Splash, splash.

The boat was swaying slightly to the sound of waves hitting its side.

Layla Wessex, tied up by her hands and feet and thrown into a dark cargo hold as Fitzroy’s slave, was trembling in fear.

“I am Layla Wessex, whom Isabella Fitzroy is looking for.”

It was only a few hours ago.

When Layla, now a princess of the ruined Wessex kingdom and a fugitive slave branded by the hegemonic Fitzroy kingdom of Damvernant, had surrendered after enduring for days.

In a few minutes, she was destined to end her life as a fugitive and become a slave to the princess in Fitzroy.

As Layla’s lips trembled in anticipation of this fate…

Crash!

Suddenly, the boat was violently shaken by a strong force, and a deafening sound echoed as if it would break apart.

And then a familiar voice was heard.

“I found her!”

As soon as she heard it, Layla felt her heart pounding. She knew all too well whose arrival that voice heralded.

‘Did Millay… really come?’

Her heart raced with anticipation.

But not knowing if he could truly overturn her fate as Fitzroy’s slave, soon the gag in Layla’s mouth and the cloth covering her eyes fell away.

For a moment, her eyes were dazzled by the intense lamp light as her vision suddenly cleared, but Layla saw clearly.

The appearance of someone she never expected to see here, standing among the knights.

He was not the Millay she had been waiting for.

But he was someone Layla knew well.

Silver hair and violet eyes.

Discovering that familiar combination, Layla thought to herself:

‘Could this be an illusion?’

Otherwise, that man had no reason to appear here.

Adrian Raines of the Hankin Empire.

And from the moment she recalled that man’s name.

Layla’s heart, which had been racing with anxiety until just now, now fell heavily as if it would stop.

Thump.

Thump.

As if a giant was trampling her heart.

The man who had approached in time with that beat now stood still in front of Layla.

About ten steps.

That was now the distance between Adrian Raines and Layla Wessex.

As soon as the man planted his feet, Layla finally uttered his name aloud at the unbelievable sight.

“Adrian…?”

This name belonged to Adrian Pinter Raines, the crown prince and second-in-command of the Hankin Empire, which now ruled over the Damvernant continent.

Additionally.

“Can you really grant any favor I ask?”

To her words from about 10 years ago.

“Of course, Layla.”

It also belonged to a man who had shown a bright smile but ultimately nearly lost his life.

But the clear and always smiling appearance from his childhood was gone from the man before her eyes.

Now a full adult, he was looking down at her with cool violet eyes.

As Layla’s gaze, blankly looking up at him, turned to his hands tucked into his pants, she naturally came to understand.

That he was indeed ‘that’ Viscount Millay who had helped her break off the engagement with the 7th prince in the Filmer Kingdom.

It was something she had never expected, so Layla let out a voice like a groan.

“H-how.”

Adrian moved his feet again from where he had briefly stopped. And looking down at her, he murmured softly.

“…I barely kept my promise.”

Layla could only look at Adrian with eyes full of confusion.

What promise?

‘Is he talking about the promise with Millay?’

To send her back to her homeland of Wessex…?

Still in confusion, Adrian knelt on one knee.

At this, all the surrounding knights lowered their gazes as if bowing.

As if proving that she had not mistaken the man before her eyes.

Soon, Adrian’s large hand touched Layla’s face.

With an extremely careful touch, as if afraid to hurt her. But when his body heat made contact, Layla began to tremble.

“Millay…?”

Calling out the false name from the past, meaning to ask if he was really that person, Adrian’s eyes turned dark.

“I’m sorry I’m so late, Princess of Wessex.”

“…Why.”

Layla was too shocked to say anything.

Meanwhile Adrian opened his mouth, and words as unreal as his presence flowed from between his lips.

“Shall we make a third deal? I will take the princess and bring her to Hankin. And I will try to save your brothers and sisters as much as possible. In exchange.”

Take her to Hankin… and save her family too.

Her country trampled by the Fitzroy Kingdom. Her siblings within it had all been enslaved by Fitzroy.

Layla herself was about to become an inescapable slave, forced to labor for someone when this boat reached its destination.

Yet here he was, reaching out a hand to help her and her siblings.

None other than the crown prince of a country that had now become her enemy.

But there was nothing Layla could desire more desperately than this sweet fruit he was now offering.

So Layla asked before he could finish speaking.

“…Is there something I need to do?”

He might impose impossible conditions.

Tell her to do something she couldn’t do, or perhaps make her his slave.

