The Forgotten Princess Rose-Chapter 267

"The estate is starting to look a little different thanks to you, Rose. The flowers do liven it up a little bit. Had I known you two were going for flowers I would have joined you. The look I am getting from Zayne tells me that I wouldn’t have been welcomed but I am his mother so he cannot stop me from going where I please,’ said Catherine.

"I want to see flowers too. Being in the palace is a bore these days," Paige said, eager to go on a small trip.

Rose smiled apologetically. "We’ve already gotten all the flowers we need but I will invite you the next time I go. There were only a few people there walking around and they didn’t trouble Zayne for most of the time we were there."

"You must promise to take me. We should go without Zayne. I am still waiting to hear the story of how you two fell in love. Zayne left home after turning down all of Gage’s suggestions for a wife yet he returned with you already married. It is odd," Paige said, suspicious of what Zayne did.

Rose ordered the servants not to be in the dining room as the questions would pour in right away. She just didn’t think it would be this soon without giving her a chance to properly show them what she decorated.

Rose first looked to Zayne to see if he wanted to speak about it now. It came as no surprise he didn’t want to speak.

Gage and Yvonne entered at what they considered to be the perfect timing since they wanted to hear the story as well.

"There are all these snacks prepared for us so why don’t we enjoy them before we get to talking?" Catherine interjected to prolong the storytelling. "Paige, let the host decide when she wants to tell us about her and Zayne. Be patient."

Catherine came for dinner with her children and their wives. She was not in the mood to have to tell each one how to behave. If Zayne were to end up sending anyone out then she would not get involved to stop it. She couldn’t let them age her faster than she was meant to.

Catherine walked around the table picking up what she wanted to try. There wasn’t a need to hold back since it was just family. "Do you bake, Rose? It interests me but I never had the time for it."

"I do not but I want to learn. It will keep me busy when Zayne is not around. We should learn together. There can be days when Zayne is not here for us to get to know each other better. Would that be fine?" Rose asked Zayne.

"You can do as you want," Zayne replied.

Paige wanted to join. "Then I-"

"No," Zayne quickly denied.

"Then why does mother get to come? Is she the only one you are open to inviting to your home now? I want to get to know Rose as well. I’ve heard something that couldn’t possibly be true," Paige said, remembering what Gage told her. "Did you come from a brothel?"

"Oh dear," Catherine covered her face with her hand. She hadn’t informed Paige of this as she wanted Rose to have the chance to tell her story herself. "Paige, I said to let the host tell us when she is ready to share stories."

Paige tried hard to avoid Zayne’s gaze. She just knew that she wouldn’t be welcomed back anytime soon so she could say goodbye to the idea of baking with Rose and her mother. "Why couldn’t anyone say that it is not true? The wife of a prince has never come from that place."

Paige didn’t see why it would be so wrong to ask when it had to be a lie concocted by Gage.

Gage stayed away from the group watching with great interest as his big-mouth sister did what he expected her to do, which was speak about what she heard.

"You are going to end up with your face bruised again and I won’t be able to look at you. I know you were the one to tell Paige and you better hope she doesn’t mention your name," said Yvonne.

Yvonne didn’t travel all this way and be away from her son all for Gage to start something that was going to end with Zayne beating the life out of him. Gage was overly confident he could beat Zayne all because he was the older brother.

Yvonne thought of getting spectacles for Gage to better see that the little brother wasn’t so little anymore. If she was an outsider, she would have assumed that Zayne was the older one. She didn’t know what was snuck into Zayne’s food but she hoped it wouldn’t be placed in her son’s food.

"I didn’t tell Paige-"

"Yes, you did. You are the only one who would tell her and I truly hope not to hear your name. Your only saving grace if she does reveal that it was you is me standing by your side since he will not attack me. I came here for a nice family dinner. At least try not to ruin it for me," Yvonne pleaded to Gage.

Rose knew she couldn’t run around it much longer. The gifts she prepared for each of them had to wait. "It is true that I once lived in a brothel and that is where I met your brother. I remember clearly that I bumped into him when I was trying to run from someone. I can remember his eyes the most. It is not common to see such blue eyes in town."

Zayne eyed his brother, not bothering to hide the fact that he was suspicious of Gage. He was going to hit Gage by the end of the night. He could just feel it coming. Zayne only needed a time when Rose wasn’t at his side to do it so she would not think the dinner was ruined.

Gage was walking on thin ice around someone who would happily throw a rock to make the ice break and Gage fall inside.

Gage didn’t back down and stared back at Zayne. He smiled to upset Zayne.

’So, it was all true? I thought Gage was playing a trick. You are a woman who has entertained men," Paige said, shocked by Rose’s background. She had never been around this kind of woman and never thought a day would come when one was welcomed into her family.

While Paige was surprised by this, Zayne wasn’t surprised that Gage had started to run his mouth.

Yvonne bit her lip. Anyone who knew Paige knew that she wouldn’t be able to leave your name out of it. Paige never thought before she spoke.

"I was in a brothel but I didn’t entertain men. The owner liked to keep me to himself and though he did uncomfortable things I didn’t like, I was never intimate with him," Rose shared.

She continued, "I met Zayne the night I was running away from the owner. Zayne helped me find my family. I was taken from my family when I was thirteen for reasons I am not ready to share."

Rose wasn’t ready to speak of being one of James’s bastards. She didn’t trust Gage not to mention it to upset Zayne and Paige could not refrain from speaking too much. Many didn’t need to know about her real father. The only person she felt sharing it with was Catherine.

"Oh," Paige said, regretting that she brought it up since Rose’s story was nothing like it was told to her. "I’m sorry for asking you about it. I should have waited until you were ready."

"If only you could learn from this to stop asking so many questions at once and wait," Zayne said, hoping she would learn this time. "Then again, I wonder what was told to you."

Yvonne knew Zayne’s words were directed to Gage. "This is why I told you to stay out of it," she whispered.