Standing before Layland who was sitting on a luxurious sofa were Hadrian and two of his fellow Dukes who had decided to side with Layland. Layland's gaze was focused solely on the smiling Hadrian; he ignored the two people behind Hadrian who, for some reason, seemed eager to curry favour from him.
He couldn't understand why the three people did what they did—condemning the King for the atrocity that the Royal Family had done for generations and declaring their independence to openly join his side. He didn't expect and wish any of them to do that.
He wondered what they were thinking before making a decision. They might have seen the inevitable fall of the Kingdom—thus they sided with him to save their assets—but he still couldn't help suspecting that it might be the Kingdom's plot.
