The King's Lover-Chapter 373: Child’s Play

"Your Majesty," Thomas said as he walked into the Crown Prince’s chambers. "The physician is here." He bowed as he spoke, a hand to his chest while the other remained by his side.

Rose had just arrived in the Crown Prince’s chambers and had been contemplating what she was going to do after they got there. After all, she had offered to take care of his sprained wrist, and Caius didn’t seem like he wanted any of the guards or servants near him. Fabian had tried to approach them, and Caius had rudely dismissed him.

She was the only one he seemed to condone, but Rose did not consider this a good thing; rather, she was terrified. If she were too close, she might end up getting the brunt of his anger, even though all of this was clearly his fault.

Rose did her best not to react with relief as Thomas walked through the door, and the best part was that he had brought the physician. She returned her gaze to Caius, who was sitting on the bed, holding his right wrist.

He scowled at Thomas but didn’t speak, and the knight waited patiently by the door. Rose looked from one of them to the other, fearing that the Crown Prince might refuse the physician.

After some time, Caius eventually spoke. "Let him in."

"At once, Your Highness."

Rose couldn’t help the smile on her face at his decision. Caius looked at her, and she hid her lips from view, unsure what to do in this situation.

Rose never found out if the Crown Prince wanted to say anything, for Thomas soon returned with the physician. The physician was a middle-aged man with a leather bag. He walked with short, brisk steps and had a reliable air around him.

"Your Highness," the physician said with a low bow.

Caius didn’t say anything to this; rather, he turned his attention to Rose and said, "You may go to your chambers for now."

Rose curtsied, genuinely shocked at his words. "Yes, Your Majesty," she said and walked toward the door.

The physician nodded his head at her, and Rose smiled. She couldn’t help it. Perhaps it wasn’t just the servants; the people of Haiyes seemed particularly polite.

As Rose exited the room, Thomas accompanied her, leaving the Crown Prince alone with the physician. Rose was smiling as she walked beside him, happy that she was finally away from Caius, even though it had taken a sprained wrist for that to happen.

"What happened?" Thomas asked.

Rose glanced at him; she wasn’t sure she was supposed to tell him, but it wasn’t as though no one could guess what had happened. She could tell from Thomas’s tone that he was asking out of concern and a desire to know the facts.

Rose diligently recounted the incident. She tried to keep ’castle boy’ out of her story and just told Thomas about how the crown prince slipped from the tree. Rose was proud of herself for telling the story without laughing.

"Thank you," Thomas said genuinely as she finished recounting her tale.

They were standing in front of her chambers at this point; since it was right next to the Crown Prince’s chambers, there wasn’t much of a distance to walk.

Rose quickly said her goodbyes and walked into her room. She took a deep breath; the smell of lavender permeated the air—a scent she was dangerously starting to get familiar with.

Rose wasn’t sure what to do with this free time, but she had every plan to make use of it. She didn’t know how long she would have. She prayed that Caius would have no need for her as he healed from his sprained wrist.

---

Caius didn’t take his eyes off Rose as she left the room, not until the doors shut and he couldn’t see her anymore. Only then did he turn to the physician, who stood a few feet away, waiting for his order.

Caius immediately let go of his right wrist and twirled it. It felt stiff all the way to his shoulders. He stretched out his hand while the physician stared at him with almost no emotion on his face.

After easing the tension, he spoke. "You may approach."

"Thank you, Your Highness," the physician said as he walked closer, swinging the leather bag he held.

The physician placed his bag on the table next to the bed. He opened the bag, displaying some of the contents. There were different types of herbs and ointments. The bag smelled like minty spices.

The physician turned to Caius after setting up. "If Your Royal Highness would be kind enough to describe the pain. Please pardon my incompetence, but this servant wasn’t given many details before being brought to Your Highness’s presence."

"There is no pain," Caius replied matter-of-factly.

The physician looked a little confused. "Then numbness, perhaps? I noticed Your Highness that you seem to be careful with your right hand, and then you stretched it so intensely. Is that the source of your discomfort?"

"There is no discomfort, nor is there numbness."

The physician looked even more confused, and at this point, he was certain he was misunderstanding the Crown Prince. "Does it feel weird?" he asked softly.

"My right hand is perfect, Physician. It might have felt a little stiff earlier, but I stretched it out."

The physician looked flabbergasted. "Please forgive my question, Your Highness, but why am I here?"

"You’re here because someone thinks I sprained my wrist, and you shall administer treatment as though I have a sprained wrist. I will have you know that should the truth get out, I will have your head on a platter." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The physician stood upright, his old bones suddenly seeming to have more life. "I-I would never say a word, Your Highness."

Caius didn’t reply to this; rather, he stretched out his right hand. "Get to work."

The older man was pretty thorough. He applied some ointment to Caius’ wrist. "This should reduce the swelling," he said.

He returned the ointment after application and pulled out a clean white rag, which he carefully used to wrap around Caius’s wrist. He wrapped the white bandage around his thumb and a little past his wrist.

After he finished wrapping the Crown Prince’s hand, he proceeded to give Caius advice as though his hand was really sprained. "Your Highness, please do not use your hand for any strenuous activities for at least a week. You can take off the bandages at night and reapply them in the morning, but for today, please keep them on. If it hurts—" the physician paused.

"What is it?" Caius asked, clearly impatient.

"I apologize, Your Highness, but I would like to inquire if you would require me to return to check on your hand, at least to keep up the act."

"There is no need for that. Should your services be needed, you shall be informed."

"Thank you, Your Highness. If you’d like me to leave the ointment, I will."

"Leave it," Caius said.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The older man bowed and turned his attention to his leather bag, closing it and picking it up from the table, but not before he took out the ointment he had used on the Crown Prince and placed it on the table. He bowed one last time before exiting the room.

As the physician left, Caius lay on the bed with his left hand behind his head. He lifted his wrapped hand and turned it left to right as he stared at it.

The bandage wasn’t uncomfortable, and his biggest problem would most likely be getting used to using his less dominant hand, but Caius was almost certain it was worth it.

This hadn’t been part of his plan. He had truly wanted to show her he could climb trees much better than she thought. However, what she said about the trees being slippery and her genuine concern for him intrigued him.

Climbing trees was child’s play for Caius. He had to endure harsh conditions, and more often than not, he hid in trees during ambushes, whether the weather was conducive or not. Caius winced at the memory and quickly shoved it down.

The hardest part of the whole ordeal was pretending to fall. He feared he might not fall believably enough, but by Rose’s scream, she had believed him.

Her screams had attracted the guards, and though that had annoyed him, it did solidify his act, and it was pretty clear she felt sorry for him.

He chuckled. Even if he had actually fallen from the tree, there was no way he would end up with a sprain from that height. He would never make the mistake of falling on his face like that.

Caius smiled and dropped his hand. Rose had looked like she might laugh on more than one occasion, but Caius wasn’t bothered about that because it meant she believed he had fallen.

Besides, he had seen the genuine relief in her eyes when she saw he had mild injuries and she also offered to help. Caius couldn’t wait to see just how things would play out.