However, Adrian, who couldn’t see that, carefully laid Layla back down on the blanket and looked at the physician Maeve had brought.

“Treat her.”

The physician, who had just rushed over from the Imperial Palace at the crown prince’s call, widened his eyes at the story of treating a slave.

When Maeve’s eyes asked what had happened, the one who stepped forward was Brian, who had been silently standing guard until now.

He lightly drew the sword at his waist, pointed it at the physician’s neck, and spat out a question whose answer was already predetermined.

“The person in front of you is not a slave, but His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, right?”

The physician, who quickly understood the meaning of not arguing and treating her quickly, nodded his head.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“And if you carelessly talk about His Highness’s condition, you won’t be able to sleep well at night.”

“You are absolutely right…”

The nervous physician hurriedly examined Layla’s wound. Adrian asked while watching him take care of the affected area.

“How long do you think it will take to heal?”

“There are deep wounds, so it will probably take about two and a half more weeks to completely heal… but there will be scars.”

“…”

The physician looked at Adrian, whose expression hardened. Every time Layla was startled by the stinging pain and let out a groan, the physician’s touch became more and more careful under Adrian’s glaring gaze, feeling a threat to his life.

After applying ointment to her lips and finishing up, the physician stepped back, and Adrian nodded his head to send him out.

Only then did Adrian look down at Layla again.

“Are you all right, Layla?”

As he said that, he thought he would hear her say she was okay, or at least complain that she was in pain, but the words that actually came out of Layla’s mouth were different.

Noticing Adrian’s approaching hand, Layla naturally avoided it and asked back.

“Why are you here, Your Highness?”

As the physician entered the room, Layla barely realized that what had just happened was not a dream.

No matter how dazed she was, she had talked informally to him.

‘That was close…’

Until the physician came in, she had naturally mistaken it for a dream. It had to be. His embrace was warm, and the story she heard was endlessly sweet.

However, when she realized it was reality and asked that question out of vigilance, Adrian was perplexed by the sudden honorific speech.

“Why, you ask…”

When Layla put question marks in her eyes, Adrian, who had not yet grasped the situation, also tilted his head. Then, suspecting something, he gestured with his eyes to send out even Maeve and Brian.

In the meantime, Layla, who had been lying down, struggled to sit up. No matter what, she thought it would be too rude to lie down in front of the crown prince.

Of course, it was impossible to know which was the greater sin between making eye contact with him and lying down in front of him.

In any case, since she was someone whose shadow should not even touch the royalty, Layla also moved her body back a little to distance herself from him.

Adrian looked at Layla blankly for a moment and then continued.

“I came to check on you because I was worried. That you must have been in a lot of pain during the day…”

I know.

But don’t worry. I won’t let the guy who touched you get away with it.

It was when he tried to hold Layla’s hand with those words. Layla flinched again and pulled her hand back.

At the clear sign of rejection, Adrian couldn’t continue and his expression hardened. But before he could finish his words, Layla bowed her head and hastily recited words of gratitude.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“…”

And it was when Adrian, who had stopped his hand in mid-air, turned questioning eyes to her.

Layla, who had been pondering the whole time she was being treated, carefully offered her opinion as to why someone as high as the crown prince had gone out of his way to find her room so high up.

“But I don’t think I can attend to you today, Your Highness. …Because I’m not feeling well.”

She had a fever from the whipping during the day, and above all, her back was sore, so it seemed difficult to be in contact with him.

And although she hadn’t imagined him coming all the way here, there was no bed here, and it was too cramped to fully stretch her legs.

She thought that he wouldn’t want to spend the night with her in such a place and in such a state.

However, at Layla’s words, the shocked Adrian was unable to open his mouth for a while. After being frozen for quite a long time, he barely asked.

“…Do you think I came all the way here to sleep with you?”

At that, Layla just slightly rolled her eyes and glanced at Adrian.

“Isn’t that right?”

Adrian, who had not expected this kind of counter-question at all, froze for a moment, and only after recalling the day’s events did he let out an “ah” and a groan.

After running his hand through his hair, he calmly organized the situation.

‘This is… in other words.’

It was because Layla didn’t fully hear what he was trying to say earlier.

Denying reality like that, Adrian explained. He still had a kind smile on his lips, though anxious.

“I’ll take care of that guy from earlier, so you don’t have to worry. And pretending not to know you then.”

However, Layla shook her head, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Remembering Adrian, who had not even given her a glance in the backyard of the prince’s palace during the day, Layla felt her mouth go bitter.

‘Just do one thing.’

Either be cold or be kind.

Coming to see her at night like this and acting like a kind lover, wasn’t it too confusing for her? Even if he intended all of this, Layla, who was being swayed by it, was becoming emotionally more and more difficult.

She could fully understand working as a slave and fulfilling her duties by going to him, but she thought there was no reason to suffer emotionally.

So, wanting to draw the line now, Layla spoke calmly.

“You don’t have to come all the way here and make excuses. I can’t leave your side anyway.”

“You can’t leave?”

Adrian, who mulled over Layla’s expression, felt his heart sink at the strange nuance contained in it.

However, if he had a brain, he couldn’t possibly not know what her words meant. Obviously, he wasn’t a fool who couldn’t even comprehend that much.

Adrian directly expressed what he understood.

“It sounds like you’re by my side out of a sense of duty.”

Right? He didn’t have to ask again. Because Layla immediately responded to Adrian’s words.

“Aren’t you also using me politically, Your Highness?”

“What?”

Adrian uttered a short word and scanned Layla’s face.

What kind of nonsense is this?

He wondered if she was joking because she was upset, but Adrian soon realized that wasn’t the case. Because not even a hint of affection for him was reflected on her face.

He had no choice but to naturally notice that her previous words were not false words to push him away for no reason.

Adrian wondered what kind of situation he was facing. But his unnecessarily well-functioning mind quickly drew its own conclusion.

“Layla, don’t tell me… everything you said about trusting me was a lie?”

Even though he knew there was already enough evidence, Adrian inwardly denied it, thinking it couldn’t be.

Layla narrowed her brows slightly, wondering why he kept trying to confirm her feelings even though he knew everything.

Layla first put the words Adrian wanted to hear on her lips.

“…I trust you, Your Highness.”

“Then what is this situation?”

When he demanded an explanation, Layla looked at him with a troubled expression.

Even the small movement of lifting her head made the treated back sore as the clothes rubbed against it. She, who had slightly curled up her body at that, slowly added an explanation.

“You are a capable person, so if you set your mind to it, you will be able to bring down the Fitzroys within 3 years, and you will also gather our family members in other countries well. And you will also restore our family.”

Adrian himself said in front of the emperor that he was not the type to make false promises, and in Layla’s eyes, he indeed seemed to have sufficient abilities.

If it’s Adrian Raines, he might achieve everything.

In the future, when he becomes emperor, Hakin may become the true loser of Damburnet. And using the failure with the Wessexes as fertilizer, he will also come up with a way to control his blood relatives well in the future.

However, Adrian, who heard such thoughts, did not show any signs of being pleased at all.

“…”

Rather, the glow completely disappeared from Adrian’s purple eyes.

It was because there was no “trust” that Adrian had wanted from her in Layla’s words.

That was proof that Layla didn’t consider her relationship with him at all.