Layla, who had never stayed alone at someone else’s mansion before, didn’t know what to do and couldn’t bring herself to move until the morning sun shone.

The increasingly busy footsteps in the corridor and the fragrant smell of bread wafting from somewhere indicated that the day had begun in the mansion, but she was unsure if it would be presumptuous to go out first and get breakfast.

So she prepared as much as she could in the room and waited. She spread the blanket back on the bed and clumsily tidied her disheveled hair in front of the mirror.

While looking around the room, she found evidence that the original owner of this room was a man. Perhaps overlooked in the rush to tidy up the room, a single cufflink that seemed to have lost its pair was discovered in the dresser drawer.

It was a simple design cufflink with a purple gem embedded.

Layla flinched the moment she saw it.

‘It was Lord Millay’s room.’

At first, she thought it might be Lilburn’s room, but the furniture arrangement was strictly for bedroom purposes only. This meant the room’s owner used multiple rooms in the mansion.

The only person who could do that is the master of the mansion.

She had thought that tidying up the room meant she’d be assigned to the servants’ quarters at best, but realizing this fact made her heart sink.

Upon deeper consideration, this couldn’t be a servant’s room. It’s impossible for a servant to use the same floor as the master.

To miss such an obvious fact.

Layla felt embarrassed at herself. At the same time, she became restless, not knowing how to express her gratitude for Millay’s consideration.

Thinking she should go out first to find Lord Millay and at least verbally thank him, Layla was standing in front of the door when it happened.

As if on cue, there was a knock.

“May I come in, Princess?”

It was Maeve.

Layla answered softly, “Yes.” Maeve, opening the door and seeing her standing right in front, seemed to grasp the situation and drew a smooth smile on her lips.

However, being a maid with years of experience, she didn’t add any words to make the other party uncomfortable and entered the room. Servants were with her.

Layla stepped back a few steps and checked the items the servants were bringing.

“What is… all this?”

It was a casual dress to change into, hair accessories, and makeup tools.

“His Lordship ordered us to take special care of you since the Princess’s dress was ruined, so we hurriedly prepared these things.”

After finishing her words, Maeve led Layla, who hadn’t yet grasped the situation, to the dressing table.

Then, the servants who had gathered busily around her put down the tools nearby, and someone lightly wet Layla’s hair and started untangling the knotted parts.

Bewildered by the suddenly started work, Layla asked anyway.

“Did you prepare this urgently at dawn because of me?”

“We did prepare a few things urgently, but it wasn’t a big deal.”

Skilled hands helped Layla change clothes.

A light open-shoulder dress suitable for spring was put on her body, and once the collar was adjusted, Layla was seated in a chair by Maeve.

The process continued rapidly after that. Her curly hair was gathered up in a round shape, and a butterfly-shaped hair ornament with dangling beads was attached. Then Maeve personally picked up a necklace from among the items the servants had brought and put it around her neck.

The platinum necklace with a diamond in the center dispersed light in various angles as it caught the morning sunlight, sparkling beautifully like the glare on a river’s surface.

The process continued to flow dizzyingly. Someone applied powder to Layla’s face, someone lightly fastened a bracelet…

While adorning her, the servants kept uttering embarrassing exclamations of “pretty” and “beautiful,” completely transforming Layla in less than 30 minutes.

The disheveledness from just waking up had completely disappeared.

Although it was something she had experienced countless times at Wessex Palace, it was something she never thought would happen at Millay’s mansion.

But before Layla could express her amazement, Maeve stood beside her and gestured towards the door.

“Then, shall we go for breakfast? His Lordship is waiting.”

Since she had entered the mansion only in the evening when the sun had already set yesterday, she had only thought it was unexpectedly large for a temporary residence, but coming out during the day, it looked different again.

Layla followed Maeve’s kind guidance, holding her hand and slowly descending the stairs leading to the first floor.

After passing through the hall, which was so clean it seemed like she might slip, Layla headed towards the dining room where Millay was said to be waiting.

