CHAPTER 355: PUZZLE THROUGH IT

Caius dipped the quill into the ink one last time as he scribbled the last of Rose’s dictation before carefully placing the quill down away from the letter. He stared at the words for a moment, his eyes rapidly scanning the letter in the light of the candles.

His expression changed occasionally, and he absently rubbed his chin. Rose shuffled in her seat impatiently; she didn’t know why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable. The worst part was done but just the time dragging out was enough to put her on edge. The crown prince could change his mind and her father would never get the letter.

Caius lifted his gaze to glance at her, and she straightened her back. "Shall I read it to you, little lady? Or do you wish to puzzle through it yourself?"

Rose narrowed her eyes. She did want to say yes, but at the same time, she didn’t think she could handle him reading the part where she called him nice out loud.

"Yes, if it isn’t too much to ask, I’d like a look," she whispered. She wasn’t offended by his words; if he had written the words as she had said them, she knew what was written in the letter, so it technically wasn’t a puzzle. However, she didn’t miss that he was making a jab at her illiteracy once again.

Caius narrowed his eyes; he was clearly displeased by her response. She half expected him to say something belittling, but he simply handed her the paper.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Rose said with a bright smile. She didn’t like how happy she was that he had adhered to her request.

She looked down at the squiggles and peered even harder at them. She had seen the Crown Prince’s handwriting before, but it was still surprisingly good. Clean, long strokes written in a straight line.

Rose recognized a few words, but that was all she understood. At least she could see that the Crown Prince had written her name and surname at the end, so maybe she wasn’t completely useless. She smiled, satisfied with herself, and lifted her head to see Caius glaring at her.

"Anything you disapprove of?" There was a mocking tone in his voice.

Rose thought of playing along for a moment but decided against it. There was no point; she couldn’t read, and that was a fact.

"No, Your Majesty," she said and handed the letter back to him. "Thank you."

Caius took it from her hands and said, "Call the servants and request Fabian."

Rose stood up immediately. "Yes, Your Majesty." But Caius was not looking at her. He was looking at the paper as though he wasn’t the one who had written the words.

Rose didn’t let his attitude bother her; if she was asked, she would even say he was in a good mood. Well, not exactly, but he would likely just sulk rather than punish her, so that was good. He wasn’t angry; he was annoyed.

Calling on the servants was easy, as they responded almost immediately. Rose immediately requested that they call for Fabian, and the servants bowed and turned away.

She wasn’t sure how long it would take Fabian to get here, and she didn’t want to remain by the door, so she walked back to the dining table. Rose noticed the parchment paper had been rolled up and was sitting right in front of Caius.

"The servants have gone to call Fabian forth," Rose said softly as she sat down. It felt awkward to just sit without saying anything, but it felt even more awkward after she spoke. She was sure he had heard the servants.

Caius didn’t respond to this, and Rose wondered if she should have sat elsewhere, but it would have been too obvious, and she didn’t want to change his mood from annoyed to angry.

The problem was, she couldn’t even figure out why he was annoyed now. This was his idea, and he had blatantly mocked her about her inability to read. It was silly that he was annoyed she wasn’t getting annoyed.

Rose tried her best not to smile too brightly when Fabian arrived. He knocked twice and proceeded to enter the room. "Your Highness," he said with a low bow.

"Fabian," Caius said and gestured for him to come closer.

"Your Ladyship," he nodded to Rose as he walked past her.

She smiled at him, but he was already by the Crown Prince’s side, oblivious to her smile.

"Here," Caius said and lifted the letter. "Have this sent to Edenville by dawn tomorrow. Speak to Thomas; he will give you all the information you may need. But before that, use my royal seal and make sure it isn’t tampered with."

Fabian’s eyes widened for a moment, and Rose could see the clear curiosity in them, but the young butler didn’t ask unnecessary questions; rather, he bowed his head.

"As Your Highness wishes. Is that all, Your Highness?" Fabian asked as he slowly raised his head.

"No," Caius said and gestured for him to come closer. His voice dropped to a whisper, and Rose couldn’t hear a single word.

"At once, Your Majesty," Fabian said with a bow and marched to the door.

Rose looked around with a frown as she tried to guess what had just happened. Unfortunately, Fabian didn’t give a clue, and Caius, as always, was useless in that aspect.

"So, you think I am nice," Caius suddenly blurted out.

Rose closed her palm; at least she didn’t jump. She was pretty certain someone somewhere was laughing at her because there was no way this was her life now.

"Your Majesty?" she turned, trying to pretend she didn’t hear him, but tug wouldn’t be believable. He was loud and very clear.

"Yes, Rose," he said with a smile. "Yes or no?"

Rose felt a hot knife slide over her stomach. It was one thing to lie to her father so he would think she was safe, but lying to the Crown Prince’s face? Rose was almost certain she could handle a few beatings rather than do that.