Reynold was momentarily stunned by the situation unfolding before his eyes. He had no idea how that ended up in the hands of the First Prince.

It was the contract that he and Millay had written together. But somehow it had unexpectedly made its way to the First Prince.

“How did that end up in your hands, elder brother…?”

As he spoke, Reynold recalled what the chamberlain had told him at dawn and felt the muscles in his jaw stiffen.

His mouth refused to move.

That must have been when the contact happened.

It seemed Millay had not returned straight to his residence after making a fool out of Reynold at dawn.

Reynold’s face turned pale as he momentarily glanced at Millay. The blue eyes looking at him were filled with composure.

But was it just composure?

Those eyes were saying,

‘You’re finished.’

Sweat trickled down Reynold’s back. As he floundered, not knowing how to overcome this predicament, the First Prince stepped forward to face him.

The First Prince, as if protecting Layla, moved her behind him and spoke to Reynold.

“Reynold, as you know, the alliance with Wessex is quite important to us as well. But to treat the princess in this manner…”

Have you gone mad?

Although he didn’t say it out loud, the First Prince’s eyes conveyed that message. Reynold looked around at this.

The people who had merely looked on with curiosity when Layla said she had a confession to make now seemed to think something was amiss when the First Prince intervened.

Feeling the sharp gazes directed at him, Reynold froze.

‘What did that bastard say?’

The problem was that he couldn’t even make excuses because he didn’t know what trap he had fallen into. But he had to say something, so he opened his mouth.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but Princess Layla Wessex and Marquis Millay are lying. The two of them… must have conspired together.”

As Millay’s name was mentioned, the attending nobles began to look around, wondering who he was, and the First Prince also turned to look at Millay.

Millay then pushed back his chair and stood up, pointing to himself and tilting his head.

“Your Highness, I am deeply perplexed that you have suddenly made me out to be a liar. If you tell me what lies I have supposedly told, I will clarify them immediately.”

“…”

“If you are referring to that contract, wasn’t it clearly the Seventh Prince who wrote it yesterday? You even bit your own finger to stamp it with blood.”

Reynold flinched. As Millay said, there was a mark on his right index finger where it had been treated.

As the atmosphere at the engagement ceremony grew increasingly chaotic, the King of Filmer finally rose, drawing everyone’s attention to one place.

“Now, everyone quiet down.”

He then strode up to the central platform.

Layla, Reynold, and even the First Prince, who had stepped forward, looked up at the king from below the platform.

The King of Filmer looked at Millay and requested that he also come forward.

“Marquis Millay of Harkin, as a key figure in this matter, please come forward as well.”

Lilburn beside him seemed to frown slightly in dissatisfaction, but Millay moved to where they were, as the king had instructed.

The king first turned to Layla and asked,

“Now, esteemed Princess of Wessex. Please elaborate on what you just said.”

At this, Layla took a deep breath. She deliberately avoided looking at either Millay or Reynold. She felt that if she looked at either of them, she might reveal her own agitation.

“Your Majesty, the revered King of Filmer.”

She took a step forward and began to speak.

“Reynold Filmer, the Seventh Prince of your country, has attempted to rape me, the Princess of Wessex, on multiple occasions, not only last night but even before we were married. And yesterday, he forced me to go to Marquis Millay here and fulfill my duties as his future wife.”

Perhaps because she had channeled all her tension into this moment before entering the engagement hall, she now felt quite calm.

However, upon hearing her words, Reynold immediately tried to refute them.

“No, no, Your Majesty. I have not actually laid a finger on the Princess of Wessex. And sending her to Marquis Millay… What nonsense is this, Layla? How can you falsely accuse me like this?”

Even if it had only been an attempt, Reynold firmly denied the act he had actually intended to commit.

He thought Layla’s claim was too outrageous, considering they had not actually spent the night together.

But the problem was that the three people standing next to each other were not all on his side.

