The Broken Prince's Love

Cedar couldn't help but feel content when he had Lucille in his arms while Raymond entered. Even though this didn't erase his previous frustration. He had found something important just now, and suddenly pulling away was unsatisfying. He needed to read that document, and since he knew where it was, it probably wouldn't take him more than a minute. But he doubted that he would get another chance today. Great.

Cedar showed the other man a bright smile before he spoke up. “Good day, Lord Valerian. I hope that you have been well. Did your sudden trip cause you any issues?”

Raymond scanned the prince, who was still hugging Lucille, with obvious skepticism but still replied while bowing. “I wish you a wonderful day, Your Royal Highness. I am honored to welcome you into this mansion today. My trip did not cause problems of any kind. I sincerely apologize for being absent during your arrival. I wished to inform you first, but I knew that the letter would not arrive in time. I hope that my butler greeted you properly.” He said that but didn't expect a response. He already focused on his daughter. Apparently, he wasn't sure whether to speak up despite being the host, but he brought himself to do so after a moment of silence. “I wish you a nice day as well, Lucille. I hope that you have been well.”

Lucille was definitely nervous. She only calmed down a bit when she realized that her father wasn't mad, but she couldn't hide the fact that she felt bad for going through Raymond's desk. “Good day, Father. I haven't had any issues. I hope that it was the same for you.”

Viscount Valerian replied quickly this time. “Indeed. Aside from the sudden invitation today, nothing special happened. I apologize for making you wait. Was the way here difficult for you to...” He paused after that and gazed at the couple's attires. He only seemed to notice that his daughter and the prince were wearing clothes that made them seem like servants now. “Did you accompany the servants visiting the market?”

Cedar responded with a bright smile on his face. “Indeed. We believed that masking as servants of the royal palace would keep us away from trouble. After all, any thief would know that the royal guards are accompanying us, and no person with ill intent would identify us as the nobles they have to target.” To be honest, the knights following them had made them stick out much more, so he wouldn't have been surprised if someone had asked who they were. But no one would assume that the prince of Artias would run around outside with the woman who was rumored to be his future fiancée.

But they couldn't go out without guards, so he could stop complaining about them. Something else was much more important anyway.

Cedar showed the other man a bright smile before he changed the subject. “And you can rest assured that we did not mind waiting. The only thing that did bother us was the document you wished to present to Lucille. After all, we could not find it on the desk.” Because that document probably didn't exist. That was Cedar's way of telling the other man that he had guessed what his plan was.

Raymond narrowed his eyes for a moment before he replied. “I have to admit that I made a mistake. I asked you to come here so that you could take a look at something I prepared for you already. However, I forgot to place the document on the desk.” He walked to the desk and put down a small suitcase, which he opened. He quickly pulled out a folder and a singular piece of paper, which he placed on the desk. “I will need to sign this, and then it will be legal as soon as Lucille agrees.” So, that document did exist. That was somewhat surprising. Now the only question was what kind of document it was.

Lucille tried to catch a glimpse of it, but it didn't look like she was able to read it. She hadn't acted like she had an idea what this was about either.

Cedar could guess that he would be asked to leave the room for them to discuss this, but there was something about Raymond's expression that made it seem like he might have another goal too. Cedar didn't mind. He could also have a chat with Lucille's father. He looked at his lover and spoke to her in a gentle voice. “You still need to bring something to your room, right? Maybe we should do that before we deal with this. What do you say?” He had offered a chance for him to speak with Raymond in private like this.

Lucille didn't seem to notice that hint, but her response was helpful anyway. “Right. I want to put something away.” She made eye contact with her father. “Would you mind if I quickly go to my room to take care of that? I will be back in an instant.”

“Go ahead. His Royal Highness and I can wait here, and the butler will accompany you.” He only said that because he wanted to make it clear that he wanted to talk to Cedar.

Lucille understood that too. She glanced at her lover and then at her father before nodding. She had probably assumed that Cedar would accompany her, which he would have done in any other scenario. “I will hurry and come back as soon as I can.” She slowly let go of her lover.

Cedar released her while he smiled at her. “Take your time. We don't want you to rush.” He couldn't help but relish in the strange feeling in his chest that developed when Lucille nodded at him before she left. Cedar stared at her back while she opened the door and stepped out of the room. He kept his gaze on her until she closed the door behind her. Then he turned to Viscount Valerian, who had already focused on the other man.

Raymond looked rather grim now. He didn't bother to hide how upset he was, but that wasn't very intimidating. He only stood there for a few seconds before he spoke up. “Maybe we should have a short conversation in private while Lucille is gone. Since it seems like this is not just a small game for you.”

Cedar showed him a bright smile. “Of course, it's not a game. I adore Lucille. I want to take care of her as well as I can. But I doubt that talking about that will help you much. I want to give you a chance to address what bothers you, even if you have made what you think of me clear already.”

Raymond was silent for a moment. He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms, tensing in the process. He stared at the prince for a while before he began. “I will not take back my word. I said that I would allow Lucille to do what makes her happy. If that includes being with you, I will have to accept it, even if I don't like it for an abundance of reasons. I will give you my permission to marry Lucille. But I have three conditions.” Who was he to voice conditions? He had hurt Lucille much more than the prince had.

