He Who Covets the Abandoned Bride - Chapter 36

Brian, one of Millay’s knights, sent the mercenaries and ships away from the city first. It was because if a third party knew their movements, they were unsure what might happen later.

The place they ended up staying was a coastal city called Otili in the Kingdom of Othilia, which was about five days away from Wessex by sea.

The remaining people were Layla, her maid Alice, the two escort knights she originally brought, and two of Millay’s knights, for a total of six.

None of them had any ties to Otili.

Brian seemed to think this number of people was still too many, but he could not exclude Layla’s escort knights.

Saying that he had received prior orders from Millay on what to do in case of an emergency, he first found a suitable place to stay inside the city and guided them there.

After that, he requested a private meeting with Layla.

Told to conceal her identity as much as possible, Layla had her maid help her change out of her cumbersome clothes first and waited for Brian in the inner room of the lodging.

While doing so, she organized her thoughts on what to do next and wrote something down on the paper laid out on the table in the room.

Brian must have prepared something on his end as well, as he brought in a handful of items and set them down on a nearby table.

They were hair dye and small explosives for self-defense.

Seeing this, Layla sensed that this would be a much more full-fledged life on the run than she had anticipated.

On the other hand, she also felt a sense of unease seeing Brian respond immediately as if he had predicted this situation.

“…Did Lord Millay foresee this entire situation?”

“I believe he did. Lord Lilburn told me that if I encountered any unfavorable signs, no matter how trivial, on the way, I should immediately have Her Royal Highness flee.”

Since Lilburn was Millay’s closest aide, his words could be considered Millay’s words. Especially if Lilburn was moving to help her, it would be a result that fully reflected the will of his lord, Millay.

“For now, it seems best for you to stay in this country and assess the situation.”

Layla found it difficult to readily respond to Brian’s words.

If Wessex was in crisis, shouldn’t she go there herself as the princess? She was conflicted about whether it was right to turn her back on it.

On the other hand, she was also worried that a life on the run with no end in sight seemed to be beginning.

“Will we wait here until the situation in Wessex improves? Or…”

Will Lord Millay come?

Layla cut herself off mid-sentence, reconsidering whether she was in a position to ask such a question.

However, Brian seemed to understand well enough and nodded.

“Fortunately, there is a way to send news to Filmer from here, so I will immediately contact His Lordship.”

“But will contacting him solve the problem? I’m the one who has the continental passage permit.”

“That…”

“That?”

When Layla pointed this out, Brian immediately tried to say something but closed his mouth. As Layla tilted her head, he collected his thoughts and responded.

“…I cannot give a lengthy explanation, but I believe there are ample ways for His Lordship to help, even if not directly.”

“Everyone firmly believes in Lord Millay. Although I cannot tell you his true identity.”

It was a pointed remark. Brian seemed taken aback by her words but bowed his head slightly.

“I apologize.”

“No, it’s fine. At this point, I’m getting stubborn too, so I’ll have to hear from Lord Millay himself what kind of person he is.”

If the passage permit was real, he was the man who said he would come and propose to her. Although it turned out differently than planned and he wouldn’t be coming to Wessex, since his subordinate was here, there would be no major issues in pinpointing her location.

However, the question of how to proceed from now on remained. Layla had no intention of completely following Brian’s words.

If Wessex was truly in a crisis situation, it would make no sense for her as the princess to sit idly by.

Above all, she wanted to confirm the well-being of Cedric, who was listed as Isabella’s main target.

“We can’t stay at this lodging for long, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Fortunately, since Wessex was a newly independent nation from Hakkin not long ago, it was difficult to distinguish between Hakkins and Wessexians based on appearance.

And since Othilia had open borders with Hakkin, many Hakkins had come to live there, so as long as they didn’t flaunt their Wessex origins themselves, it wouldn’t be too difficult to conceal their identities.

However, to be prepared for any eventuality, it would be better to dye their hair. That was probably why Brian had prepared the hair dye as well.

Layla picked up the hair dye on the table and asked Brian first.

“How far can you follow my orders?”

Brian seemed not to have expected such a question from Layla and responded a beat late.

“…The instructions I received were to keep Your Royal Highness safe.”

“I see.”

Since she didn’t know what kind of situation would unfold in the future, Layla recognized that she needed at least one more person to protect her. Therefore, she would not recklessly dismiss Brian.

That also meant she had come to trust Millay quite a bit. At least now, she felt she could believe he was not someone who would harm her.

In fact, what choice did she have but to trust him?

If the contents of the report Millay had mentioned were true, she herself was also a sufficient target for Isabella Fitzroy.

Naturally, the First Princess of Fitzroy was someone she could not handle on her own, and it would be difficult for her to resolve this situation alone. Layla had that level of self-objectivity.

“We should get some more hair dye. And once we find a way to travel by land and make adequate preparations, let’s leave this place. Fortunately, we won’t be stopped at the borders thanks to the continental passage permit.”

“Don’t tell me… you mean to head to Wessex?”

“Of course. I am the Princess of Wessex. I have a duty to return there and assess the situation.”

“Even so, if you carry the continental passage permit around, your every move will be exposed.”

Certainly, the continental passage permit was convenient, but since it was not common for someone to possess one, the mere fact of carrying it around would draw attention.

However, she did not want to neglect her own problems for that reason.

“I don’t want to cower and hide in someone else’s country like a coward. And judging from the fact that we weren’t caught at the port, there’s a high probability that Fitzroy still believes I’m in Filmer.”

“…That may be true, but.”

“So I’m going to move. If you can’t follow my decision, you don’t have to come with me.”

Brian still looked at Layla with an unconvinced expression. His eyes were filled with doubt about whether this princess was making sound judgments.

Nevertheless, seeing Layla’s quite adamant attitude, he finally acquiesced.

“Ah, no. I will accompany you.”

If the order he had received was something like sending Layla somewhere, he would have had to argue further, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case. It seemed Millay had no intention of controlling her.

“If you have any tasks for me, please feel free to tell me.”

Layla discussed upcoming matters with Brian to a reasonable extent and then sent him out. After that, she called for her maid.

Since hearing that Fitzroy’s flags were planted in Wessex’s port, the maid had been utterly frightened and anxious.

“Then what will happen to our kingdom, Your Highness?”

“Alice, calm down…”

Since she had only been living a comfortable life in the royal palace, this situation she was experiencing for the first time outside must have been very perplexing for her.

So Layla thought she could not trust her. Whether it was because she considered Layla’s position to be insignificant or because of her own personality, this girl tended to work in a lax manner even normally.

Thus, Layla had no choice but to make a cold decision.

To separate from her maid.

When she would soon be clearly pursued by Isabella, it would be troublesome if this maid became a variable.

It would be fortunate if she merely ran away, but there was no worse situation than her selling out Layla for her own safety.

Perhaps this direction might be better for Alice as well. Leaving her side might be safer for her now than staying with Layla.

Omitting the part she told Brian about going to Wessex, Layla gave her maid a task.

“You heard roughly what Brian said earlier, right? It seems we’ll have to run away, Alice. But before that, there are things we need to prepare, so please buy the items written on this note.”

With that, she firmly placed the note she had written before Brian arrived into her maid’s hand.

The note listed several items Layla had seen near the port.

When her maid went out to purchase these, Layla planned to disappear from here.