The princes, including Reynold, who had hastily evacuated due to the sudden strange earthquake, were gathered in the Queen’s palace.

“What on earth is going on? It shook so violently, yet everywhere else is fine? How is that possible?”

Amidst the crowded gathering, the First Prince, with the loudest voice, was making a fuss, wondering if there had been major damage to the building.

Reynold watched from a distance as other princes and princesses-in-law badgered the officials from the Palace Management Department, before gesturing for his attendant.

“…Have you checked if she came out?”

“Well, it’s not clear if she came out, but from the outside, it seems her room was on fire.”

“Ah, damn it…”

Reynold cursed under his breath, clutching his head.

It was only after escaping the building and hurriedly arriving at the Queen’s palace that Reynold realized Layla wasn’t by his side. Even the maids and knights who had come with Layla from Filmer were nowhere to be seen.

Fortunately or unfortunately, none of his siblings or their families found this strange, but soon someone was bound to notice her absence.

‘Surely she didn’t fail to escape and die?’

Reynold sighed again, considering the worst-case scenario.

If that had happened, it would be a real disaster.

Despite the Wessex Kingdom being a small country and her being an unwanted princess, Wessex’s value as a holder of harmonization ability was very high.

Wasn’t it for this reason that Reynold’s father, the King of Filmer, had pushed for this marriage to create even a small connection with them?

It would be troublesome if she were truly found as a corpse.

Reynold’s mind was already filled with images of Layla Wessex discovered as a charred body.

As he anxiously clenched and unclenched his fists, the evacuees were assigned rooms and dispersed.

Reynold also entered a room, pretending to sleep until the corridor fell completely silent, then went back outside.

He crossed the dark palace corridors with his attendant, returning to the princes’ apartments.

From the central garden of the palace, footsteps were busy heading towards that place.

Not only the royal servants and maids, but also officials from the management department and other staff. Amidst everyone rushing about to extinguish the fire, Reynold blankly stared at the scene of black smoke covering the sky.

Then he suddenly turned to his attendant beside him and started to press him.

“Why didn’t anyone look after the princess?”

“Well, it was so chaotic… Come to think of it, I think I saw the princess’s maid go inside afterwards.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not certain… But when we left, there was no fire yet. So maybe she’ll come out fine from somewhere soon.”

Reynold glared at his attendant who was only offering hopeful speculation, then approached the building. Some people were coming out supported by their colleagues, apparently injured while dealing with the aftermath.

Reynold looked among these people to see if Layla or her maid was among them.

‘Why am I going through this trouble…’

Reynold was grinding his teeth internally when he suddenly spotted someone else behaving similarly. Recognizing a familiar face, Reynold brightened and quickly approached her.

“Hey!”

“Ah!”

The person let out a strange scream, startled by the hand suddenly tapping her shoulder. As Reynold furrowed his brow, Layla’s maid, Alice, turned to look at him and swallowed hard.

“P-Prince Reynold?”

A freckled face looked up at him with wide eyes. It was obvious from her appearance that she hadn’t found Layla either, but he asked anyway.

“What happened to Layla? Weren’t you with her?”

“Well, right after the building shook, I went to the princess’s room, but she wasn’t there… I thought she might have already evacuated, so I came back out, but I can’t find her.”

“…”

She went to the room right after and she wasn’t there?

Then, as the maid said, could she have evacuated somewhere completely different and not returned at all?

‘Did she take this chance to run away? Surely not because she didn’t want to get engaged?’

If so, they’d have to drag her back even if it meant searching the entire kingdom, what a troublesome woman. It’s not like they could just give up on the marriage either.

Just as such thoughts crossed his mind, Alice spoke again.

“Didn’t you say you would escort our princess to her room earlier, Your Highness?”

Reynold couldn’t find a proper answer to the maid’s question. He racked his brain and made up a lie.

“That’s true, but when the building shook, I was on my way back to my own room. I’m not sure why Layla wasn’t in her room.”

As he answered, his mind became complicated. Alice too seemed to be at a loss.

