The King's Lover-Chapter 509: To Trust Her

It was so simple Caius was almost annoyed. He hadn’t suspected a thing, not even when Thomas told him the elaborate lie about how he didn’t even get past the gates of Lady Delphine’s manor. Caius suspected it was to throw him off the scent.

He also realized that Rose was trusting him to do as he promised, because the moment he asked someone to keep an eye on her, he would have found out that she never left the castle.

"Thank you for keeping your word," she smiled brightly at him. "I wouldn’t have been able to trick you otherwise."

Caius laughed. He could see the whole point of it, and he also saw that she trusted him.

"What would have happened if I didn’t?" Caius asked.

Rose blinked and frowned as she realized she hadn’t thought much about that. She had been worried when he came to her room while he thought she was sleeping, but he didn’t do anything and just left. She had hope.

Not once did she think the plan would fail; she was more worried that the wrong person would see them. But thanks to Chelsy and Thomas’s discretion, that went smoothly.

She also had to thank Isla for telling Maximus such a detailed story about her leaving with only a little bag. She wouldn’t have been able to execute any part of this without everyone.

"I didn’t think about that," she told him truthfully. "I was certain Your Majesty would keep his word. You promised."

Caius smiled. "You’re right. I did. I almost went after you, you know. After Maximus told me you left the castle. I was going to get on a horse and go after you and beg you to stay with me."

"I am glad you didn’t," she replied, looking at him lovingly. It must have taken him everything to stay still knowing she was leaving.

"It was really hard, and I realized just how much I couldn’t live without you and..." he paused as though what he was about to say was too heavy. "And I worry that you’d still leave."

"No, I did promise I’d never leave you, Your Majesty, and I mean every word of it. I am sorry about what I did. It was hard to leave you in your bedchambers. I couldn’t look back because I was certain I would discard my plans, but I felt this was important for me. I needed to know, and..." she paused, smiling brightly at him. "I know now."

One might call it cheap tricks, but Rose couldn’t help but feel this was important. She had really thought about going away, but Caius wasn’t the only one who needed her. All she wanted was to know they were on the same page, and he proved it to her.

"Never do this again. You can test me in some other way. I don’t want you to be away from me. I don’t like how that makes me feel."

"I won’t leave you, Your Majesty. I already told you."

Caius’s eyes dampened for a moment. He couldn’t help but feel he was tricking her. He wanted her to trust him, and she just told him that she did. She believed he would keep his word, and that made his heart so full.

He also had to believe her too. It would be unfair if he weren’t fair to her as she was to him. He was still in disbelief that she was here with him, and he wanted nothing more than to keep her with him forever. But he couldn’t deny that it felt so much nicer when she chose him. She chose to be with him, he could feel his heart overflow and spill over.

He could see why his cousin was hung up on that.

Caius sighed. "Don’t say that yet. I have too many things I have to tell you—something I should have done sooner." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Rose adjusted on Caius’s lap; his serious tone made her worried. She could also feel his anxiousness; it was clearly something that bothered him.

Rose wondered if he couldn’t ask her to marry him, but that wasn’t it. He had already asked her twice in this short conversation. It was something else that made him extremely nervous.

"Shall we lie in bed?" Caius asked.

Rose was comfortable anywhere, but since Caius asked, she accepted. She tried to get off him, but he wouldn’t let her, and he carried her to the bed in his arms.

He gently placed her on the bed and pulled the covers over her before taking off his heavy clothes and joining her. He pulled her to himself, wrapping an arm around her while she lay her head on his bare chest, his bottoms were still on.

She could hear the steady beat of his heart, and Rose pulled as close to him as she possibly could.

Caius was still reeling from the joy of having Rose in his arms, and as much as he wanted to bask in this for as long as he could, he knew that keeping things from her for much longer was detrimental to both of them.

He was petrified that things would get complicated, and with a child involved, Rose would want nothing to do with him. But at the same time, he wanted to trust her as she trusted him, and he was certain that with her by his side, it didn’t matter what he had to face.

"I—I," his voice shook a little. "I made Lady Delphine give you the wrong medicine."

Rose felt cold, and she instinctively pulled away from him. Caius didn’t try to reach for her; he deserved it. It had made sense in the moment, but now that he knew what he did, he could see just how selfish his act was.

"Why?" she asked as she sat upright and wrapped her arms around herself.

"More than anything, I want you to carry my child. I still think about the one we lost."

Rose closed her eyes as she heard his words, thinking back. If she had known she was pregnant, she never would have taken the medicine; she knew that. But at the time, she didn’t want anything to tie her to Caius, especially a child.

He was willing to let her bear his child even though he would be considered a bastard. Rose didn’t like how this made her feel.

She didn’t want to have a bastard. She already had to go through so much ridicule; she didn’t want that to happen to her child. That was why this hurt so much.