The King's Lover
Chapter 242: Pesky Peasants

Chapter 242: Pesky Peasants

Caius didn’t miss how his mother continuously stared at his empty ring finger. He noticed her stare during lunch and had expected her to bring it up, but surprisingly, she held her tongue. Rylen acted completely oblivious to the situation, his gaze on his food.

They were halfway through dinner when his mother interrupted. She looked like she had been itching to bring up the topic from the start of dinner, and he was surprised she had been able to keep it in for that long.

"Son," she called sweetly.

Caius lifted his head, pausing mid-chew. "Yes, Mother," he replied curtly.

"Where is your ring?"

Caius’s eyes flew to his ring finger immediately, and they widened as he feigned shock. He thought he should work in the theatres with this performance.

"What?" Caius yelled and turned his hand left and right as though the ring would magically appear if he stared hard enough.

Rylen picked up a goblet of water and stuck it to his mouth as he tried to hide his reaction to Caius’s exaggerated performance.

"Did you not notice?" she asked in horror.

"No, Mother. I must have lost it earlier in the field. I’ll ask the guards to check for it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Queen Violeta sounded absolutely mortified. "Tonight! You can’t be so careless about such an important ring."

Caius shrugged. "If any of my men found it, they know to return it," he replied.

"What if someone stole it?" Queen Violeta reiterated. "You might not have realized exactly when it went missing if you didn’t notice it until I brought it to your attention."

"No one would dare," Caius said dismissively.

"Son! Take this seriously. I think you should search rooms—especially the rooms of anyone who has had access to you. This has never happened before. You wouldn’t carelessly lose such an important ring."

"You’re right, Mother," Caius said. "I will take care of it."

"Don’t forget to search the whore’s room." Queen Violeta’s face contorted as she spoke about Rose, as though her insides twisted. "I heard it wouldn’t be the first time she stole."

Caius’s eyes narrowed—she wasn’t even trying to be subtle. But Caius found that he was more curious about her last statement. "What do you mean?" <a href="https://.com">.com

"I’m saying you brought in a thief. Of course, you’d expect nothing less with pesky peasants." Queen Violeta spoke in a soft tone, as though she were offering useful advice—that this was simply out of concern, and not that she was willing to do anything to get Rose out of the castle.

"What else did she steal?" Caius asked, acting as though he believed his mother’s narrative, but he was quite curious where she got this idea from.

"I don’t know the details, but she was thrown into the dungeons and Henry had to come to her rescue." Queen Violeta shook her head and muttered, "Pesky peasants."

"Is that so, Henry?" Caius asked, sending a piercing gaze in the direction of the steward.

Henry’s back glued to the wall, and if he could tell it to open and swallow him, he would.

"Y-your H-highness," Henry stuttered, unsure of how to proceed.

The old man lost color in his face, and his grey hair appeared even greyer as he stood in the corner trying to appear smaller.

"I will expect more details after dinner is over," Caius said, his gaze causing Henry to shrink further.

"Yes, Your Highness." He nodded his head, trying to figure out what he would do in this state. He was surprised the Queen had heard about it—but he wasn’t shocked. He was sure his niece had told Her Majesty, twisting the details to suit her. His niece was no longer here, but she was still causing him so much trouble.

Queen Violeta didn’t speak anymore on the matter. She had sown the seed of doubt and distrust. All she had to do was sit back and watch it bloom—or at least, that was what she thought.

Henry fell in line with the crown prince, who was significantly taller than he was, as they walked towards his room.

"Speak, old man. What was my mother talking about?"

Henry twisted his hands. There was no use avoiding this one. "My niece had seen Rose with your coat and had accused her of stealing and thrown her into the dungeons. I heard of this and got her out."

Caius stopped in his tracks and turned to face Henry. The old man took a step back, his face filled with fear.

"Did you deliberately keep this from me?" he asked darkly.

"I am sorry, Your Highness," Henry cried. <a href="https://.com">.com

Caius blinked and muttered under his breath, "She didn’t tell me either."

Henry didn’t have the heart to tell the crown prince that it was his fault—not when it felt like his heart was about to give out.

Caius turned to face Henry again. "If this happens again, you’d be no different from your treacherous niece."

"Thank you for having mercy, Your Highness," Henry said and fell to the floor, his face to the ground.

Caius turned and left the steward, uncaring. He walked to his wing with Rylen. The latter didn’t say a word until they went their separate ways.

Caius was too preoccupied by his thoughts to notice, and Rylen knew better than to poke an angry bear. Caius had done a decent job of hiding it, but he knew the crown prince was fuming and something told him it was even before dinner.

Caius marched up the stairs, his footsteps hitting the floor a little too hard. The guards shuffled uncomfortably as he approached, but immediately stood unmoving when he got close.

Caius paid them no mind and headed straight for his bedchambers. All he needed was to step inside to know she was in there.

His room smelled like flowers—like summer when flowers were in full bloom. The scented candles placed around the room didn’t come close to her scent.

Rose turned to face him, clutching something, and there was a distressed look on her face. However, Caius was quick to notice there was no sign of the letter in her hands. He suspected but he didn’t really think it was true.