As she approached, the bread smell that had been faintly wafting from somewhere since morning became stronger.

And she caught sight of Millay through the gap as the door was opening.

True to the words that he was waiting, Millay was sitting at the table brightly lit by sunlight, looking extremely bored, without touching the food.

However, as soon as he raised his head at the sound and turned his eyes towards the opening door, seeing Layla who came with Maeve, he immediately changed his expression.

As he stood up, Millay bloomed a bright smile on his lips as if flowering.

“You’ve come, Princess.”

A very dramatic change that occurred while opening the door.

Seeing his withered face softening gently as soon as he saw her, Layla was inwardly surprised and froze.

That reflexive reaction just now didn’t seem to be feigned.

In the meantime, only Maeve remained inside as the door closed, and Millay strode forward to escort her despite the short distance.

“Let me guide you to your seat. Your hand.”

As she placed her hand on his outstretched hand, Layla looked up at him intently.

Perhaps she stared too piercingly. Millay asked her a question while moving.

“Is there something strange on my face?”

Layla took a breath as she sat down in the chair following his gesture. And she asked him as he took his seat across from her, rounding the corner of the table.

“Marquis, are you really… helping me with pure intentions?”

In fact, what she really wanted to ask was something else.

‘Do you, perhaps, like me?’

Of course, it was something she could never ask, or rather, shouldn’t ask, so she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Unaware of her inner thoughts, Millay let out a deflated laugh as he sat in his seat.

“That sounds like you’re saying I don’t look that kind. Is that right?”

“Of course not… That’s not it.”

As Layla quickly shook her head and answered, servants brought bread in front of them.

It was bread so freshly baked that steam was rising. As she felt the warmth along with the fragrant smell of bread, Layla momentarily forgot about the conversation and looked down at it.

A golden-brown morning roll was placed on the plate along with what appeared to be slightly crispy bacon, some ham, and cheese.

Whether it was because she was too exhausted last night, or because she woke up smelling bread from the morning, Layla couldn’t help but feel her mouth water the moment she saw it.

As she was swallowing her saliva, Millay, who had been watching with interest, first broke the bread and offered it to her. While doing so, he finally gave an answer to the question Layla had asked earlier.

“The reason for helping the Princess might not stem from pure intentions. I do gain something from it, after all.”

“What would that be?”

Millay chewed on the bread once and then smirked. What came out of his mouth next was something Layla could never have imagined.

“I’m suffering from an incurable disease, Princess.”

Layla, who was following Millay and taking a bite of bread, momentarily paused her hand. Her blue eyes trembled.

“What? What do you mean…”

Could he possibly be teasing her?

For a moment, such a thought crossed her mind. Because Millay seemed just calm. He even showed the leisure to take a sip of the sweet juice filled in the glass in front of him. However, the story was quite specific.

“It seems I’ve had the disease for quite some time, but I only became aware of it about 5 months ago. I coughed up blood and was collapsed for several days. Since then, if I overexert myself even a little, extreme pain comes to my body, and I lose control over my body, such as my hands or legs trembling. It’s a more terrible disease than you might think.”

“Ah…”

Hearing about the trembling hands or legs, Layla recalled yesterday. The sight of him trembling even after the building’s vibrations had stopped.

Seeing Layla’s expression as if she had remembered something, Millay smiled faintly and calmly mixed truth and lies in his words.

“And Reynold Filmer has contributed in many ways to exacerbating this disease.”

To be precise, he had already used his power because he was angry at Reynold, and his condition had worsened. But Layla, completely unaware of the circumstances, raised an obvious question.

“I’m very sorry about your health. But… what does that have to do with my engagement?”

“Because I don’t want unnecessary sacrifices. You can think of it as cleaning up around Reynold Filmer.”

Of course, this too was a reversal of cause and effect. It wasn’t about dealing with Reynold while saving Layla, but rather dealing with Reynold and the Filmer Kingdom while saving Layla.

However, it was an abyss that Layla didn’t need to know about anyway.