The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Chapter 142

"Anna, this would be a good time for you to show Rose around but alone. It is not time for her to be meeting with your friends. Show her a few places you like and spend a moment together. I shall prepare the guards for you," said Madeline.

"Yes, mother," Anna replied, not thrilled about how they had to spend the day but she would do it for her mother. "Will I get a new dress tomorrow since you took mine? I had that one to attend the earl’s birthday ball with and now I must replace it."

"You are to get a new dress if you are on your best behaviour. It is only one since I am not thrilled about you always losing your jewels. If your father would stop replacing them then you would put more care into not losing them," Madeline said, looking at Victor.

Victor cleared his throat. He found them each time and it wasn’t him who was losing them so why was he being scolded with Madeline’s gaze? "She won’t get any more for the rest of the season."

"Father," Anna whined. "All the ladies will be wearing the newest jewels gifted to them. It is like dresses. You simply can’t wear them again after a season."

Rose couldn’t believe her ears that dresses were not repeated. It was all she had been doing with the dresses Janice bought for her and those were already secondhand.

’It is different,’ Rose thought. For money to be easily spent on buying many dresses or replacing jewels.

"For this season, you will. Your name is already enough for a man to hold interest in you. You don’t need to get dressed up for someone to like you," Victor said, not wavering so he could get back into Madeline’s good graces.

Anna leaned back on her chair upset by the news. It was going to be hard to watch Rose receive new jewels and not be able to pick out one.

"Please ignore her behaviour, Rose. Anna had her season carefully planned out two years ago and when something doesn’t go according to her plans she becomes like this. I promise you that she is lovely when she is not thinking about marriage," said Madeline.

"All the women are like this. Are you not like this when thinking of marriage?" Anna asked, looking to Rose as her only hope. Sisters should understand this, especially a sister who was not yet married.

"I do not think of marriage," Rose replied.

"What?" Anna exclaimed, surprised by this. "How could you not think of marriage? It is all everyone thinks of. You need to find the best husband before someone else snags them away. It is not only me looking to wed. It is a lot of us. You must think about it."

Anna couldn’t believe she was sitting with someone who didn’t care about marriage. She had only heard of it being the girls with nothing to offer to a suitor being the ones who spoke of not caring about marriage.

"It is fine to not think of marriage. I also said that you could wait," Madeline said, happy that Rose wasn’t thinking of it. It meant Rose would be out of the manor so soon but there was still a need to worry.

Madeline peered at the man sitting beside her daughter. It was subtle but she noticed his interest in Rose’s answer. He didn’t look surprised to hear that Rose didn’t want to marry which meant he had some sort of conversation with her.

’What is between them?’ Madeline wondered.

Rose had found herself an interesting lover or friend since neither one spoke of feelings. Zayne had to leave the kingdom at some point so what would happen with Rose then? Did they need to say goodbye to Rose after just meeting her?

"And what of you, Zayne? What are your thoughts about marriage?" Victor asked, needing answers.

"I have no thoughts about it," Zayne answered.

Anna inspected Rose’s face and noticed how flustered her sister was now. Something was between the two and she did not understand why they would not say it out loud. Why be so secretive? Or was it that Rose was enjoying stringing Zayne along?

Anna thought that it was good for Rose to enjoy having a man like Zayne chasing after her. All the ladies enjoyed it when it happened.

"The king has not offered the princess’s hand to you? He would love nothing more than to have one of his children on a throne elsewhere," said Victor.

"He has suggested it but I have declined it from the start. I don’t have any interest in the princess. There is someone else," Zayne said, raising a bottle of wine at the same time to pour himself a drink.

Rose’s eyes widened, surprised that he would be so forward to speak of that now. If he had not shared his feelings, she would never think it was her that Zayne spoke of.

’It is not tomorrow yet,’ Rose thought about Zayne’s warning. Why was he being so bold already?

Rose reached for something to drink, not looking at what was inside the glass. She was stopped by Zayne.

"That is not juice you will enjoy," Zayne said, pushing a jug of water toward Rose. "Drink that wine and you might be jumping around the manor like a bunny. Stay with the water and other juices without alcohol."

Zayne poured the water for Rose and moved the wine away from her. While he was curious how Rose would be if she drank too much, her little bunny display wasn’t something he wanted to share with anyone.

Rose happily took the water and drank all of it. The room suddenly felt warm and all she wanted to do was go outside to let the night air cool her down. Rose did not want tomorrow to come fast to see what Zayne had planned for her.

Victor wasn’t pleased by Zayne’s answer. He wasn’t happy to think of Anna already wanting to get married and now Rose had an admirer by her side.

Rose’s situation was worse for Victor since Zayne had to frequent the palace. It created the opportunity for someone in the palace to take an interest in the woman Zayne was courting and want to invite her to the palace.

Madeline clapped her hands to end the conversation. "Enough about weddings. It is time that we eat. I put together all of this to try to help with your memories. Even if it is the slightest recollection of the past, it is better than nothing."

Rose didn’t know where to start. There were so many different kinds of pastries and she wanted to try all of them. There was fruit and meat along with foods Rose had never seen before. Rose couldn’t remember anything but just from looking at the table she knew she had good taste.

Rose waited for Zayne to be served his dinner first like she always did but found him staring at her.

’They are waiting for you to start tasting, Rose. Don’t keep them waiting," said Zayne.

"Oh," Rose realised her mistake. She was the lady, not the maid who had to wait. "I’m sorry," she apologised, taking bread with some kind of filling from the table.

Rose bit into it, savouring the sweetness of the white filling.

Madeline smiled, enjoying the way Rose’s eyes lit up. It wasn’t any different from the past. "Well, don’t just sit here and stare," she told the others. "We have much to eat."