Benedict's POV
The manor felt different when stripped of its usual occupants.
I had dismissed every Omega for the evening. Even the perimeter guards received orders to patrol the outer boundaries. Tonight, I craved nothing but solitude within these walls. The kind of silence that only came when you controlled every breath taken under your roof.
No shuffling feet echoing from distant corridors. No whispered conversations seeping through doorways. Just me and the hollow vastness of my domain.
Seraphina's absence brought unexpected relief. The child possessed an endless appetite for attention that drained my patience. Daddy here, Daddy there, always demanding responses I rarely felt inclined to give. I cared for her the way one treasures a valuable asset, but tonight I needed freedom from her constant needs.
