Responses
Exactly what I thought. Evil princess somehow behind the scenes had the nobles convinced that the engagement party was all rumors and couldn’t possibly be true. I think ml left early so he could take his carriage past her palace, step out long enough to be announced, look at the guest list and leave. At that point all evil princess’s guests realized, oh crap, there really is an engagement party and quickly left. I think ml’s main goal was to save face for his beloved fl.
I know this man didnt show up just to look at the list of nobles in case they don’t show up to his engagement to threaten them later with. I feel like I’m reading too deep into that page flip at the end but it’s literally one of the only reason to go. Like cause a scene and make them attend his engagement party