The King's Lover-Chapter 485: Goodbye Father

The walk from the entrance of the throne room to where the casket lay was quite a trek. A flowing red carpet lined the path, while some seats lay on either side of the carpet. Compared to the huge decorated hall, there were only a countable number of seats.

However, other than the young boys holding the candles and the guards stationed inside the throne room, it was empty. No one sat on the chairs or lingered without purpose. Rose was quick to note that despite how late it was, everyone was going about their duty diligently, as though they were being watched.

The casket was only a few feet away. It was open, and Rose wasn’t close enough to see the inside just yet, but she could see the underside of the cover of the casket. It was red, and golden intricate designs were traced around the reddened wood.

Eventually, they came up to the casket, and Rose held her breath as she realized this would be the first time she would be seeing the late king. It was most unfortunate that it was at his death, but Rose didn’t regret that she was here.

The king was lying on his back, his head resting on a pillow, and his scepter lay on his chest with his hands crossed on his abdomen, almost as if he was holding the scepter in place. He wore a huge crown, and his pale face seemed to have color on it.

Rose didn’t miss how sickly the king looked, and it was even more obvious in death. The crown didn’t fit very well, but the morticians did a good job at hiding that unless one looked too closely, as she was doing now.

There was a slight unpleasant smell in the air, but the strong scent of incense and other perfumes used to embalm the body covered it easily.

Rose was thrown back to her mother’s burial all over again. It wasn’t the same, but death had the same connotation; status mattered not.

Rose suddenly remembered she wasn’t here for sightseeing and turned to look at Caius. He wasn’t saying anything as he stared at the open casket.

She slightly moved so her shoulder touched his. "Do you want to say anything?" she whispered.

"Not really."

"You can just say goodbye. This is the last time you’ll see him."

Caius simply said, "I suppose you’re right," before returning his gaze to the casket.

Rose didn’t know why she did it, and if asked, she would say she didn’t think too much about it before her hand moved. She slipped her hand through her cloak and grabbed his, squeezing lightly.

Caius jerked his head to look at her in surprise, but Rose didn’t meet his gaze. She didn’t need to; she could tell from his body language that he was pleasantly surprised.

Caius laced their fingers together and gripped her tight. They just stood there for a bit, and then Caius said, "Goodbye, Father."

Rose closed her eyes briefly as she felt a wave of sadness hit her. His grip on her hand was steady but Rose could feel his grief. Using her free hand to hold one side of her dress, she curtsied to the dead king, and Caius led them away.

Rose didn’t try to pull her hand from his grasp this time. They had run into no one important on their way here, and she was a little confident no one would look too closely. Besides, Caius didn’t seem eager to let go of her.

They made their way back the same way they had come, and just before they would get to the huge mahogany doors of the throne room, they pushed wide open, and Rose met eyes with someone she had never seen before, but he also seemed familiar.

She stepped back immediately and tried to pull her hand out of Caius’s grip, but he held tight. She couldn’t struggle as that would draw attention, so she just kept her head down.

"Your Majesty," Gayle called with exaggerated surprise in his voice.

"Your Highness, Prince Gayle."

Prince?! Rylen is the only one I know with a prince title, but if he is also a prince and older, then he might be his father.

Rose wanted another look, but she knew better than to even lift her head. She curtsied without saying a word, clinging to Caius.

"I didn’t expect you to be here so late," Prince Gayle was saying, his eyes watching the couple as though he was looking for something. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"This is the last chance I have to say goodbye. Father will be placed in the tomb in the morning."

"Yes, you’re right." Gayle stepped forward, closer to Rose. "Is that the princess? I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of—"

"Uncle," Caius cut in. "You will have to excuse me. We have a busy day tomorrow. I’d like to retire early."

Gayle squinted his eyes and smiled tightly. "Goodnight, Nephew. Goodnight, Princess Caira."

Rose simply nodded as Caius pulled her away. She could feel her heart slamming in her chest. They had managed to get away from that, but she didn’t miss Gayle’s suspicion; he had been staring too hard at her.

As the couple passed him, Gayle turned around, watching Rose closely. He furrowed his brows, adjusted his coat, turned around, and walked down the red path to the casket.

Rose was gripping Caius as tightly as she possibly could. She was nervous about the fact that they had almost been caught, but Caius didn’t look the least bit bothered. She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, but he still wouldn’t let her.

"Your Majesty," she whispered.

"It’s alright, Rose. I promise."

Rose let out a loud breath as they walked down the hallway. Torches lined the wall, providing enough light for all who passed.

"Was that Rylen’s father?" she asked and glanced back, even though she knew there was no way to see him. They were too far, and the throne room doors were already shut.

He squeezed her palm and smiled. "You are correct. How could you tell?"

"You called him Uncle," she replied.

She didn’t know much about Caius’s family tree, but everyone knew the king had a younger brother.

"Yes, I did."

"He did remind me of someone, but I wasn’t sure who at first. Do you think he suspected?" she asked.

Caius glanced down at her. "His suspicion wouldn’t make any difference," he assured her.

Rose nodded and leaned into him. She tried to push her worries away as they made their way back to her room.