Even so, Layla was now fully willing to grab the rope he was lowering, if he would.

Because Adrian Raines was the most likely person who could deal with Isabella Fitzroy, who had ruined her country.

That meant he was her last hope.

“Give up the name of Wessex.”

Layla answered immediately.

“I’ll give it up.”

And so the princess of a fallen country, Layla, became the slave of the Hankin Empire’s crown prince.

* * *

To trace back Layla Wessex’s circumstances, one had to return to a few weeks ago.

It was evening, the location a lavish banquet hall within the royal castle of a small kingdom called Filmer.

Crystal chandeliers intricately cut at various angles brilliantly reflecting light, beautiful melodies echoing beneath them. Couples freely dancing on the dance floor.

Beautiful fresh flowers giving off fragrant scents were arranged on each table, and servants working for the royal family were all mobilized to carry food here and there, adding to the abundance.

Amidst all this, Layla Wessex was neither enjoying the music nor tasting the food, but anxiously clasping her hands placed on her knees. Not making eye contact with anyone and just fidgeting her fingers, she kept reciting a silent mantra to endure the discomfort of this place.

‘Bear it…’

A mantra of patience.

It was a joyous banquet for everyone except Layla alone.

A banquet in the Filmer Kingdom, neighboring her country of Wessex but hardly friendly towards her.

Moreover, it was the eve celebration for her engagement ceremony tomorrow, but the atmosphere here was by no means easy for Layla.

She was attending as the fiancée of the 7th prince, a despised figure who might never succeed to the throne, and who might die in the struggle for succession before then.

But her future husband’s status wasn’t so important.

Layla herself was not a respected existence here.

Seated at a table in the corner, Layla kept her head bowed without taking in the sight of the hall.

Her fiancé, the 7th prince of Filmer Kingdom, Reynold Filmer, after a formal first dance with her, had been thoroughly enjoying the banquet with other noble ladies of the kingdom.

Putting aside his unwanted fiancée, who would bring little benefit even if married, despite it being a political marriage.

Except for her discomfort, the banquet atmosphere was utterly peaceful. Layla once again clenched her hands together and muttered inwardly.

‘I just need to endure.’

Not just now.

She had often faced situations in life where many things could be resolved if only she endured. Even when thrust into them unwillingly, Layla had always fulfilled her role sufficiently.

Wasn’t it through such means that her father had finally established a kingdom…?

The Kingdom of Wessex.

The moment that name was inscribed in history books, her father acted as if he had become the greatest man in the world.

But in reality, the not-so-great first king of Wessex now sought to marry off his daughters to neighboring countries as tokens of friendship to erect pillars of glory to support the kingdom, and five of her sisters were already queens in some neighboring kingdoms.

The reason Layla’s older sisters were so readily welcomed was because of the ability of “Attunement” passed down through their family lineage.

Simply put, the power to control the unique abilities of other power-holders.

Because of that power which people gossiped must have been obtained through God’s special favor.

But Layla, the only one in the family who didn’t inherit that ability, had no choice but to come to this seat with an uncertain future.

Still, there was no room to harbor complaints. Layla Wessex did not have the power to choose her own future.

What good was being a princess? When there was nothing she could do alone.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Wessex did not have the ability to protect her. Far from having such ability, it was in a precarious state that could be torn apart at any moment by the surrounding countries eyeing them.

Only those still like frogs in a well within Wessex, including her father, did not know this yet.

Layla’s slightly moist blue eyes suddenly turned towards her fiancé. And for a moment, they met his fierce eyes directly.

As soon as she saw him, memories of a certain night crept into her mind.

“You wouldn’t want to wear a wedding dress with a full belly, would you, Princess of Wessex?”

“Reynold…”

A few days ago, Layla had come here for today’s banquet.

She had met Reynold on the first day, and that was their first encounter.

She thought his first impression was not good. Those snake-like eyes looked frightening, and the arrow-sharp corners of his lips held cunning.

Thus, she found herself instinctively wary when in front of him, and sure enough, on the second day of arriving in Filmer Kingdom, what she had been worried about happened.

Even before they were married, Reynold arbitrarily dragged Layla to his bedroom.

Throwing her down on the bed, Reynold rummaged through her mouth without consideration and then lifted her dress.

Layla’s face turned bright red, feeling both perplexed and greatly insulted. Reynold licked his own lips and grinned.

“Why are you being so prim? You wouldn’t have lived so chastely with that pretty face, would you?”

