The King's Lover-Chapter 262: Thomas’ Coat

The carriage rolled into the castle, and Rose couldn’t help but think the journey was shorter than it should have been—or perhaps she simply didn’t want to come back here again. She hadn’t realized how suffocating the castle felt until she’d been away.

The carriage came to a full stop right in front of the main entrance, and Rose looked out the carriage door, which Thomas wasted no time opening. The knot in her stomach twisted tighter.

Thomas didn’t look in her direction before stepping out. She followed right after him, eager to get into the castle—she couldn’t risk being caught with the map. At least inside, she could find somewhere safe to keep it, and once she was in the bedchambers, she could check it to her heart’s content.

The coat was still on her shoulders as she got out of the carriage, and she half expected Thomas to turn around and snatch it from her. But he did none of that. Not once did he turn to look at her as they went up the stairs.

The young knight was odd. If it wasn’t so obvious that he fancied her, Rose would have been certain he hated her guts. She wondered when it changed from hatred to this. She found it amusing. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The guards opened the giant doors of the castle, and Thomas suddenly stopped walking. Rose hadn’t been paying attention, so she bumped into him, hitting her head on his back.

She stepped down a stair immediately, grabbing her head, grateful she didn’t lose her footing.

"What are you do—" But Rose didn’t finish her sentence as she saw Thomas bowing.

"Your Highness," Thomas said with a bow.

The crown prince was here, Rose realized with horror. She kept her palm against her forehead as though her head still hurt—just to hide from him. However, there was no way to avoid him when he was right by the entrance with only Thomas between them.

"Thomas," Caius’s voice floated to her ears.

Rose felt all her nerve endings stand upright. She pulled her hand from her face and curtsied without saying a word. She couldn’t fathom what he was doing here. Hopefully, he was just passing through, and she could get to her room without any problems.

Rose could feel his gaze on her even though she was behind Thomas. She hated how anxious she was feeling—wondering what the crown prince could possibly want.

"You took your time," Caius said to Thomas.

"I apologize, Your Highness," Thomas said without offering any explanation.

Caius’s eyes narrowed, and he was quiet for about three breaths before he said, "You may go."

Rose sighed in relief and slowly followed behind Thomas as he walked through the door—but just as she came to the entrance, a huge figure blocked her path.

Rose stood rooted to the spot as Caius stood in front of her. It hadn’t been that long since she saw him—so why did he look a little different? And why was she a little happy to see his face?

His expression, however, quickly reminded her—and Rose bent her head. She didn’t say a word, didn’t look at him, just kept her gaze locked on the ground.

He didn’t say anything for what felt like days. He just blocked her path, staring down at her while she kept her head bent.

"Your Majesty," Rose whispered when she couldn’t take it anymore.

"What are you wearing?" Caius asked, his tone dark.

Rose frowned, but only for a moment, as she recalled the coat on her shoulders. "Lord Thom—"

Rose didn’t finish speaking before Caius lifted his hand and flicked the coat off her shoulders. It fell to the ground—the sound of it hitting the floor louder than it should have been.

Rose was flabbergasted as she looked up at Caius with wide eyes, and he frowned as their gazes met again. He moved his hands toward her face, and Rose flinched, afraid that he might hit her.

Caius didn’t miss this. Annoyed, he grabbed her face more aggressively than he intended to and, using his thumbs, wiped the stain from her cheeks. She relaxed when she realized he wasn’t going to hurt her.

Rose kept her gaze down, watching the coat at her feet. Why would he even do that to Thomas’s coat? There had to be something wrong with the crown prince.

"Your Grace," Rylen’s voice called from the other side of the entrance room. He looked like he had run all the way there.

He briskly walked to Caius, absentmindedly nodding to Thomas’s bow. "I didn’t even know when you left, Your Grace."

"Hmm," Caius said and reluctantly dropped his hands from Rose’s face. "Let’s go."

He walked past Rose without a word, and Rylen followed after him. Rylen looked a little confused, but there was no time to assess the situation further as Caius was already going down the stairs.

Rose bent and picked up the coat. She shook it to dust off any dirt before walking forward to where Thomas stood.

"I am sorry," she said and handed him the coat. "Thank you. Without this, I would have frozen to death."

Thomas glanced at her face before accepting the coat. Without another word, he walked in the direction of the crown prince’s wing.

Rose didn’t miss the look the guards and servants who had lingered gave her, and she wondered if she should have waited until they were away from the main entrance to give it to him.

But she had felt so bad about what the crown prince did to his coat that she had wanted to apologize immediately. Thomas didn’t seem any angrier than usual, but the air around them was clearly awkward.

As soon as they got to the door of her room, Thomas turned around and left without a word. Rose watched his back until he went down the stairs, and all she could see was the top of his head—before she went into her room.