Chapter 7
4. This Is Our Third Goodbye
Selenia and Veneruccia first met at a masquerade ball.
Like many young men and women at such events, the two of them spent the night together.
‘I love you.’
The next morning, Selenia said to Veneruccia. He remembered feeling slightly bored upon hearing those words.
To be moved by a simple “I love you,” he was a man too accustomed to being loved by many.
‘But this will be the last time I ever say those words to Your Grace.’
Only when she said that did his boredom vanish.
‘I will never say it again… So, if Your Grace ever needs me, you may come find me.’
It meant she expected nothing from him. At the same time, it was the most pitiful confession.
Because it was a confession that said she would be okay even if he abandoned her then and there.
He was briefly intrigued, but to Veneruccia, it wasn’t anything significant.
He had met plenty of people who pretended to enjoy things at the start but ended up clinging to him in the end.
‘I don’t need you.’
So Veneruccia dismissed her with that line and walked away.
At their first meeting, Selenia was left alone on the bed, where the heat of the night had already faded.
And exactly a month later, he spent another night with her.
But the outcome was no different from the first.
It had started that way—why would the second time be any different?
It was inevitable.
After that, Veneruccia kept seeking her out. It happened several times.
At first, he was genuinely curious about how she expected nothing from him.
Later, he simply wanted to test how far she would go.
That’s how she ended up staying in his estate.
And today, they broke up.
“…Hah, we were quite the perfect couple, weren’t we?”
Veneruccia sneered as he thought of Selenia.
Now that he thought about it, she had never once gone against anything he said.
“…Fine, let her be.”
There was no one to hear him, yet he spoke aloud as if someone might be listening.
Even when he declared their breakup twice before, Selenia had always accepted it quietly.
It was only because he sought her out again that the breakups never stuck.
But this time, it was Selenia who initiated it.
So this time, it was a real breakup.
“It’ll be annoying for a while.”
Veneruccia clicked his tongue.
Whenever rumors spread about Duke Afron’s breakup, all sorts of people would swarm around him.
Heads of noble families, their wives, young lords and ladies—all eager to make themselves, their sisters, daughters, or granddaughters the next duchess.
That was the only difference. The absence of Selenia didn’t change anything else.
Veneruccia lay back on his bed and closed his eyes.
There was no reason for anything to change.
“Your Grace, you don’t look well.”
The knight commander of the duke’s order said during sparring.
“Hamilton, you must have enough leisure to worry about my complexion, huh?”
Clang!
At that moment, Veneruccia slammed down his sword.
He struck with such force that Hamilton’s sword was cleanly snapped and sent flying.
He had lost count of how many people had mentioned his pale appearance since Selenia left the mansion.
That was enough to sour his mood.
Because the last time he saw Selenia, she looked completely fine.
“If you keep letting your guard down, it won’t be your sword but your neck flying next time. Didn’t getting tossed around in war teach you anything?”
Veneruccia spat his words harshly.
Though he often lived as if he were a carefree noble, when commanded by the emperor, he and his knights had to head to the battlefield.
Whether the enemy was monsters or humans—it didn’t matter. Just like eight years ago.
Complacency was never an option.
“I apologize. I will correct myself.”
Hamilton quickly bowed and admitted his fault.
“Double the usual training for today.”
Veneruccia issued the order and turned away.
Suddenly, a sharp headache struck him.
‘…Tired.’
He clicked his tongue inwardly.
Although he’d said those things to Hamilton, the truth was that he hadn’t been able to sleep at all for the past week.
He had dreamt about the battlefield again for the first time in a long while. The screams, the stench of rot—it had all been so vivid.
After waking from that nightmare, he couldn’t fall back asleep.
Veneruccia rubbed his temples, exhausted.
‘What did I do at times like this?’
It had been so long since he’d dreamt that he’d forgotten.
He slowly tried to recall.
‘Drink this, and why don’t we talk a bit more while you lie down? Until you fall asleep.’
