CHAPTER 295: PERHAPS

Prince Rylen knew this, but he wanted to be a little hopeful that the Royal Family would do what was right and Rose would be treated properly. That she would be given a fair trial and hopefully be acquitted of all the charges. And even if she weren’t, there would still be enough time for the crown prince to wake up and end this.

However, this plan was fully dependent on the crown prince waking up. Rylen didn’t even want to think about what would happen if the crown prince didn’t wake up.

Thomas, however, was bringing something even far more important to his attention—Rose wouldn’t go to trial. She would be killed as soon as she reached the capital.

As soon as the young knight said this, Prince Rylen couldn’t refute it, not with the Queen’s hatred for the young woman. She would be killed, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep her here either. Something told him the Queen would send guards to come get her herself. Prince Rylen felt his stomach knot. He didn’t want to throw her to the wolves. That would be a very cruel thing to do. And aside from his morals, Caius would be furious if he found out about this—this was on the hope that Caius would awaken.

Prince Rylen adjusted his coat out of a need for something to do rather than it needing to be adjusted. He didn’t miss that Rose looked from him to Thomas with a scared expression.

She had every right to be scared. He had just brought news that she would be executed and was also telling her to go to the place where she would be killed. It was heartless.

"Prince Rylen," Thomas said, his voice still harsh. "There has to be something we can—"

"There isn’t," Rylen replied and couldn’t even look at Rose.

Rose didn’t know what to think. She kept looking from one of them to the other, hoping they would say something, but the look on Prince Rylen’s face told her he had decided to send her to the castle. Thomas seemed to be against that.

However, Rose knew Prince Rylen’s decision wasn’t without reason, especially since he had stalled this long before telling her in hopes that a better solution would emerge. But that wasn’t going to happen. The crown prince was still unconscious.

Rose didn’t want to think about it, but a part of her worried if the crown prince might actually save her—but she tried to convince herself that he would. There was no reason why he would not.

"I have to go to the castle?" Rose asked.

"I am sorry, but yes, you have to," Prince Rylen said. "Thomas will go with you. He has decent influence, and I believe he should be able to buy you some time. I cannot leave His Grace’s side, I would have come along with you myself."

Rose sighed. There was no escaping this—it was pretty clear. And neither of the men here could help her out of this.

"Tomorrow?" she asked.

Prince Rylen nodded, his eyes a lot wider at her question. "Will you go?"

Rose gave a sad laugh. "You say it like I have a choice," she replied.

"I am sorry. But I promise, we won’t let you die."

Rose nodded. They were already breaking a rule by telling her. All Prince Rylen had to do was tell her to go to the castle—he didn’t have to speak truthfully to her, but at least he did that.

Thomas paced behind Prince Rylen, then completely stopped walking. "Are you sure about this, Prince Rylen?" Thomas asked.

"Yes. I will craft a letter that will hopefully appeal to the King on the matter. Regardless of how Her Majesty feels, His Majesty still has the final say."

Thomas sighed and unclenched his palms. "I will come to get you first thing tomorrow morning," he said.

Rose nodded and gave him a soft smile. "I will be ready," she replied.

Prince Rylen stared hard at her face. Rose was unsure what he was staring so intensely at, but then he shook his head and turned away. He walked to the door without saying another word.

Thomas followed after him, and before shutting the door, he turned around to look at her. Rose smiled tightly at him, and his eyes saddened as he stared at her—then the door slowly closed.

Rose closed her eyes. That was another time Thomas had looked at her with pity, and every time that happened, she was in the worst situation yet.

Rose didn’t move from her position immediately. She wrapped her arms around herself. She already knew what she was going to do. It was surprisingly easy to find the courage to do it.

Prince Rylen had literally come in here to tell her to prepare for her death. He seemed to think he could convince at least the King, but Rose was as sure as Thomas was that she would be killed upon arrival.

Rose dug the heels of her palms into her closed eyes. She couldn’t seem to get away from tragedy. She had even more reason to hate the crown prince.

