The Broken Prince's Love

It seemed like the most important people were already there and ready for the trial. The guests sat at the table and stopped talking as soon as the door opened.

Duke and Duchess Duremont were present as well as Duke Lamont, Luciano and Selena. The three dukedoms had obviously appeared during such an important trial. That wasn't special unless one pointed out that it was new for Selena to stand up to her sister instead of staying home when that woman was involved.

It wasn't surprising to see Viscount Valerian here either, much like Cedar wasn't shocked when he spotted Lady Peril's fake expression of concern.

Leon was there too and would act as a secondary judge, even if the emperor would be the one making the decision. He would just back Theodore's judgment, so this was unnecessary and merely supposed to keep up the appearance of a fake trial.

Camille's presence here actually wasn't needed at all either.

But still, the dowager empress sat here as if she owned this room. She was much too confident when she met her son's gaze and glared right at him. Apparently, her strategy would be playing the hurt mother who was upset about her child's betrayal. After all, she had appeared with dark rings below her eyes, and her face almost seemed a bit thinner. Either she hadn't been treated well in the cell, or she had purposefully eaten less and slept less to seem pitiful now. Or both. Either way, she seemed to use her arm as a chance to gain sympathy. She wasn't even hiding that she was injured, even though she normally hated flaws. By now, she had been granted a bandage, but it was questionable whether the person treating her had had the necessary qualifications.

Cedar told himself that he didn't care and looked away. He ignored how his mother stared at him with so much hatred that it wouldn't be surprising if she tried to stab him now. He just waited for the formal greeting. And despite the nauseating churning in his stomach, he seemed to do quite well hiding his emotions. He just smiled while keeping his head held up high. If this made him look like he was confident, his job was done.

Others didn't cover up their feelings that well. Lucille tightened her hold on her lover. She glared at Camille for a moment before looking away when she noticed that the other woman kept their eyes on the couple. After that, she seemed to be very content standing so close to Cedar that everyone would see that they were in a relationship.

Barely a second passed after the emperor entered, and the guests rose to their feet. The women curtsied and the men bowed to Theodore until he allowed them to stop.

The emperor's expression was cold, and he gave off the same intimidating aura he always had when he faced people he despised. “You may rise. I thank you for joining us during this trial against Camille Estien. I will serve as the judge since the incident took place on the palace grounds. I will not waste our time announcing more than that since Lord Astame will do it in a moment. Please take a seat.”

Everyone complied.

The royal couple strode over to the desk and sat down there on their fancy chairs. Two additional chairs had been placed next to the desk, and those were obviously for Cedar and Lucille. The prince followed his brother and guided his lover to her seat before sitting down next to her.

Theodore truly didn't waste a single moment. He spoke up as soon as everyone sat. “Now. Please go ahead, Lord Astame. I believe that we will only need to hear a short version of the incident before we begin. The perpetrator will deny what has happened, and we will have to listen to the witnesses anyway.”

It seemed like Leon would be able to begin immediately, but he had barely opened his mouth before someone lifted their hand.

Apparently, Camille was rather confident since she spoke without waiting for a response. “I object. Holding a trial outside a normal courtroom is-”

Theodore glared at her with so much freezing wrath that any sane person would have run away. “Be quiet. In this trial, you will only speak if I grant you permission.” Even his voice was dripping with resentment. He wouldn't be so harsh with anyone but Camille, but he was in the right here. No one was allowed to interrupt the judge. “The reason we aren't in a courtroom should be obvious even to you. Officially, you are still in confinement, or have you forgotten? You shouldn't be outside the estate I sent you to at all, so be happy that we didn't let you sleep in that burned-down house. We surely won't be even kinder and let you roam around freely within the capital.”

Normally, this should be enough to silence anyone. But Camille just complained again. “The same holds true for Cedar. But he-”

As expected, Theodore cut her off in a voice that was a bit louder now. “I told you to be quiet. Are you deaf? Cedar wasn't put in confinement until the end of his life like you were. I personally ordered him to stay there until I change my mind. As you can see, I gave my permission for him to be here, so his punishment is over. Remember that your position is completely different from his when you are the only one who was convicted of treason here.” So, he used that chance to reveal that he hadn't actually put a crime into Cedar's criminal record. But he didn't even wait for the reaction. He merely addressed Leon. “Please begin.”

Leonard gave Camille a freezing stare, which looked so uncharacteristically hateful for him. He didn't address the dowager empress though and just replied to the emperor. “Yes, Your Majesty. Six days ago, Her Majesty, the dowager empress, Camille Estien, visited the royal estate. She was allowed to enter since she had previously refused to eat, and His Royal Highness agreed to meet her to prevent her from starving herself. After they took a walk in the garden, they met Lady Valerian, who had been led there by a staff member that had been bribed by Camille Estien. Her Majesty suddenly revealed a dagger, which is also here as evidence today.” Leon gestured to the table, where the dagger lay on a porcelain plate.

