The King's Lover-Chapter 411: Changed Nothing

Rose was seated at her desk with a little lamp; ink splatters and papers littered the surface. It was just after dinner, and she had gotten ready for bed, but instead of going to sleep or just lying around doing nothing, she decided to study. With her tutor gone, she had more or less hit a wall and could only repeat what she had learned—but she didn’t want to forget.

Rose was contemplating what next she should try to write—or perhaps read—when the wardrobe slid to the side, revealing Caius. He was dressed in just his robes this time, his hair still slightly wet, and he ran a finger through it to lift the damp hair away from his face.

Rose jumped. It was one thing for him to come to her while drunk, but twice in a row was scary. He should not be here, especially at this time. "Your Majesty," she called with a dumbfounded expression. "What are you doing here?"

"You don’t sound very happy to see me," Caius said as he crossed the room to where she sat. His chest was on full display, while the robe did its best to keep his lower regions covered.

"T-that’s not true, Your Majesty," Rose stuttered as she tried to come up with a good enough excuse.

He leaned forward against the table, furrowing his brows, and before she could realize what was happening, he snatched the papers from her hand and stood to his full height.

Rose immediately tried to retrieve them, rushing to her feet, but with the table between them, it was impossible. Caius had also anticipated this and moved his hand a little higher, so it was out of her reach.

"Don’t look at them," Rose cried in horror. She had written them with the confidence that no one would see, so she hadn’t been scared of making mistakes.

Caius poked his head out from behind the papers he held to his face, a smirk on his lips. "Then what kind of tutor would I be?"

He returned his attention to the paper, his gaze serious. He scratched at his beard with his free hand, and all Rose could do was watch as she feared the worst.

His gaze darkened. He flipped to the next one and then the next before placing them back on the table. "Not bad," he commented. "But I suppose you won’t make any progress if you miss almost a full week of lessons."

Rose tried not to react to his words. She had seen his expression; it was bad. Still, she should not be distracted by this. The Crown Prince shouldn’t be here. Besides, if this happened again... it was bound to happen again and again.

He looked around the table, checking the books, completely oblivious to her predicament. He was acting as though this was completely normal. "You certainly have all you need."

Rose tried not to roll her eyes. He was the one who had sent her these books, along with the papers. She had appreciated it, as it gave her a chance to study, and—in a way though she would never admit—she was a little happy he had not forgotten.

He picked up the only other empty chair and placed it right next to her, while Rose stared at him oddly. He shouldn’t be here. Yet it looked as though he was about to resume teaching her.

She should chase him away. He should be with his wife, not teaching her how to read by candlelight. But Rose found that she could not. Rather, she nodded her head and listened attentively as he corrected her mistakes and carried on with the lessons.

It was easy to pretend there was nothing wrong with this; he was just teaching her as he usually would. He was serious and didn’t make any snide remarks as he put her through it. It also made it easier to ignore his open chest.

Rose lost track of the time. The only thing she was aware of as time went on was the piles of papers. She also noticed that her hands were aching less. Perhaps she was getting used to writing.

"Before we call it a day, I will give you a task. An assignment, if you will, and I will check it tomorrow. Full marks and you can make a simple request. If you fail even one, I shall find a fitting punishment."

Rose didn’t miss the lingering smile on his lips. Besides, it was the Crown Prince; his punishment was bound to include something sexual. His wife was next door, yet here he was flirting with her, and she was letting it happen.

"What kind of punishment?"

Caius paused. He had picked up the quill and was about to dip it in ink. He turned to look at her, his hand mid-air. "Why? Do you expect to fail?"

It was the way he tilted his head, the smile on his lips that reminded her of Castle Catherine. Rose knew it was bait, but it was hard not to fall for it—not when he spoke to her in that know-it-all voice. It irked her, and it irked her more because she seemed to enjoy the familiarity of it.

"Of course not. It is only normal to inquire."

Caius shrugged but didn’t stop smirking. "Maybe, but only if you think you would fail."

"I won’t fail," Rose insisted.

He shrugged again, and Rose realized it really was getting on her nerves. "We will see about that."

"Yes," she replied immediately. "Yes, we will."

This made him chuckle as he wrote down the supposed assignment. Rose was curious as to what kind of task he was going to give her. She tried to poke her head to see but didn’t want to appear too curious.

He dropped the quill and handed her the paper. He moved his chair so he faced her directly.

Rose frowned at this as she accepted it. "Aren’t you going to read it to me?" she asked.

"My dear, if you can’t read this, I might have to worry about whether you have actually learned anything."

Rose frowned. It wasn’t what he said that bothered her the most. It was how easily he had used a term of endearment. She gripped the paper a little too hard as she tried to compose herself.

Rose glanced at the paper and soon discovered the Crown Prince was right. She did recognize a lot of the words. It didn’t look like a task she couldn’t handle. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He snatched the paper from her with a sharp movement. "Tomorrow," he said simply as she looked at him in shock. He tossed the paper on the table without looking at it.

"Shall we go to bed?" He leaned towards her and gently tilted her chin to face him.

"We?" Rose heard herself ask.

Do you intend to leave the princess alone again tonight?

But she didn’t say this out loud, and Rose couldn’t figure out why. She knew the right thing to do for her sake too, but when he looked at her with such intense eyes, all she could think about was what he could make her feel.

The familiarity of the scene made it particularly hard to resist. It was as though things weren’t so different. Rose wasn’t particularly bothered about Caira but she knew this was not something that would be without consequences. If the crown prince was still here and his marriage changed nothing then where did that put her?

"Yes," Caius said and leaned in. His eyes stared hard at her lips as though he was waiting or searching for something.

Then he kissed her.