The butler gazed at her ice-cold, emotionless, pale blue eyes. His mouth twisted in bitterness. It wasn't just a lack of warmth; it was pure indifference. He had gone beyond just being not friendly; he was being cold. He had already said it like that, attempting to change his words now would only lead to him becoming the subject of ridicule.
"Of course, Director Moran has the most elegant demeanor we've seen in an American." That was all he could say.
Laila raised an eyebrow. "I wish my colleagues at my company could hear those words from you. They keep saying I'm too cold."
"Why would they say you're cold?" The butler earnestly nodded in agreement, though he wore an expression of confusion. "In my eyes, even some of the princesses in our royal family can't match your grace."
Alright, Laila knew the butler was simply flattering her, but she couldn't help feeling a tinge of pleasure. After all, in her previous life, she had lived too timidly. People even mistook her for a princess, and she was falling for it.
"No need for flattery, but we must find a way to resolve today's incident. Let me tell you this, Theron is one of the most promising actors under me. Our company is nurturing her as a top-tier superstar. After your prince's commission, she was quite distracted for a while due to those absurd demands."
"I'm truly sorry." Besides apologizing, the old butler didn't know what else he could say. After all, who could have anticipated that his master would have such a bizarre illness?
"You should apologize, but not to me. If you genuinely seek reconciliation, go ask for Theron's forgiveness. As long as she forgives, I can overlook and not hold onto what happened earlier."
The old butler sincerely lowered his head. "Thank you for your understanding. I will convey my master's most sincere apologies to Miss Theron."
Neither of them expected the "gynophobic" prince to stand before Theron and apologize in person. Laila had only wanted the butler to let Theron know the situation was resolved, so she wouldn't worry anymore.
As for the incident that had just occurred, it was neither minor nor major. After all, the prince's bodyguards had indeed pointed their guns at her. With so many guns, if news of this leaked out, it would damage the prince's reputation and the royal family as a whole.
And let's not forget that behind the surname Moran was the entire media conglomerate. No one wanted to stir up that hornet's nest.
Meanwhile, while the old butler was apologizing on behalf of his prince to Laila, Roy was being led by Demi to the pavilion where Laila was resting. What awaited him there was an unrelenting scolding.
"Do you think you're tough? Always ready to throw a punch! If you had hit that stupid prince today, his bodyguards would've turned you into a sieve in an instant!"
"I didn't know he was a prince." Roy scratched his ear and leaned against a pillar.
It was better that he didn't argue back, but even this refusal irritated Laila further.
"Whether he's a prince or not, don't forget where we are. Everyone who appears on this island isn't someone you can mess with easily. Do you understand?"
"Alright, I got it. Next time, I'll make sure to ask about his identity first, then ask if hitting him would cause you trouble. Only after confirming all that, can I hit someone?" Roy retorted impatiently.
Laila slammed her hand on the stone table. "Roy! I'm serious! If I hadn't been there, can't you imagine what could have happened? If I hadn't been present, do you think I'm silly enough to rush over?"
"If I weren't there, would you have gone charging over?" Roy stared back, his anger boiling.
Seeing the sparks fly between the two of them, Demi stepped back, startled. She wanted to find a place to hide. At the same time, she admired Roy's audacity. Besides him, no one else in the company dared to glare at the boss like that.
His words were also true. If he hadn't seen that foolish prince make a move, he wouldn't have impulsively rushed over. Thinking about it, Laila couldn't help but sigh softly, and then her tone softened.
"I know you were looking out for me. It's just that I'm afraid if things get blown out of proportion, I won't be able to protect you." This wasn't the street; it wasn't a place where he could just escape if he couldn't fight. No matter how capable she was, once things escalated, even if she wanted to help, she might be powerless.
Just take this incident, for example. If the old butler hadn't stepped in and blocked his punch, would the Saudi royal family have let a little star who dared to throw a punch at their prince off the hook? Even if they had thousands of princes, this one wasn't the kind without wealth and power. For the sake of the royal family's face, they would've had to regain some dignity from Roy.
She didn't blame him for not understanding this kind of thing. She also knew he was acting recklessly for her sake. She acknowledged his goodwill, but often, goodwill alone couldn't solve everything.
Why couldn't he understand that?
Roy turned his face away with a cold expression and ignored her. Demi, however, looked at her boss in astonishment, as if seeing a new side of her. If she hadn't misheard, had the boss just softened her tone? Could such a dominant figure like the boss use a gentle tone with someone?
Apart from when she was dealing with her family, she had never seen the boss act this way.
"You're not going to lecture me anymore, right? If not, I'm going to go have fun!" Roy huffed.
"No, I won't." Laila didn't want to keep arguing fruitlessly. She waved her hand, signaling for him to leave.
Watching Roy's figure disappear below, Demi worriedly asked, "Boss, will this incident have any negative effects on you?"
Laila shook her head. "I explained everything clearly just now. It shouldn't be a problem."
"But he's a prince after all, and guns were involved. What if word gets out..." Thinking about their small-scale company, Demi felt deeply troubled. Could their company withstand the attention of a prince? If he wanted to tear them apart, he just needed to open his mouth, right?
Seeing Demi's worried expression, Laila couldn't help but smile. "Are you making the prince out to be too formidable? Yes, he is indeed a prince, but Saudi Arabia has thousands of princes. Not only the king's direct heirs are called princes, even the sons of the collateral princes are called princes, as are the generations below. So, the weight of their titles as princes isn't necessarily that high. Only those with power and connections can have more influence."
Unfortunately, they had encountered a prince with influence. However, she didn't want to say that to make her secretary even more anxious.
Demi had never heard of this before. "Is that so?"
"Of course, if you don't believe me, you can go back and research it." And her company wasn't a balloon that could be popped easily. If it came to that, she could always put all her resources into the fight. Given time, she could build a new, larger company in just a few years.
Since the boss said so, Demi finally eased her worry. "That's good." But then she hesitated, "Boss, I don't think Roy was intentionally opposing you. I think he acted that way because he believed you were being bullied."