There was still dried blood, which had to have been Cedar's, on it.

Leon didn't point that out and just continued his narration. “Her Majesty raised this weapon in an attempt to stab Lady Valerian. His Royal Highness stood closest to them and intervened. He managed to take away the weapon from the attacker and thus protected Lady Valerian and saved her life. In the process, he was injured himself as the cut on his left hand proves. The alleged issue is that Her Majesty's arm was broken during that incident. She wishes to ask for His Royal Highness to be punished because of that fracture. At the same time, His Majesty will punish her for entering the royal estate to murder one of the inhabitants. This trial today is supposed to uncover the consequences, even though most of the incident is known.”

If one looked at the expressions of the people around them, it became clear that the result was already decided. Everyone knew that the emperor would never punish someone who had hurt Camille. The dowager empress would be held responsible while the prince would get away without the slightest issue.

Theodore took over at that point again. “Thank you, Lord Astame. Now. I presume that there are a few questions about this matter. Of course, I have my own opinion about the person who came into the royal estate, raised a weapon and tried to kill an inhabitant of the palace. Especially when they end up blaming my brother for nothing. So, I have to fight the urge to punish such insolence immediately with rather harsh methods. I do wish to be fair despite my personal opinion though. I want to ask whether anyone here believes that the dowager empress' objection is justified. What do you have to say about this incident?” He gazed at the guests. That was only supposed to show that the nobles supported him and pretend that this mock trial was somewhat justified.

And the guests were happy to help him with that.

It wasn't surprising that Raymond raised his hand first. He received permission to talk and immediately began while glaring at Camille with pure hatred. “The situation is easy to discern. Her Majesty planned on murdering a young, innocent woman within the walls of the royal estate. His Royal Highness merely intervened. Her Majesty is responsible for every wound that may have been left because of that incident.”

Once again, Camille didn't seem to think before she acted. She opened her mouth directly without waiting for permission to speak. “He is related to that wench. Of course, he would be biased after you twisted the story as you see it fit.” Her expression was a mask of fury. She truly believed that she was being treated unfairly here.

Theodore gazed at her with something that looked like indifference, but the cold glint in his eyes betrayed him. “I told you to be quiet unless I tell you to speak. But I fear that we must allow you to give your version too. Go ahead. How do you justify attempting to commit murder in the royal palace?”

Camille replied immediately. “I did not attempt to hurt anyone. I was merely walking around in the garden when I met that redhead. She was as insolent as always, but I didn't even rebuke her for that.” She narrowed her eyes and turned her head to glare at her son. “Then Cedar suddenly became angry without a reason. He lunged forward and broke my arm without the slightest bit of remorse.” Cedar remembered that differently, but he had no chance to speak when Camille was in her own world. “That should be enough of a proof that he is unstable and nothing but-”

Leonard cut her off. “Please refrain from voicing things that are not required during this court. Aside from the fact that your judgment is questionable when you commit such a severe crime and just deny it afterward, you are also attempting to insult His Royal Highness, the second prince of Artias. It would be unwise to continue like this when His Majesty already penalized you for such offenses multiple times.”

Camille whipped her head around. “What? You-” She probably wanted to insult Leon now.

But Theodore already spoke first. “Naturally, I will list every single insult you ever voiced toward my brother, or anyone else for that matter. You will be punished for each point on that list. Be silent, and listen if you don't have anything to say.”

That certainly would upset the dowager empress.

So, Leonard spoke before she could complain. “It would be good not to distract.” His expression was still so usually cold while he resumed in a voice that lacked any emotion as he made eye contact with Camille. “Currently, we need to discuss this incident without any interruptions. If we return your attention to your testimony, we will have to summarize it the following way. You are saying that His Royal Highness suddenly attacked you after he went out of his way to see you so that you wouldn't starve yourself. That makes little sense, however, we will accept it for now. But it would be logical to hear both sides. Your Royal Highness?” He gazed at the prince.

Cedar felt how everyone's eyes landed on him. He showed the group a bright smile before he tried to voice this in a manner that wouldn't make his mother blow up. “I have nothing to add to the story Lord Astame told you. I was taking a walk with Mother until we met Lucille. Then Mother lifted a weapon. Back then, I did not recognize it, but I knew that it was some sort of blade aimed at Lucille's neck. I attempted to step in and wished to make Mother drop the weapon to avoid anyone being hurt. Sadly, I seem to have grabbed her arm with an unfavorable angle since I ended up fracturing her bone. I do regret that and wish that it could have been different, but at that moment, I was not able to think clearly.” His instinct had taken over. And theoretically, his mother was at fault for that instinct. Still, Cedar turned to Camille and continued. “If you had the impression that I did not show regret, I must have been too distressed to show my dissatisfaction with that event. I sincerely-” He didn't get farther.

