The King's Lover-Chapter 294: Her Verdict
Rose listened attentively, not wanting to interrupt Prince Rylen as he explained. The longer he spoke, the more dread she felt. Essentially, what she understood was that there was a chance the crown prince would never wake up.
Rose felt the pain in her abdomen intensify. This wasn’t good, and with how grim Prince Rylen’s expression was getting, something told her she wouldn’t like what he was about to say next.
She wanted to ask if other methods could be applied, if there was some other solution, but something told her that if there were any, Lord Paul would not hesitate to try them.
"Lord Paul has remained with the crown prince, barely getting any sleep, and left him to come speak to you. I understand that you must be at a loss, and I also realize I haven’t thanked you for saving His Grace and bringing him back here. Your plan was to go home to your mother—you must have known that would be a little harder to do if you returned with His Grace."
"I wouldn’t leave His Majesty to die out in the woods, no matter the circumstances, especially since he was poisoned because of me," Rose replied. She was surprised she actually meant this. The crown prince was the only heir to the throne, it would be a disaster if he died.
Thomas eventually lifted his head to look at her, but he didn’t smile. There was a glare in his eyes, but Rose didn’t think it was directed at her.
Prince Rylen closed his eyes at her words. "That’s why it pains me to bring you such terrible news after your sacrifice."
Rose tore her gaze from Thomas and met Prince Rylen’s face again. She felt cold at his expression. She could clearly see dejection—and a hint of helplessness.
"What news?" Rose asked, unable to take the suspense any longer.
Her mind was spinning in different directions—at first about the crown prince, then she thought maybe it was her mother, as he had mentioned her. But Prince Rylen didn’t owe her anything to personally come to tell her. This only made her confusion worse.
Prince Rylen reached into the inner pocket of his coat and brought out a letter. It looked fancier than the one she had received from her father; the paper was also thicker and she could see a familiar design.
Rose frowned as she stared at it. She couldn’t read, so it would be a waste if Prince Rylen handed it to her. She glanced at Thomas—he knew she couldn’t read. If Prince Rylen didn’t know, surely Thomas could easily inform him. However, Thomas didn’t meet her gaze, and she noticed his palms were now fists at his sides.
Rose turned her gaze back to Prince Rylen, ready to tell him that she couldn’t read, but he wasn’t handing it to her. He just held it up, and his expression became even more intense.
"This is from the Royal Castle. It has the king’s seal on it, and it brings the worst news..." Prince Rylen sighed. "This arrived with the physicians. I had hoped the crown prince would be awake by now, as only he can go against the order here, but that’s not the case—and I fear it will remain so."
Rose shuffled on her feet. "What does the letter say?" she asked and swallowed, a lump lodged in her throat.
"That you will be charged with high treason. You will appear before the council in a few days, where you will be tried and sentenced."
Rose blinked. She knew what treason meant—at least enough to know it was a severe crime. Therefore, high treason must be even worse. She knew people who committed treason were mostly sentenced to death.
Rose took a deep breath as she tried to understand what Prince Rylen had just told her. She couldn’t panic until she fully understood.
"Why am I being charged with high treason?" Rose asked softly.
Prince Rylen shoved the letter back into his inner pocket. "For leading His Grace to the bandits," he explained. "They seem to think you must have been working with them to lead His Grace to them."
Rose’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. That was preposterous. She didn’t even know the crown prince would come after her—she had hoped he wouldn’t.
"That’s impossible. I was just trying to get home. I didn’t even know they would be there. I put myself in danger too. If the crown prince hadn’t shown up when he did, I would have been in danger too."
"We know," Prince Rylen said. "But unfortunately, that won’t mean anything to the council, as the conclusion will remain that His Grace was put in danger because of you."
Rose closed her eyes as she listened. She knew Prince Rylen was speaking the truth, but it was hard to accept it. And now she was wishing she had left the crown prince to die—but even as she thought it, Rose knew she didn’t have the heart to be so cruel, even though she could find more than two reasons why he deserved it.
"What can I do?" Rose asked dejectedly.
"Unfortunately, nothing for now. I was supposed to send you to the castle as soon as I received the letter, but I have tried to stall for about a day, hoping His Grace would wake up. However, that hasn’t happened, and it will only worsen the situation if I keep you here any longer. So by morning, you will head back to the capital with Thomas."
"I truly don’t think we should send her to the castle!" Thomas finally spoke for the first time.
"I know, but the last thing we want to do is to refuse a direct order. You can try to stall the trial and give her some time before she is sentenced, and hopefully His Grace would be awake by then."
"She can be executed on the spot, Prince Rylen. She is a mere peasant," Thomas scoffed. "No one would hold a trial for her. Her verdict has already been made."
