The King's Lover-Chapter 517: Documents

Rylen didn’t waste much time before he appeared in Caius’s private study. The King had only just sat down at his desk when his cousin walked through the doors. Rylen had defeat written all over his expression.

Caius narrowed his eyes at Rylen, leaning back against his chair. His aura was intimidating, and the circlet on his head further solidified his status as King. An elbow rested on the armrest as Caius grabbed his chin while studying his cousin’s demeanor.

Caius was not pleased with what he saw and feared he might have to find a way out of this situation himself. Rylen might just prove to be useless.

"Your Maje—"

"Have you seen the princess?" Caius cut in, interrupting Rylen mid-bow and mid-speech.

"No, Your Majesty. I haven’t been able to gain an audience with her, but," he added as Caius’s frown turned to a scowl, "I spoke to her maid. She insists her mistress isn’t pregnant. At least there isn’t any evidence to be certain just yet."

"You seem to misunderstand my assignment, Rylen. It matters not to me if there is any evidence or not. Your confirmation should be, in the event of this being true, who is the father? Do you understand the words I speak?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize for not being able to—"

"Cousin!" Caius yelled coldly. "Your apology brings me no consolation. I need a proper solution to this problem you have created for both of us. You say you can take care of the princess, but I see you making no headway, and now this. You come to me with no solution and a look of defeat on your face."

"I do not know what to do, Your Majesty. I am at a loss."

Caius stared at his cousin with indifference. He had suspected his cousin wouldn’t be of much help. However, he didn’t expect it to be this bad. He was disappointed.

However, Caius wasn’t at a loss. He had Rose by his side, and regardless of the flaw in his plan, he was determined to marry her. And unless he wasn’t King, absolutely nothing would stop him. The princess would only be making things worse for herself.

He had run out of patience with both his cousin and the princess. Rylen especially seemed pretty comfortable being uncertain, and Caius was almost certain that Rose’s supposed absence made it easier for him to be lax.

Caius nearly chuckled. It was to his benefit and that of the princess that they fix this problem as soon as possible, as Caius had absolutely no intention to go at their pace.

"Perhaps I shall give you work to do. Draft up the marriage documents. I want it done before the end of today."

"Today?" Rylen asked with a confused look on his face.

Unfortunately for him, Caius didn’t have any more patience to spare. "Did I stutter, Prince Rylen?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"You’d best snap out of whatever this is, Rylen. I am willing to be lenient because we are cousins, but know my patience runs very, very thin. Now get out and get to it."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Rylen said with a low bow and turned to leave.

"Summon Lord Thomas."

Rylen paused with his hand on the door, but Caius was no longer paying attention to him as he flipped through the papers on his desk. Seeing he was dismissed, Rylen exited the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

Not long after, a worried Thomas cautiously knocked. He had a feeling the King had found Rose. He was about to find out if he risked his head or perhaps the King could let such a lie pass.

He didn’t receive any response, and the guards stationed around didn’t seem to stop him, so he hesitantly stretched forth his hand to open the door.

The soft creak of the door felt like doom in Thomas’s ears, and he peeked into the room first. The King leaned back in his seat with a sheet of paper in front of his face.

"Come in, Thomas, and shut the door behind you."

Thomas’s heart dropped to his stomach. The King’s voice didn’t say anything about his mood; however, he had addressed him without his title.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he whispered and did as he was instructed before approaching the King.

Thomas gave a low bow as Caius tore the paper away from his face. He couldn’t dare meet the King’s eyes, so he fixed his gaze on the desk.

"Do you know why I summoned you?" Caius asked.

Thomas straightened his body but didn’t lift his head. He thought about lying for a moment, but he knew that wouldn’t do him any good. The fact that the King wasn’t sending him to the gallows was a good sign; he shouldn’t push it.

"Yes, Your Majesty, and I wholeheartedly apologize, but Rose told me it was necessary. I truly didn’t want to lie to Your Majesty, but she promised me you’d understand and I had no reason to worry."

"You chose Rose over your King?" Caius barked, keeping his expression as stern as possible.

He wasn’t displeased with Thomas, and frankly, he didn’t care about the method as long as it meant Rose was in his arms now. However, he had been utterly miserable when he thought she was away, and he wanted to enjoy Thomas’s misery just a little longer.

"No, Your Majesty. She promised it would only be for a short time and that she was going to tell you right away."

"Regardless of whatever the reasons might be, it doesn’t change the fact that you stood in this room and lied to my face!"

Thomas jerked and moved his hands towards his back, holding his wrists nervously. The King sounded very angry, and for good reason too. However, Thomas had hoped Rose was right.

He had been very reluctant at first, but she had assured him he would get out of this without punishment, and it was very hard to say no when she had explicitly stated that he was her only hope.

"You do agree that it is only fair I punish you accordingly, Thomas."

Thomas shut his eyes and nodded. Hopefully, he would only have to spend a few days in the dungeons if the King was feeling lenient.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I shall take any punishment you deem fit. I should never have lied to you, and this won’t repeat itself."

"Very well. It is a good thing you understand. You shall spend the rest of today drafting the marriage documents with Rylen and you will be required to be in attendance regardless of time or place."