The Forgotten Princess Rose
Chapter 177

Chapter 177: Chapter 177

Kiara wished to throw her plate at Henry’s head for speaking of this now. She heard the same rumours but ignored them since her father wasn’t a stranger to giving them illegitimate siblings.

Henry was meant to be trying to show their father he would make a good crown prince to irritate Mateo yet he was bringing gossip started by maids to the table.

"That’s not possible. All your siblings near your age have been in the palace. Some became too sick to see many winters. Stop listening to rumours which will only make your mother angry with me. I will hang who repeas these rumours," James said, lucky that Lilian was leaving or she would not let him rest.

"Is it just rumours?" Lilian asked. "I have witnessed you claim it to be a lie and then introduce a child I must find room for in the palace. I have lost count of how many bastards you have now."

"Mother," Kiara spoke up, finding this out of line for her mother.

James raised his hand to silence Kiara. "You want to speak of this in front of our children? At dinner which I prepared for you as a parting gift?"

Lilian didn’t have anything to lose since she was already being sent out of the palace. It was just a short trip now but later on, James could have her stay outside the palace forever. "You brought many problems before us when they were only children. They are grown up now so if you have another child, tell us."

James clenched his fist to refrain from hitting Lilian before their children. He respected her that much not to but she did not respect him. "Be the good wife you were raised to be and stay silent. When you speak, it only makes my ears hurt. A woman is to be silent."

Lilian smiled. "I have always been a good wife to you despite the many times you have embarrassed me. I have found a place for the children you have with other women."

"The ones you didn’t kill along with your father?" James asked, refusing to let Lilian paint him out to be a monster before his children. "I can do as I please since I am the king. If not for how much I loved you, I would have had you locked away for killing my other children. You have never once apologised for taking my children from me."

"And I will not. I did what I needed to so my children would not be challenged," Lilian said, her heart at ease because she did it for good reasons.

Her father was the one to start it off so she had a clear path to becoming the queen and her son would be the only choice for crown prince but as her marriage to James started and went on, she grew tired of hearing about another child.

Kiara looked to Henry as the one who started this mess. Why would he use this moment to speak of those things? She refused to see the others as her siblings.

Lilian picked up a glass of water to quench her thirst. Her time of speaking up had not come to an end yet and when it started again, she wanted to be ready.

"There is so much talk about children these days and I don’t know what to believe," Kiara started, trying her best to shift the conversation to something else.

The one thing that greatly annoyed her was seeing her parents argue over her father’s bastards. Those children shouldn’t have ever existed and if she were in her mother’s position, Kiara would have killed them too. For her, it would never have reached the point of her husband seeing another woman.

This talk about cheating made Kiara think of Alexander going to see Rose. She would love nothing more than to dispose of Rose. To personally see her rot away somewhere and then later kill her but first, she had to find her.

"I have heard that Lord Ambrose found his long lost daughter," Kiara revealed, knowing her father’s dislike of the lord would shift his focus.

Lilian stared at Kiara in disbelief, her mouth falling open. They couldn’t have found the girl.

"Mother," Mateo spoke up, confused by his mother’s shocked expression. Didn’t they hate the lord?

Kiara noticed it as well and found it odd her mother looked as though she heard very bad news. She only knew of her father disliking Lord Ambrose but what was her mother’s story?

"You just startled me with that news," Lilian spoke softly. "Are you certain it is Lord Ambrose’s they spoke of?

Kiara nodded her head. "The news has travelled well to reach the palace. He is a lord so many will speak about him. Are we expected to do something for him since he is still a lord?"

"No," James answered. "We won’t do anything for that bastard. This is another story I will need to end. That bastard general is already having me do too much to hide the missing people."

"I can take care of Lord Ambrose for you. He leads the nobles who disrespect you. If I do not help now, it will go on when I am king. Allow me," Henry requested, needing the chance to prove himself.

James tapped his fingers on the table as he thought about Henry’s offer. He wanted Victor dead but he didn’t trust Henry would succeed. Despite Henry’s youth, James recalled his old friend’s skills with a sword. He could not lose his crown prince.

Lilian fumed inside now that they were speaking of the Ambrose’s. She knew the real reason her husband didn’t like Victor who was once loyal to him and she would never forget it.

It didn’t have anything to do with the lie James spread that Victor tried to attack him. It had everything to do with a woman.

’I cannot leave,’ Lilian thought.

It was no coincidence to her that there were rumours of James having a child near Henry’s age and now Madeline’s girl was back home.

Lilian wanted to leave the table and send someone out to find out if it was true the girl was now back or if this was just lies like in the past.

"I hope this one does not send me letters wanting to meet," Kiara muttered, remembering the letters she had burnt from one of the Ambrose girls.

Lilian hid her hands under the table as they started to tremble. ’What has she told them?’ She wondered.

There was trouble looming near and though it was safer for Lilian to leave now should the truth come out, she wanted to stay to bury the past before it reached James’ ears. If he knew her role in what happened years ago, James might kill her. He was placing all the blame on Victor but Lilian knew she played a bigger role.

Lilian flinched when she was touched by Kiara. She had called Kiara a monster but she had done far worse things in the past. She had spent a year visiting the church in the palace every morning to be forgiven for her actions.

Back then, Lilian couldn’t control her jealousy and had to remove the one bastard she knew James would pay attention to all because of Madeline.