A neat and upright posture from behind. We crossed the palace together when fleeing, but unlike Layla, he still appeared completely composed without a trace of dishevelment.

Millay seemed to be having a serious conversation with Lilburn and was not yet aware that Layla had appeared.

However, as they were not yet close enough to call out each other’s names warmly, she hesitated, but Maeve spoke up first from the side.

“Your Excellency, have you returned?”

Only then did Millay and Lilburn turn simultaneously towards where Layla was. Upon seeing her, Lilburn quietly bowed his head and left his place.

“I will go back and rest.”

“Alright.”

At the stiff greetings between the two, Layla unwittingly recalled the thought she had earlier.

‘Could they have fought because of me?’

Lilburn might have been arguing that she should be sent back to the palace immediately.

As her mood, which had lightened while talking with Maeve, was about to become heavy again, Millay approached and lightly commended Maeve.

“Thank you for your attention.”

“Not at all, Your Excellency. Shall I take my leave then?”

“Do so.”

Maeve then led the servants who had been standing at attention behind Lilburn and Millay upstairs.

Feeling awkward about being left alone with Millay, Layla followed them with her eyes as they disappeared. But she had to quickly shift her attention when Millay addressed her.

“Shall we go to your room now, Princess?”

As he extended his hand, Layla nodded and placed her hand on his.

Thanks to a fireplace burning on one side and lights well-lit throughout the room, the inside was bright.

Millay, seemingly having something urgent to say, closed the door and first seated Layla at the table in the center of the room. However, it was Layla who spoke first.

“Did your business go well?”

She had asked out of concern that something might have gone wrong because of her, but Millay even gave a small smile as if to reassure her.

“Of course. It would not be wrong to say that half of what I needed to do in this country has progressed.”

Then, as if intentionally trying to keep his distance from Layla, he pulled his chair far back before sitting.

Layla perceived this not as an expression of awkwardness but as a signal to be at ease. She thought he might be considering the fact that only a man and a woman were in the room.

“Was the thing you were going to do perhaps…”

“I was trying to sell an expensive piece of useless metal to the 7th Prince. Of course, that’s not the completion of my plan.”

“I see.”

Layla could roughly guess that he was talking about ships.

But what could be the additional plan?

She was curious but could tell that it was not a topic she should inquire about. Millay’s manner of speaking was quite defensive.

And in fact, there was a more important conversation to be had. Layla, nervous about how Millay would react, spoke up.

“I think I should return to the palace now.”

“Why is that?”

Millay responded immediately, without even taking time to think. Layla met his eyes. Somehow, his attitude suggested that her presence here was not such a big issue.

Layla, who had thought there was no need to explain the reason, was a bit taken aback when Millay demanded it.

“There’s the engagement ceremony tomorrow… People at the palace will probably be looking for me. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them that the Marquis took me out.”

While she spoke, Millay stared intently at Layla. It felt almost burdensome.

“If I say I accidentally went outside the palace while running away in fear…”

“Then are you planning to go back with your shoes off and all your clothes’ strings untied?”

She flinched at the sudden question. It stung because she had been considering doing exactly as Millay said.

Seeing Layla unable to answer while gently lowering her gaze, Millay quickly grasped the meaning.

“I see that was the plan.”

“Lord Millay, but…”

Just as she was about to say that realistically, escape was too difficult for her, there was a sound of a chair being pushed back, and Layla looked up.

Millay, who had been keeping his distance, approached her and extended his hand. Layla blinked, not understanding the meaning of this action, but eventually placed her hand on his.

Millay slowly stepped backward, naturally helping Layla to her feet.

“Don’t worry, I was planning to escort you back to the palace for the engagement ceremony tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

He meant to go when day breaks. Wouldn’t that be too late?

As she was worrying about this, Millay nodded and this time made a gesture of slightly pulling Layla’s hand.

Sensing that he was asking if she could come closer, Layla took another step forward, and he smiled with his eyes. It was a very charming smile.

“That’s why I came to prepare for the engagement ceremony. Otherwise, why would I be standing in front of a lady’s room at night?”

“Prepare for the engagement ceremony…”

As Layla trailed off, Millay moved to her side and raised her hand that he was holding. As if escorting her.

“How fast we should walk when entering together.”

He then took a step forward, and Layla, caught off guard, also took a step forward before asking in surprise.

“We’re entering together?”

Millay met Layla’s widened eyes with a gentle gaze.

“Running away is originally more troublesome for the other party when done from the front, not from behind.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Millay spoke so calmly that if one heard wrong, they might think it was really no big deal. However, it was by no means an insignificant matter.

Unable to continue speaking, Layla stared up at him intently, as if to ask what he was thinking.

“I will return the Princess to Wessex.”

Hearing Millay’s words, Layla froze with her mouth open. In short, it was no different from saying he would help her break off the engagement.

With his power.

‘Just who is this person?’

An ordinary marquis couldn’t casually say such things.

Breaking off a marriage between a princess and a prince of a third country. Could he be an influential figure in the empire that she didn’t know about?

Even so, it’s still beyond the scope of what can be considered within a marquis’s position. Clumsy intervention would undoubtedly escalate into an international dispute.

However, it wasn’t him but Reynold who informed her that he was a marquis. Reynold had no reason to lie about this.

Then it could be that he’s hiding it even from Reynold.

“…Who are you really? Are you perhaps a prince from another country?”

A prince from a great nation. For example, from Fitzroy?

However, the man before her clearly looked different from the 1st Prince there, and possessed all the characteristics of a person from the Hankin Empire.

Of course, if even this was a disguise, there’s nothing more to say.

“Didn’t you hear from the 7th Prince? I’m a marquis from Hankin.”

“……”

Layla, thinking she wouldn’t get a meaningful answer, changed her question.

“Then was that proposal just now out of pity for me?”

“…Pity, you say.”

Millay narrowed his eyes, mulling over the word she chose. His gaze, looking down at Layla, suddenly began to intensify.

Noticing his blue eyes losing focus, Layla felt she somewhat understood what his emotion was.

Longing.

She didn’t know if it was longing for someone, but just as she occasionally overlapped Adrian with him, it seemed he too was overlapping someone with her.

If not that, there was no explanation for this situation and expression.

However, Millay’s lips calmly recited a lie.

“Unfortunately, I’m not leisurely enough to feel pity watching others cry.”

“Then are you perhaps seeing someone else in me?”

“How could that be? How dare I compare the Princess to anyone else. I’m just…”

As he spoke, Millay pulled Layla’s slender waist into an embrace. In an instant, the distance between them closed.

“Maybe I just want to practice dancing.”

“My lord…”

It was a humorless joke in a serious situation.

Layla felt dejected, but her counterpart didn’t seem to feel the same. Moreover, Millay pretended to be truly serious.

“If we enter the engagement ceremony venue together in front of everyone, and then I take the Princess’s hand and run away, people might even applaud the drama unfolding before their eyes.”

“I don’t like such low-grade jokes. This clearly isn’t where I should be, so I’d appreciate it if you’d let me go now.”

Before something bigger happens.

In fact, Layla didn’t want him to get involved and hurt because of her.

However, Millay instead brought his face close, and with a strong hand, gently grasped Layla’s chin and pulled it towards him.

“What if it’s not a joke? What if I could really help you escape?”

“……”

“Will you trust me and follow me?”

As their breaths began to overlap, Layla’s pupils shook greatly. His face was too, really excessively… close.

“My lord, just who…”

…are you?

She tried to ask a question instead of answering, but those words were cut off.

Layla’s body was suddenly pulled by a strong force.