The King's Lover-Chapter 464: Pitiable

Caius was five when his father changed. It was such a sudden change that it was ingrained in his memory. Gaius wasn’t exactly a present father, especially with his illness. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

However, when he returned from Wresthal with Caius’s grandfather, he was a completely different man. He was present now, but Caius wished he never was.

He was no longer allowed to play, and should he stray, he was punished with more lessons. A few weeks after he turned twelve, his father was especially wrathful with him.

It had been seven years, and still Caius could barely swing a sword properly. Taking him out to the field, his sick father had battled him and slashed his chin. His chin hadn’t fully healed before he was sent off to the mercenaries. It was a hell he didn’t like to think about.

Now, here he was in front of the man who wanted him to be stronger than anything, and Caius could practically see life being snuffed out of him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Perhaps the thought of his father dying was more appealing in theory.

Caius winced; he had never once taken pity on his father. Yet, there was no denying how pitiful he was. He couldn’t even move the pieces himself, and since talking was such a hassle, Briar had to follow his eyes and move the pieces for him. It was nauseating to watch.

"Why chess?" Caius suddenly asked. For some reason, the silence annoyed him. "We haven’t played in a decade."

Gaius moved his eyes from the chessboard and stared at his son. "For the same reason."

Caius narrowed his eyes. It would be better if he didn’t ask. Gaius had never tried to be a father, only a strict teacher.

Caius barely paid attention to the game as his thoughts roamed, and it was easy to do so, as Rose gave him more of a hard time. It was almost disappointing; when he was younger, he could never beat his father—not at a game and not through clashing swords, even though he was sickly. But now, it wasn’t even a question.

"Any more questions?" his father rasped.

Caius raised his gaze from the board to see his father sneering at him. Their relationship would always be like this.

"Why did you send me off to the mercenaries?" Caius wasn’t sure why he blurted this question but perhaps, he was hoping for something. Something that his father could finally give him on his deathbed.

His father looked at him in disappointment, as though that was the silliest question to ask. "Weak," he simply stated and moved his eyes over the board. Briar interpreted it easily.

"Weak?!" Caius asked in horror. "You sent me off to travel with a bunch of mercenaries for years and then sent me off to a kingdom you despise. To Vodnik!"

"You survived, didn’t you?" Gaius said with a shrug that was almost terrifying to watch, as it was more of a sudden jerk than a shrug. "Now less weak."

Caius didn’t know what he was expecting from his father. However, the longer he stayed in his presence, the more annoyed he got.

"At least with your marriage, you won’t make the silly mistake of marrying the whore. You’d think I taught you better." His face contorted as he fought air back into his lungs after speaking for so long.

Caius felt his vision blur as anger bubbled in him, but he knew better than to answer in rage. His father always did this. His complaints about his treatment of him had made no dent, and Caius found that he was further annoyed that he had brought it up.

"You should be grateful to her. She is the only reason I am here. Checkmate," Caius said and stood to his feet.

"Hmm."

Caius leaned forward over the bed, ignoring the strong smell emanating from him, and whispered to Gaius.

Caius pulled back, expecting to see a look of horror on his father’s face; rather, there was a huge smile. It was a bit startling, as there was barely any skin on his face, and the smile seemed to pull the skin from around his eyes, making it appear more hollow.

"Perhaps," he said with a sneer. "You did learn something after all, my son."

Gaius immediately started to cough, spurting dark blood all over the sheets. Caius stepped back, shocked, while Briar rushed forward with a white handkerchief.

Gaius waved his hand at Caius amidst his coughs. "Get out!" he wheezed.

"Please don’t talk anymore, Your Majesty," Briar cried out in horror.

Briar began to call for the rest of the physicians while Caius stared at his father with a dazed expression. He could hear the voices of the physicians as they moved to help his father, but their voices seemed so distant and their movements slow.

Orders were spat out, and his father was given some herbs and laid on his back. Caius finally snapped out of it and walked away. His father’s gaze followed him until he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Caius made his way to his wing, unable to tear away the image of his dying father from his mind. His father’s response to his last words had been shocking, and Caius found that it irked him that nothing he ever did seemed to rattle his father.

But that wasn’t the most annoying part; it was the praise afterwards. Caius was annoyed by the effect. It was the nicest thing his father had ever said, and if Caius stretched it thin, he might even say his father approved.

His father never approved of anything he did, and Caius had done everything within his power to rebel against him—from regularly visiting the courtesan to bringing Rose to the castle and many more. Caius had done all these to get back at his father.

However, it all suddenly seemed irrelevant. His father was mortal after all and he was dying in a pitiable way.

But Caius didn’t regret his actions, as even though bringing Rose to the castle was simply an act of rebellion, he could not imagine her away from him now.

It was past dinner time already, but Caius had long lost his appetite. Right now, all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around Rose and have her tell him what a good job he had done.

Caius heard a door slam as he started up the stairs leading to his floor, and Caius frowned, wondering if it was Rose’s, but that wasn’t a simple close; it was a slam.

He rushed up the stairs and almost ran into his cousin at the top of the stairway. "Rylen!"