The King's Lover-Chapter 457: Shame

The consequences of her actions hit her like a ton of bricks, her face as pale as the moon at its brightest. She scrambled away from Rylen, pulling down her dress until her arms hurt, and her expression only got worse and worse as shame filled her until it overflowed.

"Caira," Rylen called, his voice filled with concern.

She lifted her head to look at him; his shirt was undone, his skin slightly red in spots where she had held on too tight, and memories of what she had done filled her mind. Caira tore her face away from him and fled out of the library.

"Caira!" Rylen yelled.

She picked up the pace, knowing he couldn’t come after her—he still needed to adjust his clothes and she needed to get away before then. She walked out of the library to see her maid, Mara, standing just at the entrance.

"My lady," she called with a frown, clearly seeing that Caira was upset.

Caira didn’t answer; she walked briskly and Mara had to run to keep up with her. In the distance, she could still hear Rylen calling to her. She hoped she would be out of reach before he could walk out of the library.

Mara didn’t speak to her, didn’t ask what was wrong. Caira was grateful for that, because how was she going to tell her maid that she had just lain with her husband’s cousin in the library like some roadside whore?

Caira felt the weight of her actions almost push her to the ground. What had she done? This was irreversible. A woman’s virtue was as important as her existence, and she had just tossed it away as though it meant nothing. She had lain with someone other than her husband; she was no different from him.

Caira was in complete shock and horror. She couldn’t even blame Rylen; he had asked her to stop him multiple times, and yet she had gone along with it. Just what had she been thinking? No matter how lonely she was, how could she succumb to her lust?

Caira got into her bedchamber and shut the door. Mara barely had time to slip into the room before the door slammed shut.

"My lady," the maid forced out in concern. "Is something wrong?" Now that they were in the privacy of Caira’s bedchambers, she could ask all the questions she wanted.

Caira turned to look at her, and her horror was clear on her face. Mara, fearing that her mistress might burst into tears, stepped forward to offer her a hug, but Caira brushed her off.

"Take off my dress and set it ablaze. I want a bath now; scrub my skin until it’s red."

Her voice cracked as she spoke, her eyes red as she tried to control her emotions but her orders were clear. Mara wanted to pester her still to find out what was wrong, but she knew better than to do that. If she knew anything, it was best to let Caira do as she wished, else she might retreat into a shell and completely lock Mara out.

"Yes, my lady."

Caira knew that wouldn’t change anything about what she had done, and it was solely for her to feel better. She had gone against her duty. If word were to get out, Lystern would be affected.

Regardless of her reasons, it didn’t change the fact that this was a scandal. At least the crown prince could say he had lain with a nobody; she had lain with his cousin. Caira wanted to scream; she already was, only it didn’t leave her lips.

Mara stepped forward and easily helped her out of the dress. Her expression faltered when she saw the stains on the inner lining of her dress but only for a little moment. Mara didn’t say anything or call attention to it; rather, she did as Caira had requested.

She scrubbed her skin hard until Caira told her to stop, and after she helped her into bed, she made her way out of the bedchambers, taking care of the dress as she had requested.

---

Rylen was restless as he sat down for dinner. There was no sign of Caira, and according to her maid, she was a little down from the weather and wouldn’t be able to join them.

He had not been able to stop her from leaving, nor would he have been able to chase her down. That would have drawn too much attention. He had hoped he would at least be able to see her during dinner, but that was also not going to happen.

Rylen knew he had messed up. He was going to take it slow, but at that moment he wanted to seal the deal, to make sure... He gripped his fork harder than he needed to. He was becoming his cousin. Now, he had ruined a good thing.

If only he had been a little more patient. He prided himself on that, but in that moment, he had wanted to make her solely his, to make sure she could never go back to Caius.

He wasn’t sure what he could do to remedy the situation. He didn’t want to lose Caira, and he was willing to do anything to not let that happen.

"Prince Rylen."

Rylen lifted his head to see the source of his problems looking down at him. Rylen was as grateful to him as he was annoyed. It was his fault; if he had treated his wife as he should, they wouldn’t be in this predicament.

But at the same time, he wasn’t without blame. If he had stayed away and minded his business, his feelings would not exist, and right now the thought of extinguishing them was completely out of the question.

Rylen knew that if he knew what would have happened in advance he would still choose to be close to her. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.

"Your Grace," he called coldly as he resumed eating. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Is something wrong?"

Rylen could not comprehend why he would notice his distress, let alone care. "I am fine, Your Grace."

Caius narrowed his gaze and looked ahead to his mother, who didn’t seem to notice their interaction. Like Rylen, she was utterly consumed with her thoughts, and her ladies-in-waiting had the same distressed look on their faces.

The thought that perhaps his father was really dying crossed his mind, but it didn’t linger. Caius was certain that even if that were true, he had no reason to see him. The loss of his father would simply be good riddance to him.