The King's Lover
Chapter 225: Silent Treatment

Chapter 225: Silent Treatment

"Did Your Grace not sleep well?" Rylen asked as they walked to the Queen’s wing.

Caius didn’t answer his cousin; rather, he walked a little faster. Rylen watched this with a concerned expression. Something was clearly wrong. However, this was not the time, as not only did they have a council meeting today but Rylen needed to speak to Caius before then.

They got to the entrance of the dining room, and Rylen tried once again to speak to the crown prince, but Caius wasn’t receptive at all. Rylen was quick to give up as they walked into the room.

Caius took his seat first, his expression icy, and the maid who brought the dishes to the table almost jumped away in fright. Rylen glanced at the crown prince, but Caius didn’t even spare him a look.

Rylen frowned as they waited for the Queen to arrive. There were lots of things he needed to discuss with the prince before the council meeting later in the morning.

The most important one was the discussion about when they would head to Furtherfield. Things were not going well—the guards they had sent were having a very tough time.

It was as though the bandits knew exactly how they would be attacked and had come up with several ways to avoid them, or they would engage with the guards—mostly injuring them. But according to the letter he got the night before, two guards had died from the injuries they sustained. <a href="https://.com">.com

Lord Leopold suspected that the bandits were using weapons coated in poison. The problem was that they didn’t seem to recognize the type of poison used, and at the moment, Lord Leopold didn’t have the physicians to deal with it.

Rylen glanced at the prince again. This was new information they hadn’t had a chance to discuss and he clearly wasn’t going to get the chance now.

Last night, Mister Henry had also interrupted him to inform him that Lord Elrod would be absent from the meeting today as he was terribly sick, and there were reasons to believe he might have been poisoned at the ball.

However, this was simply the diagnosis his physician had given. Lord Elrod himself refused to believe he had been poisoned. Rather, he believed he may have either drunk too much or taken something he shouldn’t have.

Henry was panicking that the former was the case. He had immediately questioned the servants as soon as he heard the information, but all the servants denied knowing anything.

Prince Rylen had calmly told Mister Henry to try to make further inquiries. If Lord Elrod didn’t get better in a few more days, they might have to deal with the matter differently.

Rylen pressed his temples. He had to discuss all of this with the crown prince before the council meeting. Rylen was starting to worry that he might not even get the chance to speak to him, let alone convince him to attend.

Rylen’s thoughts were quickly cut short when the Queen appeared. He rose to his feet immediately but noticed that the crown prince remained seated. It wasn’t completely unusual, but Rylen could tell there was more to it this time.

Perhaps he should have asked the steward. The man tended to have useful information, but even Rylen knew he didn’t need the steward to let him know that Rose was involved. What was it this time?

Queen Violeta walked in and noticed that Caius didn’t stand up to welcome her—nor did he greet her while sitting. She walked to her seat, and her ladies-in-waiting pulled it back so she could sit comfortably.

"Your Majesty," Rylen said with a long bow.

The Queen smiled at him when he lifted his gaze and met hers. "Rylen," she said, still smiling while glancing at her son, who was still acting as though she were invisible. "How fare you this lovely morn? I trust the night treated you kindly."

"I thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I rested well. And yourself, Your Majesty? I pray your night was peaceful," Rylen replied as he dropped into his seat.

"It was," Queen Violeta said.

"That’s great news," Rylen smiled as he prepared to dig into the meal that had been served.

"Do you no longer care for your own mother, that you would not ask how she fares? What son won’t speak to their mother or ask about her well-being?" Queen Violeta blurted out after getting a response from her son even after conversing with Rylen.

Caius lifted his head briefly, meeting his mother’s gaze then glanced back down at his food. Rylen’s jaw nearly hit the table as he stared at the crown prince in shock.

Caius was known for being rude, but he was never one to directly and so blatantly ignore his mother—especially after being scolded about it. Rylen glanced at the Queen, she was clearly angry and also in shock.

Queen Violeta ground her teeth with enough force to chip them as she stared at her son. She didn’t need to speak again. She knew she would only get the same response from him. Caius had no plans to speak to her. All because of a peasant whore.

Queen Violeta didn’t need to figure out why. The whore must have complained to the crown prince about the dress. All she had done was ask that the similar dress the whore wore be destroyed. She didn’t even do anything to the peasant whore directly.

Queen Violeta had burned her own dress immediately after she had found out about the incident and the possibility that she had worn the same gown as a peasant whore. She didn’t even wait for confirmation of her suspicions before destroying it. She had left this job in the hands of her trusted ladies.

The common whore had disrespected her, and Violeta hadn’t even given the order for her to be thrown in the dungeons—and yet her son was giving her the silent treatment because of a harlot. Violeta was furious.

There was almost no conversation as they ate. Caius was clearly not in the mood to speak to anyone, and it was too awkward for Rylen to try and converse.

When breakfast was over, the crown prince was the first to rise to his feet, leaving Rylen to scramble to meet up with him. He quickly bowed to the Queen, who gave him a polite smile before he rushed after the crown prince.

He had thought about apologizing on the crown prince’s behalf, but Rylen knew that would only make matters worse. Besides, the crown prince tended to be nicer to his mother compared to his father.

Usually, he rarely antagonized his mother, and if he did, it didn’t last longer than a couple of days. But recently, more issues had been rising between them since Rose came to the castle, it was more issues than in the three years Rylen had been there.

Without a doubt, it was about time the redhead returned to her family. But Rylen knew that wasn’t the sort of conversation he could have with the crown prince. The latter wouldn’t listen.

Rylen followed after Caius, who surprisingly was leading them to his private study. Rylen was relieved—it meant the crown prince wasn’t against having a conversation.

"Your Grace," Rylen said as they walked into the space. The drapes had been drawn, and light poured in through the windows. Shelves filled with different documents lined up against the wall.

Caius walked right to his seat and dropped down, while Rylen sat across from him with the huge mahogany desk between them.

The table was mostly empty, and not a speck of dust could be seen. However, Rylen knew the table wouldn’t remain this way for long.

"What was it that you wouldn’t stop bothering me about this morn?" Caius asked with a bored expression as he fiddled with his ring.

This ring was only worn by the heir to the throne, and it also served as a seal. The power of the ring was equal to Caius; with just the ring, anyone could act as though the crown prince had given the order.

"Our journey to Furtherfield. You need to pick the day we’ll leave. The situation has worsened and we need to move now."

Caius narrowed his eyes. "Five days," he said. "We leave in five days."

Rylen nodded, showing his approval. He had hoped it would not be longer than a week. Five days was perfect. He knew Lord Leopold could hold out until then, and it would give them time to prepare before making the journey.

"I’ll write a letter to Lord Leopold immediately."

"Is that all?" Caius asked, ignoring his statement.

"The council meeting will commence soon. We cannot start without the crown prince’s presence."

Caius jerked his head at him. "Did I say I wouldn’t attend?" he asked.

"No, but Your Grace didn’t say if he would either."

"Write the bloody letter!"

Rylen grinned. "As Your Grace pleases," he said in the most condescending tone—but Caius didn’t respond.

Rylen knew he had been dismissed, and the crown prince would not listen to anything else he might have to say. The only other matter he would have brought up was Lord Elrod’s absence from the meeting and his illness, but Rylen doubted the crown prince would notice the lord’s absence. Until he had more information about the illness, he preferred to keep the matter to himself.

He got up as he prepared to draft the letter. The letter should reach Furtherfield, hopefully just after noon if the messenger left with the fastest horse—which meant he would get a reply before nightfall.