The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Chapter 146

"You’ll have to excuse my husband for arranging that he rides with the girls while you are here with me. Anna has her maid as an escort but that isn’t enough for him. We both know that you have feelings for Rose," said Madeline.

"I need to know early if he’s planning to kill me over it," Zayne said, causing Madeline to laugh.

"No, he wouldn’t. I would stop him if he were to be so overprotective. It’s just as hard for him as it is for me to think about Rose already getting married and moving to be with her husband. With you, she has to be in another kingdom," Madeline said, her heart aching just from the thought of it.

"Don’t worry. If Rose wants to travel with you, I will not stop her. I will not lie that I won’t miss my daughter but I am strong enough to not want to hold her back if you make her happy. I only ask that you know that this is certain. That you will not take her over there and then change your mind. Are you certain?" Madeline asked, worried about Rose’s future.

"We’ve not reached the point of talking about if Rose will travel with me as my lover. As you can see, she keeps running away from me. If she does decide to leave with me, Rose will be well taken care of. I will make sure of it," Zayne promised.

Madeline smiled, looking out the window at the manor in view. "I expect no less from a prince. She doesn’t know about your royal lineage, does she?"

"No."

"I figured since neither of you introduced you as such. My husband might be away from the politics of the palace but he still knows some things. He brought it to my attention last night that the young general of your kingdom is also the prince. We won’t share your secret and as for mine," Madeline paused for a moment.

She continued, "I know you want me to tell Rose all the family secrets right away but before all of this, I never planned to tell her. I wanted to avoid making her curious about anything because that curiosity would only bring danger. It hurts to lie to her but I have to keep her safe."

"Then just answer one question for me. After what Rose said, do you suspect the queen was involved in Rose’s disappearance?" Zayne asked, his suspicion confirmed by the change in Madeline’s demeanour.

"I do. The queen is not fond of me. She hates me more than James hates Victor. I would not put it by her to have taken Rose or to hurt her in the past. It just makes me think," Madeline trailed off, thinking of how much Lilian knew. She believed she left without anyone knowing.

"Without you sharing your secret with me before you tell Rose, there are two reasons why I think the queen would go out of her way to hurt your daughter. One, you were old friends and you married the man she wanted. Possible but a little crazy on her part to go after Rose instead of you," said Zayne.

"Two, she doesn’t like that you share a child with her husband."

Zayne hoped it wasn’t the latter. He preferred Victor being Rose’s father as James was a pig who not long ago was offering one of his illegitimate daughters to take to the camp. That pig of a man shouldn’t be Rose’s father.

Madeline bit her lip. Victor would always be Rose’s father in her eyes. He had been there from the start, giving Rose all that she needed and using his money to find her. "I must speak to Rose first. I just wanted to give her time to enjoy her return. So please, don’t view me as a bad mother."

"I have questions but I don’t think you are a bad mother. If I am correct about my assumption of your secret, you are an excellent mother to keep her away from him. Your king is a bastard. Now I have other questions," Zayne said, curious about why Madeline would get involved with James.

"It is nothing like you think. His family are here already," Madeline sighed, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself.

Zayne inspected the three carriages parked before the front door. "Will they not accept her?"

"Her aunts will be a bit nosey but then they will spoil her like they do with Anna. Victor’s mother on the other hand is a need for caution. Young men like you only need money to impress a family but for us ladies, sometimes it feels like we can never impress the mothers. I came from a fallen home. I’ve yet to properly impress her," Madeline said, worried about the reunion.

"As I told Rose, anyone who doesn’t accept her is a fool who will miss out. Excuse me in the early for saying something considered rude if any of them insult her," Zayne said, offering his hand to Madeline to help her out of the carriage.

Madeline smiled, placing her hand on Zayne’s. "You don’t need to be excused. I often find myself having a little battle with them. You would make a fine son-in-law. I am rooting for you."

Zayne and Madeline exited the carriage joining the others.

Madeline went to Victor’s side. "You must speak to your mother before she says something ridiculous. Today is not the day for it."

"No day will ever be the day for her antics. I have never allowed it before and today will not be the day I ignore it. Besides, I didn’t invite her today. Only my sisters,’ Victor said, looking ahead at his mother’s carriage. "I only told her that Rose is safe. One of them must have told her that I invited them for dinner."

"It is expected. Your sisters love to talk and unlike you, they are afraid of angering your mother. I am afraid of angering her at times. I don’t want to hear the lengthy speech of how you’ve settled or how I ruined your life. Not before my daughters. Rose’s return should not be ruined," Madeline said, speaking fast as Anna and Rose approached her.

"It will not be ruined," Victor promised.

"Good," Madeline replied, turning to her daughters. "We should go inside to drink something warm. The weather feels a bit cold."

"I hope they have brought gifts. Come, Rose," Anna said, holding Rose’s hand to pull her inside.

Rose almost tripped at first but she kept up with Anna. Anna’s excitement started to rub off on Rose. From what Anna described, Rose would love her aunts.

"Maybe our cousins are here with news from their home."

"Slow down before one of you falls. Those two," Madeline sighed, following her daughters before they hurt themselves.

Zayne was left with Victor walking at the back to go inside.

"When you are ready, ask for a bottle of wine. You will need it after all the questions they will ask you. I would be kind to offer one of my best bottles to you. While I am being kind, you must know that whatever you said to the king has everyone rushing to hide their little secrets. A secret order has come out to clean the kingdom," Victor revealed.

"You know, once you go away the kingdom will be back to normal. I say this because I was once close to him. James won’t change. Once that truce is signed, he’ll go back to his old ways. I don’t want war but I would like for you to find a way that the kingdom doesn’t go back to shit."

Victor motioned for the carriages to be taken away. "If it must come to war, give me a heads up so I can take my family to a ship and get away from here."

"Will do," Zayne replied. "But it will not come to you needing to leave. Just stay away from the palace like you do now."

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