The King's Lover-Chapter 439: Ruse

"What do you mean Thomas helped you with this?" Caius sounded so offended as he went through what she had done during the day.

She had tried to set the papers aside so he wouldn’t notice, but he had, and there were a few things he hadn’t taught her yet, so it was easy for him to notice that she had help. Rose didn’t think much of it and had told him in passing that Thomas helped her when he came around.

"When he came around earlier, I didn’t want to go outside, so I asked for his help instead," Rose said, not liking how unsteady her voice was. It wasn’t as if she had done something wrong. Why was she explaining?

"Why didn’t you just wait for me?" he asked with all seriousness.

Why was he acting as though this was a task exclusive to him alone? He wasn’t the only one who could help her.

"We haven’t done any lessons in a while, and there was still a lot of time until Your Majesty would come by. I didn’t want to just sit around doing nothing."

"You weren’t supposed to do nothing," he said with an accusatory glance.

Rose immediately knew what he was talking about. She was sure Thomas must have told Caius that she declined to go outside, and from the looks of things, he hadn’t told Caius that he helped her. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Regardless of what Your Majesty says, I can’t go outside my room. Even if you say it’s safe..." her voice raised a little as he looked as though he would speak. "It is still improper."

Caius’s jaw ticked, and Rose half-expected him to say something in disagreement, but he simply nodded. "Only for some time," he whispered.

Rose looked at him in confusion. His tone gave the implication he was planning something, and Rose was tempted to ask what, but if she did, would that mean she was agreeing to go along with this ruse of his?

She knew it was futile to pretend she still had a choice in this regard, but Rose was willing to hold onto anything she could because she found that she was more scared of what would happen if she didn’t.

"Is there anything you’d like, then?" he asked easily. "Since you refused something you had specifically wanted."

He peered at her as he spoke. His expression was serious. He clearly wanted her to ask for something, but Rose wasn’t sure what else she could ask for, as there was nothing else she wanted.

"Would I still be allowed to go see Lady Delphine?" Rose asked, more out of curiosity than a request.

"I don’t mind that you visit her; I dislike that you would rather stay there than return to me. I can’t spend any time with you in daylight, at least not yet. However, I don’t want us to be apart even for one night. So, yes, you may visit Lady Delphine as many times as you wish."

Rose blinked as she looked at him. If things were different, his words might have sounded almost romantic, and the fact that she had this thought bothered Rose more than his words.

"I understand, Your Majesty. Thanks," she mumbled for lack of anything else to say.

"Is that your request, then? Visiting Lady Delphine?"

Rose shook her head slightly. The crown prince might not see it that way, but Rose wasn’t eager to step outside again. She tried not to think about it, but she clearly remembered her run-in with Caira, and now that she had agreed to stay with Caius regardless of the situation, she wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

"What then do you want?" Caius asked; he seemed insistent on it.

Rose wondered why it was so important to him that she make a request. He already got what he wanted; he shouldn’t care what she wanted.

"I don’t know, Your Majesty," she replied.

Caius seemed displeased about this. "You may take as long as you need to decide," he said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," she replied.

Caius narrowed his eyes. "You don’t have to thank me, and don’t hold back in your requests. The bigger your demands, the better."

His expression changed, and a smirk slipped out, as if he couldn’t wait to show her that he could fulfill whatever requests she could have. He didn’t have to do that. He had succeeded in keeping her with him; he didn’t have to listen to any of her demands.

"What if I ask for the impossible?" Rose blurted. She didn’t know why she asked that. Was it some kind of test? Did she want to know what she actually meant to him?

"Nothing is impossible. There is only one impossible thing... Everything else is." He leaned closer to her. "Whatever your demands are, rest assured that I will fulfill them."

Rose knew what the one impossible thing was. He didn’t let her forget.

"I will need some time to think about something impossible," Rose said with a smile.

Caius didn’t get angry; rather, he smiled back. "Can’t wait."

Rose nodded and turned away, annoyed that she was still smiling. Why was she excited about the idea of giving him something impossible to do? What would that achieve?

"One more thing," Caius said, his voice having lost the amusement it had.

Rose turned to look at him with a frown, wondering what had gone wrong in such a short time. "What is it, Your Majesty?"

"I will allow this incident to go unpunished this one time."

Rose looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. What incident was he talking about? But before she could ask, he was speaking again.

"You are not allowed to ask anyone else to tutor you but me. Should you disobey, I will have them beheaded!"

"Them?" she blurted out before shaking her head.

That was the wrong question. Why was anyone getting beheaded in the first place, and why did he sound so serious about saying something so ridiculous?

"Yes."

"Your Majesty, you can’t behead people because I asked for their help."

Why am I taking him seriously?

"You will be surprised what I can do," Caius said and stretched out his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Rose blinked. Was the crown prince bragging about how easily he could behead people? Rose didn’t find it very funny, but worse, she wasn’t offended.

Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that she knew the crown prince now, and power was a huge factor for him. It was very important to his self-worth.

Rose didn’t like this. She was not trying to understand him. That wasn’t her goal, but she would be lying if she didn’t agree that, day by day, the crown prince no longer seemed like just a powerful figure.

"I don’t think Your Majesty could do anything that surprises me."

Caius leaned back and studied her. "Are you saying I am predictable?"

Rose glanced at him, and she couldn’t read his expression; she couldn’t tell if what she said annoyed him or not, but it didn’t matter, because one thing she was certain of now was that he would never be rid of her.

"No, Your Majesty, quite the opposite. I can’t predict what you’ll do next."

"But you won’t be surprised?" He raised a brow.

"Is it important that I am surprised?" she asked.

"I don’t know, is it?"

Did he just throw the question back to her? Why? It almost felt as though he was asking her if it was important to her that he was surprising.

"No," Rose replied and turned away from him.

They didn’t say anything more on the topic as he taught her through her lessons for the night. After they were done, Caius gave her more tasks than she could possibly finish in a day, but she couldn’t complain; after all, she was the one who said she had nothing to do.

"This should keep you busy," he said with petty glee.

"Indeed," Rose said through her teeth as she fought the urge to glare at him.

"If you have any questions, I will answer all of them tomorrow night."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Rose said, visibly rolling her eyes. "I wouldn’t dare ask anyone else."

"Wonderful. Now, would you like to play a game of chess?"

Rose’s first instinct was to say no, just to spite him, but she found playing with him fun, and she could tell she was getting better. Perhaps she would take his advice and be more risky.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Shall I set the table?"

"Do so. Should we wager?" he asked with a sly smile.

"No," Rose said and stood up to get the chessboard from where it stood on the shelf.

Caius laughed. "Are you worried that I will win?"

Rose sneered with her face toward the shelf; then she turned and with the brightest smile said, "I will be surprised if Your Majesty loses."

Caius laughed some more. "Well played, Rose."