Chapter 58
The Obsessive Male Lead Proposes
To Wield
After Venerucia entered the palace, Senelia could hardly bring herself to eat anything.
So, after picking at her dinner, she dismissed everyone and endlessly paced around her room.
Why in the world did Clifde summon Ben…?
Venerucia’s aide, Arante, hadn’t explained why Venerucia was called into the palace.
Because of that, Senelia was plagued with an even deeper sense of unease.
“Lady Daphne.”
Just as her anxiety was reaching its peak, someone suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Taking advantage of Venerucia’s absence, Clifde had sent his shadow knight.
“…! What are you doing appearing here of all places?”
Senelia barely managed to hold back a scream of shock.
She hurried toward the shadow knight, anxious that someone else in her quarters might notice the presence.
“His Majesty commands that you enter the palace in secret.”
Like his master, the knight was arrogant and paid no mind to her reaction.
Having spoken the message, he turned toward the window.
“Now…? You mean, right this moment?”
Senelia asked urgently.
But the knight didn’t reply—he simply slipped away through the window.
The meaning was clear: no time for delay.
There was nothing Senelia could do to stop him.
And so, she was left alone, standing frozen in place.
Clifde…!
She sank to the floor, unable to even speak his name aloud.
What whim had seized him this time, to demand such a thing?
She couldn’t guess.
But she couldn’t stay here paralyzed either.
Clifde was not someone who would wait for her.
At last, she staggered to her feet and prepared to leave.
Fortunately, it was the dead of night, so few of the household staff were in the corridors.
The real problem wasn’t leaving the estate—but dealing with the gatekeeper.
“Your Grace…?”
As expected, the gatekeeper stood watch before the mansion’s tall front gates.
He looked at the duchess, cloaked and hooded at such an hour, with puzzlement.
Senelia hesitated, then finally opened her mouth.
“Today, you never saw me.”
What flowed from her lips was Korean.
The moment she spoke, the gatekeeper’s eyes went hazy.
Creak—
Seizing the chance, Senelia pushed open the mansion gate and slipped out.
Only after she vanished did the gatekeeper regain his senses… yet he felt nothing amiss and let it pass.
The truth was, Senelia had realized this strange ability of hers quite some time ago.
But she had kept it hidden. Her power wasn’t nearly strong enough to free her from Clifde’s restraints—or to harm him.
If he ever discovered it, she would only be exploited further.
So, she had planned to lie—that she escaped because Venerucia once told her of a secret passage.
“Welcome, Seli.”
But the moment she entered the Emperor’s audience chamber, Clifde himself greeted her cheerfully.
Her resolve to lie crumbled instantly.
“…I greet His Majesty, the Sun of the Empire.”
His unfamiliar warmth made her falter.
But she quickly collected herself and knelt low, bowing deeply.
“That’s enough.”
Clifde waved his hand.
The Emperor was smiling.
As if something greatly amused him.
“Come here. Look at this.”
His hand pointed toward a large glass orb.
Within it, something was being projected by magic.
Senelia hesitated.
Whenever the Emperor smiled like that, never once had it meant anything good for her.
“Go on.”
But with Clifde urging her, she had no choice.
Reluctantly, she approached the orb on the table.
And the moment she looked inside—Senelia froze.
Venerucia and Lucalina lay unconscious, bleeding inside a cavern.
Crushed beneath rocks.
“Wh—what is this?!”
Senelia cried out in shock before she could stop herself.
Her face drained of all color, her hands trembling violently.
“Shh. It’s night—keep your voice down.”
Clifde spoke calmly, as though he had expected such a reaction.
But Senelia quickly realized—this wasn’t about the hour.
It was a warning: never raise your voice before the Emperor.
“Your Majesty… why… why would you…?”
Her eyes shook as she looked at him.
Hadn’t he sworn not to kill Venerucia?
Besides, Venerucia and Lucalina had no wedding binding them anymore.
Why, then, were the two of them trapped together in that cavern, bleeding?
One thing was certain—Clifde was behind it.
“You know the Hunt Festival is soon, don’t you?”
The Hunt Festival was held once a year in the Empire.
It took place when monsters bred most prolifically.
But to bring that up now—his words seemed out of place.
Senelia dared not press him, though.
The more she revealed emotion in front of him, the more weakness she showed.
“I hear monsters appeared in the Imperial hunting grounds.”
The hunting grounds were in the mountain just behind the palace.
The area was home to high-level monsters, so it was strictly sealed by magical barriers.
Before the festival, the Imperial Knights were responsible for thinning their numbers to keep the royal family safe.
“So I sent Sir Elian.”
Though Lucalina had long since returned from war, Clifde had never disbanded the army she fought in.
Thus, all those knights still belonged to the Crown.
Senelia realized—he had been waiting for this very moment.
“But of all things—the entrance to the mana cavern collapsed, trapping him inside.”
Clifde’s tone was feigned nonchalance.
Senelia’s face stiffened.
A mana cavern.
A cave filled with stones that were crystallized mana itself.
Mana stones were unbelievably hard and temperamental—ordinary swordsmen or mages could not manipulate them.
For the entrance to collapse? Impossible, unless deliberately engineered.
Even Imperial mages would need days to prepare such a thing.
Senelia’s eyes snapped toward Clifde.
The instant their gazes met, he smiled.
Her strength nearly left her body, but she forced herself to endure.
Just when… when did he begin planning this…?
Her head swam.
If the cavern walls were of mana stone, then of course the fallen rubble was as well.
Clearing such rock required not just advanced magic or aura, but exquisite control.
Otherwise, the cavern would collapse further.
That meant—the only one capable of saving Lucalina was Venerucia, a Sword Master.
But even he would need time to break through.
So, to save her quickly, Venerucia must have forced a way inside.
And that was when Clifde struck again, triggering another collapse.
Worse, mana caverns absorbed surrounding mana and condensed it within, halving the strength of anyone inside.
So even Sword Masters like Venerucia or Lucalina couldn’t respond to a sudden cave-in.
At best, they had only fainted.
“I thought of something—since Venerucia and Lucalina were destined anyway, why not kill them both and be done with it?”
Clifde gave her no room to think.
If given time, Venerucia and Lucalina could free themselves.
But they were wedged in tight spaces, with little air.
By the time they awoke, oxygen would already be scarce.
And both were bleeding besides.
“So then, Seli—wouldn’t you finally be free?”
He spoke as though granting her mercy.
Ha. Senelia nearly laughed aloud.
Free?
As if Clifde would ever release her, the thorn of Cloracaeon, simply because Venerucia was gone.
What a ridiculous lie.
She was not foolish enough to believe it.
And more than that… she could never let Venerucia die.
“…What is it you want me to do?”
At last, Senelia asked.
