The King's Lover-Chapter 519: Unfiltered Malice

"What did you just say to me?!" The Queen’s voice had the servants clutching their imaginary pearls and thanking the stars they weren’t in Henry’s shoes right now.

The butler was white in the face, and if he shrank any more, he might be the same height as the dining table. The Queen was glaring at him with eyes so threatening they could send anyone to an early grave, let alone the poor old butler.

Henry leaned forward, worried that if he provoked the old Queen any longer, he might not step out of this unscathed. But if he didn’t do as the King had asked, he certainly would not be well enough to tell the story afterward, so he held his ground.

"P-please forgive me, Your Majesty, but His Royal Majesty, the King, has given me strict orders. I wouldn’t dare speak of such, Your Majesty, if I were not compelled to. Please understand."

"Did he tell you what this was about?" Queen Violeta was not letting this go.

Caira and Rylen were already seated at the table, and they were both onlookers. Prince Gayle didn’t join them for lunch, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

Henry had already assigned the new seating arrangements to both Caira and Rylen as soon as they walked into the dining hall, and neither of them had a problem with it though they didn’t hide their surprise.

The Queen, however, wasn’t listening. Even though she was still by her son’s side, instead of his right, she was now by his left. It was particularly a drastic change because the seat by the King’s right was mostly reserved for whoever was most important to the King.

It wasn’t exactly a major change, nor was this distinction outrightly stated. However, Queen Violeta would certainly not miss something like that, nor would she let it go so easily.

The King must know this, and to give such a grueling task to Henry felt gravely unfair to the butler. However, the King’s orders were absolute, and Queen Violeta should know that taking it up with him made no difference.

"P-please forgive me, Your Majesty, but His Royal Majesty d-doesn’t share his plans with me." It was the politest way Henry could tell her to ask the King herself.

"How dare you make such a decision without confirming if I will—"

"What is going on here?" Caius asked as he walked into the dining room. The guards held the door open while they bowed their heads.

"Son!" Queen Violeta yelled, jerking her head in his direction. "What is the meaning of this?"

Caius didn’t answer right away. Rather, he walked past her and sat in his seat at the head of the table. "What do you mean?" he asked without any indication he had any idea what she was talking about.

Henry, seeing that attention was off him, took a step back and hoped he would blend in with the wall and the Queen wouldn’t notice him anymore.

"You know exactly what I am talking about."

"Mother, have a seat. You’re delaying lunch."

Queen Violeta’s eyes widened, and she looked ready to spit fire, but she bit the words in her mouth. She couldn’t dare scold him in public. Regardless of how angry she was, he was still the King.

"You changed my seat," she simply said.

"You’re now by my left side, Mother, closer to my heart," he smiled at her. Caius made sure to sound as patronizing as humanly possible.

"Why?" she asked but surprisingly took the seat.

"Why?" he asked, faking shock. "Do you not want to be placed close to me?"

Queen Violeta shook her head while her three ladies-in-waiting desperately tried to hide her agitation from her expression.

"That’s not what I mean. Why did you change my seat?"

"I just answered, Mother," Caius replied coldly and turned his gaze away from her, intending to ignore the rest of her questions.

Rylen and Caira had both paid their respects as he walked in and took their new seats. Rylen studied his cousin, who was digging into his lunch, wondering what he was planning. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

He could tell something was in motion, but Rylen didn’t know what. Thomas had joined him to prepare the documents, but the latter didn’t say anything, and Rylen knew better than to ask. Caius didn’t trust him now, and with the current situation, his distrust was only getting worse.

"How do you feel?" Queen Violeta was speaking to Caira.

Caira politely smiled and whispered, "Very well. Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Feeling nauseous still?"

"Just a little."

"I told you you’re pregnant. In a few more days, your symptoms will get more obvious."

Caira looked at a loss, but she was tired of disputing the old Queen, so she simply smiled tightly and nodded, lifting her gaze just as Rylen did. Their eyes met for a moment before she brought her head down.

She had been avoiding him. She no longer went to the library or the gazebo and stayed locked up in her room except when it was mealtime. Rylen had tried to speak to her on several occasions, but she had refused him.

She knew he was going to ask about the pregnancy. She didn’t have much to say about the matter.

"Perfect timing," the Queen continued. She wasn’t nearly done. "Who would have thought the whore would choose such a perfect time to finally leave?"

Caius wasn’t listening at first; he had managed to block out his mother. But her question was enough to attract his attention. Caius didn’t realize until his mother met his gaze with a fearful expression.

He was glaring at her, his malice unfiltered.

The dining hall fell into complete silence. Not even the sound of silverware could be heard.

Queen Violeta looked like she was about to speak, but the words only bubbled in her throat and never made it out. She didn’t snap out of it until Caius turned his gaze away.

"Rylen," he called. "How soon will the documents be ready?"

"B-before dinner time, Your Majesty."

"Good," Caius said and went back to eating as though nothing had happened.