Whenever he had nightmares, Selenia used to make him a cup of warm tea.
As if she had always been prepared for when he would have one.
And just on those nights, the usually quiet Selenia would chatter on endlessly.
While listening to her stories, he would eventually fall asleep.
Maybe that’s why… he kept wanting to hear her voice again.
‘Ugh, this is annoying.’
Veneruccia frowned deeply as the thought crossed his mind.
No alternatives came to mind other than Selenia.
At this point, he felt like an idiot for claiming earlier that nothing would change without her.
‘So what if I can’t sleep? It’s not a big deal.’
He decided to tough it out.
His body wouldn’t fall apart from missing sleep for a month or two.
He’d eventually fall asleep when exhaustion overcame him.
So long as it wasn’t this, Selenia’s absence wouldn’t matter.
It was just one person who no longer lived in his mansion.
“…The taste changed.”
Veneruccia sipped his coffee, grimacing as he set down the cup.
Today, the aroma was weak, and the taste bitter and muddy.
Without hesitation, he summoned a servant.
“What happened to the beans? The coffee tastes off.”
The beans brought into the ducal house were always of the highest quality.
So if the flavor was off, he assumed the beans had been poorly managed.
The servant looked troubled before responding.
“Actually… we’ve run out of coffee.”
“Then what is this?”
“…Lady Daphnen usually brewed it with cold water and preserved it with magic to serve later…”
He didn’t need to hear the rest.
It meant that batch was gone.
It made sense—he’d been drinking twice as much due to sleepless nights.
“Then brew it the same way.”
“Well… the lady did it herself. No one else knows the method… We’re trying to replicate it now…”
So this subpar coffee was the result.
The servant’s awkward fumbling grated on Veneruccia’s already frayed nerves.
Bang.
He slammed his desk in frustration.
“What the hell were all of you doing while Selenia was making it? You don’t even know the proper method!”
Brewing coffee with cold water was far from standard practice.
It was no wonder the maids and servants didn’t know.
Selenia wouldn’t have either, if not for memories from her previous life.
In any case, those who didn’t know her method would never replicate that flavor.
“She said she learned it somewhere three years ago and insisted on doing it herself… We didn’t think much of it. We’re sorry.”
The servant bowed deeply, apologizing profusely.
Veneruccia paused.
As Selenia stayed in the Afron estate past one year, then two, everyone had become used to her being there.
That went for the duke himself and his staff alike.
So no one thought to ask where she had learned it.
They simply assumed she’d always be there.
“Get out.”
He dismissed them coldly.
Frustration surged.
Perhaps it was only natural.
After all, Selenia had lived at Afron Estate for six whole years.
Still, the irritation rose.
And then Veneruccia realized why.
He and this mansion had gotten used to Selenia—but she clearly hadn’t.
If she had, she wouldn’t have left so cleanly, without any longing or hesitation.
The traces Selenia left behind weren’t much.
They were so small he never noticed them before.
‘Irritating. Why is it so… irritating?’
But now that he saw them, they bothered him—like a hangnail you couldn’t ignore.
Veneruccia bit down on his lip.
For the first time, pathetically… he thought about his ex-lover.
He hoped Selenia wasn’t doing too well without him.
Because only then—she’d have no choice but to return.
Selenia, on the other hand, was doing very well during that week after the breakup.
Unlike at the Afron Estate, in her townhouse she didn’t need to stay constantly alert or tense.
She even found herself at peace.
Whenever she saw Veneruccia, she would think of his brother the Emperor, and his first love, Lucalina.
And that she must never love him.
With all that circling in her mind, she would naturally feel exhausted.
She had endured that for eight years.
So it was no wonder she’d constantly pass out from fatigue this past week.
But her vacation didn’t last long.
“Looks like my little pet has been living quite comfortably these days.”
One night, when the world was asleep—the Emperor himself came to find her.
