The King's Lover-Chapter 382: A Crown Prince’s Request

"I am not a quarter of a century old. I am twenty-two. To say you mistook me to be three years older is more appropriate—though I can’t begin to imagine the reason why you’d think I am that much older than I actually am."

Rose’s brows unfurrowed as she understood, and she had to stop herself from visibly laughing. She was a little angry that Caius had questioned her knowledge of the word, and she did feel insulted. However, knowing he had questioned her because he was self-conscious about being seen as older eased her anger a little.

"I apologize, Your Majesty. I didn’t mean to imply you seem older." She coughed at the end of her words to hide her laugh.

"Why did you think I was older?" Caius questioned and leaned forward. He no longer seemed offended, and there was a smile on his lips.

It was Rose’s turn to be antsy. She didn’t mind asking about the Crown Prince’s personal life, but she couldn’t help but feel discomfort when he asked her questions. It didn’t matter the kind of question; it always seemed to put her in an uncomfortable state.

She wrapped her arms around herself. She had not thought too deeply about it. She just said what she thought his age might be. Next time, she would be mindful of this and try not to get too comfortable in his presence so she would not blurt out the first thing on her mind, as there were bound to be consequences she could not handle.

"No reason," she whispered. "I am terrible at guessing ages." It was a pathetic excuse, but she hoped it was enough to satisfy the Crown Prince.

Caius didn’t seem to believe her. He leaned forward, tilting his head slightly as he studied her face. Rose held her position, and her unease worsened as she wondered if she had truly annoyed him this time.

He stared for some time, and Rose’s discomfort worsened. "Your Majesty," she whispered when the silence stretched more than she could take.

"Would you play the flute for me?"

Rose was caught off guard by the change of topic but more so by the Crown Prince’s request. "You want me to play the flute?" she repeated to make sure she had not misheard.

"Would that be too much to ask?" He peered at her with genuine interest.

Rose hated his polite tone. He could easily command her to play for him; he didn’t need to make it seem like a request and not ask if it was too much. It annoyed her, as she couldn’t say no even if it was inconvenient. Surely, the Crown Prince wasn’t unaware of that. She knew he wasn’t which only annoyed her further.

"As Your Majesty pleases."

Caius frowned. "Do you not want to play? I’d prefer it if you told me."

Rose narrowed her eyes. His tone still annoyed her. "I didn’t say that, Your Majesty. I will play as you want," she tried to explain.

"But you don’t want to?" he pressed.

Rose sighed softly, trying her best not to get exasperated. "I didn’t say that, Your Majesty," she repeated.

"But you also didn’t say you wanted to."

Rose took another deep breath. Why would he care if she wanted to or not? It just felt like another way to get on her nerves or to get her to give in a way that appealed to him. But why would he care about something like that?

"I am very pleased to play the flute if that’s what Your Majesty wants," Rose stated stubbornly.

"If you insist," Caius smiled and leaned back.

Rose managed to keep her expression unchanged. As tempting as it was to charge forward and claw at his face, it wouldn’t do her any good other than bring her brief satisfaction.

"Why?" she asked, and it wasn’t until the word left her lips that she realized she had said her thoughts aloud.

"Why?" Caius lightly frowned as he scratched his stubble. "Lady Deana wouldn’t stop talking about your music, and unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear you play then due to..." He let the rest of his words trail off.

His reason was lazy. Rose was even more surprised that she got any reason at all. He had heard her play before; it was not a memory that was easily forgotten. Still, Rose knew better than to think too deeply about it, as putting reasoning behind the Crown Prince’s actions was not something that was advised. However, she couldn’t help but find his request odd, but as long as there was no harm in it, she would play per his request.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked when she didn’t reply. His piercing gaze remained the same as if he was looking for something.

Rose glanced at him. She wondered what would happen if she said no. However, she knew better than to get too comfortable; he was still the Crown Prince.

"Yes, Your—"

Her words were interrupted as a knock echoed in the room. Rose turned her head towards the door, and it slowly opened to reveal Fabian. He bowed and walked into the room.

"Your Highness," he called. "Dinner is ready."

Caius barely replied to this, but Fabian didn’t leave the room. It was clear he had more to say.

"Your Highness, Lord Paul would like to know if Your Highness wants him to recheck the bandages?" Fabian asked.

Caius frowned, and he slowly turned to look at Fabian. The butler looked visibly uncomfortable and shuffled on his feet as he kept his gaze close to the ground.

"There is no need for that. He can check it tomorrow," Caius replied coldly; there was a certain finality in his tone that made even Rose sit upright.

"Yes, Your Highness," Fabian said, bowing as he retreated out of the room.

Rose looked at Caius with a worried expression. "Are you sure about that?" she asked. "If Lord Paul brought it up, I am sure it must be important to check your hand."

It wasn’t after she had spoken that she realized what she had done. The crown prince had refused treatment and she had blatantly tried to change his mind. It felt as though a cold hand had grabbed her heart, it also didn’t help that the crown prince took too long to speak.

Caius’ eyes roamed her face, brushing her lips slightly before resting on her eyes. "Are you worried about me?"

Rose was too relieved to be annoyed by his words x "I don’t want your injury to get any worse," she whispered, keeping her head down.

"It won’t," Caius said and lifted his right hand to show her. "I can already make some movements."

He slowly turned his hand while opening and closing his fists. His eyes didn’t leave her face the entire time.

Rose wasn’t impressed; his movements were too slow to determine if there was no pain or not. Besides, if it were as true as he said, he would not need her to help him eat.

"Perhaps Your Majesty would like to eat dinner by yourself," Rose blurted.

"No," he stated bluntly, dropping his right hand carefully on the table. "Not until my hand is fully healed."

Rose loudly sighed. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Not long after this, dinner arrived, and Rose once again diligently helped Caius with his meal. Conversation was mostly nonexistent during meal times, as Caius spent most of the time just staring at her. She ignored his stares and just paid attention to feeding him, happy at the silence.