Secret Private Life of the Villainous Grand Duke - Chapter 78

“Because there’s a risk of pregnancy.”

Benjamin replied with a gruff voice as he adjusted his trousers. The regret was immense after the pleasure had passed and the excitement had died down.

To do it with someone who was neither a spouse nor a lover. Had he been bewitched? It was something his values couldn’t accept.

“It would have been fine…”

Muttering so, Lily lay sprawled on the floor and chuckled, which made Benjamin cover his face with his hand, finding her cuteness overwhelming.

“Do you want to go again…?”

“No, we cannot.”

He should have never let that happen again. He had been with the woman of his lord, and in a place as sacred as the library. Benjamin put his hand under his glasses and swept his eyes.

“You’re so prickly. So strict.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And that’s why I like you… Benjamin.”

Lily’s giggling form made Benjamin’s face, ears, and neck flush red.

He thought to himself, not to react to every trick played by such a wayward woman. How disgraceful…

“Are you leaving…? To work?”

“…”

He honestly didn’t want to leave. He wanted to spend the day falling for Lily’s antics, pretending to be helpless against her.

“Just… take care of yourself. This place is frequented by others as well…”

Though he said others frequented the place, in truth, no one came there besides Benjamin, who was engrossed in his books. No one in the palace used the library except him.

“Thank you for worrying… Ah, you’re so cute, Benjamin.”

“Today was a… mistake. Such a thing will not happen again, so please refrain.”

With a cold glance at Lily, he quickly left the library before his face heated up again.

His request for her to refrain from temptations was contradictory. It meant that he wasn’t confident in his self-control, even as he believed he was.

Lily chuckled softly, remembering the prickly man with whom she had just had sex with. Her playful expression seemed to ask:

If I don’t hold back, will you fall for it again, Benjamin?

* * *

Lily, having been with both Matthias and Benjamin in the palace, returned to her mansion satisfied. A sweet hormone that brought joy filled her completely.

“Miss… your shoes…”

“Ah, my feet hurt too much to wear them.”

Her voice was cheerful, almost singing. The butler looked at her worriedly. She didn’t seem drunk, but her elated demeanor was noticeable.

It was strange not to worry about Lily returning barefoot, especially since she was bandaged and had not worn shoes, even though she had taken a carriage.

“What exactly happened at the palace?”

“Nothing much. But I’m a bit hungry…”

That was music to the butler’s ears. Mediating between Lily, who often skipped meals, and Count Ravenas, who wouldn’t tolerate such behavior, was no easy task.

“I’ll prepare the meal.”

Meatballs made with fresh high-quality beef, beet potage, finely minced pork, a colorful marzipan-topped lemon pie, and rotelle pasta generously topped with red sauce.

Lily entered the small dining room and was surprised to see a lavish dinner spread out on the table. It was clearly too much for one person to eat.

She didn’t mean to eat all that.

She hoped that today, Count Ravenas would not wander around the mansion unnecessarily. She could already hear his voice chiding her for nibbling at her food.

As Julia drizzled syrup over the pie and caught Lily’s eye, she smiled. Lily returned the smile with a bright one of her own. If she couldn’t eat it all herself, she could share it with someone else.

“Julia.”

“Yes, Miss. Do you need something?”

“It’s too much for me, do you want to join me?”

Julia’s eyes widened for a moment before curving into a smile. It seemed the Lily who had been speaking formally or dressing oddly in the past few days, had returned to her usual self.

As a child, Lily often pleaded with Julia, ‘Julia… if I can’t finish this, Father will scold me again… Can you eat with me?’ It was a voice full of entreaty.

Lily’s cute eyes, capable of making anyone, regardless of gender, unable to refuse her, were the same as they had always been.

“Yes, I will.”

Thanks to Julia joining her, Lily could enjoy a bit of everything without feeling overwhelmed and spent a pleasant afternoon soaking in a warm bath.

Meanwhile, Moritz, who had left Lily at the palace with Matthias, was still in a foul mood by the afternoon. Even trying to console himself that Lily was just a pawn in his long game did little to dispel the feeling of having been robbed.

That evening, in the basement of the Kneiss mansion, a violent play unfolded with Moritz and a woman other than Lily.

It was the first time since meeting Lily that he had brought another woman in.

Unable to contain his boiling jealousy, Moritz called his oldest partner, Elma.

In the dimly lit basement filled with lascivious tools, Lady Elma, who was dressed extravagantly, sat waiting on the bed, then smiled at Moritz.

“It’s been a while, Grand Duke. I thought you were completely taken by the Lady of the Ravenas house.”

“I’m not in the mood to talk. Strip, Elma.”

There was not a trace of a smile on his handsome face. While his partner Elma undressed, Moritz walked to the wall to pick up a whip made of twenty thin leather straps.

“What was the safe word again?”

His green eyes appeared almost brown in the darkness. Elma knelt naked before his cold gaze.

“Do we need one?”

“Perhaps.”

Both were well accustomed to such plays and had not used a safe word for a long time. Yet, the mention of needing one implied the play could become dangerously intense.

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