The Broken Prince's Love

Cedar hadn't been sure what to expect from the royal couple, but he wasn't disappointed. It seemed like both Theodore and Blanche were overly excited even about the very chance of him getting engaged to Lucille. He hadn't agreed to a lawful engagement contract out of worry about Lucille's age, but that hadn't dampened the empress' mood.

Blanche appeared in front of the couple just a day later and happily presented a piece of paper. She beamed, and her eyes seemed to shine while she lifted it. “There it is! Your royal blessing that will protect your union from now on. I hope I managed to write it in a somewhat aesthetically pleasing manner.” She handed the document over to Lucille while acting as if she were a child who had just found something fun.

Cedar skeptically scanned the paper and quickly noticed two things. Firstly, Blanche had put a lot of effort into this. The text was much longer than it had needed to be. And that wasn't even everything. The second point was much more important. “Am I seeing this wrong, or did you put the royal crest on it?”

Blanche immediately averted her eyes. “That was just to make sure. You know, because the dowager empress might cause trouble. If this is in effect, she can't do anything about your engagement though.” In fact, no one could do anything about an engagement if it was blessed with a royal decree. This basically forced the concerned people to marry unless they wanted to upset the royal family. Most likely, Blanche had only done that to prevent others from interfering, but it was still exaggerated. “You don't have to make this public, by the way. It's just for you two. If problems arise, feel free to use it though.”

It looked like Lucille hadn't understood what a royal decree really was. She just skimmed through the paper and got a bit red as she finished. “It's... I think it's nice. You did well. I mean...it looks beautiful.”

Blanche grinned at that. “Thank you. I did my best. This will have to persist for a while after all. You will need that until Cedar finally manages to make it official.” She nudged the prince with her elbow while smirking at him.

Cedar still hadn't gotten used to the empress acting like this around him. He wasn't sure whether this was nicer than her glaring at him. He was a bit too confused to make himself an opinion on Blanche. So, he just ignored that and held his hand to his lover.

Lucille quickly handed him the document and stepped closer to him so that she could look at it too while he read.

It soon became obvious that this paper certainly wasn't just a blessing but more of a guaranteed promise for the future. If Theodore, who was the head of the Estien family, told his brother that this union was a good choice, this was almost an order. Cedar wouldn't mind that, but he still worried about his lover. She shouldn't be forced in any way, so he would have liked a blessing that was a bit more subtle.

Apparently, the royal couple didn't wish for that though.

Cedar scanned the paper again and just admitted the obvious. “It's well-written. This is not as vague as we planned it to be, but we can't change that now. What worries me more is the reaction that this will cause. Mother will try to kill all of us if she sees that.”

Blanche became a bit more serious here. “Like I said, you don't have to show her or anyone else. If you want to wait, do that. For now, this will merely help us since any attack on Lucille could be treated as treason. And even if the dowager empress tries something, we will be ready to cut off the people she sends to us. After that, she will burn for what she has done. You don't need to worry about a single thing. We will take care of all of this.”

Cedar hoped so. He wanted his mother to leave this stage so that he didn't have to fear that his lover lost her life every single day, but he would rather not have to condemn Camille himself. He could just pray that the trial in a few days would progress without him needing to testify. After all, he could certainly say enough to convict Camille, but was he ready to incriminate his mother? He wasn't sure about that.

When the trial approached, Cedar got more nervous than he wanted to be. He tried to distract himself by seeing this as a lawful court meeting, but that was hard when everyone was biased.

They would discuss the assassination attempt from seven years ago. That day, someone had hired assassins who attacked the emperor twice in succession. During the second attack, Althea, who was now officially named a member of the royal family, had died after stepping in front of Theodore to save him. This had both been attempted treason against the emperor and actual treason because Althea had been murdered. Of course, whoever was found guilty would be punished quite harshly.

During the first trial years ago, Camille had framed a count, who had been executed for this crime. But Theodore had known the truth and eventually used fake evidence to push his mother and brother into confinement during the second trial. Questions about that had arisen, but the third trial had never been held due to the dowager empress' stalling for time.

If Camille was convicted again now in this new trial, she wouldn't just be put into confinement again. Officially, she should still be there for attempting to kill the emperor during the revolt, so an additional punishment would have worse consequences.

