Chapter 165: Deliberate Mistakes
The day passed so slowly that Rose couldn’t count the number of times she fell asleep. She was sure she slept twice before lunch and then thrice after lunch. By dinner, she was exhausted from sleeping too much. Rose hadn’t thought that was possible beforehand.
She never thought a day would come when she would look forward to seeing the crown prince, but that was how she felt. As long as they played chess, even though the entirety of the game came with only losses on her end, Rose didn’t mind. She would welcome any activity at this point.
When the time finally arrived, Rose found herself in front of the crown prince’s room, the guards opening the door to let her in. It bothered her how nervous she felt whenever she was to walk through the doors, even though she had done it countless times already.
She walked into the room and immediately knew the crown prince wasn’t in. It didn’t look like he had been in the room for quite some time. The fireplace was dead, almost like it hadn’t been lit for the entirety of the day, and with winter coming, there was starting to be a chill in the air.
The windows were closed, so it wasn’t too cold. Rose wrapped her arms around herself. It seemed she would be waiting for him. She preferred this, but the times he was here before her always caught her off guard.
She walked into the room and saw that the chessboard was still exactly where she had left it, which was practically impossible unless the crown prince had requested it to be so. The servants would have cleaned it as soon as they got there, but it didn’t look to have been touched.
Rose dropped down to the carpet, her eyes on the board. The chess pieces weren’t even out of place. It was exactly as she had left it the night before—the crown prince’s queen capturing her king.
Rose’s brows knitted in concentration as she picked up the pieces and started to place them in their respective positions. She remembered clearly—the rooks to the corners and the king in the middle. Rose was just about to place the pawns when the door was thrown open.
She jerked up to her feet to welcome the crown prince, but it wasn’t him. It was two young servants walking into the room with wood to light up the fireplace. They looked a little shocked to see her, but they both nodded before turning their gazes away.
Rose stepped out of the way and watched from the corner as they moved with practiced ease, pulling aside the iron grate and setting down the kindling: dry twigs, curled wood shavings, and a twist of linen scorched into char. One of them drew a piece of flint and a curved striker. Sparks leapt with each stroke until the tinder caught, smoldering into life with a thin thread of smoke. Carefully, they fed the flame, coaxing it until the fire took hold.