The King's Lover-Chapter 440: Was it the Silence?

Caira sat in the library with a book lying on the desk in front of her. Her preferred library was located in the south wing. It was smaller than the libraries in the crown prince’s wing and the king’s wing, but Caira preferred this one as there were fewer servants around here.

Occasionally, she would run into the librarian, an older woman, but she didn’t spend all day in the library and only came by to check the records or bring in new books.

She flipped the pages as she read, occasionally having to flip back as she found it hard to concentrate. Caira was doing her best not to think about it.

Not to think about her.

At first, when she had seen her in front of the room two days ago, Caira had assumed the crown prince was finally sending her away, thinking he must have meant his apology.

But this didn’t last long, as word had reached her the next morning that the woman was back, and servants had seen her make her way back to her chambers after dinnertime.

Did he intend to keep being disrespectful? Was this something she would have to take care of by herself? However, Caira couldn’t help but think it was beneath her to make any effort in that regard.

"What are you so engrossed by that you do not notice my presence?"

Caira blinked at the familiar voice and slowly lifted her head to see Prince Rylen looking down at her. She was smiling before she could stop herself.

Her maid, Mara, was standing behind her with her head bowed, but the latter hadn’t thought to warn her mistress of his presence. Prince Rylen’s appearance was not unusual; he often sought out Princess Caira in the library since the incident with the crown prince.

"Prince Rylen," Caira said with excitement.

"Good morning, Princess," he said.

Caira noticed he no longer called her "Your Highness"; rather, he just called her "Princess" now, without her name. She didn’t know when this change had happened, but she found that she didn’t mind.

"We had breakfast together, Prince Rylen. You don’t have to speak to me as though this is our first meeting of the day."

He didn’t reply to this; rather, he smiled and sat next to her, keeping enough space between them. "What are you reading?" he asked as he peered at the book.

It was a simple question, and a title would have sufficed, but Caira didn’t do that; rather, she went on a detailed rant about the book. Rylen kept his gaze on her the whole time she spoke. She could tell he was genuinely curious, and this only made her speak even more.

"I only just started today. I shall tell you the rest tomorrow when I have completed it."

Prince Rylen nodded and gestured toward the book. "Well then, carry on. If you don’t resume, how shall I hear the rest of this tale?"

Caira chuckled at this and returned her attention to the book. Though he often dropped by to see her, Rylen didn’t like to bother her too much and wouldn’t interrupt her reading unless she spoke to him. Sometimes, he would even bring some documents with him so they could be busy side by side.

A part of her was grateful, as she knew he was doing this because he was worried about her. While a small part couldn’t ignore the implications of this. It would definitely cause a scandal if rumors spread that she was spending more time with the crown prince’s cousin. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

However, Caira found herself wondering if that was a bad thing. Perhaps the crown prince would be bothered about it. Besides, why should she feel guilty? It wasn’t as though they were doing anything wrong.

The worst part was that she couldn’t even speak to the Queen anymore, as she was hard to run into or see. She only came during mealtimes and then left immediately after. Caira had a feeling something was going on, but no one seemed to be saying anything about it.

"Something wrong?" Rylen interrupted her thought.

Caira narrowed her eyes. She knew she had no reason to be annoyed, but he was too perceptive of her. She couldn’t pretend around him. As much as she liked it—as she could just relax around him and not try to be someone she wasn’t—she still found it a bit odd.

She couldn’t figure out if it was just her, or if he was this way with other people. Noticing the real emotion under the mask—she always thought she was pretty good at hiding how she truly felt—but he threw all her years of hard work out the window.

"No," she said and flipped the page.

"Okay," he whispered.

The fact that he didn’t push annoyed her even more. He knew that something was wrong, but unless she told him, he would never force her to.

Caira wasn’t annoyed about this. She was annoyed that she couldn’t even play the long game. She immediately wanted to tell him everything. She always thought she was pretty quiet, but in his presence, she couldn’t seem to shut up.

Was it the silence?

Caira didn’t think so; she was pretty used to silence, but somehow this seemed to be effective. "I was wondering if something was happening in the castle. Her Majesty seemed to be more preoccupied recently."

Rylen held her gaze, but he didn’t say anything.

Caira suddenly felt sweaty. "Am I wrong?"

"No," he said with a small smile. "I am just surprised you noticed."

"Something is wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about. I promise."

Caira nodded and didn’t ask more questions in that regard. She knew that if Rylen didn’t speak to her about it, he probably couldn’t tell her, but if he said it was nothing for her to worry about, she believed him.

"I have to go," he said and slowly stood to his feet. "I shall be at the gazebo in time to inform you of lunch."

"You don’t have to do that," Caira said. She knew just how busy Rylen was, and this must be taking him away from his duties.

"No, it is my pleasure," he said with a bow before exiting the library.