He Who Covets the Abandoned Bride - Chapter 14

Amidst various thoughts complicating her mind, Layla began turning the pages of the documents.

The report was written in Hankin language. Hankin is used throughout the continent except in a few countries including Fitzroy. As it can be considered the de facto common language of the continent, that point was not an issue at all.

However, it is highly suspicious why the Marquis of Hankin needed a report on the movements of a foreign princess.

‘A spy from a third country?’

This man could be a spy from a completely different country using the identity of a Hankin Empire marquis as a smokescreen…

Then why is he showing such excessive favor towards her? Even at the risk of exposing his own identity.

Due to these various thoughts intertwining, the actual content of the report did not properly register. However, from the middle, she had no choice but to read it seriously.

As expected from hearing the story, it seems her father, the king of Wessex’s judgment, had thoroughly upset Isabella’s mood.

Millay seemed to have made the same judgment.

“……It may sound like speaking ill of my father, but since Wessex has taken the side of the First Prince, there’s a high possibility that the First Princess judged it as interference in internal affairs.”

“If this report is true, then that flow seems correct.”

The Kingdom of Fitzroy was almost the only entity that could be a counterweight to the Hankin Empire, which could be called the current hegemon of the continent.

‘At this rate, our kingdom might perish.’

Even from Layla’s perspective, Wessex did not have a national power solid enough to avoid being swayed by surrounding countries.

In such a situation, her father has practically made the worst move possible. In chess terms, it would be like a blunder.

The result would be an immediate checkmate.

It would become a situation where even the existence of the kingdom would be difficult to ensure.

Layla put down the documents in the corner of the desk and looked at Millay.

“So I need to return to Wessex and inform the royal family of all this.”

“Yes. ……They’ll probably need time to prepare.”

Layla nodded and lowered her eyes. Her eyelids trembled slightly.

But even if she returned to Wessex, could she change the precarious situation? To be honest, she had no confidence in that regard. She couldn’t even guarantee whether her father would believe her words.

It would be fortunate if it ended with him rebuking her, saying it couldn’t be true. Her father might even expel her or imprison her somewhere for the reason that she broke off her engagement with Reynold and returned.

Still, if this matter was true, she couldn’t just sit idly by.

The problem was precisely the part ‘if this matter was true’.

“Can I really trust you, my lord?”

How much should she trust the words of this man who mixes truth and lies when speaking to her?

Millay pointed to the stack of papers Layla had put down and replied leisurely.

“Isn’t it implausible to prepare such a report just to deceive a princess?”

“It’s equally implausible that you’re trying to help me, Lord Millay.”

Shaking her head firmly as she retorted, Layla asked him once again.

“If it’s not out of sympathy, what exactly is your reason for revealing such information to me?”

This time, she really wanted to hear the answer. So she looked at him straight in the eye without averting her gaze.

Millay would have no excuse to evade or avoid anymore. It was time for him to provide an answer to this question in order to persuade Layla.

“……Could it be that you want to use me to block the First Princess of Fitzroy’s path?”

Layla brought up the option that seemed most likely at this point. Millay then let out a laugh that sounded somewhat dejected.

“That’s quite an interesting interpretation. It’s true that I don’t like her.”

As if he didn’t think it was a particularly important part, Millay didn’t bother hiding the fact that he personally knew Isabella. Because of this, Layla became even more wary of him.

She voiced the speculation she had just thought of. Even if it was nonsense, she wanted to confirm it first.

“As I thought, are you a spy?”

“A spy?”

Millay raised his eyebrows. As if he had heard something completely unexpected.

‘Did I guess wrong?’

She thought it was quite a plausible possibility…

But seeing Millay’s reaction, it seemed he was even displeased at the very idea of such a label being attached to him.

Tense, Layla clasped her hands tightly together and looked at him quietly. Millay pressed his fingertips to his temple and shook his head. It looked like a reaction suggesting it was too absurd to even consider.

“Is that how you’ve been thinking of my identity?”

Hearing that question mixed with a sigh, Layla waited for his next words, wondering if not this, then what? However, contradicting his previous reaction, Millay gave an ambiguous answer.

“It’s not entirely wrong. I did come to Filmer with another purpose.”

Of course, for Layla, who couldn’t even imagine that this ‘other purpose’ was related to her, no matter what he said, it only increased her wariness.

“You’re not really a marquis of Hankin, are you? I’ve never even heard of the surname Millay.”

Earlier, he had said he was the son of a rural count’s family. So there was a possibility that she might not have known, but the problem was that the story he told was far too insubstantial.

In fact, hadn’t he skipped over parts in the middle? He even evaded when asked how he had managed it.

Usually, when someone has such a remarkable anecdote, they tend to excitedly talk about what happened even without being asked. From that perspective, it was very strange that there were no details in his words.

“I’m also confused about how much I should trust the words of a suspicious person.”

Layla said as she took a step back from him, but Millay still did not reveal the secret within him satisfactorily.

“I’ve helped the princess twice when she was in difficult situations. Can’t you trust that goodwill?”

This was precisely why Layla couldn’t confidently call him a con man. However, if he was going to be this evasive, even that should rightfully be doubted now.

“I don’t know if that’s real goodwill or not. As you said, you have another reason for coming here.”

“……”

Had she finally hit the mark?

Millay, who had been responding promptly until now, closed his mouth, and a momentary silence fell.

In the dark room where there was nowhere else to look but at each other, the two gazed at one another wordlessly for a while.

Then Layla thought.

‘Again…’

Once more.

That look in his eyes, as if seeing something beyond Layla, appeared again. His eyes were becoming strangely hazy, just like when she had asked if it was sympathy.

“Well then.”

It was when the silence was becoming suffocating. Millay slowly approached Layla.

Tap, tap.

With the low sound of his shoe heels echoing, he soon came close to Layla. His firm and handsome body, properly dressed in a tailored suit of fine cloth, bent flexibly towards her.

Millay’s blue eyes, reflecting the red light of the candle, took on a mysterious air beneath his long eyelashes. Soon, his face came so close it seemed they might touch, and a small voice flowed out as if whispering.

“If I say I fell in love at first sight, would that create plausibility?”

Layla’s shoulders flinched. Her heart began to race.

The man before her was surely speaking falsehoods.

Yet why her heart was pounding at such an absurd story, she did not know.

Was it she who had fallen for him after those two instances of help?

Layla’s pulse grew so strong that the throbbing sound seemed to be right next to her ear.

“At least at the moment you fled the royal palace, you trusted me, which is why the princess is here in this mansion now.”

Layla couldn’t deny Millay’s added words. She only pretended it wasn’t so.

“…That was the best option at the time.”

“Then what is the best option for the princess in the current situation? Isn’t it to believe the fact that I’ve fallen for you?”

“Lord Millay.”

Layla felt, for some reason, that she was being backed into a corner the more the conversation continued. As Millay dug into the flaws in her words, she couldn’t think of how to effectively refute.

But he didn’t wait for Layla to come up with a good direction.

“If you ask me to prove that feeling, I think I could gladly offer you a kiss.”

Layla’s eyes wavered greatly.

As soon as she heard it, her face and the tips of her ears felt as if they were burning up.

“A kiss… you say.”

She hadn’t expected to hear such an explicit word.

Just as she was hoping that the candlelight would hide her embarrassment, Millay gently lifted Layla’s sweat-dampened hand that had been gripping the hem of her dress.

Stopping just before his lips touched her fingertips, he asked.

“Will you give me a chance? Princess Layla Wessex.”

Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman

When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…

One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.

Synopsis

During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.

Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”

Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”

With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.

Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?

He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”

_____

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