Chapter 267: Lunch In The Fields
Rose was grateful for the interruption. Caius hadn’t seemed satisfied with her apology, and she was a little lost on what else to do, but the coachman approaching seemed to distract him for the moment.
At least it ended whatever it was he wanted to say and he no longer argued with Prince Rylen so that was a good thing.
Rose stepped to the side as the mat was laid down and the basket was placed on it. It was a decent-sized basket, covered in a napkin. This was clearly lunch. She was certain the basket held more than it showed.
As soon as the basket was placed on the spread-out mat, the coachman bowed and retreated. Rylen and Thomas did the same, bowing and leaving. Rose nearly collapsed when she realized this was just for her and the crown prince. She didn’t want to be stuck alone with him again. The carriage ride was more than enough.
She glanced at the crown prince, and he looked at her with a bland expression. Rose shuffled on her feet, not exactly sure what was going on. Was she supposed to sit on the mat with the crown prince? There was certainly enough space for two, but that wasn’t nearly close to the problem.
"Won’t you sit? A moment ago you were whining to Rylen about how hungry you were," Caius stated with disapproval.
Rose couldn’t recall having such a conversation with Rylen, but there was no point trying to convince the crown prince of that. Whatever had got him in this sort of mood would most likely only get worse and she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his moodiness.
Rose nodded and sat at the edge of the mat, keeping the basket in the middle. She folded her legs to the side and sat as ladylike as the dress would allow her to sit on the mat. The ground felt very hard underneath, and even the mat didn’t soften it.
The crown prince didn’t sit immediately, not until she started to unpack the items in the basket. Rose didn’t need anyone to tell her it was going to be her job.
She pulled out a round of aged cheese, which she unwrapped from its cloth, alongside slices of cold roast chicken seasoned with herbs from the palace kitchen. Two dense loaves of brown bread were halved, and dried figs nestled in the corner of the basket.