The King's Lover-Chapter 419: Temporary Fix

Rose woke up feeling stiff as the crown prince wrapped himself around her. He held her too tightly to be comfortable, but she had slept through the night and couldn’t say she hadn’t slept well. She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he refused to let go.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Rose called, partly gasping for breath as she tried to undo his hands around her, but this only made him wrap his arms tighter.

He didn’t reply.

Rose struggled to slip out from underneath him, but it didn’t work. She couldn’t comprehend why he was so adamant about not letting her go.

"I know you’re awake, Your Majesty." Rose could scarcely hide the exasperation in her voice.

"It’s still early, Rose. Go back to sleep."

"No, it is not," she tried again to get out of his grasp, and failed.

She let her hands fall to her side, and Caius saw this as her admitting defeat and held her even tighter. Unfortunately, she couldn’t yell at him—he was the crown prince, and he could have her head on a spike if he wanted to. She had to find some way to convince him.

"Your Majesty, please. It is dawn, and very soon the maids will come knocking."

"I shall leave then."

"No, it will be too late. I have to make sure nothing is out of place and answer as soon as they knock."

"Hmm," Caius said, letting out a sigh as though what she asked was too exhausting a task.

"Your Majesty," she called.

"Fine," Caius said curtly and reluctantly let go of her.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

She was quick to get out of bed before he changed his mind. She spotted her nightdress a few feet away on the carpet and slipped into it before rushing toward the table.

She rearranged the chess pieces and set the board aside. She then straightened the papers and closed all the open books. She didn’t want to leave too much of a mess for the maids to clean up.

When she turned, Caius was standing by the bed. His robes were fastened, and he was leaning against one of the bedposts, staring at her. He looked as though he might say something when their eyes met but decided against it and just walked toward the wardrobe.

Rose let out a loud breath as the wardrobe closed, taking the crown prince with it. She didn’t immediately move from where she stood by the desk as her mind went back over what had happened the night before.

Caius had told her too many things that he shouldn’t have, and it didn’t help that she had been a bit too happy about being able to see Lady Delphine and had gotten too inquisitive.

If Velmount was truly on the verge of breaking out into war, now was not the time to be around her. He should let her go, stay with his wife, and deal with the kingdom’s adversaries.

Rose palmed her face. She was also to blame, going along with this game of his. It was laughable that instead of finding a permanent solution, she was comfortable with a temporary fix.

The temporary fix was enough to lift her spirits and have her acting as though this was normal, even going so far as to ask about the crown prince’s past as though she cared.

She couldn’t deny that it was easy to go along with his whims; he had made sure of that. She was so used to his company that she no longer thought anything odd of it while she was in his presence.

Yes, she couldn’t wait to escape him, but her actions varied too much from her thoughts. If all she cared about was leaving, she wouldn’t be asking to see Lady Delphine.

Am I really fine with this? His wife is next door.

A knock on the door made her jump, but Rose didn’t move to let the maids in. Instead, she walked to the mirror, staring at her neck. Her maids didn’t say anything about the marks that were most likely all over her body, but Rose knew it wasn’t because no one had noticed.

She wondered how long it would take before it reached the Queen’s ears. Even if Welma didn’t say anything, she doubted this was something they could keep hidden for much longer.

Caius was spending every night with her, which meant he had not been with the princess. Word was bound to get out. Rose could only hug herself tighter as she thought of the consequences.

She wondered what the crown prince’s plan was in all this. A part of her was still convinced he was trying to get back at her, but he had done too many things that didn’t make sense, and right now he was unnecessarily clingy.

Another knock rang out before she finally pulled away from the dresser mirror. "I will be right there," she replied and walked toward the door.

Isla walked in first and was quickly followed by Chelsy. There was no sign of Welma; this wasn’t completely unusual. Welma usually came during mealtimes or if there was a task she didn’t trust the young maids to handle themselves.

Welma had not told her anything new about the Queen, and Rose didn’t know if she should be worried or not. She was certain the Queen must be complaining about her son refusing to be with the princess, but perhaps this matter was too delicate to discuss with a servant. Rose, however, couldn’t broach the topic with Welma first, as that would be revealing her hand.

"Is it hard?" Isla was asking.

"What?" Rose asked, grateful for the interruption. She was tired of thinking so much, especially about things she couldn’t control.

"Reading," Isla said, looking toward the table.

"You can scarcely call what I do reading, Isla. I told you I am simply learning."

"How do you do it all by yourself, then?" Isla looked genuinely concerned and curious at the same time.

"Isla, stop bothering Rose so early in the morning. Sorry, Rose."

Rose smiled politely at them. She wasn’t offended; rather, she was always surprised by how in tune Chelsy was while her sister was completely oblivious. Chelsy knew and had stopped her unsuspecting sister from pestering further.

Rose couldn’t be surprised. It was already odd enough that she was given books when she could not read and seemed to keep at it without help—and coupled with the marks on her body, Chelsy must have a vague idea.

She wondered what Chelsy thought about the crown prince teaching her how to read. She might try to pretend otherwise, but even she knew that wasn’t normal, even if it was a way to make her stay. He was already doing that; she didn’t need more incentive. Her father’s life was more than enough.