Bang!

Was it fortunate that there was a room not far away? Or was it more unfortunate?

Reynold, who had suddenly appeared at the door, opened it and entered, immediately pushing Layla against the wall.

As Layla tried to turn her face away, seeing his lips approaching, he forcibly grabbed her chin and turned it back into place.

With a distinct frown on his brow, Reynold sneered and mocked her.

“Why resist? You’re going to be my wife anyway, aren’t you?”

Instead of answering obediently, Layla slapped away the hand holding her chin and retorted.

“You may not like me, but aren’t you treating me too rudely?”

“Who says that? That I don’t like you.”

Layla was momentarily at a loss for words at Reynold’s response. Judging from his behavior so far, she had naturally assumed that he despised her to the point of disgust. Given his attitude, which showed not even a speck of respect for her, it was only natural to think so.

But it wasn’t so.

Layla shuddered at the touch of hands creeping up her back.

Soon, he raised his other hand and pressed his thumb firmly against Layla’s lips. Was he preparing for a kiss?

The gentle parting touch sent a chilling shiver through her.

“It’s true that I was annoyed because you’re a princess of a failing country.”

“…”

“But you’re pretty, aren’t you?”

At the softly spoken words, Layla’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.

Reynold narrowed his characteristically snake-like eyes.

“That alone is enough to give you value. You’d make a pretty picture anywhere, wouldn’t you?”

With those sarcastic words, Reynold tried to lower his lips to Layla’s nape. The hand that had come up from her back was also pulling at the strings on the back of her dress.

As the sound of the dress strings coming undone began to be heard, Layla, startled, cried out.

“Reynold, stop…!”

Stop it, please leave.

Before she could complete the sentence, a strange, unexplainable dizziness suddenly came over her.

And it seemed she wasn’t the only one experiencing such symptoms.

“…?”

Reynold, his hand stopping, looked around with a puzzled expression. In that moment, Layla, pressing down on her bodice, trembled her hands as well.

But it wasn’t just her hands that were shaking. Layla noticed the objects around her rattling.

As if the people outside had also felt this sudden vibration, the corridor began to grow noisy.

Along with the sound of someone’s hurried footsteps, the urgent voices of servants were heard from outside.

“Your Highness, it seems to be an earthquake! We must evacuate immediately!”

“…An earthquake?”

Layla looked down at her trembling feet, her face colored with bewilderment.

An earthquake?

The Damvernant continent wasn’t a region where natural disasters occurred frequently.

That’s why Layla had never experienced an earthquake in her life until now.

It seemed the same for Reynold, who remained frozen until the servants dragged him out, then suddenly ran down the corridor that looked like it might collapse at any moment.

During all this, no one paid any attention to Layla. Only a minimum number of people had come here to look after the other princes in the palace.

And among that minimum number, there was no one for Layla.

Layla tried to follow them out into the corridor alone, but she had to grab her slipping dress. Then, because of her high-heeled shoes, her posture kept wobbling, making it difficult to move even a single step.

‘What should I do…?’

Layla glanced up, fearful that the ceiling might be cracking. Strangely, although the vibrations were strong, the building seemed sturdy, with no noticeable cracks.

Thinking that it probably wouldn’t collapse right away, Layla was able to calm down a little and sat down on the floor to take off her shoes completely.

Just as she had managed to remove her shoes, Layla’s maid, who had been who knows where until now, entered the building and called out for her.

“Princess, Princess!”

“Al…!”

As Layla was about to rush out into the corridor barefoot to call her maid, at that very moment.

Her body stumbled backward due to a very strong pulling force from behind.

Startled and about to scream, she felt a hand covering her mouth. As something hard touched her shoulder, a calm and low voice, ill-fitting the commotion, was heard.

“Quiet.”

“…!”

Hearing the familiar voice, Layla looked up at the person.

“You are.”

What she saw was Viscount Millay.

She had clearly seen him leave, so how did he get back into the royal palace? Had Reynold called him back in the meantime?

“…Lady Layla!”

Before she could string together various thoughts, her maid’s voice rang out quite close by.

Layla flinched, wanting to go outside, but Millay grabbed her arm and pulled her further inside instead.

Quickly looking around, Millay spotted the long curtain by the window and swiftly hid behind it.

Following Millay’s touch, the curtain was pulled sharply, covering their bodies.

As soon as the deep shadow fell, Layla’s maid who had entered the room called out for her anxiously.

But when there was no reply, she seemed to head elsewhere soon after. For a moment, Layla worried that her maid might be going somewhere dangerous and hesitated, but Millay cornered her against the wall and blocked her with his body, as if telling her not to move.

As if the commotion around them was a lie, the two remained frozen for a while, staring into each other’s eyes.

The gaze that met directly, the close breath, and the bodies pressed so close that even their rising and falling could be felt.

Layla hugged her dress tighter and put a little distance between them. Her voice, stiff with tension, came out.

“Why… are we hiding?”

“Well, perhaps I didn’t want anyone to see the princess in such a disheveled state.”

“…”

A dry swallow went down Layla’s throat. Millay looked down at her frozen form for a moment, then reached out to her back where the strings had come undone.

As Layla showed signs of flinching, a gentle, soothing voice flowed into her ear.

“It’s alright. I’m just going to tighten the strings again.”

“Th-thank you.”

As if asserting his innocence, Millay carefully tightened the strings on her back, being careful not to let his hands touch Layla’s body.

Although not everything was neatly handled, once he had tied it enough to prevent the chest area from slipping down, Layla no longer needed to desperately hold onto her dress.

Next, the viscount took off his coat and draped it over her. Then, looking down at Layla’s barefoot state, he chuckled.

“You’re missing your shoes.”

Layla pulled her feet back slightly, hiding them under the hem of her dress. Even though she wasn’t naked, just showing her feet made her face flush with embarrassment.

“Well, I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk at all…”

Finding her cute, Millay smiled with his eyes.

Layla fidgeted with her toes and lowered her head for no reason.

“Shouldn’t we go out now?”

She was also worried about Alice, who must still be anxiously searching for her. But hearing Layla’s words, Millay didn’t move away from her, whatever he was thinking.

Instead, he moved closer and called her softly.

“Princess of Wessex.”

“Yes?”

“Shall we run away, or shall we kill?”

Although there was no specific target mentioned, Layla’s eyes widened as she fully understood what he meant.

However, she couldn’t readily choose either option.

As Layla stared blankly with her mouth open, Millay’s eyes twisted subtly, and he lifted her chin.

Then he gently pressed his thumb against Layla’s lips, parting them slightly.

As if he had witnessed all of Reynold’s misdeeds.

“You almost had a close call just now, yet you still want to stay here?”

“…”

“The country won’t protect you, so I don’t understand why you act for the country’s benefit, throwing yourself away.”

His voice was cruelly cold, but the content was full of concern.

Why was this man caring for her, a complete stranger? And why did he seem to know everything already?

“Viscount…”

As Layla was about to ask him something, Millay cut her off before she could.

“It seems that bastard told you I was a viscount.”

It seemed like a polite request not to ask questions even if she had doubts. Because of this, Layla deliberately suppressed her curiosity and followed the flow of the conversation.

“Perhaps I’m mistaken?”

“No, you’re right. I did receive such a title about six years ago.”

As expected, Millay was indeed a newly risen noble.

She didn’t know what great deed he had done in the Hankin Empire, but to receive a viscount title when it wasn’t even wartime, he must be an extraordinary person.

Then Layla realized.

The vibrations that had been shaking the building had finally stopped.

But for some reason, Millay’s hand touching Layla was trembling uncontrollably, as if affected by the aftershocks of the earthquake.