The King's Lover-Chapter 516: Flaw In His Plan

"Your Majesty," Henry called in surprise as Caius exited his room. "I thought Your Majesty would have breakfast in his room. You had explicitly requested—"

"I see you’re extremely talkative this morning."

"I apologize, Your Majesty," Henry said with a bow.

Caius didn’t reply to this as he shut the door to his room. He had requested Henry to send him breakfast with Rose’s maids; it was no surprise the butler was confused.

However, the breakfast wasn’t for him, and he had simply led them to Rose. His wife was not going to starve under his watch.

Caius didn’t particularly care if the butler was suspicious; Henry was too cowardly to pry or betray him, and Caius preferred that. Besides, his butler should know better than to ask him questions.

He made his way to the dining room with Henry following after him like a dog to its master. The diligent butler hung close, but he was cautious.

Caius walked into the dining room to see everyone else was already seated. No one met his eyes as they rose to greet him, except his mother, who remained seated.

"Your Majesty," Rylen and Caira both said as they bowed.

Caius immediately noticed that Prince Gayle decided to join them for breakfast. His uncle’s actions were suspicious, but Caius didn’t pay them any mind, yet.

He didn’t always join them to eat, and he was hardly seen, even though it was common knowledge he was in the castle. Sometimes, he ran into Gayle more often than he would like; then, other times, he was nowhere to be found.

Caius didn’t particularly care about his actions as long as he didn’t do anything outright suspicious. He was welcomed in the castle and could stay as long as he wanted. What his uncle did in his time, as long as it didn’t affect him or the people close to him, Caius didn’t particularly care.

"Your Majesty," Gayle said a little after the rest.

Caius acknowledged their greetings with a slight wave of his hand, and his mother smiled hard at him. She seemed greatly pleased this morning.

"Good morning, son."

"Good morning, Mother," Caius replied coldly, hoping she would take the hint and understand he didn’t want to have a conversation.

She didn’t. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Did you sleep well?"

Caius narrowed his eyes and tried to meet Rylen’s eyes, but the latter looked away. Caius frowned; he was almost certain Rylen didn’t make any headway with the princess, and he still didn’t know who the father was.

Caius grunted his reply, hoping it would satisfy his mother, because if he didn’t reply, she would likely ask it again.

"Aren’t you going to ask about me?"

Caius sighed loudly to show her just how much this conversation was boring him. "And you?"

"Just beautifully. I heard the second-best news last night. Why didn’t you tell me? Did you make the change because there is a baby on the way? I always knew you’d be a great father."

Caius immediately wanted her to stop talking. He knew whatever this was about was going to anger him, and he already had an idea.

"Mother, will you keep such conversations away from the dining table?"

"What are you talking about?" She raised her voice slightly. "We are talking about your heir here."

Caius closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he resisted the urge to slam his hands on the table. He should have joined Rose for breakfast in her room. It would have been a thousand times better than the company he was in.

Suddenly, a loud sound of silverware hitting the marble floor echoed through the space. It bounced and shook, wildly vibrating, until a servant rushed to pick it up.

"I apologize," Rylen started to say, while the servant who stood next to him had tears in his eyes. "That’s my fault."

He had been about to serve Rylen when the plate rolled off the table and fell to the ground. However, it didn’t just roll off the table—Rylen had pushed it off.

"Get someone else here," Rylen called out, as the Queen glared at the poor servant, who bowed his head profusely as he stepped back.

Another servant was quick to replace him, and Rylen made a mental note to make sure the servant wasn’t punished or did not lose his job. Saying it was his fault didn’t matter; it was on the servant’s watch.

He raised his head to finally look at his cousin since he walked through the door, and Caius didn’t even glance back, just continued to eat.

The incident at least seemed to distract the Queen, who was asking Caius numerous questions. She glared at all the servants who served and they were all jumpier than normal, but there were no more accidents. As soon as Caius was done eating, he wiped the corner of his mouth and stood up.

"Prince Rylen, I expect you in my private study soonest." Caius started walking away without waiting for a reply, but he didn’t miss the way Gayle stared at him and his cousin.

Caius frowned; he would not be surprised if he noticed the accident had happened while the Queen was speaking about a topic he disliked. He had not exactly been subtle about it.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Rylen replied, and Caius pushed the thought away from his mind.

He was surprised his mother didn’t bring up the topic again, but if he knew anything about her, she was likely to find a way to speak to him about it.

He had suspicions it was about the fact that Rose had left the castle. He was surprised word got to her so late. She would not be pleased when Rose joined them for breakfast in a few days.

Perhaps he would change the seating arrangements during lunch. That way, it wouldn’t come as a surprise when Rose sat next to him.

Rylen was the only flaw in his plan. He moved his hand to his temples. If only his cousin had stopped to consider for a moment the consequences of his actions.

And I am the impulsive one.