The King's Lover
Chapter 127: She Won’t Be Coming

Chapter 127: She Won’t Be Coming

"Lily!" Rose called in shock. However, her presence wasn’t the only thing that was shocking. In her hands was a tray, and the contents were a kettle, a cup, and a plate of food—it was clear it was just a single serving.

"What are you doing ’ere?" Rose asked, but she stepped aside to let her in. Lily hasn’t brought them meals in a while so for her to do this something must be wrong. Rose felt her heart squeeze.

Lily didn’t move; she just stood by the door. Rose didn’t know how to interpret this, so she decided to take the tray from her. Surprisingly, Lily let her.

"Where is Edna?" she asked as she held the tray, a little scared to ask the question.

She looked down at the contents. The tray was quite heavy, and she wondered how Edna would easily carry this all the way from the servants’ quarters to here.

"She won’t be coming," Lily said.

Rose froze, then slowly lifted her head to look at Lily. Something told her it wasn’t that Edna was simply returning to her duties now that Rose was back to good health.

"Why?" she asked softly. She almost didn’t want to know.

Lily’s face darkened. "I told her to be careful. You shouldn’t have let her leave as often as she did. I also thought the matter was behind us. It’s been nearly a week. If she wanted to do something about it, she could have done it that same day. Why now?"

"I don’t understand," Rose said as she shuffled on her feet with the tray in her hands. As much as she wanted to step inside and place it on the table, she didn’t want to miss any information Lily would give. "What did you say ’appened to Edna? Why isn’t she ’ere?"

"The Queen," Lily simply said. "The Queen took her on account of neglecting her duties for a week. There’s nothing we can do about this, as it’s true—and she wasn’t officially exempted. She said the crown prince asked her not to leave your side, but according to anyone, she could have lied. It’s a whole mess, and there is nothing Edna can do to defend herself. Now she’s in the dungeons to be punished tomorrow."

The only reason Rose didn’t drop the tray at Lily’s words was the fact that the herbs in the kettle were hot, and she would likely suffer burns. Her hands shook as she gripped the edges and slowly walked into the room.

"Didn’t you hear me?" Lily said when she didn’t respond. "You know this is your fault, right? Edna wouldn’t be in this mess if she had just avoided you like the rest of us."

Rose gripped the tray tighter—she couldn’t afford to let it fall. She managed to get to the table and placed the tray on top of it. Only then did she turn around to face Lily. Lily had already walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

"You’re probably right," Rose whispered as she twisted her fingers. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked. "I was there when the crown prince gave the order. I can—"

"Surely, you jest," Lily said, shaking her head. "Do you think anyone will take your word over the Queen’s?" Lily shook her head again—she was clearly disappointed.

"We can’t let Edna be punished."

"We?" Lily blinked at her. "You know, I tried to warn her, but the stubborn mule wouldn’t listen. Just a few more weeks and she would’ve been out of here. She already decided she wouldn’t work in the castle after she married. She was supposed to leave before winter."

Winter was only about a month away—less, even. This was the first time Rose had heard about this. She did know Edna’s wedding was at the end of fall; she could remember her saying that, but she had no idea she planned to leave after she got married.

"Who knows what the Queen will do to her?" Lily was still lamenting. "She might not even get married now."

Rose wiped her sweaty hands on her dress. "I will speak to the steward. Mister Henry. I’m sure there’s someth—"

Lily gave her a bland look. "I can’t tell if you’re acting stupid because you don’t want to help Edna, or if you’re really stupid. I just told you the Queen took Edna away, and you think the steward can do anything about that? The only people who can change this are the crown prince and the king. Don’t tell me you can’t ask the crown prince for a favor?"

Rose’s mouth soured, and she grabbed the edge of the table. Her vision blurred a little, and it took her a moment to realize she was about to cry. She blinked rapidly. It was clear Lily didn’t like her—and now she probably hated her even more, now that she had dragged Edna down with her.

"Edna risked her job for you—her marriage—and all you’re going to do is stand—"

"Enough!" Rose yelled. She pushed herself from the table. "I don’t like your tone. Do you think I’m not bothered by this? I know the reason why Edna is getting punished is because of me. Don’t you dare say I don’t want to ’elp ’er."

"So you will?" Lily asked, completely unaffected by Rose’s outburst.

"Of course," she said—and Rose felt the confidence she had shown drain from her body. fre.eweb novel\.c om

"Good," Lily said and started walking toward the door. "You only have tonight."

"Wait," Rose called, fear in her eyes. "The crown prince hasn’t called for me in days."

Lily stopped and turned around. "What does that mean?"

"I can’t go to him," she whispered. .com

"Did he explicitly say that, or you just don’t want to go?" Lily asked.

Something about her tone annoyed Rose. It was like she didn’t believe Rose could do it, and all she could offer were excuses. She had this look in her eyes and an impatience in her body language.