Cedar was pretty sure that the execution wouldn't come yet since Theodore hadn't played his games yet. That was a bit calming but not very much. After all, he knew well that his mother would suffer before Theodore would let her die. But there wasn't anything he could do about this aside from attending the meeting and listening to the judgment.

This time, the same people from the last trial had come too. It wasn't surprising to see that. Merely the fact that Lucille insisted on being there too was a bit unexpected. Cedar reminded her that she wasn't forced to sit here for hours to listen to those people accusing Camille of attempted murder and actual murder, but Lucille wanted to stay. She said that she wanted to be by his side. Even after he explained that it wasn't necessary, Lucille insisted, so he gave up and allowed her to sit next to him.

The trial quickly began, and it was obvious that only one result would be accepted here. Camille, who looked rather pale today, complained about this trial being manipulated multiple times and about another person's crime being blamed on her. But she remained unheard. Her broken arm didn't grant her pity from anyone but Cedar, who still felt bad but stayed silent.

Theodore led the trial again, and Leonard assisted him. Those two were relentless. Apparently, they had prepared for the trial with great care since the number of evidence they presented was impressive. At first, they summarized the results of the previous versions of the trial.

The emperor explained that a count had been framed and why only Camille could have done that without listening to the dowager empress' complaints. Then he used the same evidence he had presented during the second trial. That was still fake, but it seemed like Theodore had gained experience in how to fool everyone successfully. He talked until everyone believed him before saying that they would generously ignore the evidence that had been used in that trial since questions about its accuracy had arisen. He had already gotten the public's opinion on his side here, so that was unnecessary, but he probably wanted to crush Camille completely.

So, Theodore suddenly introduced new evidence. He acted like he was nonchalant while he presented a letter and gave it to his advisor to read it out loud.

Leonard began when the whole room was silent to listen. “This letter has been found in the house of a cousin of one of the involved assassins that day. It took a while to unveil the identity of the attackers, but since we are convinced now, we managed to find this. I will now read the lines that prove who the true perpetrator is. The letter begins with a reminder that part of the money has been paid and that the rest will be handed over once the contract has been fulfilled. Now the specification of what this contract contains follow.”

Now the question was whether Cedar would recognize any of this.

Leon cleared his throat before he read it out loud. “The main target is Theodore Estien, the emperor of Artias. Dark blue, almost black, hair. Tall. Attire in navy and gold, most likely with a sash and a long cape. He will partake in the hunt and be left vulnerable when he is in the forest. A sudden attack from the treetops should be enough to overpower him. He can fight with average skills. The royal guards around him are the greater danger. He is to be killed as quickly as possible. If he survives the first attack, which is to be assumed due to the knights around him, he will enter a carriage, leave the hunting grounds and most likely use the southern road to get away from the palace. At that point in time, fewer knights will surround him. Stop the carriage after defeating most guards, and then deal with it quickly.”

That would have been enough to prove that this had been an order to attack the royal carriage. And that wasn't even everything.

Leonard still continued. “The second target is a woman with long, brown hair and hazel eyes. She is expected to wear a fancy gown. She will most likely accompany the emperor in his carriage and sit across from him. That woman is to be killed in the most painful way possible. If that takes too much time, kill her quickly as well.” Leon lowered the letter. “The message should be clear, but I could read out the specifications about the security measures of the hunting grounds as well if it is required.”

Theodore spoke up after scanning the guests. “It seems that we can skip that part. There is no doubt that the perpetrator wrote this. The only question is who that person is.” He lifted a second document. “I have to admit that I immediately wished to confirm my suspicion and compared it to the writing of the dowager empress. It was a match. Please look at both of the documents if you have any doubts or questions.”

None of the guests dared to move. Of course, no one wanted to make it seem like they wished to support the dowager empress, so no questions would be posed.

The only person who didn't seem to get tired of complaining was Camille herself. She raised her voice while she glared at the emperor. “You dirty liar! I didn't write anything like that. Anyone could have written that. Theodore falsified evidence to punish me and Cedar last time too. Now he is trying the same. Are all of you too blind to see that?” She looked around while searching for help, which she wouldn't receive. She even stared at Cedar, most likely because she knew that he was aware of the truth.

This piece of evidence was truly fake. Camille had never written such a letter. Even she wouldn't be stupid enough to write down something that obvious.

