Second Arc (His Art of War) - 91. Gentle Gesture
As Rose arrived at the front door, King Eudon was already waiting for her as well as the Fallensoar family.
"Forgive me for keeping you waiting," said Rose as she bowed politely to them.
King Eudon immediately noticed Euphorion's black blazer in Rose's hand, but he decided to say nothing since there were too many people here.
"I heard some noise earlier. What happened?" King Eudon decided to ask another question.
Rose shook her head from side to side, indicating there was nothing to worry about and smiled.
"Sir Rowan and Sir Neil were too worried about me, so they made a little fuss. But they're calmer now." Although she said it with a calm tone, she was actually worried about them.
"Rose…" Artheur called out her name in a soft voice and his feet took a step closer to her. But then he stopped, Artheur knew he could do nothing at the moment especially with his bad condition. His worry was visible on his face. His body was still weak due to his injuries, even Queen Thea had to hold him to support his body. Even though he really wanted to take Rose away from here, he knew he had to watch over his actions because he might make things worse.
Rose turned to Artheur.
"Prince Artheur, how do you feel?"
"I feel better," he replied. Even though his mother and father didn't say anything. Vaguely, Artheur could see Rose treating him yesterday, but he was just too weak, even to make a voice. What was clear was he knew Rose had taken care of him wholeheartedly.
"I'm glad to hear that," she said.
Artheur gave her a bitter smile.
"Thank you for taking care of me." His eyes shifted to the Euphorion's black blazer in her hand. He was a prince, of course, he knew very well that it was a king's uniform.
An official bowed to her.
"Your Highness, do you want to leave now?" he said as he made a gesture politely to head for the carriage. A servant opened the door.
"I'm still waiting for someone else," she said. Angel had not arrived yet and she had promised to return his uniform. Besides that, she wanted to take this opportunity to ask Angel to spare her trusted knights' lives.
Artheur's heart suddenly pounded since he could already guess who she was waiting for. While King Esteve also realized this from the blazer in Rose's hand. It was just he didn't know the reason why she had it.
Angel walked towards them along with Frost and his guards. Instead of wearing his full uniform, he only wore his shirt and trousers, purposely didn't wear his spare blazer.
"Thank you for waiting for me," he said with a smirk.
Rose bowed.
"Your Majesty." While others immediately noticed Angel's clothes.
She gave his blazer.
"Thank you for lending it to me."
Angel took it from her hand and put on the blazer there.
"No problem. I was worried about you since you came back late from my room. Thank you for accompanying me for a chat," he said in a casual tone.
Hearing his words, the others looked at them in confusion. How did Rose have a chat with Angel last night? Didn't they almost kill each other in the main hall yesterday? And more than that, they chatted in his room?
Rose realized the others' confusion, she knew Angel's words could make them misunderstand. She wanted to straighten it out, but she couldn't since it meant she had to admit that she tried to kill Angel last night.
Angel caught Rose's confused expression but he focused more on his surroundings, he had to make sure everyone saw his treatment, to provoke the rebels.
"I ---" Rose was about to say that she wanted to thank Angel for helping her family to deal with the rebels, as a sign that their conversation was based solely on political interests, but Angel interrupted her.
"I hope we can continue our conversation later. I want to know you better," he said with a smile.
Rose pressed her lips since Angel had made it clear that last night's conversation was a personal one.
"And for your knights. I already ordered the doctors to treat their wounds, you don't have to worry," he added. He had seen that incident and saw clearly that Rose was a person who really cared about the people around her. That's why he began to understand why she wanted to kill him so desperately last night.
While Rose was bowed in gratitude since it meant Angel wanted to forgive her knights before she asked for it.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Angel replied with a slight nod.
"Have a safe journey and wait for my return."
"Take care of yourself, Your Majesty," she replied. She was too confused about how to respond to Angel's friendly words. That's why she could only reply with formal words. She shifted her gaze to King Eudon and the others and gave a slight bow before she got into her carriage.
The carriage door closed while Flare got on her horse.
"Flare, take care of her," Angel reminded her. There was a huge possibility that the rebels would attack them on the way.
"I understand, Your Majesty." Flare bowed and kicked the side of her horse. Their convoy began moving forward, leaving the Scarlet Stone Castle's courtyard. The other's eyes fell on the royal carriage with different thoughts. Anger and jealousy burned Artheur's heart. While King Eudon, King Esteve and Queen Thea wondered about what happened last night and why Angel and Rose's attitudes could change in such an instant. As for Angel ... He was worried about Rose's safety. Even though this was his plan, he knew very well that he was putting Rose in danger. That's why he had entrusted Rose's whip to one of his trusted guards secretly and ordered that if something urgent happened, he had to give that weapon to Rose. He had also ordered him to tell Flare about this.