“Then…”

Seeing her look back at the building, she seemed to be worried that something terrible had happened inside.

But it’s hypocritical of her to act concerned when she herself had been out somewhere and only appeared belatedly after his words.

Reynold looked at her with irritation before grabbing her arm and leading her away.

Although it annoyed him that he had to show such consideration to others, if she had really run away, he could use this maid to call Layla back.

“Everyone has moved to new quarters, so let’s go there and rest. Won’t the princess come when she hears the news?”

Tempted by the suggestion to rest amidst all this, Alice cautiously asked.

“Is it alright to do that…?”

“Of course. You must be very shocked, so it’s a good chance to calm down too. I’ll look for the princess.”

After answering, Reynold signaled to his own attendant. He handed over Layla’s maid to him and approached the building himself.

Amidst the many people coming and going, Reynold kept a watchful eye.

Given the situation, while there were those who recognized him and bowed their heads, no one waited for his instructions or tried to stop him.

Having removed his cumbersome outer garment that revealed his status and left it in a corner, he grabbed a passing person and obtained a wet towel to cover his face. Then, taking advantage of the moment when people’s attention was diverted from him, he immediately entered.

The corridor was a mess with soot, but fortunately, the fire on the way to Layla’s room had somewhat subsided.

Easily passing through the corridor and avoiding the remaining flames, he returned to Layla’s room.

As the maid had said, Layla was not visible inside. Still, in case that stupid woman might be hiding somewhere inside, he called out.

“Layla?”

There was no answer. As he moved deeper into the room, he heard the crunch of glass being stepped on. All sorts of furniture had fallen due to the building’s shaking.

Sighing, he headed towards the dark inner part of the room. As he did so, he was busy crafting various scenarios in his mind.

If Layla had run away.

Or if she had burned to death somewhere.

Whatever the case, Reynold himself needed to become a victim of this sudden disaster.

A man who desperately searched for his fiancée by jumping into the flames but was betrayed, or a man fallen into despair after losing the woman he loved.

Reynold first felt around the floor and smeared the black ashes on his clothes and face.

“Ah, why am I doing this…”

He thought it was truly disgusting, but he had no choice. He had to convince everyone that he had done his utmost to find Layla.

Then he looked towards the closed connecting door on one side of the room.

Could Layla be in there?

Even if she had hidden there, there was a high possibility she had already died from suffocation.

‘If she’s alive…’

He thought about looking for a weapon to at least stab her throat, but then again, she was a woman who couldn’t do anything on her own anyway, so it probably wouldn’t be necessary to kill her.

Above all, she was admittedly pretty, so it might be enjoyable to make her cry while moving between his bed and others’ beds for life.

‘It would be more useful if she became stupid from inhaling smoke.’

Then he could handle her at will.

Reynold, who had roughly sprinkled black ashes all over his clothes, opened the middle door of the room.

There were no burn marks on the door, and it didn’t seem like the flames had reached this far, but when he opened the door, acrid smoke poured out.

Covering his nose and mouth with the wet towel, he looked around the dark inner room and called out again casually.

“Layla, Layla. Are you here?”

This time there was an answer.

“I knew you’d come back.”

However, the voice came from behind and it wasn’t Layla’s voice he had expected.

A male voice.

Feeling a chill run down his spine, Reynold was about to turn around when he was kicked hard behind the knee, causing his body to buckle.

As a result, Reynold fell disgracefully, smashing his nose on the floor and losing his grip on the wet towel. As the acrid smoke entered his nostrils, he started coughing violently.

In his disoriented state, he turned around and shouted.

“What? Who are you! How dare you…”

But before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud bang as the door closed, followed by a huge impact to the back of his head and back. His body had slammed against the wall.

Still unable to grasp the situation, Reynold staggered, his head spinning, unable to stand properly, and collapsed.

Soon, someone’s foot came under his chin, lifting his face.

What Reynold saw through his vision, now a mess with a sudden nosebleed, was Millay looking down at him with cold eyes.