The King's Lover-Chapter 409: Wrong Room

Rose was finally falling asleep after struggling for so long. With the party being only a wing away from her, Rose couldn’t escape the sounds, and it wasn’t until the party came to a complete stop that she was able to get enough quiet to fall asleep.

The crown prince was married now, and his wife was next door. Rose fought her mind not to drift in that direction and what it meant as she drifted off to sleep. Right now, she should focus on the positives. The chance that the crown prince would be let go. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Suddenly, she heard a sound like the walls giving way; it was so strange that even her dreams couldn’t make it seem familiar. Her eyes flew open just in time to see her wardrobe move and a figure coming out of the wall. Rose’s insides twisted, and her first instinct was to scream, but she managed to stop herself as the figure stepped forward into the light.

It was Caius.

"Your Majesty?" Rose called in horror, realizing he had just come out of the wall that used to be her wardrobe. Never would she have guessed there was a secret passageway there, but that wasn’t the only problem.

As he stepped forward, the wardrobe returned to its former position, hiding the secret passageway once again. Rose was shocked, but a part of her should have known. After all, there was a secret passageway in the crown prince’s room that led out of the castle, it should be no surprise that there was one leading to her room.

"What are you doing here?" He was supposed to be with the princess, not here in her room.

Caius took another step forward, and she could finally get a good look at him. He was fully dressed in his wedding clothes, with his sword still by his side. His hair was in disarray, with several strands falling against his forehead where his golden band rested. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes.

"Rose," he mumbled as he got closer. As soon as he got close enough, he fell onto the bed and on top of her.

"Your Majesty," she called out, panicking.

She forced herself into a sitting position, immediately noticing that the crown prince wasn’t his usual self. He smelled like wine, and his eyes looked dazed as he tried to look at her. He gave up pretty quickly and just lay on her legs while half his body hung off the bed.

Rose tried to move him, and it did not take long for her to discover that it was not a feat she could handle by herself, so she decided to speak to him and get an explanation of what was happening.

"Your Majesty," Rose called, gently shaking him.

He just wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed without saying a word. He held her tight as though to ensure she wouldn’t escape. Rose was at a loss. She couldn’t comprehend what he was doing here, and with the way he was dressed, it was pretty clear he had come straight from the wedding.

"You shouldn’t be here. You are in the wrong room." But Rose knew this wasn’t a mistake, he had used the secret passageway. It was pretty clear he intended to be here.

Caius shook his head and tightened his arm around her. Rose was thoroughly confused. He had been away for a couple of days, and here he was on his wedding night. She glanced at the wall that separated her from the princess, wondering if she knew her newlywed husband was here.

"Your Majesty," Rose tried again. "Please, try to understand. You have to leave."

Caius didn’t budge and just continued to hang on to her. "Don’t chase me, Rose." His voice was so low that if she wasn’t paying attention, she wouldn’t have heard him.

Rose sighed and covered her face with her palms. What was she to do? This couldn’t be good—not for her. If the crown prince wasn’t with his new wife, what did that mean? If someone saw... Or perhaps he was just tired tonight and wouldn’t run tomorrow, right?

"Okay," she said with a sigh. It wasn’t as if she could actually chase him. At least her door was locked so no one could come in unannounced. "Let me help you out of your sword and boots. You can’t sleep like this."

As she spoke, she tried to undo his arm from around her waist, but Caius fought her. "Your Majesty, please."

Caius slowly lifted his head to look at her with heavy eyes. Rose wasn’t used to this side of him, and she had no idea how to deal with it. Right now, she just wanted to get back to sleep. She had spent a huge part of the day beating herself up. She just wanted to sleep.

He slowly let go of her, and Rose was able to roll him off her and onto the bed on his back. She thought it was ridiculous that he still had enough strength to hold her, yet he couldn’t even take his boots off.

Rose got out of the covers and crawled out of the bed. She first took his boots off. It took a bit of effort, and she struggled, but eventually got them off.

After that, she undid his sword belt, taking it off. She set it down beside his boots and immediately found that she was in a dilemma. She wasn’t sure she should take his clothes off, but it must be uncomfortable to sleep in them. However, even as Rose thought about this, she knew it would be a bad idea to undress him—more for her sake than his.

As she contemplated this, his hand stretched out and pulled her down, and she fell onto him. Then, wrapping his arms around her, he rolled, adjusting himself on the bed and tightly holding onto her.

Rose didn’t bother fighting it. As long as she was comfortable, she could sleep—but she wasn’t sure she would get any sleep, not in these conditions. Soon enough, she could hear the crown prince breathing softly.

How could you fall asleep in this situation?

Rose tried to look up at his face, but it was hard to do so at this distance. She had too many questions to ask, but something told her she would not be getting any answers—at least, not tonight.