The King's Lover-Chapter 514: Reality

Caius woke up first with a smug look on his face. He kissed the top of her head as Rose lay naked on his chest. She stirred but didn’t wake up; he could hear her breathing softly.

He wished he could see her face, but he didn’t want to move to avoid waking her up, so he stayed as still as possible.

He could feel her breath on his chest, and Caius had to fight the urge not to wrap his arms around her.

The day before, he was worried he would not see her for a while or worse never see her again, and right now, here she was fast asleep on his chest.

He still couldn’t believe she was going to marry him. Caius was sad they couldn’t have an extravagant wedding just yet, but he was going to marry her in secret as quickly as he could.

He would need at least a day to make preparations and draft documents so no one could deny their union. Caius couldn’t wait; he was brimming with so much excitement.

He already knew exactly how it would play out and finding witnesses shouldn’t be a problem. He would also include Maximus. Caius was not worried that his aide would give him away and he figured it would be better for him to be there so he would treat Rose as she deserved.

She really was going to be his wife. He kissed the top of her head again despite doing his best to hold back. Rose stirred, turning her face from one side to the other as she slowly woke up.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Rose whispered with sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, wife." He was a bit worried he’d woken her up, since the sun wasn’t out yet, but Caius wanted to speak to her.

Is this how it feels?

He didn’t particularly have anything to tell her but he just wanted to talk to her.

Rose giggled through her sleep, and she stretched her arms out, letting out a soft sound. She relaxed against Caius, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked.

"No," she replied. "That’s your fault."

"I take full responsibility," Caius replied proudly.

Rose sighed as he held her. It felt nice to be in his arms, and she still couldn’t believe they were going to get married. She didn’t know how that was going to work, and frankly, she was scared to ask, but she wasn’t worried. If Caius had asked to marry her, it was because he intended to do just that.

Besides, he wouldn’t have told her everything he had done last night if he didn’t want to make things better between them. She was particularly shocked by Princess Caira’s actions.

Rose frowned, wondering what the princess would do when she found out the marriage was never real in the first place.

Rose also wondered how it would change their current relationship and, not only that, but how it would be perceived by everyone else.

She imagined the Queen’s face when she heard the news. Queen Violeta would not be pleased, and that pleased Rose greatly.

"What are you thinking about?" Caius asked.

Rose froze. There was no way she could tell Caius that she was thinking about how angry his mother would be when she heard the news and the worst part was that she was happy about this.

"Nothing," she said and lifted her face to look at him. "Are you going to be busy today?"

Caius’s smile widened, and he slipped his hand downward to grab her rear. "Why? Would you like me to keep you company?"

Rose couldn’t help but shake her head, but there was a smile on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but a knock on the door interrupted. Rose immediately tried to get out of bed, but his hand stopped her.

"Your Majesty?" Rose called with a raised brow.

Caius met her eyes and said, "We no longer have to do that." They didn’t have to hide any longer, he had hated every moment of that.

Rose chuckled. "That’s not it," she said and tried to get out of his arms again.

This time, he let her go. "What do you mean?"

"It’s Chelsy," Rose explained as she slipped into her nightdress that had been tossed to the ground. "She wants to know if everything is fine. I made them stay away the whole of yesterday to give the idea that I truly left."

Caius frowned as he realized. "Did you eat?"

"Yes," Rose replied. It was mostly snacks, but it was enough to keep her filled for the day.

"Join me for breakfast," he blurted out.

Rose jerked her head towards him with her hand on the handle. Caius was shirtless on the bed, and his hair was disheveled, and Rose knew it was mostly her fault, rather than it being bed hair.

"Put some clothes on, Your Majesty, or draw the drapes. I can’t let her stand outside for too long. It will draw unnecessary attention."

It was still dark out but Rose had to be cautious. She would prefer if he drew the drapes, as his presence would only make Chelsy nervous. She had heard his request but Rose didn’t want to think about that yet.

Caius narrowed his eyes, and she couldn’t see annoyance in his features, but he didn’t argue; rather, he pulled the drapes of the four-poster bed a little harder than he needed.

Rose sighed, unlocked the door, and opened it just enough to let Chelsy in while she stayed hidden. The maid looked agitated as she walked inside. The first thing she did was hug Rose.

"Are you well, Rose?"

"I am," Rose replied with a nod as Chelsy pulled away from her. "Thank you."

"Can we serve you as usual?" Chelsy asked. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Rose knew it was a disguise for asking if the king had found her. Rose giggled and pointed towards the bed.

Chelsy nearly lost her footing, and she immediately curtsied even though the king couldn’t see her.

"I will let you know when," she whispered to her. "But I am fine."

Chelsy nodded and smiled at Rose before slipping out the door. As soon as the door shut, Rose heard a loud swishing sound. Caius dramatically flipped the drapes open and walked towards her.

He had a scowl on his face as he marched towards her. Rose could guess why he was annoyed. She had blatantly ignored his question. She watched him walk towards her without moving from where she stood.

"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?"

"Will you join me for breakfast?" he asked again.

Rose wasn’t against the idea, but she could see the look on Caius’s face; he didn’t mean a regular indoor breakfast. However, Rose knew better than to do anything risky when she wasn’t even married to him yet.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet, Your Majesty."

Besides, if she had fooled Caius, she was certain she would have fooled other people. She only wanted to reveal herself when she no longer had to be fearful of what could be done to her.

"Why?" he asked.

"We aren’t married yet."

Caius looked pained at her words, but Rose didn’t want to smooth things over. He hadn’t told her anything, only asked her to marry him. It would be delusional for her to revel in it without seeing actual evidence.

"It won’t be much longer now," he explained.

"I understand, Your Majesty, but I am unaware of what your plans are. It can’t be easy to just throw a wedding together."

"No," he shook his head and grabbed her arm, but it was more to assure himself than her.

"Is your proposal just words, then?" Rose asked with a frown.

"Of course not. I can’t marry you as lavishly as I want."

Rose’s face fell. It was easy to get caught up in the fantasy of it all, but now reality was here. "I don’t understand, Your Majesty."

"Rylen has given me his word that he will take care of the princess. For now, we will get secretly married, but it will hold as much weight as if we were married in front of the whole kingdom."

Rose didn’t doubt his words or their meaning, but she couldn’t help but feel as though her situation hadn’t changed. If things were different, she wouldn’t care about status, but things weren’t, and for her, status was the difference between being treated like a human or an animal.

"Very well," Rose replied.

She didn’t want to seem unreasonable, and she didn’t need an elaborate wedding. But more importantly, she trusted Caius. If he said it was the same thing, she would believe him.

"Would you join me for breakfast, then?" Caius asked.

Rose shook her head. "Not yet, Your Majesty. I’d like to enjoy my absence a little longer."

Caius’s hands tightened on her wrists. "As you wish," he said and leaned forward to kiss her.

Rose tried her best to smile as she kissed him back, but uncertainty was spreading in her stomach in a way she didn’t like.