After the time when Layla was seen rushing out of the reception room of the Crown Prince’s palace, rumors spread like wildfire that Adrian had tried to seduce her in the reception room.

Whether in public or private, Adrian had never shown interest in the opposite sex before. Hence, he was treated as just a workaholic, and there were also suspicious glances about his relationship with Lilburn.

However, he was a Crown Prince who had not caused any controversy related to bedchambers. The fact that he untied the strings of a dress in broad daylight could not help but attract everyone’s interest.

At the same time, when the fact that the slave was Adrian’s former fiancée was added to the incident of pressuring the maternal family of the 4th Prince who had whipped that slave, and calling the slave before the Empress, naturally one speculation was drawn.

‘Crown Prince Adrian has special feelings for the slave.’

Everyone came to think so.

It was the moment when Adrian’s act of pretending to ignore the slave in front of the 4th Prince became useless.

And from the next day, Layla felt gazes following her wherever she went. Not only to see if she was doing her job well, but everyone in the imperial palace sent curious glances, and among them, there seemed to be eyes with the purpose of secretly monitoring her.

She wouldn’t have noticed in normal times, but after making eye contact with some people, Layla became more sensitive as she raised her guard.

‘Yesterday’s incident… It put His Highness in a difficult position.’

Layla clearly realized it.

What Adrian had lost through yesterday’s incident in that reception room.

It was ‘perfection’.

High power, absolute force, and wisdom to match. What made him even more difficult to touch was the fact that there were no weaknesses.

His mother had passed away early, and when problems arose with his maternal family, he took the lead in keeping them in check, showing that he didn’t care what happened to them. The position of Crown Princess was still vacant, and he was so meticulous about his surroundings that there was nothing to fault.

But yesterday’s incident was not only a scandal in itself, but it also played the role of pointing out where to bite the Crown Prince.

Layla finally understood why he had no choice but to turn away from her in front of the 4th Prince.

It was obvious that if he showed that he cared about her by appearing there, rumors like this would circulate.

Layla, worried that someone might kidnap her, had her guard up and hurried towards the back door of the Crown Prince’s palace as soon as her work was done.

It was when she entered the first floor. Feeling anxious about what might have happened due to the murmuring atmosphere, Layla hid behind a pillar in the dark corridor and secretly peeked into the hall.

The first thing she saw was Adrian’s back. While servants stood behind him, he was looking down at someone in front of him.

Though the person was surrounded by people and couldn’t be seen, Layla soon realized their identity from the voice she heard.

“…I apologize, elder brother.”

As the Empress had said in the reception room yesterday, the 4th Prince had come and knelt in the hall of the Crown Prince’s palace.

Layla had been worried that this might also be a problem because of yesterday’s incident, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Adrian soon bent down and reached out his hand to help the 4th Prince up.

“Stand up. Causing such a commotion makes it look like I threatened you to come here.”

“…”

At Adrian’s words, pretending to be generous, the 4th Prince glared at his half-brother.

“Surely not, elder brother… You merely taught me about imperial etiquette.”

As it was finally revealed that Adrian had done this to him because of a lowly slave, the 4th Prince’s eyes changed.

To be honest, Adrian still found him contemptible, but he didn’t bother to point out that insolent attitude.

It was something he could slowly crush to death anyway. He had already won more than half the battle with the 4th Prince due to yesterday’s incident with the Empress, so even if information about his relationship with Layla intervened here, it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Adrian brought up the matter of the Empress passing the ball to the 4th Prince yesterday.

“So when will the decision to go to the South be made? It seems we should hurry as our imperial citizens are likely suffering because of it even at this moment.”

“…Is it alright for me to take credit for elder brother’s achievements?”

“I can’t move yet because I’ve been away for quite a long time. I’d be glad if you could go instead and resolve it.”

To this, the 4th Prince took a deep breath and pulled out the card he had prepared.

“Then I’d like elder brother to give me a gift as a way of wishing me good fortune in battle.”

This was a mention that hadn’t been pre-arranged with the Empress yesterday. Adrian quickly realized that the 4th Prince was trying to provoke him.

“What is it?”

“I think I might get lonely while going to the South. Could you lend me your slave?”

“…”

Layla, who was watching, flinched when she heard herself being referred to. For a moment, a chilling silence fell over the hall of the Crown Prince’s palace.

