The King's Lover-Chapter 384: Odd Dream

Rose slowly opened her eyes. The sun had risen, and its rays seeped through the window onto the parted drapes of the four-poster bed. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.

Rose stifled a yawn and a stretch. She was still wrapped in the Crown Prince’s arms; to do either would require moving.

Her brow furrowed, not because of her position, but because of her dream. It was quite odd and Rose couldn’t understand it.

She was in a large field, though she could barely remember how she got there. Grasses grew everywhere, with trees and fruits, and everything was interconnected. Suddenly, a huge wind blew, uprooting the trees and destroying the field. When the wind stopped, there wasn’t even a strand of leaf left.

Rose stood in the middle of the barren field, feeling lost and empty, unsure of what to do. The ground cracked at the state of the field, and it was clear it couldn’t be salvaged.

Suddenly, a single rose bud grew out of the cracked earth. It was a strange rose bud, bigger than any she had ever seen, and it was the only flower in the field.

"Will you keep pretending to be asleep?" Caius asked.

Rose blinked and looked up. She wasn’t pretending; she was just caught in the memories of her odd dream. "Good morning, Your Majesty."

There was no point addressing his question, as it might lead to her spilling details about what she was thinking about, and Rose knew she would feel odder if she told him.

Caius watched her a little too closely. "Are you well-rested?"

Rose felt the urge to yawn at his question and couldn’t stifle it this time. She simply nodded while she yawned loudly. Caius chuckled at this, and Rose couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

"Do you think you are up for it?" he suddenly asked.

"Up for what?" Rose asked softly as she moved into a sitting position. The stretch bit at her again, but she satisfied the urge by just stretching her back.

It was almost time for breakfast, and she wanted to be ready by then. However, she would end up getting dressed in his room again, and since she couldn’t ask to leave, she had to wait for his orders.

"A walk."

Rose jerked her head toward him, her hair making a swish sound at the turn. It had only been two days since he fell out of the tree; Rose couldn’t help but think it was too soon for a walk.

"Indoors," he added.

"Oh," Rose said, unable to hide her relief. "After breakfast?"

"No, you have lessons," he stated.

Rose nodded. It wasn’t that she was trying to get out of it, but the way the Crown Prince had phrased it made her wonder if he meant they should go on a walk right now.

"I know," she mumbled, annoyed that he thought she was trying to get out of it.

"Before dinner," he said and drew a line down her back.

Rose jumped out of the bed. She didn’t even realize what she had done until her foot touched the floor. It was a simple touch, but she had felt it all the way to the top of her head.

"I-I think I should get ready for the day. It will be breakfast soon."

"Indeed," Caius admitted easily as he sat upright. His expression didn’t give anything away.

"How’s your hand?" Rose asked, wanting to change the subject.

Caius lifted it and locked eyes with Rose. "It would be much better if you..." He let the rest of his words trail off just as a knock could be heard on the door.

Rose was grateful for the interruption. Though the Crown Prince hadn’t fully stated what he meant, she would be lying if she said she had no idea, and she internally scolded herself for thinking in that direction.

The knock on the door turned out to be her maids, and by the time breakfast was laid out on the table, Rose was dressed and ready. She once again helped the Crown Prince to eat.

While feeding him, Rose hated how aware she was of him: the light graze of his hand against hers, the way he swallowed his food after slowly chewing it. He didn’t do anything different and was as docile as usual. Docile still felt very wrong to use to describe the Crown Prince, but that was how it felt.

After breakfast, Caius was quick to give her tons of scribbling and reading to do. Rose was unsure which she preferred, as both felt just as bad as the other.

Halfway through her lesson, they were interrupted by the physician. Caius couldn’t even hide his displeasure at the interruption, whereas Rose was grateful for it. Perhaps she didn’t sleep as well as she thought, because every action from him caused her to jump.

When he leaned in to see what she was writing, Rose could feel her breath catch in her throat, and when she did breathe again, all she could smell was his scent mixed with lavender. It drove her just as crazy as the lessons did.

"Your Highness," Paul said with a bow. Two servants were behind him. One held clean, white rags while the other held a bowl of water.

"I didn’t call for you, Paul," Caius said, addressing him without his title.

"I apologize, Your Highness, but it is time to change your bandages."

For a moment, Caius entertained the idea of beheading his top physician, but unfortunately, this was an act he had to keep up.

Without even saying a word to her, Rose was already on her feet. She curtsied to Paul, who smiled tightly at her, aware that he might lose his head if the Crown Prince saw fit. However, Paul knew he would not be granted an audience unless he did this.

Rose glanced at Caius as she waited for permission to leave the room, and unfortunately, Caius had to give it to her. He had to keep up the act that his hand was truly injured.

"You may leave."

Rose smiled a little too happily before she fled out the open doors. She needed a few moments away from him to catch her breath. Perhaps it was because of the weird dream, but Rose knew she was just looking for someone or something to blame instead of herself.

The servants placed the items on the table as Rose left the room and quickly followed after her. As soon as the door shut behind them, the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.

"You’d better have a good reason for this."

"Please forgive my impertinence, Your Highness, but Prince Rylen has sent a reply, and I had to bring you the news at once."

"A reply? I do not recall sending anything that would warrant a reply, Paul." Caius’s tone was cold.

"I sent a letter, Your Highness. Prince Rylen had requested information about how severe your injuries are." Paul did his best to keep a straight face as he said this.

"Doesn’t my cousin have better things to do? Perhaps things like running the kingdom?"

"His reply entails that, Your Highness. The council wants a response."

Caius frowned. "They just want war, and that wouldn’t bring us anything useful."

"They think your refusal to do anything spells weakness."

Caius scoffed. "Only one who has never been to war would say avoiding war spells weakness. Tell Prince Rylen to inform them of my refusal. I have less than two weeks left. I am sure my cousin can think of something to appease them until I return. If he chooses to keep interrupting my vacation with news of whiny lords, I shall be forced to extend my stay."

Paul straightened his back immediately. "As Your Highness wishes. I shall change your bandage now."

"You shall leave Castle Catherine with your reply," Caius stated starkly as Paul wrapped the bandage.

Paul froze mid-wrap. "What about... yes, Your Highness. I shall leave the tools behind." He knew better than to persist, it would be useless.