The King's Lover-Chapter 438: So Stupid

It wasn’t until after Rose ate breakfast that she finally allowed herself to think about the night before, feeling the weight of what she had just agreed to.

Why was she constantly going along with what he wanted? Even if it was easier, there had to be a limit to what she could take. Besides, the crown prince’s desires didn’t make any sense. There was no way he could keep her around, yet she had agreed to this.

Was everything going to return to the same way it had always been? He hadn’t said anything about what he planned to do to keep her safe, but he kept insisting that he could protect her. Rose couldn’t see that.

Was it exhaustion that stopped her from any fight? She couldn’t escape him; that much was clear. But couldn’t she do something to change this?

Perhaps a change in location, where she wouldn’t have to look over her shoulder constantly? Caius, however, was insistent—he didn’t even want her to go to Lady Delphine’s residence. He wanted her nearby, where he could easily access her.

He seemed particularly upset when she mentioned leaving, and he had told her on multiple occasions that he didn’t want her to leave. Did that mean that there was something more beneath his possessiveness?

Rose palmed her face. Just what was she thinking? He had practically told her he was not going to give her a choice, and here she was trying to find some excuse—but it was hard not to, not when she had seen him like that.

Why was she entertaining the idea? Was something wrong with her? Had the crown prince had such an effect that she was willing to overlook everything else?

Besides, even if things were right between them, this was the crown prince of Velmount, and she was nothing more than a commoner from a backwater town. This was the best she could get.

His mistress.

Rose let out a sad laugh. He had offered that, and she had readily accepted. She glanced out the open windows, noticing a flock of birds flying. She wondered if they were sparrows, but it didn’t seem so; sparrows were small birds, but at this distance, it was pretty hard to tell.

But it didn’t matter what kind of birds they were. It was not hard to miss the most important thing they had that she didn’t. Rose forced herself to look away from the windows.

She had to make the best of what she had. Beating herself up was not going to make things better. So Rose made her way to her desk, which was filled with books, and got to work. It helped keep her thoughts away from things she didn’t want to think about.

Sometime after lunch, Rose heard a knock. She stared at the door suspiciously. There was no reason for her to receive any interruption. Her maids wouldn’t return until dinnertime.

She slowly made her way to the door, a little hesitant to open it, but at the same time, she found that she was curious. Any good interruption was gladly accepted.

Rose opened the door to reveal Thomas. His amber eyes looked serious as he stared at her, and there was a look of displeasure on his face. This was very different from his usual scowl, so she noticed.

"Lord Thomas," she called and stepped aside for him to come in. "Is something wrong?"

She shut the door quickly, not wanting to catch the attention of anyone else. She had glimpsed the hallway, and there was no one unusual.

"No," Thomas said too forcefully.

Rose frowned as she turned away from the closed door to look at him. "Okay," she mumbled, feeling it would be weird to ask why he was here, as that might seem as though she didn’t want him to be.

"His Highness said you wanted to go outside," Thomas stated. "Where do you want to go?"

Rose’s eyebrows lifted slightly. "Outside the castle?" Rose questioned.

"No. I wasn’t informed of that."

"Around the castle? His Majesty said that?" she asked in horror.

She knew he had mentioned it the night before, but surely he couldn’t be serious. There was no point in poking the bear just because he believed he could keep her safe.

She knew there was nothing malicious in his offer and it was most likely because she had complained but she wished he were more careful about things like this.

"Wasn’t that your request?" he asked with a thoughtful expression.

"Of course not. I wouldn’t decide on something so stupid," Rose blurted out in annoyance, and then remembered she was talking to one of Caius’s knights. "Not stupid. I just wouldn’t decide that."

"What should I tell His Highness, then?" Thomas asked.

"I refuse. I’m not going outside," she said with a sigh.

Thomas’s expression relaxed, and he nodded at her and took a step toward the door as if to leave. "I shall inform His Highness."

"You’re leaving?" Rose blurted out.

Thomas frowned, but before he could question her odd statement, she rushed toward the desk and picked up a book. Thomas squinted his eyes as he stared at what she held.

He did have some knowledge that the crown prince might be teaching Rose to read, but he had never given much thought to it. Thomas didn’t particularly concern himself with things that didn’t have anything to do with him, especially when they tended to be complex. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Can you read?" she asked as she held the book.

Thomas had never been so insulted in all his life, and his expression showed just how offended he was by her question.

"I apologize, I mean, can you please help me? Just for some time. I can’t progress much on my own."

Thomas took a step forward. "Doesn’t His Highness help you with this?" he asked with a frown.

"Yes, but I won’t see His Majesty until..." Rose paused, not sure if she should say more. She was certain Thomas saw Caius last night when he pulled her into the room.

"I just need help with these words, and can you check what I’ve written? I just want to know if I did anything wrong. It won’t take much of your time."

Rose didn’t particularly need him to help her with anything, but she wanted some company. She knew there was no way she could say that directly to Thomas. The lord would decline, but she knew how she could convince him without being direct.

Besides, she was certain it didn’t interrupt him as he was originally supposed to take her outside. Since she had to decline that, Rose wanted to get something else out of it.

Thomas looked as though this was a bad idea but nodded and walked toward the table. Rose smiled at him and proceeded to show him all she had written for the day.

He looked impressed at what she did and tried his best to help. Rose listened attentively while asking him more and more questions. Each time he answered one, she had another question ready.

Thomas ended up taking a seat so he could help her more, and Rose tried not to smile at her plan. She almost felt bad for Thomas, but it was nice to converse with him.

"Is there anything else you need help with?" he asked with slight exasperation in his voice after some time had passed.

Rose shook her head and smiled at him again. "Thank you, Lord Thomas. I should be able to handle the rest by myself. I’m sorry for keeping you."

He grunted his reply as he stood up and headed for the door. But he didn’t leave; rather, he turned around to look at her.

"I might be away for a little over a week. His Highness has given me a task," he said.

Rose frowned. He didn’t have to tell her this, but the fact that he did meant this had to do with her. "What is this task?" she softly asked.

She was unsure what emotion she should feel, and Thomas’s expression didn’t give anything away.

"I can’t tell you, but if you have any more questions, you’ll have to rely on His Highness," he said and glanced down at the table.

Rose followed his gaze, and when she looked down, he opened the door and slipped out of her room.

"Lord Thomas," she called as she rounded the table, but he was gone.

She walked toward the door and turned the lock. As much as she wanted to open the door and call out to him, she couldn’t do that.

Rose leaned on the door as she tried to understand what that was about. Thomas would be away for a while on orders of the crown prince, and he had gone out of his way to tell her that.

Just what was this task that the crown prince had given him, and how did it have anything to do with her? She was almost certain it did; Thomas would not have told her if it didn’t.

Rose sighed and pushed herself away from the door and back to the desk. She doubted this was something she could query Caius about. She would have to wait for Thomas to come back.