He Who Covets the Abandoned Bride (10 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 52

Leaving the reception room door open, a certain Crown Prince’s remark—“three years”—quickly reached throughout the Imperial Capital and, beyond the city walls, even reached the ears of the nobles.

And after circulating here and there, the news eventually crossed back into the Crown Prince’s palace, where Laila also heard it.

It happened while maids, pinching their noses and complaining about the smell, were scrubbing Laila clean after she’d spent the day wandering all over the Imperial Capital doing unpleasant chores and getting thoroughly dirty.

One of the maids, upon hearing the “three years” remark, spoke in a slightly uneasy voice.

“…What if Princess Fitzroy gets furious and invades Harkin herself?”

“That’s absurd. Do you think we’re Wessex or something… Oh.”

At the mention of Wessex, the maid instinctively glanced once at Laila.

By now, no one within Harkin’s Imperial Capital was unaware that Laila, though fallen from grace, was the princess of Wessex. In fact, even expanding that knowledge to the entire Dominion wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Yet Laila showed no particular reaction and silently endured the maid carelessly splashing water over her head.

She didn’t just hear it from the maids—Laila occasionally overheard mentions of Wessex from others as well.

Most directly, of course, had been the Emperor himself not long ago.

〈Wouldn’t four men need to produce a useful heir?〉

And beyond those words surely lay stories she ought to know but didn’t wish to imagine.

Just recalling it made Laila’s chest ache again.

Even so, she thought her treatment here was relatively decent. She didn’t know why Adrian treated her this way, but he had shown her leniency at least, and though she’d been nervous about becoming his concubine, he hadn’t sent her off to anyone else.

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