It was when Adrian, having heard the answer, had completely turned around to head towards his own office.

Adrian paused, not missing what momentarily caught his eye as it brushed past.

Layla, who had hurriedly hidden herself behind a pillar, shrank her body, worried that even the hem of her dress might peek out from beside the pillar.

The words Adrian had just poured out seemed so unreal that she didn’t know how to interpret them.

‘Does Adrian really…’

Like me?

At that thought, her mouth went dry.

Layla confirmed that Adrian was moving towards his office and climbed the stairs herself.

And at that moment, she inadvertently glanced towards where Adrian was and their eyes met.

Ah.

Layla inwardly let out a small exclamation.

It was certainly not a mistake.

Though from afar, he was looking straight at Layla, who was wrapped in deep shadows.

Had he been pursuing her like that all along?

Layla momentarily forgot that she shouldn’t reveal herself and stood still. It was because Adrian’s gaze pulled her in and wouldn’t let go.

But.

“Your Highness?”

At the sound of Lilburn calling, both Layla and Adrian finally came to their senses.

Adrian turned to look at his aide and nodded.

“Go in. Only Lilburn, follow me.”

Layla too hurriedly ran up to the upper floor.

Her quickened heartbeat wouldn’t settle down until she returned to her room.

As soon as he entered the office, Adrian loosened the suffocating collar with his own hands.

Watching him remove his cravat and place it on the desk, then quickly sit down and shuffle through the documents in front of him, Lilburn stepped closer to the desk and asked.

“What exactly caused this change of heart?”

“I’m not going to hide Layla anymore.”

Lilburn usually trusted Adrian’s judgment, but this time he couldn’t understand.

The violent declaration to kill anyone who touched her and the future of the Fourth Prince might make them hesitate momentarily, but eventually, someone would find a way to use Layla to control Adrian.

“Isn’t the risk too great? You may not be swayed, Your Highness. But if she is used as bait…”

“Layla?”

As Adrian cut him off mid-sentence to ask, Lilburn tilted his head.

Ten years ago, he had already been swayed and used by Layla, yet now he seemed to have a strange confidence, which made Lilburn question him.

But Adrian was quite resolute. As if not feeling the need for an active explanation, he looked at the scattered reports in front of him and answered casually.

“Don’t underestimate her. Layla is no longer the coward she was as a child.”

“Aren’t you being too optimistic?”

“Not at all. Have you ever seen me put emotions into evaluating people?”

At Adrian’s retort, Lilburn closed his mouth. Unfairly for Lilburn, the perfect man before him truly had an accurate eye for people, to the point where he couldn’t find fault.

In fact, not just in judging people, this man was nearly flawless in almost every field.

“Didn’t you hear Brian’s report? As soon as news of Wessex’s occupation arrived, she sent away her maid first. And when she heard that Wessex had fallen and the princesses and princes were taken as slaves, she shook off her own knights. That wasn’t at Brian’s suggestion, but Layla’s own decision.”

“…”

When Brian had submitted such a report afterward, even Lilburn was surprised.

No matter how much of an obstacle they might have been, it must have been difficult to decide to abandon one’s own servants and knights, yet Layla chose Brian, the most trustworthy, until the very end.

“I trust Layla. She won’t do anything to trouble me. Even if such a situation inevitably arises, she’ll avoid the worst case and leave a way out.”

As he spoke, Adrian suddenly sighed and put down his pen. Lilburn, who had noticed his hand trembling earlier, moved closer to Adrian.

Come to think of it, he remembered that Adrian had used his ability to bring the Fourth Prince to his knees.

“Are you alright?”

“…It may sound like a lie, but I’ve recovered a bit.”

“Didn’t you say natural recovery was almost impossible?”

Adrian, pressing his throbbing forehead, eventually offered one statement.

“I felt much better after sleeping with Layla.”

“…?”

Lilburn stared at Adrian with dubious eyes.

His gaze conveyed the meaning that it might just be that his body felt lighter, and that’s why he felt that way.

