The King's Lover
Chapter 87. The Noble Seal

Chapter 87: 87. The Noble Seal

Delphine froze. "I don’t know about that," she said with clear worry on her face, "but we can only hope."

Rose frowned and nodded. She was definitely going to get punished for that; she might as well brace herself. However, as much as she hated it, Lady Delphine was right. If the crown prince found out they had lied about the date she had been bought, then he wouldn’t believe anything else.

"Could you get me the wax and my seal from the drawer, please?" Lady Delphine suddenly said.

Rose nodded and lifted from her seat. She was pretending to be fine with this, but truthfully, she was sick to her stomach. The thought that she would return to the castle tonight made her nauseous, and there was also the chance that the crown prince wouldn’t want her.

Rose’s face brightened for a moment, but then she remembered the debt. Lady Delphine was right—the crown prince was the only one who could pay it off, and that was only if he wanted to. However, for Lady Delphine’s sake, she hoped he would, even though she would have to deal with the consequences. It was probably going to be worth it a little.

"The drawer on your left, next to my bed," Lady Delphine directed. "Don’t just stand looking lost, ask for help."

Rose nodded and moved her legs. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to ask for help—she didn’t want to go back, and she was consciously and unconsciously doing things to stall. However, this time around, she was just lost in thought.

Rose pulled open the drawer. It was mostly empty except for a few pieces of jewelry. However, what caught her eye was the seal. Rose couldn’t tell the difference in the types of seals, but all it took was one glance and she knew this was a noble seal.

She frowned and glanced at Lady Delphine, who had her gaze locked on the paper as she reread what she had written.

Was she a noblewoman? She hadn’t thought much about it, but they all referred to her as Lady Delphine, so Rose did think she had some noble blood in her or that the girls were just being courteous. But from the look of the seal, it was a pretty high-ranked nobility.

Rose picked up the seal right next to the wax stick. It was a cluster of trees inside a circle. The circle had unique writings around it, but she couldn’t read it more because it was too tiny to read than her inability to read. f\r(e)ewe.b no\vel.com

Realizing that she had spent too much time staring, she quickly rushed to Lady Delphine with the items in hand. She placed them on the table and stood waiting for more orders.

"Thank you," Lady Delphine said absentmindedly, without taking her eyes off the paper. "Could you light this? Take it to the kitchen. I need it to melt the wax before I can seal it, and tell one of the girls to get me Slade."

Rose nodded, picked up the unlit oil lamp, and made her way out of the room. The kitchen was located on the other side of the manor from Lady Delphine’s room, compared to Rose’s room, which was right above the kitchen.

She walked briskly with the oil lamp in hand, passing some of the girls who smiled and greeted her. She responded with a smile of her own. She headed down the stairs and got to the kitchen, where she met Esme and Kali cooking.

Kali was standing by the pot, stirring, while Esme was preparing the dishes. They both stopped simultaneously as Rose walked into the kitchen, turning to look at her in the doorway.

"Um, sorry to bother, but I need to light this up," she said.

"But it’s not dark out yet. What do you need a lamp for?" Esme asked as she stared at Rose with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I am sure Lady Delphine asked her for it," Kali cut in and gestured for Rose to come closer.

The kitchen was a small space filled with cooking items—pots, pans, plates—and there were a few chairs, but not enough for anyone to eat in here.

Rose walked towards the counter demarcating the hearth area from the rest of the kitchen. She handed the lamp to Kali, who quickly lit it from the fire in the hearth before giving it back to Rose.

"Thank you," Rose said and was about to turn around and leave when she remembered her other errand. "Where is Slade?" she asked. "Lady Delphine is asking for him."

"Slade?" Esme asked, lifting her head once again. "He should be outside by the stables attending to the horses," she replied.

"I will send someone to get him to go to her room. You take the light up," Kali said with a glare in Esme’s direction.

Rose nodded and smiled politely before retreating out of the kitchen, being careful not to let her lit lamp go out. She got to Lady Delphine’s room and knocked twice.

"Come in," Lady Delphine said, her voice passing through the thin walls. f r\eew,eb novel.c(o)(m)

Rose pushed open the door, lamp in hand, and she approached the table. She placed it on the table and sat down beside Lady Delphine.

"Thank you," Lady Delphine said absentmindedly and picked up a wax stick.

She moved the right end of the letter toward the lamp and lifted the wax. Putting it over the fire, she let the wax drop onto the letter, and she placed the seal over it, holding it in place. When the wax had cooled, she pulled it away, rolled up the letter, and repeated the process, but this time around, she used it to seal it closed. Then she tied a ribbon around it.

"That’s it," she said, looking at Rose with a smiling face. "All that is left is getting the letter to the crown prince, and we can trust Slade to deliver it."

Rose nodded.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Rose shrugged. "I am fine. I was just wonderin’ something, Lady Delphine. Are ye a noble?"

"You," she said with a laugh. "And I am not. My husband was. Lord Hendrix Elrod. He was the Marquis of Haiyes."

Rose’s eyes widened at the mention of Haiyes. No wonder the seal had looked familiar. "Wow!"

"It’s not what you think," Lady Delphine said, shaking her head. "I am not part of the Elrod family. I’m not even allowed to use the family name anymore. I was only allowed to keep the manor, not even the title as the wife of the late Marquis of Haiyes."

Rose’s expression fell.

"Oh, I have made the subject depressing, haven’t I? My husband died almost a decade ago. Eight years ago. It’s nothing for you to look at me so pitifully. I am over his death." As she said this, Lady Delphine’s eyes flickered sadly before changing back to a forced smile.

"I am sorry for your loss. I don’t know what it is like to lose someone, but I know it would ’urts."

Lady Delphine’s lips thinned, and she went quiet for a bit. When she eventually opened her mouth to speak, two loud knocks interrupted her.

Lady Delphine jerked, her gaze flying to the door. "That should be Slade," she mumbled. "Come in."