She shouldn’t be so angry, but it did remind her of their relationship—except it was a little more twisted. Caius wanted her to do the things he wanted without respect to what she wanted.
She tried to calm herself down, wondering why it felt so heavy all of a sudden, and she realized this was the first ti it was pretty clear she had a choice in the matter.
Regardless of what Lady Delphine said, reminding her of all the pros of being Queen, it was still her choice to make. It might seem better to be Queen, but if she didn’t want to marry him, it made no difference what was better. She would still be miserable.
Just because a cage was fancy didn’t make it less of a cage.
But at the sa ti, Lady Delphine was also right. She should make a stand. She shouldn’t wait to be given; she should take. She had every plan to do that. She had let people tell her what to do to keep herself safe for too long.
She lifted her head to look at Caius, and he did the sa, but there was a cautious look in his eyes as their eyes t. He wasn’t speaking anymore, nor was he eating. He moved the cutlery around the plate but didn’t bring it to his lips.
Rose felt her chest pull for a mont, but she ignored it and concentrated on eating. She knew exactly what she was here for, and she had no plans to be distracted or swayed. That wasn’t what she was here for.
Dinner progressed, and Rose ate as she was famished. Besides, it would be harder to have a difficult conversation on an empty stomach.
Caius still looked uneasy, but he was masking it better. It was easy to block him out as she was too busy thinking about what her answer would be and doing what was best for her.
However, it wasn’t just what was best for herself she was considering. At the sa ti, she wanted to be certain that the choice she picked was exactly what she wanted, regardless of whether it favored her or not.
Rose picked up the napkin and cleaned the corners of her lips, then carefully placed it on the table. Almost imdiately, the servant moved the dishes.
Rose watched how he stacked the dishes on top of each other, placed them on a tray, cleaned the table, and exited with the dishes piled high. The door closed behind him with a soft click that sounded louder than it actually was.
Rose turned her gaze from the door to Caius. He had taken off his mantle just before he sat down and was dressed in a simple black linen shirt. The golden circlet was still on his head, a little tilted now and Rose fought the urge to straighten it.
They were finally alone, and it was ti to discuss why she was here. Caius t her gaze, and she could see his uneasiness. It felt sincere, but she couldn’t take pity on him when he had never really afforded her that.
It would be cruel for her to dismiss the good he had done, and she was grateful to him. Lord Paul had made her mother’s passing less painful, and her father was less lonely in the capital.
He was also teaching her to read, and if it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have survived this long in the castle. But he had never admitted to having wronged her, and his right actions didn’t automatically erase the wrong.
It was easy to pretend otherwise, and she could just easily accept his proposal and be Queen as he wanted, but she knew that things would never really be fine between them. She needed to do this for her, but more importantly for them.
"Your Majesty," Rose called.
"Yes," Caius imdiately replied. He looked relieved that she was talking to him again.
"Why do you want to marry ?"
Caius fought the urge to go with his usual responses and took the advice of his cousin. Rose didn’t trust him. She didn’t trust that this wasn’t so ploy to keep her stuck with him, and it was. He wasn’t going to lie about that, but that wasn’t the only reason.
Caius leaned forward. "The question should be why wouldn’t I want to marry you? I have wanted to for a while now, and I only just realized I am terrible at showing this to you but I don’t want you to see as weak. More importantly, I know I have done wrong by you, and I think if I offer you the things I think you want, you won’t leave .
"I want you to be my wife. I don’t want anyone else, and each day I fear that would never be possible because the woman I love doesn’t love back, and all I can do is petty tricks to keep you with ."
Rose’s eyes slightly widened. It was hard not to react when the King just told her he loved her. Rose had thought that was impossible. She didn’t think he was capable of that, and to admit it.
Caius had spent the entire day thinking. He knew he couldn’t force Rose to marry him, but that wasn’t all. He also didn’t want to force her to marry him, and he couldn’t stop thinking about what his cousin had said about him being in love with her.
Caius finally let himself admit this, and it felt right, he also realized he couldn’t wait to tell her—not just her, but everyone else. He wanted them to know. He had expected his confession to be done better but Caius couldn’t afford to be proper as he risked losing Rose.
"But," Caius was speaking again, "I am willing to do anything to make sure we spend the rest of our lives together."
Rose tried to keep her face neutral, but it was hard, not when the King was practically pouring out his heart to her. She hadn’t expected this, hadn’t expected him to be so agreeable, but Rose hardened her heart still.
"And if I say the only way that can happen is if you let go?"
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