Chapter 72
“Sonnet!”
The moment Sonnet saw Layla, he started moving roughly toward the door without even a greeting.
“Oh my! Don’t push!”
“Kyaa!”
But Sonnet ignored those words and quickly left.
The Anasis Crown Prince smirked at him and said,
“Your fiancé is quite a strange man, Layla.”
“…What in the world is going on…?”
“Oh my.”
Layla’s face was flushed in embarrassment. It wasn’t the first time she had seen a man’s bare chest because of Rainier, but seeing an entirely exposed torso made her feel strangely warm.
Especially since he was her fiancé.
It almost felt like she was sharing in his humiliation.
“Do you like bodies like that, Layla?”
“Huh? Ah… no, it’s just… I’m not used to it. But Sonnet really is… a warrior, isn’t he? I didn’t know.”
She was so flustered she didn’t even realize what she was saying.
At that, Rainier, who had been smiling while hiding his cold expression, stepped closer and said,
“I now understand Lady Layla’s taste very well. You like men with large chests and heavily developed pectorals and abs.”
“Is that so?”
When the Anasis Crown Prince pressed the question, Layla glanced at Lady Weimar and replied,
“Well… I can’t say I dislike such a body.”
The Crown Prince was in good shape, but unlike Rainier or Sonnet, he didn’t have the unmistakably knight-like muscles and large frame. He was tall, though.
“Layla’s taste is a little different from mine. I prefer an intellectual air,” Lady Weimar said with a smile toward Layla.
Layla looked at her face and spoke in relief,
“Then we really do have different tastes, my lady.”
After easing her mind, Layla smiled shyly, her face still red.
The Anasis Crown Prince knew her words were just something she was saying, but for some reason, even that kind of lie didn’t make him smile.
The only one laughing as if to mock him was Rainier—disguised as the Luttenberg Crown Prince—confident that his own body was far superior to Sonnet Bruce’s.
“Let’s head back,” the Anasis Crown Prince said curtly, sounding displeased. He expected Layla to read the mood and try to cheer him up.
But Layla simply smiled at him innocently and said,
“Then I’ll go with His Highness the Luttenberg Crown Prince. See you both next time.”
“What?”
The Crown Prince was caught off guard, but when Layla looked at him with a pure, genuinely oblivious expression, his irritation faded. After all, his annoyance had started because she’d blushed at Sonnet’s body.
“I’ll escort you to Count Avierre’s residence. Don’t worry, Your Highness,” Rainier said, touching his mask and smiling before escorting Layla away.
“Shall we go too?”
The Crown Prince forced a smile, reminded that Lady Weimar was still beside him, and then headed to the Weimar duchy with her.
The next day, Layla was at the top floor of the Mont building to attend a tea party hosted by Lady Weimar.
“Yesterday, His Highness came all the way to my room to have tea with me,” Lady Weimar said.
“Oh my!”
“So His Highness also…”
“That must mean he has feelings for you!”
Several of Lady Weimar’s close attendants were present, so Layla joined in with a graceful smile.
“It’s just as you said, Layla. His Highness… told me that there isn’t much he can express.”
“He said the same to me before,” Layla replied knowingly, setting her teacup down.
“Thank you, Layla.”
“It’s nothing. I actually noticed it too. His Highness comes to Mont every day because he truly has feelings for you. At first, he brought many of his friends, but these days, he only comes to meet the Luttenberg Crown Prince.”
Of course, that was really to use William to tarnish Rainier’s reputation. Though truthfully, part of it was just because he wanted an excuse to come.
“Do you really think… it’s like that?” Lady Weimar asked hopefully.
Layla nodded.
“Or should I ask His Highness a few more things directly?”
“Really?”
“Yes. His Highness and I truly have a lord-and-vassal relationship. If I become Marchioness Bruce in the future, I’ll have to support him in every way possible.”
She spoke as though she genuinely wanted to become Marchioness Bruce. If Lady Weimar were to become Crown Princess, Layla’s friendliness would be perfectly understandable to everyone.
“Thank you, Layla. That’s why I also made sure the newspapers didn’t spread the incident with Sonnet yesterday.”
