The King's Lover
Chapter 241: The Ring

Chapter 241: The Ring

Rose stood up from the seat without thinking about it. "What happened?" she asked.

Welma frowned as she took in Rose’s appearance. "I should be asking you. Your eyes are all red."

Welma pulled her hand from her pocket and approached Rose. She lightly touched her on the shoulder, and Rose sighed. She dropped back into her seat.

"What happened?" Welma asked.

Perhaps it was because she was too mentally exhausted and emotionally drained, or she just wanted to try to ease the pain a little bit—Rose replied before she could stop herself.

"It’s my mother," she whispered, surprised that more tears weren’t running down her cheeks. "She has always been sick, but I think this might be it."

Welma put her hands over her mouth to keep from gasping. "I am so sorry," she whispered.

She didn’t know who her parents were, but Welma knew she would be devastated if she ever found out either of hers was dying. It was weird—she didn’t think much about her parents, as there was nothing to think about—but at the same time, she strangely cared about them.

Rose shook her head. "Don’t apologize. We always knew it was coming, and frankly, I hate that she has been in that much pain all my life, but I would want nothing more than to be by her side. Yet here I am." Wearing fancy clothes and playing house when Mot’er is dying. <a href="https://.com">.com

"Enough about me," Rose said and shook her head. The topic was too weighty to discuss. "What happened? You walked in like you’d seen a ghost."

Welma immediately lost the color in her face again and stood to her full height. She stepped away from the chair and put her hand in the pocket of her apron.

Welma shook her head lightly as she mumbled, "It’s too cruel."

"What is?" Rose asked, a little unnerved by the maid’s behavior.

Welma pulled her hand out and twisted it. "I don’t know what to do. I couldn’t say no, and I am tired," she whispered. "I know I will never find another job, and I doubt I can leave, but I fear that this might be the day I die."

Rose’s eyes widened as she stared at Welma with genuine horror and concern. "What are you talking about?"

"The Queen asked me to hide this in your room," Welma said and pulled out the ring from the front pocket of her apron.

Rose blinked as she tried to figure out what she was looking at, but it didn’t take long. She would recognize the ring anywhere. The crown prince had used it on the letter he sent to stop her father from getting killed.

"What?" she asked, nearly jumping to her feet. "Why?!" As soon as she asked the question, she knew it was stupid. Rose already knew why.

"They are convinced the crown prince would chase you away too if it is found that you stole this—and that you have a record of stealing."

"Why would I steal this?" she asked in horror, even though she knew there was no point in asking. "And I didn’t steal anything. Martha just wouldn’t believe me."

Rose leaned forward. She didn’t have the energy to deal with this. She was currently thinking of things to say so the crown prince would let her go home just for a little while. She was almost tempted to go along with this plan. Rose laughed bitterly.

"I am sorry," Welma said.

Rose looked at her, and Welma fiddled with the ring, her expression still as pale as ever.

"If it isn’t found in your room, I don’t think I would be able to keep my head this time. This is the chance to redeem myself—and for them to decide if I should spend the rest of my life in the dungeons for trying to kill a lord."

Rose thought it was quite bold of them to keep holding that over Welma, but she knew exactly why. It didn’t matter what the evidence said; the nobles’ words would always hold more weight than a commoner’s.

"What do I do?" Welma asked, fearfully. <a href="https://.com">.com

Rose couldn’t even wish she could cheer her up. She had more important things to worry about. "I don’t know."

"Should I hide it in your room?" she asked.

Rose closed her eyes. "Welma," she whispered. "If this plan would indeed make the crown prince let me go, I would consider it. I wish the Queen would try to speak with me. I don’t want to be here either."

Welma’s expression hardened. "That’s never going to happen."

Rose laughed. "I know. Nobody seems to believe I want no part of this. Give me the ring."

"What about me?" she whispered.

"I don’t know," Rose whispered. "I will keep it hidden, and depending on how things play out, I will decide."

"I am a little ungrateful, aren’t I? You have so much to deal with and I bring you problems that I got into myself."

Rose shrugged. "To be honest, I am glad you’re partially on my side. Martha was such a pain to deal with."

"I’m on my side," she stated. "I don’t want to make an enemy of both sides—neither would save me. Where would you keep it?" She asked changing the subject. "I need to report to the Queen where I hid it so she can tell the guards where to search."

"Would she ask the guards to search?" Rose asked.

"I don’t know."

"Under the bed," Rose said.

"Are you going to keep it there?" she asked.

"No," Rose whispered. "I plan to give it to the crown prince. There would be no search if I just returned it."

"That would mean I did a bad job."

"You still did your job. I just found it first."

"I don’t like it," Welma said honestly. "But I don’t have much choice in this matter. It would be cruel of me to ask more of you."

"Not exactly. You could have hid it without telling me," Rose replied.

"I’ll consider that next time," Welma said with a smirk, but her expression quickly softened. "I worry. This is the royal prince’s ring. Just touching it is a crime. The Queen will stop at no lengths to get you out of here."

Rose’s expression darkened as she looked away. The maid didn’t have to tell her—she already knew this.