Max turned around with a stiff expression. 'Why isn't she coming back?' He glared at the door that she had tightly shut behind her, but he couldn't feel her presence no matter how he tried.

"Your Highness?" the man asked with a puzzled voice.

Max twisted his expression. 'Why am I…' Each time he made up his mind to leave, his body wouldn't listen. He was filled with worries about the woman, who might look for him if he disappeared without a word.

"Wait for me outside. It'll just take a second."

The man noticed that the prince possessed an unfamiliar expression and a hesitant gaze, but he silently obeyed his orders and left the room. Max exhaled when he couldn't feel his subordinate's presence in the room anymore. 'I can't believe I'm doing something like this…'

He went to the woman's desk, pulled out a piece of paper, and began writing diligently.

'This should be enough.' His taut face relaxed.

* * *

It was eerily quiet when I came back to my room.

'It seems like he's hiding well. I'm proud of him,' I thought to myself as I walked towards my closet. 'I hope he's not annoyed at me for taking a long time.'

I opened the closet door. 'Huh?' Instead of a frowning man huddled among tulles, I only saw my clothes.

'Did he hide somewhere else?' I searched through my other closets, but he was nowhere to be found.

'Where did he go? I already have a lot on my mind right now…' I was about to place my father's letter on my desk before searching for him elsewhere when I saw a piece of paper with scribbled words.

'What's this?' I inspected the letter with a strange sense of foreboding and frowned. 'The handwriting is horrible. Even a cat can write better than this.'

I concentrated on the content of the letter and read what it said: Don't look for me. I'll come back when the time comes.

"I never told him he could come again." I sighed unconsciously and sprawled on the couch that he used to occupy.

'I finally got my place back.' I relaxed on the comfortable couch, which was still warm from his body heat. It felt as if I had gone back to my quiet and peaceful days.

'He said he would return, but when will that be?' I pondered over what he wrote but quickly came up with an explanation. 'He probably intends to come back to see my father, so it has nothing to do with me.'

I frowned when my head started to ache. 'Ah, I'm really tired.' I was drained from worrying about how to avoid the disaster that was the crown prince, my prospective partner.

'What should I do now?' Although I was anxious, the fatigue that weighed down on my body was persistent. I closed my eyes.

* * *

When Max left the duke's mansion, his body tensed and his senses sharpened.

'I'm back to how I used to be.' He faltered. 'That woman. I wonder if she read my letter.'

Max unconsciously looked back at the duke's mansion. When he spotted the marble building, he realized what he had done and twisted his face.

'A letter…' It was unlike him to leave such a thing. 'Why did I do that?'

When he was a child, Max learned that carelessness directly led to death, so he was always vigilant. But strangely, his days in the woman's room had not been spent in perpetual alertness. He had even been defenseless several times without realizing it.

'If my subordinate didn't come, I might have continued staying there.' Max couldn't understand this change in heart; it was as if he had been placed under a spell. He wondered if the woman had a secret method to make him feel this way, but didn't dwell on it for long.

'First, I need to go back and do something.' Max fastened his pace and headed towards his destination.

Act 4. Who Will Be My Partner?

'Hm… why is it so bright?' I glanced at the clock in my half-awake state and was startled to see the time. Although I had only planned to sleep for a short while, I had fallen into a deep slumber!

I worried about my father's disciple, who depended on me for food. 'He must've been hungry, so why didn't he wake me up…?'

'Oh.' I realized that habits were hard to break, seeing as I was looking for someone who had left yesterday.

'Since he left so abruptly, he probably found another place to stay…' I had already packed up some travel necessities for him in advance, but I didn't expect him to leave so abruptly.

'He could've at least said goodbye.' I quickly replaced my frown with a smile. 'I shouldn't be sad. He's just a stranger.' Although I tried to comfort myself, I couldn't help but feel a little empty inside.

I barely managed to collect myself with a sigh. 'First, I should take care of the impending problem.' I didn't get much sleep last night because I was busy thinking about a solution for my prospective marriage. I ended up empty-handed.