Haa, haa……

Before the blue dawn of the early morning had faded away, deep breaths echoed within Reynold’s room in the palace.

His ribs might have been dislocated when he was assaulted by that bastard last night, whether he was Duke Millay or Crown Prince Raines, making it uncomfortable to breathe.

However, Reynold couldn’t tell anyone about his condition and secretly returned at night, shedding tears of pain and humiliation.

Pretending to be a grieving fiancé, whether Layla lives or dies?

What’s the point of all that?

When he’s about to die right now.

Moreover, the contract he wrote under Millay’s threat was the real problem. He didn’t know what he would do with it, but it would certainly be something detrimental to him.

Click, click.

An unpleasant sound began to come from between Reynold’s teeth. Without realizing it, he started flicking his fingernails against his teeth due to anxiety.

Then, looking at his damaged right index finger, he bit his lips anxiously and thought,

‘Should I cancel the engagement for now after all…?’

Although he had told them to calm Layla’s lady-in-waiting, who was making a fuss outside looking for the princess, the fact that she had disappeared would quickly spread here and there anyway.

Fortunately, there were only about 5 hours left until the engagement ceremony. It wasn’t too late to cancel before the preparation staff barged into the room.

Either way, if it’s going to be a disgrace, it would be better to make Layla out to be the one to kill and declare the engagement broken off from his side first.

If he says Millay took Layla away, it will hurt his pride, but who would point fingers at him?

“…Right.”

Come to think of it, why couldn’t he think of this until now?

It seemed his head hadn’t been working properly since Millay had his way with him.

If he tells the story that way, Millay would never be able to set foot in the palace again. Then the contract would be useless too.

Reynold’s expression brightened. But before he could let out a laugh, he groaned in pain as his ribs were stabbed.

“Ugh, urgh, hah…”

Anyway, he urgently called the attendant outside to give the order to announce the broken engagement.

“George, George!”

Perhaps because it was early in the morning before dawn, or perhaps because it was unexpected for Reynold to be awake until this dawn, George’s response was slow.

“George!”

Only after a sharp and irritable voice rang out again did George rush in, opening the door.

Unlike someone waiting right in front, he was holding a lamp. He hurriedly bowed his head in front of Reynold.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Haa, ha. Reynold exhaled heavily and got straight to the point without even asking about the situation.

“I think I’ll have to tell His Majesty to postpone the engagement ceremony or break it off after all.”

“Pardon? What’s this all of a sudden…?”

As George immediately made a troubled expression, Reynold rather gave him a look as if to ask why he was acting like that.

“What, is there a problem? It’s only natural since Princess Layla Wessex is not in the palace.”

As a Filmer, Layla was almost the only link to the Wessex Kingdom, so the king considered their marriage quite important.

However, Layla was only half-useful anyway, and that’s why she was marrying him, the 7th prince, in a suitable manner. If he uses Layla’s disappearance as an excuse to break off the engagement and tells them to present another princess, that’s it.

While he was thinking so lightly of it, George still couldn’t relax his expression and replied.

“Ah, yes, it’s true that she’s not in the palace, but…”

“It’s true, but? Is there anything new besides that?”

“Duke Millay…”

Reynold, who was urging him to get to the point out of frustration, thought it was already over the moment he heard the subject.

He felt the sensation of his heart dropping with just that one word.

What else did that bastard say?

Reynold swallowed the fierce curses that were about to burst out and listened to his attendant’s words until the end.

“On the way out of the castle, he found a lady collapsed and thought it would be improper to just pass by, so he took her into the carriage for now.”

“And it turned out to be the Wessex princess, is that the kind of bullshit?”

Reynold’s usual speech and behavior were not particularly gentle, but his tone was as fierce as a fighting dog ready to tear off a neck at any moment.

The attendant was flustered but gave an affirmative answer for now.

“Ah, yes, that was roughly the gist of it.”

“You stupid bastards! Who the hell fell for such a lie!”

If his attendant had fallen for such a strange story, he was going to beat him up. The same went for George in front of his eyes.

But then.

“…I heard Duke Millay’s attendant came and had a direct conversation with His Highness the 1st Prince.”