But Cedar understood that he wasn't a good person. Anyone would have qualms about letting their daughter get together with him. So, he didn't refute the other's words immediately. “I will most likely accept them. But I need to hear what they are about before I can give you a definitive answer. I am rather sure that I would do anything for Lucille though.”

Raymond gritted his teeth. He took a moment to calm himself down before he replied. “First of all, you cannot trap her in any way. Lucille will have the chance to divorce you and leave the palace no matter what. She can never be forced to stay with you. You can't threaten her or use her kindness to make her stay against her will. Her happiness is the priority. That is why you will accept her opinion, even if she does end up wanting to turn away from you.” He sounded so commanding, but he couldn't hide the slight bit of vulnerability in his voice.

He worried about his daughter.

Cedar would have liked to affirm all the things he had heard, but by now, he was pretty sure that this wouldn't be possible. Letting go of Lucille for even three days had wrecked him. How was he supposed to function without her unless he wanted to return to being the empty husk he had lived as for the first twenty years of his life? So, while he would never threaten Lucille and wanted her to be happy, he wouldn't give up on her. He could only hope that she wouldn't try to leave him, or they would have a huge problem. “I swear that I will do everything in my power to make her happy. Naturally, this includes paying attention to her wishes.” But not necessarily acting on them if they were connected to her leaving.

Raymond hadn't noticed that a direct answer had been avoided. He just focused on Cedar's face while trying to detect a lie, but he wouldn't be able to see through the perfect facade. So, he had to admit defeat and focus on something else. “You have to remember that promise. Secondly, wait at least one year before you get married. I want Lucille to be an adult when she decides to marry someone for the rest of her life. It would make me unhappy to sign a contract for her. I don't...want her to feel like I am agreeing to this because of a political advantage since that is not the case. Even signing an engagement contract now would feel odd, but I would survive it. However, I refuse to accept a marriage for now.” That wasn't a big loss.

Cedar hadn't expected that he would marry anyone as long as his mother was alive since he had always feared for that poor fiancée's life. Now he was utterly in love with Lucille, but that didn't mean that he worried less. He would favor waiting until his mother was defeated. Besides, he agreed that Lucille and he were very young, and he didn't want to rush her. “Naturally. Lucille and I would have to be engaged for at least a year before we can think about a wedding. So, do not worry about that. What is the third condition?”

Raymond tapped onto his arms while he pierced the prince with his gaze. He didn't seem to be in a good mood, so Cedar almost expected something more problematic now. But then he spoke. “You can't hurt her.”

That was the one request Cedar didn't even have to think about. “I care for Lucille, so I would never endanger her well-being in any way. I will not hurt her whether with my actions or my words. Should I swear that on my life to convince you?”

Viscount Valerian still wasn't too happy about this. He just kept staring at the prince. “I am not certain whether I can trust you in that regard. I won't even mention the revolt, your despicable mother or your political position in general, and yet, I have countless other reasons. I heard stories about you. You already fought people when you were young. From what I gathered, you managed to severely injure other people. Apparently, those were your teachers.”

For a moment, Cedar tensed and thought that this would be connected to his breakdowns. But then he heard about the addition. He had hurt his teachers on purpose during duels when it had been demanded of him. There was nothing problematic about that. He wouldn't mention his breakdowns though. “Those truly were my teachers but not the kind you would expect. They were mercenaries...” Or assassins. “And they instructed me in sword-fighting. I am not proud when I say that I was rather harsh on them, but that was what they asked of me and they agreed. During the duels, we made it seem like a real fight, so no one could hold back. Everything I did to them was done to me in return. Does that answer your question?”

Raymond clenched his jaw when he heard that. “I suppose that does make sense. Still, it does not get rid of my doubts.”

Cedar smiled at him as he replied in a polite tone to avoid provoking the other man. “Of course not. But I doubt that anything I could say would reduce your worries. The only thing I can do is take care of Lucille and make her happy. Correct? I can promise that I will keep all three conditions in mind and that I will pay attention to act upon them. Not because you told me to but because I care about my lover. I will always treat her with respect. Naturally, you can visit Lucille often and write letters. You would notice whether something is wrong then and could intervene immediately. But for now, you can trust that I will not hurt her, not force her to do anything and that I will not marry her this year.”

Viscount Valerian was silent in response. Just a few seconds later, someone knocked on the door. Raymond glared at the prince for a moment longer before he replied. “Please enter.”

The door opened slowly, and Lucille pushed her head inside. She was hesitant and looked so adorable when she came inside that Cedar would have liked to hug her immediately. But he didn't even need to move. Lucille immediately came to him while glancing at her father and then back at her lover. “I hope that...I did not take too long.”

Cedar greeted her with a soft smile. “Of course not. You came at the perfect moment. Did you put it back?”

Lucille nodded. “I did.”

Then they were done with everything they had come here for. But it was questionable whether they would just leave now when they had arrived a short while ago.

Raymond scanned the couple in front of him before he came to the conclusion that he had to invite the both of them. He would need to see the prince a bit longer if he wanted to spend time with Lucille. “We could sit down to drink some tea. I can have someone prepare snacks as well.”

