’s love, but will instead work towards keeping her tied to him once more.

***

The next day, as she greeted the mourners again, Senelia’s spirit lay elsewhere.

The main cause of her distraction was because of whatBenelucia had confessed the night before. 

The original source of this world was an impoverished novel, and unlike now, Cliff used every trick to get Lucalina under his control. It was for this reason that the Grand Duke had finally reached his tolerance level for his brother’s antics and exploded.

Compared to Cliff, who did not hesitate to commit evil deeds and obsessions, Benelucia was always kind to Lucalina. 

This led to Senelia forgetting a very important piece of knowledge. 

That Benelucia, the novel’s male lead, was a human who never gave up on love and was even willing to wage war to keep that love. 

“It’s okay if you don’t love me, endure me.”

Senelia only realized the depth of Benelucia’s obsession when he uttered those terrifying words.

The Young Lady of Daphnen fell silent.

There was no way for her to escape as long as she was entangled with royal brothers in the first place.

Unfortunately, she’d only realized that now.

Senelia glanced in Yenelov’s direction.

For some reason, he had not returned even though the emperor had come and had been rejected by her.

If so, she must personally use her knowledge from the author of the novel. 

After reaching a conclusion, Senelia took advantage of her ex-lover’s absence and approached Young Lord Pendragon. 

“What are you going to tell me?”

As Senelia took Yenelov to a deserted place, he questioned her curiously.

“I know you approached me on orders from Your Majesty.”

Senelia announced calmly.

When Cliff came to her room last night, she was sure of it. Senelia’s rejection of Yenelov must have reached Cliff’s ears, Yenelov must have reported her actions to his master.

The emperor looked down on Senelia.

He must have come because he had something to say to her about his communication with Yenelov last night.

The emperor would have no intention of hiding the fact that he had tested her from Senelia, who he thought of as his dog.

On the contrary- like praising a dog that retrieves a ball thrown by its owner, he would have come to her last night to openly praise Senelia for passing his test.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Yenelov took the route of pretense and refused to admit it, but Senelia did not fall for him.

Compared to Cliff and Benelucia, whom she had been dealing with for eight years, Yenelov was nothing before her.

Besides, there was no such thing as guilt.

Yenelov must have received something from Cliff in exchange for approaching Senelia.

“If you run down this road and tell the Grand Duke that you deliberately got between me and him on the orders of His Majesty, then I bet that something funny will happen.”

Of course, Senelia had never thought of telling His Highness Afron.

It was clear that the emperor would not leave her alone if she set Benelucia against him.

“His Majesty will not stand still and let you do as you wish.”

Of course, Yenelov was not completely ignorant of Cliff’s disposition.

“Is it really so? What if I said I would do that and ran down right now and told His Highness what I just said and your loyalty to the emperor before you can meet His Majesty?”

However, he did not know Cliff de Helios as well as Senelia, meaning that Yenelov was shaken by her words.

“Young Lord Pendragon failed at His Majesty’s order to seduce me, but I haven’t failed until now. Rather, my plans are doing quite well… Whose hand will Your Majesty take? Mine or yours?”

Yenelov, who had not flinched in front of Benelucia until he had become truly angry, shut his mouth with only a few words from a Young Lady.

Senelia’s calm tone seemed to be telling only the truth, so he couldn’t easily refute her.

“…What do you want from me?”

After a long silence, Yenelov relented and asked.

As long as he failed in his mission, the emperor would not give Yenelov shelter.

In such a situation, if Senelia informed Benelucia of Yenelov’s atrocities, he would definitely not be safe.

Senelia was aware of that fact and she used it to try to wield Yenelov Pendragon.

If not, why would they talk about things that would make each other feel threatened?

“Now go and tell Your Majesty, the emperor, that I have turned down your marriage proposal.”

“…Don’t you want to use me to make the Grand Duke jealous?”

Yenelov looked at Senelia in surprise.

He must have thought that she would use him to elicit a greater reaction from Benelucia.

“How many people have used jealousy to entice His Highness?”

Senelia responded calmly.

Everyone, from the one-time lover of Benelucia to the one he had never laid eyes on, did everything they could do to attract his attention.

Unlike them, Senelia must always remain as a special entity to him. Just like Lucalina.

“And for that reason, tell the emperor I said I have someone I want.”

Yenelov’s gaze narrowed. He soon noticed the difference in Senelia’s words.

No matter how much Yenelov was tricked and caught up in Senelia’s schemes, he was a talented person chosen by the emperor.

The one I want… There is only one.

‘I want’ and ‘I love’ seem similar at first glance, however, there was a subtle difference between them.

Young Lord Pendragon knew that Senelia was following the emperor’s orders, so it wasn’t hard to figure out why the difference of a single word was important.

And yet, he had to pretend not to know about her subtle hint and pass it onto Benelucia.

The two words were similar, so even if the words are conveyed a little differently, YenelOV will be exonerated, and the Grand Duke will be convinced of Senelia’s love for him.

[T/N: Exonerated – absolved/ proven innocent in the matter of why she turned him down]

In other words, Senelia was trying to instill hope in the male lead, Benelucia Afron, which was futile in reality, but would be believable on the outside. 

So he won’t give up on her forever.

“If that’s enough, neither the Young Lord nor I will be punished by His Majesty.”

Even if Senelia was said to be a person acting under Cliff’s orders, using the emperor’s person would be considered an act of excess.

In that case, both she and Yenelov might incur the Emperor’s wrath should they be found out.

But if they did as Senelia said, that wouldn’t happen. 

Because what she asked Yenelov to do was just tell the truth… Well, a version of the truth. 

“If this was your motive, you could have just asked me for help instead.”

Yenelov spoke shyly. 

It was a story that was not unreasonable to him when judged rationally.

No, on the contrary, it could be said that it is a good thing for Yenelov.

The order given by the emperor failed, that didn’t mean that he didn’t do the emperor’s bidding, so, wouldn’t he still have to face Benelucia’s anger?

Even if Senelia didn’t tell him, Yenelov wanted to clear himself of the misunderstanding with Benelucia.

“No, if it wasn’t for the emperor’s order, Young Lord wouldn’t even want to talk to me in the first place, yes?”

Young Lord Pendragon flinched. It was an accurate assumption and wasn’t a complete lie. 

For the emperor had no heart whatsoever, to do his bidding, Yenelov would incur the wrath of Benelucia without the promise of help from the emperor. 

In the meantime, he didn’t want to incur the Grand Duke’s wrath by continuing to get entangled with Senelia for no reason.

“Besides, you didn’t expect the current situation, did you? I don’t know if it was normal, but he wouldn’t be in a state to indulge in the thought of the proposal or your neck.”

[T/N: Benelucia isn’t in a state of mind where he will remember Yenelov’s proposal or think of killing him right now.]

Yenelov’s face lit up.