In the following days, Laila either sought advice from the prominent directors or secluded herself in her room, writing and sketching. She sent everyone else around her out to play, thinking it was a shame not to enjoy the island during her rare visit.
Recently, she had learned a lot from the directors, and she wanted to take advantage of the quiet moments to jot down her insights and incorporate them into her future films. Unfortunately, her luck wasn't great, as the exasperating Prince Al Nadeem continued to complain about his condition and "communicate" with her every day.
Their so-called communication involved Laila working on her projects while Al Nadeem idly sat nearby or read a book. As for chatting? No chance. She simply didn't have time to waste on him.
With a loud thud, Al Nadeem finally couldn't take it anymore and slammed the magazine in his hand down. "Laila! What do you intend to do? Get my father to cancel this ridiculous treatment!"
Laila continued writing, not bothering to lift her head. "I didn't ask for you to come here. Do you know how much money I've lost because of you being around?"
"When did I cause you to lose money?" Al Nadeem firmly denied it. "You haven't even left the house. Your way of making money is through making movies. Don't tell me you plan to make movies on this island!"
Laila raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How did you know I planned to make movies on the island?"
"Quit playing around!" Al Nadeem snapped. "If you want me not to interfere with your money-making, just go talk to my father and ask him not to bother me!"
"Your father and you want me to go talk to him?" Laila chuckled. "You truly are something." If he wanted to be friends with Theron, he came to ask for her permission. If he wanted the crown prince to revoke his orders, he came to ask for her refusal. If she had to do everything, what was he even here for?
"It's because of you that my father thinks you can cure my illness. Can't you just tell him you can't?" Al Nadeem argued.
"Boring." Laila couldn't be bothered to argue with his irrationality. If her words were so effective, he would have left long ago. She had been enduring not because of the prince's power but due to the persistence of her mother. She would rather leave the prince in the same room as her than endure his mother's romantic and fate-filled monologues.
Al Nadeem huffed and opened the door forcefully. "Sort this out quickly. I have many things to do and can't stay here forever!"
With that, he slammed the door shut with force and stormed out, accompanied by his steward (or watchdog?).
Laila glanced at the time and realized it was dinner time again. No wonder he was so eager to leave. Perhaps that was the only excuse he could use to depart?
As she prepared to continue her work, the door to her study was suddenly pushed open.
"Forgetting something?" Laila looked up, only to see not the prince but his fiancée.
"Miss Faiza?" Laila glanced at her and was surprised that she managed to enter so easily. If she recalled correctly, Claire and several bodyguards were supposed to be outside. How had she come in so freely?
Faiz was still dressed in her black robe and black headscarf. She approached with her chin held high, a superior demeanor. "It seems you still can't accept my goodwill!"
"Huh?" Laila felt once again that she and Faiza were on completely different wavelengths. She considered herself good at understanding people and reading their thoughts, but her encounters with the prince's fiancée had cast doubts on this skill.
Was it her ability to understand that had diminished or had Faiza's thought processes been so burned that her words were incomprehensible gibberish?
At that moment, Claire burst into the room, breathing heavily. She cast a wary glance at the unexpected visitor Faiza and then walked up to Laila. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What's happening outside?"
Claire shook her head. "We were held up by a group of people." If it had been warriors, she could have taken them on without hesitation. Unfortunately, it was a group of delicate maids. As a result, all the bodyguards were "defeated."
Perhaps knowing that nothing serious would happen on the island, the bodyguards couldn't resort to extreme measures against the maids. Claire managed to clear a "blood path" for them after kicking a few of them to the ground.
"Should I 'escort' her out?" Claire stared at Faiza with an unfriendly gaze.
Faiz's body stiffened under Claire's glare. Knowing that all the bodyguards had been sent to deal with the maids, she was now quite uncertain.
"You can't be rude to me! I am Prince Al Nadeem's fiancée, the future queen of Saudi Arabia!" She raised her head defiantly.
Claire couldn't care less whether she was a future queen or future queen mother. Anyone who posed a threat to Laila was an enemy!
"Let it go." Laila didn't want things to escalate. She raised her hand to halt Claire's further actions and turned her gaze to Faiza. "What do you want?"
"What do I want? Aren't you already clear on that?" Faiza's chest heaved with rage, and she managed to suppress her anger. "Fine! Since you're pretending to be ignorant, I'll remind you again! I believe I mentioned during the banquet that you should stay away from Al Nadeem, right? Why do you still keep him by your side every day? I told you I won't allow polygamy to happen in my life. I will personally change the system of this country!"
Laila clapped her hands sarcastically. "How noble, how great. I'm looking forward to the day you change your country's system." A woman who still dressed in black robes and headscarves while abroad— who would believe that she had the determination to change a country's system? Someone who couldn't change even herself, how could she change others?
But that had nothing to do with Laila. She didn't want to be the one to burst the bubble of this "aspiring young woman."
"Firstly, I want to tell you that I haven't tied the prince to my side. If you can keep him away from me, I'll be extremely grateful. Secondly, I hope you understand that I have no fondness for your prince, and we're not even friends. Whether you tie him to your side or hang him around your neck, do whatever you want, just don't involve me in whatever you're doing."
Laila felt she had made her stance clear, but she had overestimated the other party's intelligence.
Faiza's eyes widened, and she exclaimed angrily, "Are you so confident that the prince won't want to leave you?"
Laila stared at the ceiling in disbelief. Someone, please come and take this demon away from me.