Wouldn’t have lived chastely?

Layla was greatly shocked by his words assuming she had naturally been in and out of any bed. At that, she pushed Reynold away and fled out of the bedroom.

She could feel the curious eyes of the palace servants watching her, but at that moment her mind was blank and she had no room to care about anyone’s face.

Thus, unintentionally, the incident became widely gossiped about in the royal palace the next day.

Because of this, Reynold, who was mocked by his brothers for being abandoned by his fiancée, came to Layla in a furious state and hurled verbal abuse.

“Ha, you damn bitch! Do you think your father is a real king and that’s why you’re putting on airs like this? If it weren’t for your family’s ability, you wouldn’t have even dreamed of doing such a thing, right?”

Saying this, he grabbed Layla’s hair and tilted her head back, exposing her snow-white nape. It hurt as if her hair would be pulled out.

But when she realized where his gaze had landed, Layla felt a chill run down her spine and pushed him away once again.

“Stop it!”

But Layla, who had fallen to the floor instead, widened her eyes as she watched Reynold trying to undo the buttons of her clothes.

“You’re just a useless half-breed without any ability anyway. I need to teach you a lesson so you won’t act so arrogant.”

Seeing those vulgar words and actions, Layla felt a familiar fear.

“Useless thing.”

When she was young, if Layla did something wrong, she would be locked up in a dark closet for days, starving and shivering in the cold.

How terrifyingly cold were her father and mother, or the canes they held, when they opened the door and came in afterwards.

The moment she saw Reynold standing in front of her with the backlight behind him, the pain etched into her bones and the fear that accompanied it came rushing back, and Layla couldn’t even breathe as she fled to the corner of the room, trembling.

Ah, please.

Please…

‘Don’t come near.’

She was scared. Terrified.

Reynold’s footsteps seemed to echo thump, thump on the floor. To her, they sounded like a giant’s footsteps. Her heart raced madly under the pressure, and Layla curled up even more.

Just as tears were about to well up in her eyes from the extreme fear.

At the moment Reynold’s hand was about to touch her.

“Your Highness.”

Someone knocked on the door of the guest room where Layla was staying. Reynold responded roughly.

“Who the hell is it?”

“Well, Lord Millay is urgently looking for Your Highness, so he came here…”

“Millay?”

Reynold frowned as he repeated the name. As if annoyed. But perhaps it was someone he couldn’t ignore, as he ran his hand through his hair and opened the door himself.

She could see a man standing at the door along with someone who appeared to be a servant.

The moment Layla was freed from the situation of being alone with him, she let out a sigh of relief, and her eyes met those of the other person who was glancing around the room.

The man named Millay had blue eyes like her.

‘From the Empire…?’

She had heard that there were some people from the Empire in the Filmer Kingdom, and he seemed to be one of them.

Anyway, seeing him, who she presumed to be from the same region, Layla suddenly felt at ease.

But it was when their eyes met.

‘…?’

Realizing that his gaze was very slowly examining her, Layla flinched.

As his steady gaze fell upon her, Layla couldn’t help but wonder.

Could he possibly know who she was?

Layla’s face wasn’t well-known publicly, but he might have guessed because she was with Reynold.

Even considering that, Layla felt a strange familiarity in his lingering gaze and her face clouded with questions.

But as soon as that silent reaction came from her, the man withdrew his gaze.

Then he calmly continued speaking to Reynold.

“Well, about the ship Your Highness wants to purchase… Oh, but is it alright for your fiancée to hear this?”

He had indeed immediately recognized her as the fiancée.

With the room in such a state, he might have quickly guessed the situation. Yet he didn’t hesitate to interrupt Reynold.

The ship talk must have been important, as Reynold let out another deep sigh before turning to leave the room to talk with him.

“Let’s go out.”

Really…?

Was this terrible situation really going to pass just like that?

Hearing the response, the man curved his neat lips upward, lightly paying respect to his choice.

“A wise decision, Your Highness the 7th Prince.”

Click, click, click.

The sound of three sets of footsteps moving away from the room.

Only after that sound had continued for several steps could Layla finally release her held breath. And she tentatively retraced the situation from just moments ago.

‘…What was that?’

Was it her imagination that Millay, that man, seemed to have deliberately intervened at the right moment to help her?

Millay would have just been doing his own business…

She knew this logically. Yet at this moment, Layla was consumed by one thought.

Could he have actually been a savior who came to rescue her?