The King's Lover-Chapter 504: No Message

"I should go after her," Caius suddenly blurted with a dazed look on his face.

"Your Majesty!" Rylen yelled, mildly panicking. "We both know that is not a good idea."

Caius bent his head. It hurt, but he knew Rylen was right. This had to be done. He really had to let her go, but he wasn’t sure he would survive. How would he sleep, eat? What was he to do with himself?

"Did she leave any message for me?"

Caius could hear how he sounded in front of his subordinates, but he didn’t care. The love of his life had just left him without looking back, and he was unsure how he used to live without Rose. He didn’t think he could do it.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," Maximus said again and bowed his head. "I didn’t receive any message in that regard."

"I see," Caius replied and looked at a spot on the wall, but he wasn’t really seeing anything.

"Your Majesty," Rylen softly called. He was worried for his cousin.

"Leave me, both of you," he said without looking at them.

Rylen nodded, and Maximus bowed. The two of them walked towards the door, and as Maximus touched the handle, Caius spoke again.

"When Thomas returns, send him to me at once."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Caius heard the door open and shut before he placed his head on the desk. He closed his eyes and tried his best not to think about it, but all he could see was Rose.

He could remember her terrible writing but it has gotten better over time, and she didn’t hold back when telling him he wrote better. He could remember how serious her face looked when she concentrated, especially when writing, reading, or playing chess.

Caius felt his heart squeeze. He should have asked for one last game. It didn’t matter if he won; he enjoyed playing with her no less, and he knew he could spend the rest of his life just doing that.

Caius lay unmoving on his desk. Even when the blood flow in his arms got restricted and he felt pins and needles, he still didn’t stir. It wasn’t until he heard a knock that he jerked his head up.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but Thomas was back. That was the only reason they would dare interrupt him at such a time.

The door softly pushed open, and Thomas appeared at the entrance. He bowed as he walked in, and Caius got to his feet without realizing.

"Thomas," he called, not caring how eager he sounded.

"Your Majesty," Thomas replied, shutting the door and walking towards the desk.

Caius then realized he was standing and forced himself to sit down. "A full report of what transpired before you left the castle and returned."

Thomas nodded; he already anticipated this. Rose had told him that the King would want to know every detail, but he didn’t need her to warn him; he already knew this.

"Before breakfast, Rose sent for me and told me she would be leaving the castle shortly after breakfast. At that time, she didn’t say she wouldn’t return, but Your Majesty had already given me orders to do exactly as she asked, so I didn’t press for questions. When I returned after breakfast, she was ready to leave, and I took her to the carriage. I rode the carriage myself as per her request, and after dropping her off at Lady Delphine’s manor, I returned to the castle. That is all, Your Majesty."

Caius nodded as he listened attentively. He didn’t believe she had made Thomas ride the carriage. He wondered if it was a way to keep him from knowing.

Caius sighed. He really wasn’t going to do anything. He wished she would just stay with him. She didn’t have to leave, and whatever she wanted would be done.

"Did she leave the manor before you came here?" Caius asked. He knew he shouldn’t, but it helped to know.

"I don’t know. I didn’t even go past the gates of the manor. She got down from the carriage and walked through the gates."

Caius closed his eyes. It was almost as though she had anticipated that he would ask this and was being extra careful.

"Did she leave a message for me?" Caius asked, he was dreading Thomas’ response because he knew the answer but he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Thomas shook his head. "No, Your Majesty. She didn’t."

"You may leave, Thomas," Caius said, dismissing him.

Thomas bowed and, without another word, exited the study. His palms were sweaty as he closed the door.

Caius lost track of the day, and soon enough, it was time for dinner. He had not eaten the whole day, but he couldn’t tell. He had every plan to miss dinner as he did lunch and breakfast. It would be a waste of time to eat when he knew he couldn’t taste anything.

The entire day, he had fought the urge to go to Rose’s room, as he knew it was bound to make him more miserable. There were too many memories of her in every corner for him to be able to stay there. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Caius almost laughed at himself at how miserable he was. One would think she died, but he couldn’t even do that; he was too emotionally spent. He tried to distract himself by getting work done, but the documents blurred, and Caius realized he didn’t care that much about his kingdom right now.

He recalled that he had almost given it up for Rose, but then his father had threatened him. He already knew then that he didn’t want to be King if she wasn’t his Queen.

Why didn’t I try to make things right then?

Caius winced. He knew just how much Rose had gone through because of him. She had practically spent her entire time with him in the cage that he built for her, simply because he wanted her all to himself.

Sure, it was to protect her, but he knew there were better ways to protect her than to keep her locked up. Why wouldn’t she want to leave him?

"Your Majesty," Rylen called, his voice full of concern.

Caius blinked as his cousin spoke; he didn’t even realize he wasn’t alone. "What do you want?"

"Won’t you join us for dinner? I worry about your health."

"Leave me."