Adrian felt a pang of doubt, wondering if it might have been his own misconception, but it was hard to forget that refreshing feeling he had experienced in the morning.

It truly felt like breathing in clean air for the first time in a very long time.

Adrian had never experienced tuning before, but it was undoubtedly similar to the testimonies of those who had experienced it.

“It’s true.”

“But didn’t you say she doesn’t have tuning abilities…?”

“Anyway, it must be related to that family, so there might be something we don’t know.”

Lilburn, who had been casting doubtful glances, cleared his throat once with a ‘hmm’ and stepped back.

Since he claimed to have recovered and it was a good sign, there seemed no need to say anything more.

And today’s harvest was certainly meaningful. Lilburn thought that regardless of the process, the method of dealing with the Fourth Prince this time was the best.

They had gained quite a lot from a single action.

“Anyway, it’s a relief. I hope the Fourth Prince handles the wave well.”

On the surface, it was simply a process of protecting Layla and striking down the Fourth Prince, but currently, Adrian didn’t have the leisure to go and clean up the wave.

It was a perfect excuse to push that onto the Fourth Prince.

Honestly, Lilburn sometimes got chills wondering how far Adrian calculated when setting up his plans, and this was one of those times.

It was because he had planned all these moves in the brief moment of hearing the report that Layla was being whipped.

The only problem was that it wasn’t a complete solution.

“…But in the end, I’ll have to step in.”

“What will you do then? It might become difficult to hide anymore.”

“I’ll have to do it until I’m on the verge of death, what else?”

“You’re not serious, are you? It’s unlike you to be so unprepared.”

At Lilburn’s urging for a quick answer, Adrian let out a laugh. Then, the solution he came up with was simple yet the most difficult.

“We’ll have to find the whereabouts of ‘Tristan’ that His Majesty possesses. While the Fourth Prince buys us time.”

The artifact Tristan. It was an object that the Emperor was still hiding even from Adrian, the son he publicly claimed to cherish the most.

“Is it possible? We still have no idea where it is…”

“It’s an important item, so he definitely wouldn’t have entrusted it to someone else. It wouldn’t be in a place where it could be easily tampered with either.”

Considering its value, Adrian’s assumption was reasonable.

However, they couldn’t start working based on just these vague words.

“Do you have any guesses as to where it might be?”

Adrian rested his chin on one hand and fell into thought.

Even Adrian had few memories related to that artifact, and what little he had was very faint.

It was from the time related to the incident that triggered Wessex’s independence. Adrian had barely escaped from where he was captured, but when he returned to Hankin, he was certainly dying.

Not just from external injuries, but because he had used his ability too explosively. In a situation where he couldn’t receive help from a tuner, the Emperor tried to transfer part of the power of the artifact Tristan to him as a last resort.

At that time, Frederick took his son to a certain room. To the place where the artifact was kept.

But because he was on the brink of death, not much information from that time remained in Adrian’s mind.

However.

“It was a room with doors on all sides.”

This much he remembered clearly.

Throughout the time part of the artifact’s power was being transferred, he kept thinking. That all four walls looked the same. There were doors everywhere his eyes could reach.

“Doors on all sides…? Even in the imperial palace, such a place wouldn’t be common.”

“Yes, but it was clear. And it seemed to be connected to very bright places, as light was flowing in from all four doors.”

“It must have been something like connecting doors. If light was coming in, they were likely directly connected to the main room… But doors on all sides?”

“Could it be some kind of secret space? But it seems odd to place such a location above ground.”

Generally, underground is more convenient for guarding a space. In the case of above ground, there are various external variables in approaching, but underground, there’s no big problem if they just guard the passages they’ve created well. But considering the light that had poured into the room, it was difficult to see that place as underground.

Although he hadn’t grasped the exact thread yet, Lilburn nodded for now.

“I’ll look into it for now. Please wait.”

It seemed the conversation was coming to an end at that moment. Then, an urgent cry was heard from outside.

“Crown Prince! I’ve come. Open this door immediately!”

It was the Empress’s voice.