The King's Lover-Chapter 415: Pretend to not Care

Rose was startled by the knock. It was quite some time before dinner; no one would usually come to her room at this time. She looked at the door suspiciously. She could never be too cautious, especially with the Queen around.

Caius had said he would find her replacement soon, but by his visits, it was clear he had no plans to do that. Rose didn’t want to know what would happen when the Queen found out her son had lied to her.

She slowly stood from the table, where she had been busy with the task the Crown Prince left her, and approached the door. She hesitantly unlocked it and carefully opened it.

"Rose," Thomas called.

Rose beamed immediately, opening the door wide. "Lord Thomas," she squealed.

His scowl deepened as he fought not to smile at her. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. Rose immediately noticed he was holding a chessboard.

"Is that for me?"

She hadn’t seen him since the day he led her to the Crown Prince’s room, and she was truly grateful. She hadn’t had the opportunity to thank him properly.

"His Highness asked me to bring this," he stated and handed it to her.

"Thank you," Rose said and walked to the table.

Caius had mentioned he would bring it, but she hadn’t thought he would send Thomas. One of her maids would have been enough. Regardless, she was glad to see him again. She turned to look at him after placing the chessboard on the table.

"His Highness also asked me to take the items he may have left in your room," Thomas stated.

Rose was shocked for two different reasons. One, the Crown Prince was actually taking the items away. Two, he had told someone. The fact that Thomas was here to pick them up meant he had an idea of what must have happened.

It was hard to read the lord’s expression, especially with the scowl on his face. Rose wasn’t particularly sure why she was curious, but Thomas was kind of her friend, and she found that she cared what he thought.

"Of course," she said as she tried to compose herself.

She turned her back to him, walked to the bed, dropped to her knees, and pulled the boots and sword from underneath. The sword was still attached to the belt.

She walked to Thomas and handed him the items. He stared at them and narrowed his eyes, and Rose realized he had come to pick them up without knowing what they were.

Now she was the one who felt awkward, watching Thomas discover that the Crown Prince had been with her the night of the wedding. The hilt of the sword still had the golden embroidered strings.

"Thank you for last time," Rose blurted out, both to distract herself and Thomas.

He nodded and turned away, walking toward the door. Rose was sad to see him go, but she knew it would be a waste of time to try to have a conversation, especially when Thomas was in a "just doing my job" mood.

"Goodbye, Lord Thomas," she waved enthusiastically as she watched him leave.

She locked the door and returned to work. She was really glad Caius had taken the items away. Now she didn’t have to worry about being caught—but it would really help if he just stopped coming. She knew better than to expect that.

By the time she was done, it was time for dinner. It wasn’t that the task was difficult, but Rose wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. She needed to be able to make the request, and she was partially scared of what Caius’s punishment would be.

After dinner was over and the maids had helped her get ready for bed, Rose sat at the desk again. She went over what she had written as she waited. Rose frowned as she realized she was waiting for him to come to her. It was only day three, and she was already making this part of her routine.

Rose dropped the paper and palmed her face. How was she going to get away from the Crown Prince when it was so easy for her to just get used to whatever he gave her? Was she ever going to get away? And this wasn’t the sort of question she could ask him. He would just say no without any explanation.

Rose heard the wardrobe slide to the side, and she pulled her hand away from her face. The Crown Prince was here. She raised her head to look at him just as he stepped out of the passageway and approached her.

"Your Majesty," Rose called.

Caius stood in front of the desk, his muscles on full display as the robes barely covered his torso. He positioned himself directly before her, forcing her to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.

"Don’t tell me you’ve only just begun."

"No," she stated and handed him the paper.

Caius’s eyes did a quick scan, then he set the paper aside, his expression unreadable. "Shall we begin today’s lesson, then?"

"What about my scoring?" she asked in concern, glancing at the paper he had tossed aside. Had she answered it wrongly?

"After your lessons," he stated, rounding the table and moving his chair closer to her.

Rose studied him for a moment, tempted to ask if she had failed, but showing no confidence in her work would give him a reason to mock her. She had to pretend she was absolutely confident in what she had written—and she was. She had spent all day double-checking, but his quick dismissal was enough to undo her confidence.

She cared about what he thought and she especially wanted to exceed his expectations. She shouldn’t care so much but she did and it annoyed her that he was aware of this so she had to pretend she didn’t care as much.

Caius picked a nearby book and opened the first page. "Would you like to try reading this? Your letters are neater, but your reading still needs a lot of work. Copying alone won’t do—you won’t be able to write if you cannot read."

Rose tried not to make a face. She couldn’t be angry because Caius was, surprisingly, a good tutor—but sometimes, he could be a little harsh.

She accepted the book a little more forcefully than she needed to. "Yes, Your Majesty."