Conquering His Cold Heart

414 Five

It was around 4 AM in the morning. Jerome was still sitting on the chair in his workroom, checking the wall clock every two minutes. And because he was watching the pendulum swinging for almost the whole night, without getting a wink of sleep, he was beginning to feel dizzy.

“Ugh!” He massaged his forehead and mumbled to himself, “When did His Majesty start to head back from Orsenia anyway? I thought he would be here about two hours ago.”

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. He then rested his chin on his crossed palms and thought while being worried about the King’s safety, ‘I hope no obstacles arose in his travel back… Or in his travel there… or during his time in Orsenia.’

Letting the King leave his sight and not getting any information on his whereabouts was taking a toll on Jerome’s peace of mind.

He closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. And mumbled again, “If he doesn’t arrive in time for the ceremony tonight then there is no telling what the people will say or do.”

All his worries suddenly vanished when he heard the commotion outside, near the gates. He quickly got up from the chair and rushed outside in no time.

He was running at such a fast speed that he skidded when he tried to stop himself before he collided with the guards who were standing in front of Everard.

“Whoa! Jerome!” Everard was taken aback by Jerome’s presence because it was still way too early in the morning and he didn’t expect Jerome to still be there in the castle.

Jerome gave a deep bow to the King and greeted him, “Welcome back, Your Majesty. I hope you didn’t face any trouble during the travel.”

.....

Everard looked at his guard who had accompanied him last and then thanked him before sending him off for resting.

He then finally focused his attention on Jerome, who was patiently waiting for the King to answer him. “The travel was really smooth, thanks to your idea of having just one guard at a time.”

“I am glad to hear that.” Jerome heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that. He began to walk beside Everard.

And then he asked again, “And how did the meeting with the Crown Prince go?” He glanced at Everard’s face. The King just looked a bit tired. He neither looked sad nor angry. So, he made a guess, “I hope that it went well too.”

“Oh, yes. It went really well.” Everard had a huge smile on his face when he said that.

Jerome was relieved to hear that too. After listening to the gist of things that were bothering him for the whole day and night, he stopped questioning the King for now.

“I will ask the maids to prepare a warm dinner for you. You should then get enough sleep before the ceremony begins.”

Everard was glad that he didn’t have to ask Jerome to stop interrogating him. He was tired from all the running and was feeling way too sleepy because he hadn’t had any sleep for two nights straight.

“Yes, please. I will dive right into bed after eating something light.” Everard kept on walking towards his chamber while ordering Jerome, “Ask the maids to bring the food to my bedroom. And ask them to prepare the bath too. I want to bathe before eating.”

Right after saying that, Everard chuckled to himself because he recalled how Alexander was teasing him for looking dirty and smelling bad.

Jerome slightly tilted his head to the side when he heard the King laughing to himself. And as he headed down the other corridor to pass the King’s message to the related maids, he wondered if something good had happened in Orsenia.

‘I hope the two of them worked out their differences.’

—

Everard was already deep in his sleep when the maids came to inform him that his bath was ready.

Seeing the King fast asleep on the sofa, they were reluctant to wake him up. So, rather than disturbing the King’s sleep, one of them grabbed the blanket from the bedchamber and covered the King as gently as she could.

And without making any sound, the maids left the King’s chamber.

—

“Your Majesty, it’s time for you to wake up.”

Everard knitted his brows and groaned when he heard Jerome’s voice in his sleep.

Seeing the King going right back to his sleep, Jerome pleaded again, “Your Majesty, we are going to be late. Please.”

Everard gulped and finally forced his eyes open when he heard Jerome begging him to wake up. “What time is it?” he asked in his throaty voice, his eyes still shut close.

“It’s already five!” There was a sense of urgency in Jerome’s voice.

“Five?” Everard flung his eyes open and then narrowed them at Jerome for disturbing his sleep. And he even scolded the poor man, “Why would you wake me up so soon then? I was having such a nice sleep! I will eat and bathe later when I wake up.”

He pulled the blanket and covered his face rather angrily. And then said in a grumpy voice, “Now, leave me alone! And don’t wake me up until I get up on my own.”

Jerome kept on staring at the blanket for a few seconds, contemplating if he should let the King sleep for a few more minutes or if he should try to wake him up again.

‘There are so many preparations left to do. I better wake him up now. Else we are going to be late.”

Thinking that, he dared to speak again, “Your Majesty, if we don’t start preparing right away, we aren’t going to make it to the Great Hall in time.”

“Argh!” Everard flipped the blanket with his legs and glared at Jerome. “It’s just five, for heaven’s sake! Just how much preparation time do you need from me? I haven’t slept for two whole days! And you expect me to attend the ceremony with just an hour of sleep?”

Jerome blinked twice and then mumbled in a somewhat confused manner, “Uh… You’ve already slept for more than 12 hours, Your Majesty. It’s… 5 PM, not 5 AM.”

It was now Everard’s turn to be baffled. “W-What did you just say? It’s already 5 PM?”