The King's Lover
Chapter 134: The Queen’s Chambers

Chapter 134: The Queen’s Chambers

Rose groaned as she woke up. This was the third time she had woken up, even though she slept so late. She knew if it weren’t that she was so tired, she wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep at all. She was too worried to be sleeping.

She looked towards the windows, and the light streaming in through the spaces in the curtains told her dawn was here. The castle was probably awake now, going about their duties as they got things ready for the royals.

Last night, she had fled the crown prince’s room. However, as she left, doubts had risen in her mind, and she wondered if it was a good idea to leave. Would Caius really do as he had said? However, irrespective of how terrible of a person he was, she couldn’t recall when he hadn’t kept his word.

Rose palmed her face as the memory of the night before played in her head. She told herself it was for Edna and nothing more. As she had hoped, it worked—at least enough for the crown prince to hear her request. Now, all she had to do was wait and see. That didn’t sound good at all, but it was the only thing she could do.

Rose was still lost in thought when a knock made her jump. She looked to the door just as it opened to reveal Lily slipping into the room. She looked back as if checking for someone before shutting the door behind her. Rose adjusted on the bed as she watched the maid approach her.

"Good morning," a cold voice reached her ears just as Lily stopped beside the bed. free\we,bnovel.c o(m)

"Good morning," Rose returned.

"And?" Lily asked immediately, without giving Rose any chance to say anything more. Noticing Rose’s expression, her face softened, and so did her voice. "How did it go with His Highness?"

Rose slowly nodded and folded her arms to herself. She turned away from Lily; she didn’t think she could look at her. "Very well," she simply said.

"Really?" Lily asked, with a delighted, shocked expression.

"Yes, he said he will speak to the Que—" Rose paused as she realized he didn’t actually say that. freeNovelFire

"What?" Lily asked with a frown.

"Nothing," she whispered.

"Edna will be fine, right?" Lily asked, her expression puzzled.

Rose nodded. "I think so."

Lily narrowed her eyes, but surprisingly, she didn’t say anything harsh. "Okay," she whispered. "As long as you spoke to the crown prince."

"I did, I promise. I wouldn’t let anything ’appen to Edna," Rose said.

"Okay," Lily said and turned around to leave.

"Please let me know if anything ’appens," Rose called after her. She was locked in here; unless someone told her, she wouldn’t know what would happen to Edna.

Lily slowly turned to glance at her, then she nodded. Rose took a deep breath. She didn’t know how today would go in the slightest, but she hoped it would be good. As long as Edna could escape punishment, Rose knew she would deal with anything.

———

Caius adjusted the coat over himself as he finished dressing up. He was a tad early for breakfast, and that was because he planned on making a stop somewhere before he headed for breakfast. Luckily, the location was in the West Wing, as breakfast was.

"Your Highness," Henry said with a bow.

Caius turned his eyes to look at him. Henry had been awfully quiet since his niece left. Caius wasn’t complaining—it was nice to have one less overbearing person.

"Mother has one of the maids in prison," Caius said.

Henry gasped as though he was surprised Caius had learned about this. He quickly cleared his throat to try to cover up his show of shock. "Yes, Your Highness. She’s in there on the account of neglecting her duties for a week."

Caius couldn’t help the unimpressed look on his face. There were too many maids in the castle. He was certain they wouldn’t miss the absence of one, especially when he had given the order.

"Get her out of the dungeons," Caius said simply.

"What?" Henry lifted his head. "But Your Highness, the Queen—she is insistent that the maid be punished severely. Not only was the maid neglectful of her duties, but she had also been blatantly disrespectful to the Queen by refusing to answer Her Majesty’s call. Even if the crown prince gave her an order, she is still under the Que—"

Caius pulled at his earlobe and walked to the door, which was immediately opened by servants. "Get her out of the dungeons. As for Mother, I will take care of that."

Caius didn’t turn back as he spoke; he just headed straight for the West Wing, to the Queen’s chambers. Caius waited for the servants to announce his presence to his mother. It took a ridiculous amount of time for her to finally let him into her chambers.

Caius tried his best not to show his irritation. He was here for a reason—one she wouldn’t like. That was the only reason he was going through the trouble. Caius was slightly irked. He was unsure if it was because of his mother or what he was about to do.

"Your Highness," one of her ladies-in-waiting said as soon as the doors opened. She curtsied to Caius with a bright smile, holding the hem of her dress. "Her Majesty will see you now."

Caius didn’t say a word to this—he just walked through the doors. His mother was seated on the biggest chair in the room, and her ladies-in-waiting stood behind her. The one that welcomed him was already behind the Queen before he even reached her.

"Mother," Caius said with a low bow.

"Son," she called with a pleasant grin on her face. "It’s not every day you ask to see me."

Caius never asked to see her. Whatever he needed to tell her, he always did that over breakfast, lunch, or dinner. There was never any reason to speak to her privately, and the only reason he wasn’t doing this over breakfast was because Lord Leopold would be there, and he didn’t want to ruin breakfast for everyone else.