The 4th Prince waited leisurely for Adrian to give an answer.

Either way, this question would cause no harm to the 4th Prince regardless of the answer.

If he agreed, it would be an opportunity to destroy someone Adrian cherished with his own hands, and if he refused, it would reveal Adrian’s weakness to the whole world.

And Adrian’s choice was the latter.

“You must be insane.”

And that too, with a fierce growl.

The 4th Prince felt a chill run down his spine. Not from fear, but from pleasure.

No matter how you look at it, that lowly slave seemed to be the easiest to shake up in the imperial palace, yet Adrian reacted like this.

“So it’s not possi-?”

Thud!

In the middle of asking again, the 4th Prince’s body lost control and fell to his knees on the floor. At the sudden incident, everyone around inhaled sharply at once.

The 4th Prince groaned at the pain in his legs that had hit the ground, then looked up at Adrian. No, before that, Adrian’s hand grabbed his chin and lifted it.

“Say it again. What did you ask for as a gift?”

He looked like he would almost kill if he heard the same words again. Meeting Adrian’s eyes that didn’t hide his killing intent, the 4th Prince lost his composure from earlier and his eyes trembled.

This time, his spine chilled with fear.

Even so, yesterday Adrian had openly ignored Layla, so he never expected such a strong reaction.

“Are your ears not working? I didn’t say I wanted to hear it again, so speak.”

The 4th Prince was flustered to feel that his legs still wouldn’t move, as if they were being crushed by heavy stones.

He too was a psychokinesis ability user, but due to Adrian’s far superior control, he couldn’t break free from it.

“Elder brother’s slave…”

Adrian interrupted in the middle of his speaking.

“In short, you want to embrace your elder brother’s woman too, is that what you’re saying, you treacherous fool?”

“Woman? She’s just a slave, isn’t she?”

Adrian gripped the face of the 4th Prince, who still hadn’t grasped the situation, even more forcefully. He let out a groan of pain. Looking at his contorted face, Adrian asked.

“You, did you perhaps not hear what I said?”

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean what I said about restoring the House of Wessex.”

“But that wouldn’t have had His Majesty’s permission, would it?”

“Whether there was permission or not isn’t the point. The important thing is that I, Adrian Raines, made that decision. Do you know what that means?”

Adrian lowered his voice as he asked back.

“Whoever touches Layla dies by my hand.”

The 4th Prince flinched, not expecting to receive such an blatant threat.

But what was reflected in Adrian’s eyes looking down at him was madness itself. It meant that the words he just uttered were utterly sincere.

“You must have been excited to come say this today after hearing yesterday’s news, but it’s turned out disappointing. But does Layla really seem like my weakness?”

He wanted to ask if she wasn’t, but the 4th Prince kept his mouth shut. That was the best thing he had done today.

“Far from it, if you try any foolish tricks, you’ll rather feel what it’s like to be caught in a spider’s web. Just like how you ended up reciting an apology before me now.”

After roughly outlining what the reality would be for those who harm Layla in the future, Adrian sneered at the 4th Prince.

“Layla is not my weakness, but yours. You can only attack there anyway, can’t you?”

“…”

“It’s troublesome if you think I’ll fall for such an obvious ploy. I’m not an amateur, you know.”

At Adrian’s words, the 4th Prince finally lowered his head. Although he didn’t like the situation of being humiliated again because of a mere slave, he had no choice.

As he said, Adrian was no amateur.

“…I apologize. I, I made a mistake to elder brother.”

Only then did the force pressing down on the 4th Prince’s legs release.

Adrian, feeling no more value in continuing the conversation, turned his body.

“Since you asked for a gift, I’ll assume you’ve decided to go to the South. Of course, I won’t send you empty-handed. I’ll personally select elite knights to accompany you to the South. They are men who have shared life and death with me, so they will be of great help. That is the gift I will give you.”

The 4th Prince sensed it at that moment.

That his fate was either to have his body torn apart by the monsters in the South or to be disposed of by the knights Adrian had prepared.

Adrian had never intended to spare him from the moment he whipped Layla.

His hands trembled, but there seemed to be no way to avoid this sentence.

Because the justification he presented had no flaws.

“I am grateful for elder brother’s grace.”