The King's Lover-Chapter 372: Embarrassing

Rose was still in disbelief when Caius stepped up towards the rows of trees. It was clear he had every intention of climbing a tree. Rose also had no intention to stop him. If this was going to put an end to ’castle boy,’ she didn’t mind if he ended up with an injury; perhaps it would teach him a valuable lesson.

Caius stopped in front of the first tree. It was the same tree as the rest of them. Its branches spread wide, making for good shade. Rose couldn’t help thinking about all the carving her father could make from such a great tree, but Caius’s attempt to climb it wiped her thoughts.

There were a lot of branches on the tree, but most of them clustered towards the top. It wasn’t as tall as the trees in the forest but it still had decent height and falling from the top would cause severe injuries.

If Rose had to climb it, she would scale the trunk, using her legs to grip the tree while finding cracks to pull herself up before swinging onto a branch.

However, Caius didn’t do that; rather, he launched upwards and caught a branch. Rose was so startled by his jump that she took a step back. She lifted her head to look at him and saw Caius effortlessly sitting on the branch, swinging his legs.

Rose looked down at the ground and her mouth fell open. It was no small distance, but Caius had leaped it as though he was simply jumping over a pebble.

"Is this good enough for you, or perhaps you’d need me to go higher?"

Rose shook her head vigorously. He climbed the tree; he proved his point; now he should get down. She was glad he wasn’t injured, but Rose was certain it wouldn’t remain that way if he stayed on the tree.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she called out, hoping she sounded as truthful as possible. She also resisted the urge to tell him to come down, as that would only do the opposite.

"Perhaps this isn’t high enough for you?" Caius asked.

"I didn’t say that," Rose yelled out. "Your Majesty climbed the tree faster than I ever would," she added, hoping it would deter him from doing anything dangerous.

It didn’t.

Caius stretched out his hand to the next branch, intending to climb upwards. Just as his hand grabbed the branch, it slipped, and he fell forward off the branch.

Rose screamed and rushed forward to where Caius lay on his front. "Your Majesty," she yelled, unsure if she should touch him.

He hadn’t fallen from very high—Rose was grateful for this—but it was still high enough to cause a sprain or, worse, a broken bone. Not to forget that he had fallen on his face into the snow. He could have hit his head on a hidden rock or worse.

Caius turned onto his back, his face contorting in pain as he grabbed his right wrist. Rose wasn’t sure what she was looking at, but she could immediately tell something was wrong with it.

Some of her panic eased. If it was just his hand, that was good, but there could also be injuries she didn’t see. She dropped to her knees as she tried to assess him.

"Your Majesty," she whispered. "Are you hurt anywhere—"

The rest of her words were cut short as the castle doors opened and guards burst out. They must have heard her scream. Rose turned her head and immediately started to move away to give them space. She doubted she could do much after all, and the only damage she could see other than his wrist was his pride.

If she weren’t so worried, Rose knew she would have burst out laughing, but that would have gotten her to the dungeons faster than ’castle boy’ ever would.

"Your Highness," a loud voice yelled as the guards ran closer. "What did you do to him?" a voice yelled at Rose.

Rose laughed internally. There was no way she did this to the Crown Prince. She was certain that if she tried to stab him, even if she succeeded, he wouldn’t die. It had to be a joke that could harm him.

"I am speaking to you," the same voice said as the guards surrounded them.

"Shut up, Mark," Caius said and sat upright. "And all of you, get away now."

"But Your Highness," a few of them tried to protest.

"I said get away now!"

It was quick how they left the scene, scattering like flies. Rose turned to look at Caius; his face no longer showed pain, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. He wasn’t holding his right hand, but it was clear he was favoring it.

"Is everything okay, Your Highness?" Thomas asked.

Rose turned her head. She hadn’t even heard him approach. "Lord Thomas," she whispered.

"Didn’t you hear me say get away, Thomas?" Caius asked darkly.

"I apologize, Your Highness," Thomas said as he slowly walked backward. "I shall call on a physician."

Rose slowly started to stand up, meaning to leave. Caius was clearly not in a good mood, and he had asked them to leave. She had best do the same.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she started to walk away.

Rose paused and slowly turned back. "You said to get away."

Caius was standing now, and there was snow on his clothes and chest. His face was also red from the snow and perhaps embarrassment. It was a sight to see. There was also snow in his hair but she also had snow in her hair, so that had nothing to do with the fall.

"I don’t recall speaking to you." Caius stared her down.

Rose turned around completely and bent her head. "I am sorry, Your Majesty. I seemed to have misunderstood."

Caius stared at his wrist, and Rose shuffled on her feet nervously. He was the one who didn’t follow instructions, yet she was the anxious one. She didn’t do anything wrong and had tried to help him, but knowing Caius, he might not take any blame in the situation, considering how embarrassing it was.

"Is it broken?" she softly asked.

"No," Caius said as he glanced at her. "Just sprained."

He looked back at his hand; it hung awkwardly, and Rose could tell it must hurt gravely.

"That’s good; it should heal in a few weeks. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

She kept her voice neutral and free of judgment as she inquired about his hand. At least he wasn’t angry at her, and she was worried that he might be injured more than he was letting on.

Caius jerked his head towards her at her question, and Rose jumped. "No," he replied and stepped closer. There was a small anger underneath his words.

"I could help," she immediately blurted out and almost smacked herself. What was she doing? Thomas had already called a physician; it was best for her not to offer anything. But she couldn’t seem to stop talking. "I have had my fair share of sprains..."

Rose’s words drowned out as Caius stepped even closer to her. He looked down at her, his eyes holding her gaze. "I suppose you’re right," he said. "Climbing trees in the snow is dangerous."

It was hard to describe how she felt at his words. It felt like everything drowned out except for his words, and then it was back to normal. A smile bubbled up from her chest and onto her face.

She shouldn’t be smiling; the Crown Prince was just injured. Perhaps, it was the weight his words carried. He wasn’t angry at her; rather, he was acknowledging that she was right. It was a sensation so foreign and potent—being validated by him—that Rose couldn’t put her feelings into words.

Caius tilted his head. "I’d say you look particularly happy about my fall." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"No, Your Majesty," Rose cried as she forced down the smile. "I-I am not."

She was happy for a different reason. One that didn’t make much sense. She shouldn’t care what the crown prince thought about her. She wanted to get away from him but somehow just a normal acknowledgement could have this effect.

"You’re doing a terrible job at convincing me otherwise, Rose."

"I am sorry, Your Majesty. I am just still very shocked by the incident. Please, let us go inside and attend to your hand, Your Majesty."

He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her, and Rose tried very hard to meet his gaze and failed. It felt like walking on hot coals; there was no way to avoid getting burned.

"Very well," Caius eventually said. "Lead the way."

Rose let out a breath she wasn’t even aware of holding. "Yes, Your Majesty," she replied quickly and turned her back.

She was happy to finally look away from him. She couldn’t believe the walk had led to this. At this point, she couldn’t help but wonder if the sole reason he had suggested the walk was to prove he could climb trees.

Rose did her best to hold her laugh. She almost felt bad for him. Not only had he embarrassingly fallen off the tree, but her scream had alerted the guards, and they had seen him in this state. If she didn’t fear losing her head, she would be laughing loud enough to raise the dead.