After hearing Reynold’s words, Millay twisted his lips into a smile, took a step forward, and began to actively side with Layla.

“Your Majesty, I personally witnessed one instance where Princess Layla Wessex was nearly raped. And it wasn’t just me present at the scene, but also the Seventh Prince’s chamberlains. Fortunately, with the First Prince’s help, we found out who those witnesses were.”

At these words, the king’s gaze toward Reynold cooled. But nothing was confirmed yet, so he did not add any lengthy remarks.

“…Is that so?”

At the indirect request to bring those chamberlains, the First Prince looked around and singled out George, Reynold’s chamberlain.

“George, you must come forward and speak the truth.”

Under Reynold’s sharp gaze, George timidly walked over and stood at the front. He bowed his head deeply before the king as if he had lost face.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I was unable to stop the Seventh Prince’s misconduct with my own power…”

“George!”

Reynold was shocked at the words that spilled from his chamberlain’s mouth and called out to him, but George’s shoulders trembled as he revealed one more fact.

“And I also clearly heard what the Princess of Wessex said last night.”

He had not expected his own sins to come back to him in this way. Reynold’s eyes bulged as if they would pop out at any moment as he glared at George, then turned to the First Prince.

“George, you… Elder brother, elder brother?”

“…”

He had no idea what was going on.

It was then that Millay concocted a plausible script, mixing appropriate lies and truths.

“Your Majesty must also remember the earthquake that shook the palace last night. It was at that time that I arrived at the palace in the carriage sent by Prince Reynold.”

“Reynold, why did you send a carriage to Millay?”

“That’s…”

Reynold couldn’t give a proper answer. He was at a loss because there was no way to explain sending the carriage in a way that would be advantageous to him.

The king narrowed his eyes and let out a small sigh. Under his disappointing gaze, Reynold felt suffocated. He felt it might be better to faint, using illness as an excuse.

But Millay did not give him a chance and uttered a meaningful remark.

“Perhaps you hesitate to state the reason for sending the carriage here because it would be an insult to the Princess of Wessex?”

“…”

Reynold remained still as if he had honey in his mouth. He couldn’t make any proper judgments due to the overwhelming situation.

He couldn’t even think of a way to remove this solid trap from his own foot.

Between last night and dawn, the situation was not good enough for him to know what tricks Millay had used. Could he come up with a way to escape Millay’s move, after he had finished all negotiations with the First Prince?

Even if he revealed that Millay was actually Adrian Raines, it would not benefit Reynold. It would only add weight to Millay’s words.

In this desperate situation, Millay threw the final blow to corner Reynold.

“Wise King, Your Majesty. When I arrived at the shaking building last night, the Princess of Wessex had already collapsed in a mess. Ah, do not misunderstand. It seemed the princess had collapsed because the building was shaking.”

Layla felt some gratitude toward Millay for speaking defensively about her.

“And the Seventh Prince here returned to the room where the fire had subsided for a moment to look for the princess. Before the Princess of Wessex and I could leave that room, that is.”

Millay had clearly seen the moment when Reynold entered the room, pretending to look for Layla while smearing ash on his face and clothes.

He had instantly seen through what Reynold was trying to do.

He was probably trying to play the role of a man who had lost his fiancée.

Seeing it right away, Millay had also responded a bit excessively yesterday.

But did he really need to hold back in front of trash?

Thanks to his loss of reason, his plan had become even more solid.

“The Princess of Wessex, who had lost consciousness at the scene, was treated almost like a hostage. I was offered a deal by His Highness – he would give me the Princess of Wessex, his fiancée, in exchange for better terms.”

“Don’t lie, you bastard…”

Reynold muttered softly, but there was little strength left in his words now.

The king listened to Millay’s story to the end with a calm expression, not interrupting.

“After that, as you can see from the contents… I was forced to write a contract that unilaterally favored His Highness due to the Seventh Prince’s cowardly threats.”

As Millay finished speaking, the First Prince handed the two contracts to the king.