The King's Lover-Chapter 367: Grating Need

Caius watched Rose’s body language from the corner of his eye as they walked side by side to the dining hall. Her grip on his palm felt a little loose, and she walked with clear caution, careful not to bump into him.

She was watching her step more since the accident, keeping her eyes on the road and no longer occasionally peeking at him. It was also hard to miss that she wasn’t holding his hand, rather she just kept her hand in place and left it all to him. But this wasn’t the part that gnawed at him. It was something else, something he didn’t want to spend too long thinking about.

They soon came upon the dining hall, and the servants wasted no time in getting the doors open. They bowed as usual but Caius barely paid any mind to them. His attention was on Rose.

He noticed she looked a little self-conscious as they walked in together and subtly glanced at their joined hands. He understood that she meant he should let go, but Caius had no intention of doing so.

As they walked through the open door, Rose whispered, "Your Majesty," and tried to pull her hand away from his grip. It was a slight tug, but even that indicated what she wanted.

Caius held firm, marching forward as though he didn’t realize what she was doing. He heard a small sigh, and she stopped struggling. She walked with him but hung back about a foot.

The knights stood to their feet at his entrance, and Caius didn’t miss the eye contact that was exchanged between Thomas and Rose. Her face lit up immediately, and she tried to free her palm one more time.

Caius would be lying if he said he didn’t notice her friendliness toward Thomas, but that wasn’t the only problem. It was clear it wasn’t just polite friendliness; rather, she was comfortable enough to always sit beside Thomas during mealtimes, even though the seat next to him was empty.

He had watched this for enough time to give her the benefit of the doubt but he was not going to allow it anymore. Not after seeing her constant interaction with Thomas.

Caius walked towards his seat and led Rose to the empty chair beside him, the one across from Thomas. She looked confused at first but took the seat without any complaints.

The knights sat down, and the servants moved quickly to serve the dishes. Rose smiled politely as one of the servants poured a decent portion of food onto her plate; then she slowly dug in once everyone started to eat.

Breakfast was mostly quiet, and Caius didn’t do much. He simply watched Rose as she ate carefully. She didn’t glance at him, but he was sure she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

"I see your health has improved," Thomas suddenly spoke as Rose finished the last bits of food on her plate.

Caius jerked his head toward the young lord hard enough to break his neck. Thomas had ignored Rose while he was in her room the day before, but here he was, blatantly speaking to her right in front of him.

Thomas’s action, however, only mildly annoyed him. It was Rose’s reaction to his words that sent a searing pain up his chest.

She smiled that annoying smile again. The smile itself wasn’t annoying; however, it was the way her eyes wrinkled and the way it looked so genuine that pissed him off. She had the same easy expression she’d had when she called him ’castle boy’ and asked about his scar.

It wasn’t an expression he saw and it was particularly why it was so easy to humor her the night before. It looked like she saw him. Caius winced at his thoughts and forced himself to pay attention.

"Yes," Rose readily agreed. "I feel so much better. Thank you, Lord Thomas."

Thomas didn’t say anything after this; rather, he grunted and finished up the rest of his meal. It was a small interaction, and there was certainly nothing wrong with what Thomas had done, nor was there anything inappropriate about it, but Caius couldn’t help feeling very offended. He was very tempted to tell Thomas not to concern himself with his matters, but it wasn’t wrong that his men cared about her well-being.

Rose wiped the corner of her lips, the smile still on her face, and then she realized he was looking at her. Her smile froze and her back straightened. The slight giddiness had dissipated, and she was rigid again.

Caius had noticed this pattern all too much, and the consistency of it gnawed at him. She was never really relaxed in his presence, even when she did nothing wrong.

Rose reluctantly lifted her face to look at him. As their gaze met, she looked as if she might ask a question, but she didn’t; rather, she turned her gaze away and just sat back in her seat as though she had given up.

Caius watched all this, and after some time he spoke. "Shall we?" he said and stretched out his hand once again.

He didn’t know why he did this, but for some reason, he felt a need for constant contact. It was the same reason he wanted her by his side constantly, against her expressed wishes. He didn’t know how to explain it; only that it felt like a grating need.

Rose glanced at his hand and her eyes looked around the table. Caius’s eyes narrowed; he was unsure if she was bothered about the knights or perhaps taking his hand in front of them.

Both options felt silly to him. They all knew she belonged to him. She had no reason to be worried about them or their reaction to seeing her close to him.

She took his hand, and Caius squeezed lightly. It felt nice, like taking a dip in the river on a sunny day. It filled something, but Caius wasn’t sure what.

He stood up and gently lifted her to her feet, moving his hand in a way that she would lose her balance and have to lean on him briefly. However, that didn’t go as planned because, rather than lean on him, she steadied herself with the table.

"Sorry, Your Majesty," she whispered.

Caius simply scoffed, annoyed he had not gotten the result he wanted. Rose glanced at him at this, and before he could even see her expression clearly, she looked away.

He walked towards the exit with her palm in his, while she trudged behind him. They walked out the door and into the hallway.

"Is there anywhere in particular we are going, Your Majesty?" Rose asked softly.

"Why?" he asked. "Do you have other plans?"

He didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but he was still annoyed about the exchange between her and Thomas, his failed plan, and perhaps this morning—but Caius didn’t want to think about the latter.

"No, Your Majesty. I-I..." She paused as though unsure of how to continue.

"Good. You’ll just have to wait and see," he replied.

Rose glanced at him briefly and then nodded her head. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Caius led them back the way they had come. Today was no different from the day before; he planned to spend every moment of the day in her presence.

Caius liked to pretend otherwise, but he didn’t solely do this because he liked to get what he wanted. A small, deeply buried part of him wanted things to smooth over. However, to effectively do this, he would have to admit there was a problem in the first place, and the Crown Prince wasn’t used to admitting his flaws. After all, he couldn’t have flaws, he had rid himself of them many years ago.

Rose glanced at the door as they passed her bedroom, and her eyes narrowed. Caius didn’t miss her unease from the moment they headed towards their bedroom floor.

Caius once again shoved the thoughts down, just as he had done when he left her room earlier. He consoled himself with the fact that she didn’t act in this manner during intimacy. Perhaps it was nervousness, he told himself, as she was always enthusiastic in bed.

They got to the door of his bedroom, and Rose seemed hesitant, but she didn’t ask any questions. His outburst earlier had silenced her for the rest of the journey.

However, Caius wasn’t bothered by this; he was completely convinced that his next act would change her mood and she would be grateful to him. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Caius pushed open the door and pulled her into the room. Only in the confines of his room did he feel assured enough to let go of her.

Rose stood closer to the door as she looked around. She didn’t seem fearful, just cautious. Eventually, her eyes rested on the writing desk, and Caius couldn’t help the small smile that appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Shall we begin your lessons?" he asked with pride.