Lucille opened her mouth and wanted to agree but stopped herself. She glanced at Cedar. “When do we have to leave? We need to return with the rest of the servants, right?”

Cedar looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. “We do have half an hour left before we have to leave. The cooks usually take a while at the market, so we should be able to stay a bit longer.”

Lucille's face lit up. “Really? That's good.” She turned to her father. “Then we can stay for tea.”

Raymond hesitated for a single second upon seeing his daughter's face before he replied. “Of course. I will have someone prepare it. It will not take long.”

In the end, the preparation of the cake had taken much longer than expected. The tea had come in warm, but the pastries, Lucille's favorites, had first needed to be made. It truly seemed like Raymond did his best to please Lucille, who might not have even noticed that. But even if she didn't realize it, she looked more than happy after they drank tea together. She was content with just a little of her father's kindness, which only made Cedar want to protect her more since he subconsciously feared the worst. But at the same time, seeing that smile on her lips as they left the Valerian estate was satisfying.

Cedar was happy with the meeting with Lucille's father because she had been happy, but he didn't get as much out of this as she did. After all, he already was focused on scanning their environment as they walked back to the market. He still couldn't find any signs of this being a dangerous situation nor did any suspicious person, aside from the dozen very inconspicuous knights behind them, follow them. Cedar still couldn't let down his guard. He was prepared to pull out the sword to defend Lucille and himself at any moment. They had barely reached the end of the street next to the Valerian mansion when he was distracted though.

Lucille squeezed his hand and met his gaze when he turned to her. “You said that you had a reason to search through Father's things. What was that for?”

He pondered how to phrase that for a moment. He felt like he would make her mad if he said it like it had appeared in his mind first. “It was to protect him and you. I wanted to make sure that he doesn't have any connection to one of Mother's puppets. I was a bit worried about her sending someone to betray your family. Luckily, it seems that your father is clever enough to stay away from anyone who would help my mother though.” He didn't want Camille to try anything ugly by using Raymond, so he had needed to make sure.

Cedar considered mentioning that odd document he had found last too, but he kept quiet about that for now. He would find a way to take a look at it later again, and then he would tell her. He didn't want to make assumptions about such important matters.

Lucille was silent for a moment, but she kept staring at her lover. That alone was enough to show that she was curious. She spoke up a moment later. “So, you are worried that she will try something? Your brother mentioned that...your mother was in a really bad mood because you told her the truth.”

Cedar still remembered that scene well, and he still felt horrible about it too. Now that he was with Lucille again and didn't worry about his own misery the whole time, he could only worry about his mother instead. “Theodore meant what I said to her after the trial. She purposefully revealed the thing about me coming to your house to make you hate me. And after we...parted ways that day, I wasn't feeling my best. Then she said stupid things, and I may have snapped at her. I said some rather unkind things. Along with the fact she lost her title that day and that I showed her that I wouldn't support her in the future, this ruined her mood completely. But apparently, she is completely isolated now. So, not much should happen.” Hopefully. He really didn't need his mother to try anything in the future.

But no matter how much Cedar would like to avoid confrontation, he knew that Camille probably wouldn't stop here yet. Her remaining resources were almost used up, so she probably couldn't prepare a physical attack anymore, especially since she was being watched at all times. But that wouldn't keep her from using psychological attacks. She could either try to separate Lucille and Cedar, or she would try to make him help her. Either way, Cedar had no intention of giving her a chance to attack. That was why he had needed to ensure that Raymond wouldn't be attacked either.

Lucille stayed quiet while he explained this and nodded in between. “But you didn't say anything bad to her. You only told her the truth. So, you don't have to feel bad about that.”

Cedar's logical half agreed too. His mother had said much worse to him, so she couldn't be upset now. But of course, he couldn't ignore that he had spent twenty years making his mother happy and avoiding her anger. Purposefully making her mad still felt odd. “Well, maybe you are right. I just feel sorry for the guards that had to drag her away afterward.” He didn't even want to think about that scene. So, he changed the topic. “But that doesn't matter now. She won't cause issues in the near future. Don't you want to ask something about your father instead? Our mysterious conversation has to have made you curious. Don't you want to know?”

Lucille was hesitant for a moment. Maybe she noticed what he was doing, or maybe she wanted to show that she trusted him. Either way, she gave in. “What did Father tell you?”

Cedar replied with a bright smile. “Oh. It was nothing special. He made me promise that I would never hurt you, and this wasn't the first time. He doesn't trust me at all. That is pretty unfavorable if I want to ask for your hand in marriage. But he did say that he would agree.”

Lucille averted her eyes immediately. She refused to meet his gaze and probably got a bit red too. But of course, she didn't want to show that and just leaned her head against his arm so that he couldn't see it.

Cedar was tempted to make her look into his eyes before kissing her, but he didn't do that. They were still outside the palace, so he couldn't let down his guard. For the rest of the way back, he focused on their surroundings and tried to determine whether someone that didn't belong here followed them. Thankfully, he didn't spot anyone. And yet, he didn't dare to calm down until they finally entered the palace again.