The King's Lover-Chapter 371: Frozen Tree

"Is that a nose?" Rose blurted.

Caius burst out laughing. It was the change in her expression from giddy excitement to shocked horror. Caius was utterly entertained; he had never seen anyone get so excited about a whale.

"Yes, Rose," Caius managed to answer after he was done laughing.

"Why?" Rose asked, turning to look at the Crown Prince.

She was partially annoyed that he had laughed at her question, but his answering it gave her the confidence to ask more, and she was deeply curious.

Her childlike curiosity and innocence were irresistible to Caius. This was a side he had never seen before, and the only sneak peek he got was when she had drunk wine. Caius had every intention to humor all of her questions for as long as possible, as he was utterly amused.

"They breathe air, Rose," he softly explained.

Rose’s eyes widened, and she looked at the statue of the whale as though it were possible to get any closer. "They breathe air?" she repeated.

Though enthralled with the whale, it was still impossible for Rose to miss how casually the Crown Prince referred to her. In this short conversation, he had called her by her name more times than in a span of months. The first month he had taken her, Rose was almost convinced he didn’t know her name, as he made a point never to say it. Rather, he called her ’Little Lady,’ which she utterly detested.

"Yes," he replied, even though there was no need.

"And you say they are much, much bigger than this fountain."

"Yes," Caius replied. "To catch a whale will be no easy feat."

Rose suddenly felt self-conscious; it finally dawned on her how she was acting. She had even stopped referring to the Crown Prince by his title in her excitement, but that wasn’t the part that bothered her the most. She was clearly ignorant.

Caius spoke as though knowing whales could breathe was common knowledge, but Rose had not known this. She had no idea just how big they could get, and this chewed at her.

Compared to the Crown Prince, her knowledge about anything was almost non-existent, and she couldn’t help but feel small. She also couldn’t help but think this might play a role in Caius’s disregard for her. She was a peasant girl who didn’t even know whales breathe air.

"Rose," Caius called sternly, as though he had been speaking to her for quite some time and she wasn’t responding.

"Your Majesty." She turned to look at him.

Caius frowned and closed the space between them, and Rose suddenly felt even smaller. "Is something wrong? You seem distracted."

His genuine concern made it easy for her to forget this was the man who had her trapped and at his mercy. He didn’t care about her feelings, no, not really. But sometimes he was so good at playing that he did, and Rose hated that it was easy to be swayed by his words despite things never changing.

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Rose replied. "I was thinking about how I never knew all this and how a fish can breathe air."

Caius smiled. "That’s not the only thing strange about them in comparison to other fish."

Rose’s expression perked up, and she was looking at him again with that child-like curiosity. "What else do they do?"

She was utterly fascinated, and Caius couldn’t help but feed into it. He had never seen her show this much interest in anything. "They birth their young whole, not hatched from eggs like other fish."

Rose looked like her eyes might just about burst out of her head. She looked from Caius to the fountain. "Good gracious," Rose said in awe. "I wish I could see one in person," she muttered under her breath.

Caius chuckled. "Perhaps."

Rose glanced at him and smiled before looking around the rest of the compound. The front of the castle was pretty big, and from where she stood, she could barely make out the gate.

Five main paths led away from the main castle building. The first one was a straight road to the gates; it was bigger than the rest of the paths, built wide enough to hold five horses riding down at once.

The second and third led towards the left and right sides of the castle, and these paths connected to others leading to further areas in the castle compound. The fourth and fifth led backward, spanning through the left and right sides of the building.

In front of the castle, past the whale fountain, was a row of trees lining the main path leading out. Everything was covered in snow as little crystals fell out of the sky. It was clear the paths had been cleared and were cleared occasionally but the same could not be said about the other parts of the compound.

Rose wasn’t bothered by the cold, and she welcomed the soft sprinkles of snow that landed on her. She wondered which of the paths they would take; Caius didn’t seem too eager to start walking around.

She turned to him, and he met her gaze and slowly started to approach her. Rose didn’t like the image it made in her head, and she tried to look away from his intense gaze but found that she could not.

The Crown Prince stopped walking, and he was once again too close for comfort, but Rose didn’t step back. She lifted her head until her neck complained to meet his gaze.

Caius dipped his head, still holding her gaze but not low enough to kiss, though Rose could see the intent in his eyes. Rose held her breath. She knew she would prefer if he didn’t, but why was a small part of her expecting it? She told herself it was because she knew the kind of person the Crown Prince was and it had nothing to do with her.

Suddenly, his expression changed to a smirk. "You said you climb trees better than I do and I was nothing more than a castle boy."

Rose took a step back. "Your Majesty," she cried out with horror and pleading eyes. "I did not mean that."

"You sounded pretty serious. You wouldn’t stop calling me castle boy."

The more the Crown Prince said ’castle boy,’ the more intense the cringe she felt. Rose was mortified, and she could tell the Crown Prince was never going to let it go. At this point, she would prefer if he punished her rather than continually holding this over her head.

"I am sorry, Your Majesty. I knew not what I was doing at the time. Please, let it go."

Caius sneered, "Unfortunately, I have no intentions to do such a thing. However, I have every plan to prove you wrong."

Rose paused at his words. What did he plan to do? "How do you intend to do that?" Rose asked; she was genuinely confused and concerned. Something told her something might go terribly wrong.

Caius’s sneer increased, and he looked visibly annoyed. "Do you not think I can climb a tree?" he asked.

"I never said that, Your Majesty," Rose softly said. She seemed to annoy him with her words, and she was trying to avoid that. "I was just wondering what you intend to do, Your Majesty. Please do not be vexed at my words."

"What is there to wonder about?" he asked with a scoff. "I shall climb a tree, of course."

"Right now?" Rose asked with growing concern as she looked around.

There were trees around, as the castle was made up of gardens cut out in sections by wiggly paths, and the trees in the garden were shorter and blended with the plants so as not to overshadow the flowers. The only trees suitable for climbing were the ones lining the path towards the gate.

"Yes," Caius announced with even more annoyance.

It wasn’t that Rose didn’t think he could climb a tree; she was just concerned about his safety. But he seemed to view her concern as proof that she didn’t believe him.

"I apologize if I seem so forward, Your Majesty, but to climb a tree in the snow is quite dangerous. I wouldn’t advise it. The branches are slippery; you’re likely to lose your grip and fall."

"Fall?" Caius asked, clearly insulted.

"No, Your Majesty, I-I just mean it’s too dangerous. I wasn’t trying to..." Rose paused with a sigh.

She didn’t know what to say, and the Crown Prince clearly had every intention to climb. Was he really that bothered by her calling him ’castle boy’ enough to endanger himself?

Caius scoffed. "Dangerous? A frozen tree couldn’t foil me."

Rose didn’t think the frozen tree was the problem, rather the fact that it was slippery, but Caius wasn’t listening to her. If she said anything more, he would act as though she doubted his skills. At this point, he was not going to learn unless he had firsthand experience.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Rose whispered with a bow.