Chapter 7

The maids, startled and confused, cast frantic glances at one another, clearly unable to grasp what was happening. Leon observed their panic for a brief moment before giving a curt order.

“We depart for the Velasque Territory at once. Prepare the princess.”

“Pardon?”

“First, get her out of that wretched excuse for clothing. We leave within half an hour.”

It was still deep in the pre-dawn darkness, not even a hint of morning light upon the horizon. The sudden command to depart immediately drained all color from the maids’ faces.

Adeline was no exception.

“Wait a moment. We’re leaving right now?”

“Of course. Unless the Princess, who brazenly attempted to escape right after the verdict, wishes to stay here longer?”

Adeline’s expression hardened at the man’s high-handed attitude. She understood well enough the authoritarian temperament common among military men, but this man went beyond mere brusqueness. His arrogance was so extreme it bordered on outright barbarity, as if the concept of courtesy simply didn’t apply to him.

Just as she pressed her lips together, about to retort, the maids, terrified by the tension in the room, hurriedly pulled an elegant dress from one of the trunks.

Resigned, she moved to change, but even as his subordinates stepped out to give her space, the man himself showed no intention of leaving.

“I have to change as you commanded. Please step outside.”

“If you pull another stupid stunt, I’m the one who pays for it. Change where I can see you.”

“….!”

For God’s sake.

Her eyes widened in shock at the absurdity of the command, but Leon only leaned back against the closed door and crossed his arms. His posture made it unmistakably clear that he had no intention whatsoever of stepping outside. Faced with his stubborn posture that showed absolutely no intention of leaving, Adeline had no choice but to change, surrounded by her maids.

It was fortunate she at least had a thin slip properly worn beneath her dress. As she dressed carefully, wary of exposing even a glimpse of bare skin before the man watching her, Camilla discreetly shifted another trunk toward the door.

“The maids will remain here. On this journey, I’m only taking the Princess.”

The moment he spoke, the maids froze in shock. Their mouths fell open at the announcement that their princess would be taken back to Velasque.

“We can’t allow that. We could never leave the Her Highness’s side.”

“You refuse to leave the princess’s side, and yet not one of you followed her when she attempted to flee a moment ago?”

At his cutting remark, the maids flinched; their lips snapped shut in guilty silence. Sensing the shift in the air, Leon’s mouth curved into a twisted smirk.

“I’ve no interest in your pathetic displays of loyalty. Your return home is your own problem.”

“Wait a moment. These are my ladies-in-waiting who came with me. Are you telling them to go separately?”

Unable to bear it any longer, Adeline asked the question herself.

Leon pushed away from the door and straightened to his full height, the movement casting a long, imposing shadow across the room. The look in his eyes carried a thin edge of derision.

“You seem to be under a misunderstanding. Your country has fallen, and you’re no longer the princess you once were. You don’t need people like your ladies-in-waiting anymore.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

There was nothing Adeline could do against the man’s unilateral orders.

Pressed by his repeated insistence, she found herself boarding an unfamiliar carriage without understanding why. She asked him several times for the reason behind the unnecessarily rushed schedule, but he gave her no answer.

Vroomm.

Startled by the heavy growl of the engine, Adeline let her gaze roam over the interior, which was far narrower than a carriage. Even in her homeland, such vehicles were reserved exclusively for members of the royal family and the high-ranking nobles, which was an unfamiliar novelty to Adeline.

Trying to conceal her unfamiliarity, she cast a cautious glance toward the front seat. However, when the man climbed in after her and her shoulder brushed his, she flinched and immediately pressed herself tightly against the door.

He clicked his tongue at her exaggerated reaction to a mere touch of their shoulders.

“Tsk. Anyone watching would think I’m about to devour you.”

“I was just startled. I didn’t expect we’d be sitting this close.”

“Didn’t the King of Velasque, who scooped up and hoarded every last one of the few models of this domestic car that were debuted, ever give his precious daughter, the one he cherished like a flower, a single ride?”

“….”

Adeline held her tongue at the man’s sarcasm. Then, from somewhere near the mansion they had just left, faint commotion reached her ears, hurried voices overlapping, frenetic footsteps tangling together.

She turned her head toward the noise.

“What’s happening outside?”

“…Who knows.”

Adeline glanced sideways at the man beside her, who gave clipped answers. Even if she was the daughter of a dethroned royal house, he showed not the slightest inclination to treat her as a princess. 

As though sensing her thoughts, the man let one corner of his mouth curl upward in a slanted, faintly mocking smile.

“I’ve no intention of catering to you just because you’re a princess. So drop any expectation of that.”

“I never expected to be treated like one. But my ladies-in-waiting—”

“My head’s already pounding. Sit quietly. We’re in this rush because thanks to someone, I didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

At his cutting retort, Adeline pressed her lips together, swallowing back the words that rose in her throat.

What use was it to argue?

She couldn’t understand why he insisted on taking her with him when he made no effort to hide his displeasure at their impending marriage.