The King's Lover-Chapter 490: Wouldn’t it be Better…?

The next morning, her eyes felt as though heavy logs of wood were tied to her lashes, and no matter how hard she tried, her eyes wouldn’t open more than a peek.

Crust filled the corners of her eyes from all the crying she had done before bed. She tried to stop crying but no matter what she did, the tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

It was supposed to be joyous, but all she could recall was the earlier days she had met Caius and how she had been terrified of him harming her or her family.

Things were very different now, but there was a time when it wasn’t so, when he had taken joy in humiliating her. She still thought he enjoyed doing so until very recently. To ask her to marry him felt like a slap in the face.

She wanted to look only at the romantic part. Caius would be going against tradition, his mother, and the lords of Velmount if he truly wanted to marry her. But at the same time, this wasn’t some fairytale, and he couldn’t just slap marriage onto this.

It wouldn’t fix the past.

Rose couldn’t figure out why he would want to marry her. She doubted it was because he loved her. The thought of this made her stomach turn. It was likely another way to make sure she was tied to him forever.

Still, regardless of the negative feelings his question brought, Rose was not unaware of the positives. If she were stuck here, wouldn’t it be better to be stuck here as Queen?

As Queen, she would be rightly protected, and so would her father. Rose knew that, but she couldn’t ignore her feelings on the matter. She didn’t think marriage was the right next step for them; they had too many things to untangle.

When her maids walked through the door moments after she awoke, Chelsy and Isla looked at her with concern.

"Did something happen, Rose?" Chelsy asked as she stepped towards Rose, who was getting out of bed.

Rose shook her head. "I think something got into my eyes last night," she lied. She knew the girls wouldn’t believe her, but at least Chelsy would know not to press.

The young lady simply nodded and, together with her sister, helped Rose prepare for the day. Rose chose a dark blue dress; she knew the castle was still mourning the late King, and she didn’t want to wear anything that would stand out. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

After breakfast, she sat by her desk as she waited for Lord Thomas. She couldn’t leave her room as she wanted; she would have to wait for him to come get her.

She wondered if this would change when she became Caius’ wife.

---

Breakfast tasted sour, and try as he might, Caius found that he couldn’t pay attention or even pretend to care about what the lords were discussing.

He had barely slept the night before after Rose had asked him to leave her room, and now he had to deal with the lords’ endless conversations. Caius couldn’t stand it. His patience was running thinner than a strand of fur.

Rylen was quick to notice his foul mood and took charge of the conversation while Caius blatantly ignored the lords. The most they got out of him was a nod or a wave of his hand.

Breakfast was barely over when Caius rose from his seat and left the dining hall. Rylen was quick to follow him in an attempt to ascertain what was wrong. It was only his second day as King, and things were already going in the wrong direction.

He stepped in line with Caius as the king made his way to his private study. Caius wasn’t speaking, and Rylen knew better than to try to force it. It wasn’t until they got to the confines of his study that Rylen finally spoke.

"Did something happen?"

Caius glared at his cousin. He knew Rylen was not to blame for his current situation and that he had no one to blame but himself, but this didn’t stop him from directing his anger at Rylen.

"What are you doing here?" he asked instead.

"Well, Your Majesty," Rylen gave a small bow, "your duties begin today, and many lords would like a private conversation with you about their towns. I am certain it is one of the reasons they haven’t left the castle just yet."

Caius swore. He didn’t want to deal with anything, let alone the lords’ complaints. That would only put him in a fouler mood. However, if he declined, he risked letting the lords linger in the castle, and he didn’t want that.

"How many private conversations am I looking at?"

"At least ten," Rylen explained.

Caius groaned. The lords were worried for nothing. He didn’t care about them. As long as they weren’t committing treason or any crimes, he had no interest in them or their towns.

"Very well. You can deal with the order, but fit them all into today. I’d rather not deal with this tomorrow."

Rylen nodded and thought it was best to keep the rest of what he was required to do until Caius was in a less bad mood. Seeing the lords was simply the easy part.

Caius could decline to see the lords and make himself scarce but it was too early for that, and he needed to assure everyone he was a good fit to avoid any unrest. So for now, he would have to play his part.

Rylen turned around to leave, and Caius spoke. "Send for Maximus."

Rylen wasn’t surprised at Caius’s request, but the way he spoke about Maximus made him curious, so he pushed one last time. "Did something happen between you and Rose?"

Rylen could tell it was about Rose. She was the only person he cared enough to be bothered about, and the king had been in a foul mood since the moment Rylen laid eyes on him. He also didn’t miss how traumatized Henry looked, which told him it wasn’t just at breakfast that his foul mood began.