His Highness’ Secret Accountant

"It's not here… Where on earth did it go?"

"Are you looking for something, Princess?"

Elin looked at Ayla, who had been anxiously rummaging through the pockets on her skirt, with a worried gaze.

Obviously, the bracelet she had put in before entering the banquet hall had disappeared, and her pocket was empty.

‘It was a gift from Louis…'

As Ayla's expression, who was looking around in panic, turned into a teary face, Orhan calmly said, ‘Keep smiling.'. There was no room for compromise in his voice.

Ayla fixed her posture as if she didn't have other choice, but her expression didn't show any signs of improvement.

***

Owen didn't want to visit the banquet hall for a while due to the incident with Claire the other day, but he was forced to go there due to Theon's scolding.

"Ah… I'm bored."

From that day on, Owen was given the terribly embarrassing nickname of ‘Perverted Duke', and it haunted him.

He was dumbfounded at Claire's manipulative behavior, saying that there was no better combination than Happy meeting with the Perverted Duke.

As he entered the banquet hall with heavy steps, something familiar to Owen's eyes sparkled and fell to the floor.

"Garnets?"

The bracelet, embedded with red garnets, looked exactly like the one Ayla always wore as if it was part of her body.

Owen bent down to pick up the bracelet and looked around searching for Ayla, but she was nowhere to be seen.

As he looked for Ayla, a strange woman caught his attention.

A foreign woman in a turquoise, extravagant outfit looked around as if looking for something, and then immediately corrected her posture.

"Her clothes are extremely erotic…"

Owen, who had been muttering to himself while looking at Zenia, turned his head in embarrassment and cleared his throat.

Although the woman he was seeing for the first time felt strangely familiar, Owen passed Zenia as if that couldn't be possible.

***

A stranger's hand suddenly appeared in front of Ayla, who was greeting the distinguished guests who had gathered around her.

At a glance, the man's knuckles were studded with sparkling jewel rings. Ayla tilted her head at the somewhat familiar appearance.

When she slowly turned her gaze and looked up, a rich-looking noble man was standing in front of Zenia, with a wicked smile.

"Beautiful Princess Zenia. I am Baron Devin Noir, in charge of being the Princess' guide in the Stellen Kingdom."

‘Are you the one who's going to bring the tribute?'

Devin said that he was in charge of being her guide, but his words contained the implicit meaning of ‘I am the one who will deliver the tribute.'

Devin's sudden approach was not surprising, as Orhan explained that it was common practice for the officials in charge to visit the distinguished guests in advance at the banquet hall before bringing the tribute.

Of course, the Baron's glossy skin and shiny hair were too burdensome. But strangely, the man standing in front of her wasn't unfamiliar.

As Ayla nodded her head slightly at the Baron's greeting and lowered her eyes, his pants that seemed about to burst caught her eye.

At last, she was able to find the reason why this ugly-looking man, whom she was afraid would appear in her dreams, felt familiar.

The perfect head-to-toe fashion made it clear that he was the damn Baron who really screwed her over at the banquet hall a while ago because he was having a secret meeting with Jasmine.

‘Meeting your enemy at the worst time and place really is the best.'

Looking at Baron Noir, Ayla's eyes were frowning slightly.

Even if he wasn't already detestable, Devin, who had been looking all over Zenia's exposed body with lewd eyes, was squinting and smacking his lips unconsciously.

Displeased with his blatant gaze, Ayla's expression gradually distorted.

The nobles who surrounded Zenia began to whisper among themselves as if they had found something interesting to see.

Perhaps it wasn't only Ayla who felt unpleasant; Elin, who was standing next to her, was also holding her mouth shut and looking furiously at Devin.

Theon, who had been watching the two of them from afar while welcoming the distinguished guests, felt the strange atmosphere flowing between them and approached Ayla.

"Baron Noir should be forever grateful that this place is not Ruit."

"Tsk tsk. What does that mean?"

Despite Ayla's gentle but cold voice and eyes, Devin maintained his blatant gaze looking at her. His dirty gaze showed no signs of respect for Zenia, the princess of a foreign country. Ayla reached out her hand to stop Orhan, who was pulling himself towards Baron Noir. Orhan's eyes stared at the Baron as if he were going to kill him.