Perhaps if she had never gotten water from the well on the outskirts of town on that fateful day, this would have never happened. Or if she had never run into him in the marketplace with the love mark on her neck, things might be different.

She would have married Ander and been close enough to take care of her mother until her dying days. Perhaps, she might even be pregnant with Ander’s child, and perhaps her mother might see a grandchild before...

Rose shook her head as she forced herself to stop thinking about what could have been. She pulled her hands away from her face and climbed onto the bed. She knew she was not going to get much sleep tonight.

When morning came, Rose’s eyes were still wide open. She had spent the night deciding what she would do. It was a bit unfortunate that she lost the map in the woods, but she remembered enough. If she was going to be killed anyway, Rose was determined to see her mother one last time.

The servants dressed her, wearing her thick clothes and a scarf around her neck. She also wore boots, and her dress wasn’t as heavy. Rose wondered if she was going to be riding. She hoped so—that would make her plan much easier.

The servants had just finished dressing her when she heard a knock. Rose took a deep breath as she braced herself to embark on the journey. It was time to go.

However, she was surprised when the door opened and it was neither Thomas nor Prince Rylen—rather, Lady Deana rushed into the room with tears in her eyes.

"You’re going back to the capital," she cried as she rushed in. "Prince Rylen just told me."

"Isn’t it too early?" She continued speaking before Rose had a chance to respond. "You are still unwell and the crown prince hasn’t woken up either."

"Lady Deana," Rose exclaimed, curtsying. "I have to go."

"I don’t see why," the lady whined.

It was clear Prince Rylen hadn’t told Lady Deana why she had to go to the castle, and Rose intended to keep it that way.

"I am sorry, Lady Deana, but I think it’s best if I return to the castle," she replied, praying the lady wouldn’t ask further questions.

"Will you return some other time?" she asked.

Rose nodded. Her voice sounded nice, and the lady had been nothing but kind to her—even when she had betrayed her trust and run off.

"I will try," Rose said, not promising.

She didn’t know if she would survive this. This might even be the last time she would see Lady Deana, considering she intended to commit even more crime.

"I can’t wait for you to return. You’re welcome anytime."

"Thank you," Rose said and curtsied again.

"You don’t have to than—" Lady Deana was saying, but the rest of her words were drowned out by the knock.

It was time.

Rose lifted her head, and she didn’t feel fear or horror or anxiety. Her mind was surprisingly clear, and her thoughts were even clearer.

She smiled softly at Lady Deana and walked toward the door. She opened it and Thomas stood outside. His brown hair had been combed and styled, and his amber eyes glinted as they stared at her.

"Lor—"

Thomas cut her off. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Rose nodded. "I am."

He looked at her closely as though he didn’t believe her words, then nodded and turned his back to her as he started walking away.

"Lady Deana," Rose turned and looked at the older woman.

"Yes?" she said, closer than Rose realized.

"I know it’s not a great gift, but would you like to have my flute? You might find someone pretty good at playing it," Rose asked softly.

Lady Deana’s tone sounded pleasantly surprised. "You want me to keep it?"

"And the swallow you bought for me. As you found, I have a very similar one."

"I don’t think I should keep either of them. You said the flute was a gift from your father," Lady Deana said. "I couldn’t possibly take it."

"I insist," she said. "It should be in the drawer of the dresser in the room I shared with the crown prince. Please," Rose whispered. "I truly want you to have it."

Rose didn’t think she would ever be able to play the flute again, and it would be a pity if it were just tossed aside. She had had it since she was a little child. Her father maintained it well enough for her that it didn’t look as old as it really was.

"Okay," Lady Deana said with a grin. "But I don’t think I will ever want to hear anyone else but you play."

"Thank you," Rose said softly as she turned around.

Surprisingly, Thomas hadn’t gone far, and she was able to catch up with him. She couldn’t believe she had just given the flute away, but she couldn’t help but feel it was the right thing to do.