Theodore already interrupted him. “Don't apologize for preventing a cold-blooded murder. It is quite obvious that you merely wished to help while someone else attempted to injure a third party.” He turned his head to Lucille. “Lady Valerian, you were the person at risk. Which version of the story is the one you remember witnessing?”

Lucille jolted a bit when she was addressed. Instead of getting scared, she hurriedly gave her testimony though. “Cedar saved me after Her Majesty tried to stab me. She grabbed my hair and pulled me closer to her while aiming the blade at me, so her intention was obvious. If Cedar had taken a second longer, she would have...killed me. There was no way for him to act differently. He doesn't deserve a punishment in any way.” She looked much too worried while saying that.

Theodore opened his mouth, most likely to calm her down, but he wasn't able to speak.

Camille slammed her left hand onto the table in front of her and raised her voice. “You are lying! It's my word against yours. I'm the dowager empress, so you can't drag me down with your lies!” There were so many errors in that statement.

Cedar only bothered correcting the most obvious one before Theodore told Camille to shut up again. “Mother, we have a dozen witnesses. The guards standing here in this room were the ones who were present while you attacked Lucille. Did you not notice that until now? I believe that the testimony of so many people should convince you that you may have misjudged the situation. Neither I nor Lucille are lying. Why would we do that? It was not our intention to harm you. We are only having this trial because you insisted on punishing me.”

Camille gritted her teeth while she looked around the room. She probably couldn't confirm whether those were the guards who had been present, but she was met with a lot of dislike. So, it seemed like she wouldn't win with this strategy. She immediately changed her approach and narrowed her eyes at her son. “It is more than logical that you should be punished for harming the dowager empress, your own mother! Even if I did make a careless mistake in a bad moment due to my deteriorating mental health, which is only affected because you abandoned me, you are in the wrong.” She looked around to make eye contact with the guests and spoke a bit louder. “There is one significant detail all of you seem to forget. Harming a member of royalty is treason. No matter what his reason was, Cedar committed treason. Again. And he did it to prevent a crime that would have been much less severe. Self-defense isn't a valid excuse.”

In an instant, five hands were raised.

Theodore acknowledged that but replied himself. “That's rich coming from you. You not only attempted to kill me multiple times, you also sent assassins after Cedar, and seven years ago, you ordered the murder of Althea Estien, my father's wife. If we start to punish treason accordingly, the person who holds the record for the most times they hurt members of the Estien family, which happens to be you, will go first. Are you sure you really want that?” He didn't wait for a response. Obviously, it would be unfavorable for Camille to snap now because she was reminded of Althea, but seemingly, he just hoped that distraction would make it better. He just allowed one of the guests to speak.

Duke Duremont looked rather grim, which was understandable since he had always hated the dowager empress. “I not only believe that calling murder a less severe crime is far from something a sane person would do, I am also of the conviction that self-defense is not treason. A title has nothing to do with the fact that a young woman's life was saved because of this fast reaction. One cannot accuse His Royal Highness of treason because of that, and any past incident has little to do with this. There is no need to speak about the rebellion, and I believe that Her Majesty only mentions it to distract from her murder attempt.”

Cedar knew that Duke Duremont disliked him, so he was rather thankful for the support. He himself wasn't sure whether he had reacted appropriately, so hearing many people say that it was fine calmed him a bit. But of course, this wouldn't make him feel much better. Just glancing at Camille's broken arm almost made him want to throw up. That had to be painful. But it was questionable whether the dowager empress even felt that.

Camille was busy fuming and glared at the people around her with a concerning amount of hatred. “What? Cedar broke my arm on purpose! How is that not treason? Something so gruesome has to be punished!”

Luciano quickly raised his hand and replied when he received permission from the emperor. “I would argue that this would not have happened if Her Majesty had not tried to attack them.” His expression was freezing while he said that. It truly seemed like his carefree grin disappeared around the person he and his family despised so much. “Her action directly caused a reaction that was aimed to lessen the damages. The choice between letting an innocent person die and stopping the possible murderer by physically intervening is easy to make. Since His Royal Highness is a member of the royal family himself, I doubt that this should have any consequences for him even if he did harm the dowager empress. Especially since he merely defended Lady Valerian.”

