"Will you marry ?"
Rose wasn’t quite sure she heard right. There was no reason why Caius would ask her to marry him, but he was staring at her with such intensity and anxiousness that there was no way she could have misheard.
"Your Majesty wants to marry him?" Rose repeated for her own sanity.
It couldn’t be possible that that’s what she heard. How would they get married? He was already married, but that wasn’t even half the problem. She was a peasant; he was a king.
A king.
But that also wasn’t all. They didn’t have that sort of relationship. She was simply here on his orders; her only job was to do his bidding. Marriage was a completely different territory.
Why would you want to marry ?
"Yes," he said with expectant, bright brown eyes.
Rose stepped back, and though Caius was reluctant to let her go, his hand slowly slipped away. "What about your wife?" she queried.
"There is no rule that says I can’t marry two wives."
Rose looked at him in disbelief, and Caius imdiately regretted his words. That wasn’t what he ant to say. However, he had been slightly ticked off that she didn’t look excited, just shocked, and once again she brought up Caira.
He dropped his hands to his sides. "My marriage with the princess isn’t real."
Rose stepped back again, genuinely surprised. "What? Does she know?"
Caius suddenly felt even more nervous. The conversation was derailing. He had wanted to ti it better, but things had seed so good tonight—not to ntion the way she had looked in his crown—and he couldn’t not ask. It felt as though there was no better ti.
But Rose didn’t look the least bit pleased by his question. She seed almost horrified. She had already promised not to leave him, so marriage shouldn’t be difficult.
Or is the idea of being married to that horrid?
Caius didn’t like the way he felt. He could feel his discomfort all the way to his toes, and the only person who could make him feel better was actively putting distance between them.
He sighed. "That’s a different topic that I plan to discuss with you in another manner."
When things were less agitated, he would tell her the full extent of it, including his plan with Rylen. Caius didn’t want to keep anything from her. He really wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he was willing to do anything to assure her.
Rose opened and closed her palms. She didn’t know what to say or think. Caius was really asking her to marry him, but that wasn’t all; his marriage to Caira was simply a hoax.
How long ago did he decide he would ask for her hand? Did he fake his marriage to the princess because of her? But Rose knew better than to think that. She couldn’t think of any good reason why he would even want to marry her.
Rose’s head felt as though it was going to explode with the nurous questions, but the most worriso part was that despite the many reasons stopping them from getting married, Rose realized none of them was because she didn’t want to marry him.
Why would she be willing to agree to this? Rose wrapped her arms around herself. Caius took a step forward, his hands outstretched. Rose was tempted to rush into his arms; it would be warm, that much she was certain.
But it would be ironic to find comfort in the devil that was the cause of her problems, so she stayed back, and Caius’s hands fell to his sides, his expression hurt.
"Do you not want to marry ?" he softly asked.
"I don’t know," Rose whispered. "It is not a decision I can make right now." She tightened her arms around herself.
"How long would you need?" he asked.
Rose dug her nails into her skin. "I don’t know, but would Your Majesty let see my father tomorrow?" She needed sowhere to escape to, away from him.
His offer of marriage was certainly better than being his mistress forever. He was practically offering her to be Queen. She recalled his conversation about the crown suiting her; she didn’t want to think too deeply about it at the ti, but now it made sense.
But things were too complicated for the answer to be that simple. What was she to say? Yes? Then what?
"Whatever you need," Caius said and took a step forward.
Rose fought the urge to take a step back. It couldn’t be that easy. There were too many things that had happened between them, that it could just be swept under the carpet. Rose dug her fingers deeper into her skin. She couldn’t have foreseen this.
"Do you not want to marry ?" Caius asked again with a piercing gaze.
Rose shot him a death stare. "Your Majesty knows it’s not that simple. NOTHING between us is that simple."
"You’re right," he replied, his voice lower, his expression more hurt.
Rose internally scread. At least he was willing to admit that. She wanted him to leave; she needed a mont to herself, but she wasn’t even sure she could ask that. And as always, it didn’t feel like she had much choice in the matter.
"Your Majesty," Rose forced out. "Would it be too much to ask you to leave for tonight? I’d really like so ti alone, please."
Rose was looking at him through glassy eyes; tears threatened to spill, but they held. Caius lifted his hand to touch her but stopped himself.
"If that’s what you want," he replied. He didn’t want to give in; he wanted to reassure her and clear whatever doubt she had, but sohow he knew this was not the right ti, and leaving was the only option.
She nodded without moving, and Caius glanced at her one last ti before turning away and exiting the room.
As soon as the door closed, Rose’s legs gave out and she fell to the floor. It was great that he was asking for her hand in marriage and was willing to do that, ignoring her background, but it didn’t wipe the past and make the slate clean.
Rose felt very torn. She still couldn’t leave, and even if she could, there wasn’t much to return to except her father. Caius had made sure of that.
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