But she had said it.

Cedar had been present while she had told the assassins those exact lines. He hadn't been the one telling Theodore about that though. Leonard had to have remembered those words as well since he had been instructed with them. Cedar had merely affirmed that this was something Camille had said. Then Leon had written it down while copying Camille's handwriting from one of the countless documents she had left here after her time as the empress.

It was understandable that the dowager empress was upset about this being used against her now, but no one would help. She had truly hired those assassins anyway.

Maybe Camille's pleading gazes were supposed to make Cedar help, but he just averted his eyes. He usually relied on his persuasion skills, but he wasn't even sure whether arguing against this huge amount of evidence would do a single thing. He wouldn't try it either way. Cedar would just sit here quietly while hoping that no one would ask him to speak. Honestly, he didn't want to reveal what he knew. He would definitely corner his mother if he opened his mouth, and he would regret that for the rest of his life.

Apparently, Camille had understood that her son wouldn't help after a short moment. This made her even angrier than she already was. She gritted her teeth and whipped her head around to the emperor to interrupt him. “Why isn't Cedar on trial too? He was convicted last time as well. His involvement should be investigated.”

Theodore looked a bit annoyed, but when he heard what topic she addressed, he seemed almost content but hid it under a stoic facade. “You mean that he would have to be punished? So, you acknowledge that you did something that would cause you to be accused of treason.”

Camille immediately shook her head. “No! I didn't do anything! But if you accuse me, you have to accuse him too. He was put in confinement because you distrusted him, right? So, put him on trial as well.” That was a bit pathetic.

Cedar could just sit there in silence with his stupid fake smile. Seeing his mother using such excuses was infuriating since he always came up with five better ways to argue for her innocence. He had felt the same thing during the trial seven years ago too. Back then, Camille had been unable to stick to one story, which had eventually caused her to be convicted too. Right now, it seemed like her words would rather be her downfall than her lifeline too.

Theodore didn't care for Camille's excuses at all. He merely put on a slight frown and met the dowager empress' gaze. “That was seven years ago. Cedar was fourteen then.” Fifteen. “I'm not sure if you can blame a child for their parent's mistakes. I wouldn't say that we need to accuse him of treason. He only came to confinement with you because he chose to accompany you, remember? I even asked him not to leave. We have no reason to suspect him. We didn't have one back then either. During the second trial, you suddenly spoke about a second attack when you shouldn't have known about there being two s at all and gave far too many details. Cedar never mentioned a second attack because he hadn't known about the first at all. He was just as shocked as I was when you suddenly spoke about it.”

That had been because Cedar had known what game his brother was playing. He had been extra careful not to trip over his words. He had just said what any other spectator had known while sounding as sad as possible. After the trial, no one had suspected Cedar in the slightest. He had only been put in confinement because his mother had messed up.

Camille balled her fists, only to flinch a little when she tensed the muscles in her hurt arm, which was helplessly hanging in a sling. That didn't keep her from glaring at those around her as her face scrunched up. “That's not how it works! He immediately came to you after the attack. Isn't that suspicious?”

Theodore, who had seemingly become a rather good actor by now, put on a surprised expression. “Not really. Why would it be? Some royal guards got help, and Cedar followed us with a group of knights to bring support for the fight. But when he arrived, it was already over. He immediately began searching for us and was shocked upon opening the door of the carriage and finding my mother, Althea Estien. I saw how he tried to save her, but unfortunately, he was too late. He was the one who pulled me out of the bushes where I had collapsed after being injured too. Nothing about that was suspicious. He didn't hurt me despite having the chance. Cedar and I were alone for a moment after that assassination attempt. He could have slit my throat while I was lying there, and then he could have blamed it on the attackers. Did he do that? No.”

The brothers had been surrounded by royal guards, so a murder hadn't been possible despite Camille's previous orders to her son, but apparently, no one here questioned that.

Merely the dowager empress was fuming. She glared at Cedar as if she was upset about him betraying her. Maybe that was because she had told him to finish Theodore off if necessary and now believed that he had had a chance to do so. Maybe hearing that her son had worried about Althea made her this furious too.

