The King's Lover-Chapter 261: Is Something On My Face

Rose had the map folded into her stockings and hidden underneath her dress by the time she left Lady Delphine’s room. It felt a little uncomfortable but it was hardly noticeable.

Lady Delphine had tried her best to read the map aloud, pointing at and saying the names of towns and places. Rose had done her best to keep them all in memory.

She knew she would have to study the map some more by herself. Lady Delphine wished she knew more to help Rose, but she had never embarked on any journey, and if she ever needed to leave the capital, she would just send Slade instead.

She had offered to ask him, but Rose knew that would only make Thomas suspicious, and she didn’t want anyone to have the slightest idea that this was her plan. As soon as the crown prince even suspected, she had failed—and she would never be able to escape him.

Thomas looked down at her with an odd look in his eyes as soon as she opened the door. Rose was startled to see him, and she jumped. He stared at her even more oddly, and she tried her best to act normal.

She had completely forgotten he was out here. She had been so preoccupied with the map that she hadn’t thought of anything else. Also, she hadn’t expected Thomas to be out here the entire time—but it wasn’t surprising.

"Have you been standing here the whole time?" she asked, more to calm herself than to actually know, as she already knew the answer.

He looked at her as though she had asked a stupid question. "Are you ready to leave?" he asked instead of replying. His scowl was even worse than ever.

"No, I still need to—" but Thomas didn’t let her finish.

"We leave now. Had you stayed in the room any longer, I would have had to drag you out. It is mid-afternoon. You have been here long enough," he grumpily stated.

"You’re right," Rose said with a bright smile. "I didn’t realize so much time had passed. Thank you."

Thomas stared at Rose suspiciously. He could tell that something was up, but he couldn’t place his finger on what it was. It was clearly odd that the women had spent such a long time eating lunch.

Thomas raised his head and met eyes with Delphine, and she smiled at him. She was missing her fur coat, and Thomas started to grow annoyed when her smile widened—but he was simply noticing that her coat was missing not whatever her knowing smile meant.

Rose was still wearing his coat. It was a little bigger than she was, but she could wear it all right, and by the looks of things, she had no plans to return it—not that he needed it.

"Thank you for stopping by, Rose," Lady Delphine said, and Rose turned around. Lady Delphine kissed her on both cheeks.

"Thank you so much," Rose said and turned away. She rushed after Thomas, who was already walking away.

The young knight was annoying. His attitude was the worst, but at this point, she was used to it. Rose turned around and waved to Lady Delphine, who was leaning by her doorway.

"Are you leaving already?" Esme asked as Rose got to the bottom of the stairs.

Rose slowly nodded. "I can’t stay any longer," she said and glanced at Thomas, and Esme nodded as if understanding.

"Bye, Rose. Please visit again," Kali said.

Rose nodded and rushed after Thomas, who was already heading out the door. Thomas was standing by the carriage when she caught up with him.

"Get in!" he yelled.

Rose nodded but didn’t immediately get into the carriage. Instead, she turned around and waved to the girls who stood at the entrance of the manor.

"Bye, Rose," their voices reached her ears.

"Bye," Rose said, still waving. She could feel Thomas’s glare boring into her. She wasted more time than she needed to before getting into the carriage.

Thomas got in after her and closed the carriage door harder than he needed to. He sat across from her, and the carriage started to move. It slowly rolled out of the manor. After going through the gates, it gradually picked up pace.

Rose looked out the window with a smile on her face. It hadn’t been a complete waste of time. She was grateful for that.

As she looked out the window, she couldn’t help but notice Lady Delphine lived in a different section from Edna. She noticed the buildings nearby were just as big as Lady Delphine’s manor, but she also knew this wasn’t the upper echelons. This was probably the lower tier of the nobles.

Rose suddenly felt the urge to turn around, and she turned to see Thomas staring at her intensely. She smirked. "Is something on my face, Lord Thomas?"

"Yes," Thomas said without missing a beat.

Rose’s eyes widened, and she frantically moved her hands around her face, trying to figure out what it was. "Did I get it?"

"No," he replied and looked away.

"What is it?" Rose asked. She was almost sure he was lying to her.

"There is a red stain on your cheeks."

"Both cheeks?" Rose asked in horror. It must have been when Lady Delphine kissed her.

"Yes."

"Did I get it now?" she asked again. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Thomas reluctantly looked at her, then turned away. "You made it worse."

"Ah, can’t you help me?" Rose asked. She didn’t really expect him to help, but she couldn’t help teasing him.

Thomas’s eyes widened, and his gaze rested on her cheeks. Then he turned away, saying, "Why would I help you?"

Rose held her laugh as best as she could at the sight of his red ears. She tried to wipe her face again and hoped she did a decent job before looking out the window.

Soon she would see her mother. Soon she would return home. It was a very pleasant feeling. She was still anxious about a lot of things, but for now, she could at least be hopeful.