“Oh my! My lady!”
Layla looked at her in what appeared to be heartfelt gratitude, though in truth she wondered why she had even bothered to protect Sonnet.
“Thank you so much. Honestly, I was worried. Sonnet can be so thoughtless at times, but he’s a really good person.”
Lady Weimar couldn’t help but smile—Layla sounded like a married woman already, which was rather cute.
“Speaking of which, Layla, I have a favor to ask.”
“Anything, my lady.”
Lady Weimar looked at her sparkling sky-blue eyes and felt a twinge of envy. Her own eyes were blue too, but Layla’s were as clear and pure as a piece of glacier ice—a brightness she could hardly believe possible.
“Her Majesty the Empress has sent me an invitation to her tea party.”
“Oh my!”
“As expected of you, my lady!”
“A royal tea party, how impressive.”
As her attendants murmured in admiration, Lady Weimar grinned and said,
“Would you like to come with me, Layla?”
“Truly? Is that alright?”
“Of course. Though the schedule is a little tight—it’s next week.”
Layla quickly guessed the reason for the invitation and replied,
“Then I’ll ask His Highness to attend the tea party with you as your partner. I’m sure he’d like that. He probably just didn’t have an excuse before.”
Lady Weimar thought Layla was wonderfully quick-witted. She had barely hinted at it, yet Layla immediately understood and even catered to her mood.
“That would be fine?”
When Layla asked for confirmation, Lady Weimar nodded.
And so, Layla agreed to attend the Empress’s tea party the following week.
Later that day, Layla met the Anasis Crown Prince, who had arrived late at Mont due to his schedule, just as he was heading to the VVIP room.
“I’m going to the tea party with Lady Weimar. You’ll be her partner there, right?” she said.
“We’re not even in the elevator yet and you’re already rushing,” he replied irritably. He still hadn’t gotten over the image of Layla blushing at Sonnet Bruce’s naked chest.
“You said you liked Bruce’s body. Did you go and ask him to show you everything?”
“Sonnet hasn’t replied to any of my letters since yesterday. I think he might be upset.”
At her crestfallen tone, the Crown Prince relaxed slightly and uncrossed his arms.
“I see.”
“Anyway, the tea party—”
“Alright, I’ll do as you say.”
And just like that, Layla easily got his agreement.
“Goodness!”
When Layla went down to the lower floor of Mont, she had planned to choose some refreshments to bring to the Crown Prince herself.
“Oh, my lady.”
But what she saw in the storage room was Rainier.
“Rain? What is—!”
Rainier, who had been organizing items, was dressed… questionably.
His pants were fine, but for his upper body, he wore only an apron.
“What’s wrong?”
“W–why are you dressed like that?!”
When she sputtered in shock, Rainier touched the apron… and then untied it entirely.
“Unsightly? I understand.”
“Kyaa!”
Layla’s face burned—his pectorals were fully visible in the bright light, and to make matters worse, he wasn’t even wearing his mask.
She covered her eyes with her hands, but without realizing it, spread her fingers wide enough to see through. Her face was hot, her ears felt like they were on fire, but the visual information entering her eyes was… exceptional.
“W–what are you doing?!”
Rainier took her hands and pulled them down.
“You need to see it every day to get used to it, don’t you?”
“…Huh?”
“Once you’re used to me, you won’t feel a thing when you see Sonnet Bruce’s body.”
Layla thought her head might explode.
Then he guided her hands to his chest and pressed them firmly against it. She was startled by the steady, warm thumping she felt under her palms, but she didn’t pull away.
“You’re… helping me get used to it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
And so, though she didn’t truly accept his reasoning, she kept her hands there for quite some time, pretending she did.
When Layla returned to her residence, two people were waiting for her in her room.
“Sonnet?”
Sonnet sighed when he saw her.
“Hello.”
The person he had brought was, like last time, completely covered from head to toe. But once Layla closed the door, the woman removed her hood and bonnet and met her eyes.
“We met yesterday, didn’t we?”
Layla’s mouth fell open without her realizing—because the woman, who seemed to be Sonnet’s mistress, had the same pink hair and sky-blue eyes as herself.
