The King's Lover-Chapter 538: Unchangeable Rule

Caius let out a yawn, not caring about the glances the lords shot each other. They had spoken about everything else except why they were here, and Caius was tempted to stand up and leave, but he was curious too.

He needed to see who he should be worried about—who he would have to watch out for, and who would be brave enough to go against him.

"Your Majesty, there is this vile rumor that we have been privy to..." Lord Charles paused as he watched the King.

Caius tilted his head as he waited for Charles to explain himself. He had no intention of making things easier for them. Furthermore, Charles’s choice of words had pissed him off.

"The rumor that you married a second wife," Charles managed to say.

Caius glanced at his cousin. He was the reason they dared to refer to Rose as his second wife, and worse, he couldn’t argue otherwise—at least not yet.

"And worse, she is nothing but a peasant whore!" Lord Nicholas added.

Caius jerked his head. He didn’t expect such direct disrespect from the lord; he was always on the quieter side and made his disagreement known in that regard. Charles was the louder one.

"You should know better than to speak about my Queen in that manner. I won’t correct you again, Nicholas."

The lord winced as Caius called his name without his title. However, he didn’t refute Caius’s words; rather, he scoffed and turned his head away.

"So it is true. Why?" another lord asked. He seemed more concerned than angry. "I hear Her Majesty is pregnant, so it can’t be that the Queen is infertile."

"Lystern will not be pleased," another added.

"We might have a confrontation on our hands."

"Lords, please," Rylen said and rose to his feet. "There is no rule that says His Majesty can’t have a second wife."

It was hard to ignore the shiver down his back as Caius glared at his choice of words, but Rylen knew his cousin wouldn’t interrupt. It was best if the lords thought she was a second wife, at least for now. They wouldn’t consider her a threat that way.

"But a peasant, a mere commoner!" Nicholas spat out. "I hear she wears the late Queen’s crown. What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty? Is your grandmother’s lineage a joke to you? A sniveling wh—woman! Yes, His Majesty may marry as many women as he wishes, but a peasant is an insult to the crown."

"Do you contest my decision?" Caius asked as he stared directly at Nicholas.

The latter jumped and didn’t meet Caius’s eyes again. "I-I didn’t say that, Your Majesty, but you can’t marry a peasant." He looked around the table for supporters, and a few nodded.

"You say it as though I asked for advice. Who I can marry or not marry is irrelevant and not for any of you to dictate. Furthermore, it is best not to waste your breath as I am already married."

Rylen winced as the lords began whispering amongst themselves. Caius was only going to make things worse but he knew the King didn’t care about what the lords thought. None of them would be foolish enough to go against him.

However, they could join forces with their enemies against him, and Rylen worried about that. Caius hadn’t done anything that would cause extreme dislike from the lords but mixing with peasantry was not something the elites liked.

"Your Majesty intends to keep her as his wife?"

Caius jerked his head towards the lord and laughed. "Is there something else you would like to discuss?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Your Majesty cannot dismiss this!" another yelled.

"Adhere to our concerns. What if she bears you a son before the Queen?"

Caius tried his best not to show his thoughts on his face. This was their major concern. Because of his petty father, the first son was to be king regardless of all else, which meant if Rose were to bear him a son, he would be King.

He already knew this, and frankly, he never thought a day would come when he would be pleased by something his father had done.

It also didn’t matter if Caira gave birth to a son first; since they weren’t legally married, the son would be nothing but a bastard. It didn’t please him to do this, but no one else was to blame except his cousin Rylen.

"Her Majesty, Queen Rose, isn’t pregnant. Your lordships have nothing to worry about."

Caius tried to keep a straight face as Rylen spoke about Rose and whether she was pregnant or not. The topic infuriated him. He would rather stand up and leave, but he couldn’t do that. He had to see this atrocious meeting through.

"That is not enough assurance!" Lord Nicholas yelled.

"It isn’t! We can’t have a peasant as King!" Edwin was speaking.

Caius turned to face him. He was the Marquis of Haiyes. He was a member of the council, but he usually wasn’t vocal. However, Caius didn’t miss that he seemed to have a few words to say.

Prince Gayle, on the other hand—he turned to look at his uncle—was pretty quiet. He neither agreed nor disagreed.

"Your Majesty has to change the decree. No peasant would be King!"

"The late King made this rule unchangeable. You all know this," Rylen quickly volunteered. "There is nothing His Majesty can do about it."

"He can choose not to marry a peasant!"

They were being disrespectful, and Caius was at his limit. He wasn’t speaking because he was certain he would make it worse. He was leaving it to his cousin, and the latter wasn’t being helpful. He would have to deal with it himself.

"You have some gall!" Caius’s voice thundered through the meeting room. "Telling me what you think I should do and shouldn’t do!"

He stood up, and his seat fell backward. A guard stepped forward immediately and lifted his chair.

"Perhaps when you lot can be respectful to your King, I might decide to have a conversation about this. But for now, this meeting is closed. Get out!"

The lords looked from one person to another, a little stunned, as they had expected the King to walk out. Caius glared at the nearest lord, and he jumped to his feet.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," he bowed and exited the room. This was repeated several times until only Caius and Rylen were left. Prince Gayle had also exited the room.

"Father didn’t attend the council meetings, and the lords had to get an audience to see him. From henceforth, that will be the case! This round table seems to give them the illusion that they may speak their minds freely."

Rylen bowed and stood up. "I shall inform them accordingly."

Caius sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. That didn’t go smoothly, and he doubted the lords would let it go simply because he shut them down. He was bound to get dozens of requests for an audience in the next couple of days.

Caira’s hoax as his first wife didn’t make any difference. The lords were still disrespectful and he knew the major reason for this was that he hadn’t made an official announcement, so they thought this could be changed.