Cedar wasn't sure. He just remembered that he might have done one little good thing that day. After some royal guards had come back in panic with bad news, he had searched for his brother to confirm whether he was deposed of. He had opened the door of the coach after some searching and had found Althea's corpse, about which he still had nightmares. He had known what to expect, and yet, he had frozen in place for a moment while remembering how kind Althea had been to him despite his rivalry with Theodore. Then he had jumped inside to check her pulse and tried to feel her heartbeat or her breath. He had confirmed that she was dead multiple times before giving up and searching for his brother. He had found Theodore between a few trees a minute later. Unfortunately, he had been the first person to see the emperor, which had forced him to bring the bad news about Althea's passing too.

Theodore obviously remembered that Cedar hadn't tried to kill him and that his brother had simply helped him walk back to the hunting grounds despite his wounds. And it seemed like he had watched Cedar examine Althea back then too.

Cedar didn't want to think about that day much, so he pushed those thoughts away. Thankfully, he wouldn't need to concern himself with the details, but even now, he was convinced that he would end up being much too upset in the end. He might even dream about Althea tonight if he was unlucky. Hopefully not.

The rest of the trial was similar to the first half. Theodore presented pieces of evidence that didn't leave any questions. Some were real, many were fake, but no one questioned any. Camille tried to argue each time but did it in a rather helpless manner. Her yelling and fury didn't quite help her when not a single person here was on her side anymore.

Thus, the trial ended without anyone expecting a different verdict. No matter how often Camille tried to scream and object, the result was announced at some point.

Theodore was smug about it. He had asked the guests whether there were any questions or doubts about this multiple times. No one raised their hand, so he cleared his throat and began to voice the final verdict. “This was surprisingly easy for a trial that has been reopened thrice now. We will convict Camille Estien for treason against me, the emperor of Artias, as well as my mother, Althea Estien, the second wife of the previous esteemed emperor.” It was only this ‘easy’ because he had suddenly come up with enough fake evidence to convict an entire village. No one would be able to defend themself against such accusations.

As expected, Camille refused to accept that though. She just began arguing again. “All of this is lies! I never hired those assassins! You have to listen to me! Are you going to put me in confinement again, you cheater? How will that help you? No one here will stay on your side when the truth is revealed. You couldn't stop at killing your father. Now you also want to frame your mother for treason!”

Theodore looked like he wanted to ignore that at first, but he couldn't stay quiet. He turned his head to her and gave her a little smile. “You are not my mother. Althea is. Do not use that title. Now. What about those pieces of evidence didn't convince you to drop the facade? Can we just accept the result when everyone here knows the truth anyway? This is the third time we had this trial, and I don't want to redo it again.” He focused on the guests again. “That would be bad enough, but this wasn't all that Camille Estien did. She also attacked my brother, the second prince of Artias, and another member of the royal family just a short while ago.” It seemed like Theodore hadn't planned on keeping quiet about this from the very beginning. He hadn't said it outright, but he had hinted at Lucille being Cedar's future wife in some way. “Aside from that, there are countless other crimes related to her. Those are still being investigated.”

Of course, the emperor would use the numerous crimes Camille had committed to crush her pride. Cedar already braced himself for it while he tried not to worry about whether Camille would attack someone.

Theodore seemed content with himself while he spoke. Though, the topic might be too serious for him to be completely gleeful. “As you can hear, it is a rather dire situation. The current dowager empress of Artias uses her power to hurt innocent people. She harmed many, including members of the royal family, and tried to murder the emperor at least twice now. Camille Estien is a threat to Artias in its entirety. As the dowager empress, she has more power than many others and is the second most powerful woman in this nation. Of course, we cannot continue like this.” He made eye contact with Camille and smiled at her.

It seemed like Camille still hadn't understood. She was angry but not furious enough to have grasped what would follow. Her own personal catastrophe was only seconds away. Her world would break in two as soon as the emperor voiced that punishment.

Theodore didn't feel pity though. “Thus, I, Theodore Estien, the emperor of Artias, hereby announce her punishment as the following. To protect the royal family, the nobles and citizens as well as the whole nation, I will take away the power to hurt others from Camille Estien. For her evil deeds and vile crimes are much too malicious to be excused, I will make sure that she cannot damage Artias any further. I will not allow her to keep the right to order others around. Today, Camille Estien shall be stripped of her title as the dowager empress.”