‘F**k.’

The 1st Prince was someone even Reynold couldn’t mess with carelessly. It was because he was mentioned as the natural candidate to ascend to the throne next.

Now, putting aside the struggle for the throne, all the princes were trying to curry favor with him in order not to be purged when he ascended to the throne.

Even Reynold couldn’t argue with him. In the end, Reynold only glared at his innocent attendant, gritting his molars.

The attendant, not knowing why he was acting like this, looked perplexed but continued.

“So we decided to personally pick her up 2 hours before the engagement ceremony.”

“…What’s Layla’s condition?”

“She fainted and was in such a terrible state that considering the princess’s dignity, they couldn’t bear to put her back in the carriage and move her again. They said it would be better to let her rest at Duke Millay’s residence before escorting her, but even the 1st Prince said it was strange to host her at his own residence, but what can we do?”

“…”

What the hell is Millay?

With this, the broken engagement with Layla was as good as gone. Reynold clenched his fists tightly.

‘Should I say that guy Millay is a crazy bastard after all?’

He thought that for a moment. But to do that, he would have to let everyone know what kind of person Millay was.

That Duke Millay from Halkyn was actually the Crown Prince of Halkyn, Adrian Raines.

However, if he revealed that, he felt like he would be treated as a madman instead. Even he didn’t believe it until he saw Millay’s abilities, despite hearing it directly from Millay’s mouth.

No matter what tricks he used, his outward appearance was completely different for now.

When Crown Prince Adrian Raines officially visited Filmer a few years ago, Reynold had also seen him.

Silver hair and violet eyes.

The shape of his face was also clearly different from the current Millay’s. It might be because he had been through something, but Millay looked relatively thin and cunning.

On the other hand, the Raines Crown Prince looked like a righteous and exemplary man at a glance, with thick features and a handsome face. He was straight without a single twist, with a glamorous impression that immediately drew the eye.

Not only that. It could be because it was winter and he was wearing thick clothes and a cloak, but he looked much larger in stature at the time.

‘I think his voice was different too.’

So he kept getting confused even when he was right in front of him.

Even if he somehow reveals that he is the Crown Prince of Halkyn, it’s still a problem. The king and the 1st Prince would obviously bow and scrape, saying they couldn’t recognize the distinguished guest earlier.

That’s how absolute Halkyn’s influence was on the Damburnant Continent. If they put their minds to it, a small country like Filmer could be turned into a wasteland in just a few days.

Moreover, Filmer relied on Halkyn’s help in quite a few areas.

A prime example was the Halkyn soldiers who were protecting them from the threat of monster-infested areas in the northwest. The Kingdom of Filmer alone could not face all the dangers of Damburnant with its own strength.

So no matter what he had been through, neither the king nor the princes would ever take Reynold’s side.

There was one more problem.

Reynold remembered the murderous intent that he had felt so vividly that his bones ached the moment he faced him, and his hands trembled.

That bastard’s eyes were real.

If he had resisted more, wouldn’t he really have tried to kill him on the spot?

‘Seeing how he’s tightening the reins this much, it’s clear he likes that bitch Layla.’

He thought about whether there was really no way to use this, but Reynold shook his head.

“George…”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

With his attendant in front of him, he finally returned to square one after pondering this and that. His place was the reality that no matter how much he racked his brain, he was in the palm of his hand.

How could he deal with a monster like Adrian Raines?

It was obvious that he would be pushed back both politically and in terms of power.

It was frustrating, but for now, it was right to stay crushed.

“I fell down the stairs while going to look for Layla. I need urgent treatment, so call the court physician before dawn…”

For him, who had spent the night in pain, this was the best judgment he could make.

When Layla returns, he would have to vow to take care of her.

As long as Millay was watching with those blue eyes, if he didn’t, tomorrow the building might really collapse and the spire at the top might be stabbed into his stomach.

Having confirmed the powerful psychokinetic ability to shake buildings with his own eyes, he had no choice but to submit.

But even if he did that, what scared Reynold the most was that he didn’t know if Millay would be satisfied.

After all, the final authority on what to do with him and Filmer was in his hands.