The King's Lover-Chapter 401: Melt Away
Caius could only taste ash as he ate lunch in the dining hall with his mother, Rylen, and the princess. He missed when Rose fed him by hand. He didn’t think anything tasted better than food from her hands, and it had been delightful to have her fuss over him.
It was only during that period that she had treated him as someone who needed to be taken care of, not someone to fear, revere, or distance herself from. He missed Castle Catherine—the quiet of it, and the chance he got to spend as much time as possible with Rose. He could no longer do that here.
"Son," his mother called with a beaming smile, pulling him out of his dissociative thoughts.
Caius reluctantly lifted his head, hoping it wasn’t a scowl on his face. It wasn’t even half the day, and he was already sick of his "good son" act. He could only imagine that what she was about to say would gnaw further at his patience.
"Mother," he called back.
His mother sat across from him, with Rylen on his left and Caira on his right. Caius had done his best not to look at either of them. He was being polite enough by making an appearance; no one said he needed to make small talk. Rylen seemed to prefer this, as he didn’t try to engage Caius in any conversation, while Caira wouldn’t stop looking at him.
If only Rose would look at him as Caira did—wide-eyed and eager.
"Are you excited for your wedding?" his mother asked with glee.
The table was filled with different delicacies and the smells floated about in the private dining room. The windows were drawn, overlooking the growing fields in the castle compound. With spring upon them, the grasses and flowers grew speedily.
Caius swallowed, feeling the morsel choke him on its way down. "Very," he said with a polite smile and a glance towards Caira without meeting her eyes.
He returned his attention to his plate and stabbed the lamb with more force than was needed. He brought it to his lips and chewed, his mask cracking as his real emotion slipped to the surface.
"Only a few days left. Oh, I am so excited!" She turned to Caira. "Soon enough you will be the future Queen of Velmount. Her Royal Highness, Caira Ravenor—doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?"
Caira blushed and hid her face, then smiled. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Caius internally cringed. The longer this went on, the tighter the noose around his neck. He could barely bear another moment of this. If only he could find some excuse to get away, but he had already promised his mother, and keeping that promise was vital for his plan.
"Don’t you think so, Caius?" she asked, a little sternly, annoyed that he was not participating.
Caius ground his jaw and smiled. "Yes, Mother. You are absolutely right."
That seemed to satisfy her, as she didn’t bother him for the rest of the meal, and Caius was just glad for the partial silence. The Queen wasn’t quiet, though; she kept chatting with Caira, and it was clear they already had a good rapport.
He was annoyed that the Queen wouldn’t stop telling Caira embarrassing stories from when he was younger. He didn’t want her to know anything about him. When she giggled, he found himself wondering if Rose would find these tales funny.
Lunch finally ended, but the horror wasn’t nearly over. He had promised he would take a walk around the castle with the princess. He knew it was his mother’s attempt at quelling any rumors that the wedding wouldn’t happen, especially with Rose’s presence in the castle.
"Your Highness," Caira called, still in her seat.
They were alone now; his mother and Prince Rylen had been quick to excuse themselves to give them privacy. Caius wanted none of that. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her, wondering what she thought about Rose.
He was certain she was aware of Rose; there was no way to miss her standing next to him as they arrived and he was sure his mother didn’t spare details about her, not with how close they seemed. Yet, the princess had completely ignored her presence and continued to act as though she did not exist. Caius found that irked him.
"Princess Caira, how would you like to go on a walk?"
She beamed immediately. "That would be most wonderful," she replied.
Caius realized this was the first time he was actually looking at her. She wasn’t offensive to look at, but she paled in comparison to Rose, whose fiery colors he was used to. Perhaps, if he had never met Rose, he might have found her daintiness alluring. Now, it was like putting snow against the sun; one was bound to melt away.
"Where would we go?" she asked.
Her eagerness irritated him, only because he was reminded that nothing he did made Rose this excited. The only time he saw glimpses of that was when she fed him and during some instances in their lessons—like when she got a word right or spelled it correctly.
He missed her. It was not hard to realize that, and over the next couple of days, he would spend even less time in her presence. He wanted nothing more than to march away from here, wrap her in his arms, and listen to her complain about him being careless with his hand.
"Your Highness?" Caira urged, worry creasing her face.
Caius smiled and stood to his feet. He stretched out his hand to her. "It is a surprise."
Caira smiled harder and nodded. "I do love surprises."
She graciously accepted his hand and stood. As soon as she was steady on her feet, Caius dropped her hand as though it burned him and walked to the exit.
He would try to make this as brief as possible. It was clear the princess would like more conversation, but Caius didn’t care in the slightest. He would have preferred silence, but he knew that would be impossible.
As she rushed after him, she was already speaking, and Caius forced himself to reply politely, reminding himself that his anger was not directed at her. She was, unfortunately, just another pawn thrust into this mess.