Camille lifted her hand and hit the table once more. She ignored how Leon glared at her for that and just pointed at Luciano while yelling. “Don't you dare to say such garbage! Cedar did it on purpose. He-”

Theodore cut her off. “Could you blame him? You tried to murder his lover in front of his eyes after he was kind enough to meet you so that you wouldn't starve yourself. I would have killed you for that. Cedar could have done much worse too. He could have grabbed a sword to cut off your hand right then. Are you aware of that?” He sounded so hateful while speaking that no one noticed that he had addressed Lucille as Cedar's lover.

No one but Lucille. But even so, she didn't get embarrassed. She was much too upset for that and merely balled her fists on her lap.

Cedar wanted to calm her down a bit while being silent to avoid disturbing the conversation. So, he slowly moved his hand to hers. Lucille interlocked their fingers as soon as they met. He was content with that, and it seemed like no one else had noticed. Maybe this would make him feel less guilty and stop the nauseating churning in his stomach.

Camille took a moment to process what the emperor had said before she replied. Now she was yelling even more. “Did you just threaten me?”

Theodore's voice sounded calm, but if one listened properly, there was a wrathful undertone there. “I said that I would kill you if you tried to hurt Blanche, yes. If you feel threatened by that, you must plan on harming us in the future. Don't act innocent, and close your mouth if you can only spout such nonsense.” He gazed at the dowager empress with a look that made it seem like he was watching an insect. But he didn't pay attention to her for long. He quickly turned his attention to the guests.

It was a bit surprising that Selena raised her hand and spoke up. She was usually rather quiet, especially when it came to Camille. But the icy glint in her eyes proved that she might be a bit too upset to bow down to her sister after losing her husband to that woman. Her voice, which was often weak and shaky around Camille, now only held disdain. “I would like to inquire one thing. I am unsure whether I misunderstood. Is it true that His Royal Highness got injured during that conflict?”

Cedar quickly replied. “Indeed, Your Grace.” He lifted his left hand, which thankfully wasn't the one he had offered Lucille, to show the bandage that was adorning it. “I, unfortunately, received a small cut during that incident. It is not a very deep wound, and it does not hurt, but the doctor insisted on bandaging it.” He normally would have denied the existence of that injury, but he had understood what his aunt wanted to do.

Selena's expression softened a bit while she gazed at him before she turned to Camille again and glared at her sister. Then she focused on Theodore. “Your Majesty, if His Royal Highness got injured too, this trial can be solved even sooner. It seems that Her Majesty did commit treason after all. She might have intended to harm Lady Valerian, but she ended up cutting His Royal Highness' hand. He is the second prince of Artias, so an offense against him cannot be ignored. Since that injury was caused by Her Majesty, she should have no right to complain about him defending Lady Valerian and himself with his actions.”

Theodore didn't give Camille a chance to complain and just replied immediately. “I agree. This situation only allows one kind of judgment. Naturally, we will wait for any objections that might follow, but I doubt that I will change my mind. Does anyone have any arguments against me convicting the dowager empress of both treason and attempted murder?”

No one complained.

Camille saw that as some sort of personal insult. Her face scrunched up, and she stared at the people around her with nothing but disgust. “Is no one here thinking about this logically? Cedar broke my arm. He has to be punished. Not me, the victim. You all can't just accept what those people are saying They want to condemn me! Theodore killed his father already, and now he wants to do the same with me!”

Theodore just sat there and let out a sigh. He massaged his forehead for a moment before he voiced a half-loud reply. “I should have done that a decade ago” He didn't even receive backlash for that comment.

Blanche just leaned over to cuddle against him and patted his arm in an attempt to calm him down a little. Then she spoke up while trying sounding unusually aloof. “I believe that that is all we need to discuss though. Still, we will prove that this trial is fair once more.” She turned to the guard who was standing behind her. “Sir Aldis, would you mind telling us which of the stories we heard today is closer to the truth? Did Cedar tell us what truly happened? And was his reaction justified?”

Unsurprisingly, the knight nodded immediately. “I vow on my position as Your Majesty's personal guard that it did happen exactly like His Royal Highness explained it to the court. If you inquire about my personal opinion, I will agree with his actions as well. He moved instantly, which was crucial since being even a single moment too late could have caused Lady Valerian's demise. One could not expect him to kindly ask Her Majesty to put away the dagger. He was forced to act and did so quickly and efficiently. There was no indication that he purposefully wished to harm Her Majesty, nor was he content with the result. He was as shocked as all of us were due to the sudden attack.”

Hearing that calmed Cedar less than it should have. He might receive support that proved that his actions hadn't been exaggerated, but at the same time, he had seemingly shown his panic after hurting his mother. And thanks to Camille's ‘gentle’ care, this was enough to make him feel like he had lost.