Having confirmed everything he wanted to check, Benjamin walked to the Chelsea Center.

Everyone who encountered him inside the Center either flinched in surprise or froze.

“My goodness. Benjamin is smiling.”

“Wow….. How can a person be so beautiful?”

Everyone, regardless of age or gender, stared at Benjamin’s smiling face in a daze.

His face, graced with that rare smile, was so beautiful that once you looked, you couldn’t help but keep staring as if admiring art.

People enchanted by Benjamin all made the same assumption.

‘He must be happy because Diana’s incarnation has appeared.’

Diana’s incarnation, or rather Olivia, who resembled her, had caught the attention of everyone in the Center, including the three men.

Thus, various speculations and opinions about them were rampant.

Among them, the most credible prediction was that the three men would become obsessed with Olivia.

Sure enough, the three men followed Olivia around almost daily.

Some even placed bets on which of the three men Olivia would favor most.

Benjamin was receiving the most votes.

Despite such interest, no one dared to ask the three men directly what they thought of Olivia.

While everyone was just observing, one woman courageously approached Benjamin.

“Benjamin, you’re late returning.”

It was Rosie who spoke to him as if it were natural.

She had been staying at the Center after hearing that Benjamin had been appearing there frequently lately.

Benjamin glanced down at her and responded halfheartedly.

“Yeah.”

“Did you perhaps stop somewhere else?”

“Am I obligated to answer you, my lady?”

“……No, you’re not. Then let me ask something else.”

“……”

“You’re not smiling because of Olivia right now, are you?”

Everyone who had been eavesdropping on their conversation while pretending not to swallowed hard at Rosie’s direct question.

‘To ask so bluntly, Lady Rosie is indeed remarkable.’

As an interesting situation unfolded, everyone stopped in their tracks to wait for Benjamin’s answer.

The smile on Benjamin’s lips disappeared. His atmosphere turned cold in an instant.

Nevertheless, Rosie’s eyes looked up at Benjamin with determination.

To Rosie, Benjamin’s cold demeanor was more familiar than his unhinged-looking smile.

She had long grown accustomed to enduring his coldness.

The air between them grew tense. In this powder keg of a situation, Benjamin’s chin lifted slightly.

“Shut up. Don’t carelessly guess the reasons for my mood.”

“B-but…!”

“Are you stupid, my lady? Or do you just have a poor memory?”

“……”

“I told you not to act on your own. Don’t speak carelessly.”

“I’m sorry……”

“If you want to hover around me, only do things that please me.”

“……”

Benjamin heaved a deep sigh and walked past Rosie. Then, Rosie bit her lower lip firmly and followed him, as if unwilling to give up.

Finally, Rosie grabbed Benjamin’s hem as he tried to move away from her, stopping him.

“I won’t talk about other women.”

“……”

“There will be fireworks soon. It’s the Foundation Day festival. Would you… please watch them with me?”

The answer to her carefully made suggestion came immediately.

“Sorry, but I hate noisy things.”

The rejection didn’t end there. Benjamin lowered his head and whispered softly in Rosie’s ear.

“That’s probably why I dislike you. Because you’re noisy.”

Rosie’s face crumpled miserably. She naturally let go of Benjamin’s collar and clenched both hands into fists.

An overwhelming sense of shame and humiliation swept over her, making her face feel hot.

But what angered her most was that she couldn’t immediately hate the person who made her feel such devastating emotions.

Rather than hatred, her desire to possess him grew even stronger than before.

She wanted to grab that seemingly unbreakable man in her grasp and crumple him up completely.

How joyful would it be to see Benjamin’s distorted expression.

Thus left standing alone, Rosie began walking somewhere.

Her steps had a clear destination.

Meanwhile, Benjamin, continuing on his way, recalled Olivia whom he had left at the battlefield through his conversation with Rosie.

‘Olivia Gale…..’

The woman who resembled Diana enough to make Rosie jealously stupid.

When he first saw Olivia, he too thought Diana had returned to life.

That’s why he thought he had to have her no matter what.

Regardless of what Olivia thought or who she loved, he had to keep her by his side.

After returning to the Center, he stuck close to Olivia, monitoring her every move.

Though he wanted to use his ducal powers to practically kidnap her to his residence, what little reason remained made him postpone it.

Benjamin orbited around Olivia like air, trying to do with her all the things he had wanted to do with Diana.

First, he wanted to make eye contact.

He wanted to meet the eyes of a living Diana and appreciate their reflections in each other’s pupils like before.

So he tried crossing gazes with Olivia, but…

Strangely, he felt nothing significant.

“I’m not Diana, Benjamin.”

Perhaps it was because Olivia had pointed out the truth so precisely.

Still, unwilling to back down, he forcefully grabbed her hand.

The response he received was rather excessive.

Olivia pulled her hand away and slapped his cheek. Quite firmly, enough to make a loud sound.

Baron, who was present, made a fuss as if he himself had been slapped.

“Benjamin! You insufferable fool! How dare you grab a lady’s hand so carelessly. You deserve that slap and have no right to complain.”

“If you say anything to Olivia, I won’t let you off either, eh?”

What an idiot… Benjamin merely glared at Baron, not even bothering to curse at him.

The cheek Olivia had slapped neither stung nor bothered him. Thus, he naturally had no intention of taking out his anger on her.

He didn’t want to say anything ridiculous like ‘You’re the first woman to slap me…’

Such words were for dimwits like Baron.

Rather, he felt mentally refreshed.

Even the strong desire he had felt when first meeting Olivia seemed to have faded.

As he fully regained his senses, he remembered what he had been passionately pursuing before Olivia’s appearance.

‘Finding the missing ugly doll.’

Instead, that pursuit seemed to maintain his interest for quite a long time.

Why?

Was it because Yerena wasn’t anyone’s substitute or replacement, but rather like a cute little animal, alive and responsive to his words?

It was while harboring such doubts that he discovered the log cabin.

After this brief reminiscence, Benjamin entered the Knights’ Room in the Center and sat down on the sofa, almost lying down.

Soon after, as he ran his hands over his face as if washing it, rough words flowed from his lips.

“I feel like sh*t…”

He was dissatisfied with the reality of not feeling happy despite finding a woman who seemed like Diana’s incarnation.

He wasn’t pleased with himself for casting aside Olivia and searching for Yerena.

He couldn’t believe he had laughed like a madman when he became certain of Yerena’s survival.

It was a series of actions unlike himself in many ways.

Having lived with consistent beliefs until now, he couldn’t help but be sensitive to sudden changes.

He couldn’t even gauge whether these changes were flowing in a positive direction.

Just then, something went boom-boom from the open window.

Outside, the fireworks that Rosie had asked him to watch were in full swing.

In the darkness, Benjamin’s face, illuminated by the fireworks, glowed grimly.

“Yerena. Are you somewhere hidden, watching the same thing as me?”

Suddenly… truly suddenly, he found himself wanting to watch them with her.

Despite never having desired romance even once in his life.