The Broken Prince's Love

A few days passed with nothing much happening.

Lucille was a bit annoyed about not being able to walk around, and the exchange of the bandages sometimes hurt, but she managed to endure all of that.

After all, Cedar was there to keep her busy. He spent most of his time sitting next to her as they chatted about different things. He kept her company during each meal and mostly stayed in between those as well. He had even brought her books for when he had to go outside for a while, which was extremely sweet of him. In general, he acted like a perfect white knight at all times and always seemed to know what to say. He even managed to calm her down as she prepared for her father's visit.

A week was over now, so Theodore had granted the viscount permission to come see his daughter, and Lucille felt like she was about to throw up. Her stomach was tingling the whole time, and she felt hot, even though it certainly wasn't too warm in here. She was just extremely nervous since she didn't know what her father would say about what had happened.

After all, she had been at fault to some extent, and now many of their servants were hurt or worse, and a portion of the house had been destroyed. Raymond would be furious, and she didn't want to face that.

But Lucille had no way to run away and just tapped her fingers on the porcelain as she drank the dozenth cup of tea. By now, she had probably drunk so much liquid that she wouldn't be able to sit still for the rest of the day, but she couldn't help it. Her hands were shaking, and she felt that her face was burning up as she kept her eyes on the door.

Cedar took the cup away from her and put it back onto the nightstand before speaking up. “As I said, everything will be fine. I'm here, and I won't leave the room unless you ask me to. And you don't have to worry about your decision being accepted. You have the emperor on your side. If he's in the room, your father can't do much. And if that man wants to blame someone, he will have to blame me.”

Lucille quickly shook her head. “It's not your fault if the dowager empress sends people to kill us. She is the one at fault.”

“See? So, you can't be blamed either way.” Cedar patted her knee for a moment before he withdrew his hand and beamed at her again. “There are two members of the royal family with you. Believe me, no sane person would start a fight here.”

Theodore, who had taken a seat on the other side of the room, looked up from his documents. “If you are this worried about your father, you must expect a harsh reaction. Obviously, I can interfere when it comes to that, so there is no need to worry. And I can promise you one thing. You can feel relieved if Cedar is the one calming you. He usually does the opposite of consoling someone, so you can rely on him not lying here. He will not allow anything to happen.” It almost sounded like there was a slight trace of amusement in his voice when he said the second part.

Cedar turned to his brother for a moment but didn't say anything before facing Lucille again. “In any case, you don't have to worry about anything bad happening. I will sit right here and say something if he does get insolent. He can't argue against me. But I wouldn't worry about him attacking you too much. You were hurt as well, so blaming you would be stupid. He will probably say some rather unkind things about me though. He hated me from the very beginning.”

Lucille pressed her lips into a thin line and looked to the side. She wanted to believe that her father was just relieved that she was fine, but she doubted it. Their servants were probably dead, and that had only happened because she had picked up an injured person. It was her fault if one kept in mind that she had known that she would meddle with dangerous matters. But she still wanted to hope. It would be nice to meet her father without a fight. “I hope that you are right. But I also don't want him to blame you. After all, you weren't the person that asked for an attack. Your mother planned it, and your mother was the one who insisted on everyone around us being killed. It's only natural that she is at fault.” She wiped over her eyes and tried to keep herself from shaking at the very thought of that incident.

Theodore spoke up in a calm voice just after she finished. “Of course, that woman is to blame. And we will make sure that she'll regret attacking you. After all, we are in the position with more power. There is nothing she can do against me shielding you and Cedar. You will be safe here for as long as necessary.”

Lucille gave him a weak smile. “Thank you, Your Majesty. It is-” She wasn't able to finish.

A knock came from the door, and the emperor replied. “Who is it?”

A voice from the outside responded. “Lord Valerian has arrived. He wishes to visit his daughter.” He was here already? Oh, no.

Theodore glanced at Lucille. “Are you ready then?”

She wasn't ready at all. She would have liked to ask Cedar to hold her hand, but that would have been a bit strange for a woman her age. So, she forced herself to nod as she balled her hands into fists.

The emperor turned to the door and spoke up. “He may enter.”

Seconds later, the door was opened, and Lucille froze in place. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but she had been convinced that her father would be angry. The most likely option had been him giving her the same cold glare he always showed when he couldn't vent his anger because they were in public. In those cases, he was extremely intimidating and towered above her while making her feel like this was the calm before the storm.

But Raymond didn't seem like a threat right now. He probably hadn't slept well for the past days, and his pale face revealed his exhaustion, looking even more gaunt than usual. But he didn't act like he was tired either. Instead, he rushed into the room and looked around in a hurry. As soon as he found Lucille, he came to her side and plopped down on the bed next to her.

Lucille had already been prepared to apologize for the severe consequences of her actions but froze in place when her father put his arms around her.

He was cautious as if he barely dared to touch her and was overly careful not to get too close to her stomach, but he hugged her. She couldn't remember the last time that this had happened.

For a moment, none of them said anything.

Then her father whispered something, which sounded as if he had rather said it to himself. “Thank the gods...” It took another few seconds of silence before Lucille realized what those small noises that came from him were. He was crying. The last time that she had seen him cry had been twelve years ago when her mother had left.

Lucille went into a state of paralysis as she realized that. He wasn't angry, and he hugged her? That seemed so unlike him. But this was unmistakably her father. This was the cold and composed Raymond Valerian. She almost couldn't believe it. But she felt how warm he was and heard how quiet sniffles left his throat. She wasn't sure what to do, so she returned the embrace carefully while tears pricked in her eyes.

It had been so long since she had hugged her father. She had been a little girl back then, and for a short moment, she almost felt like she was young again. But it was just for a second.

Then her wound complained, and Lucille quickly remembered everything that had happened in the past few weeks. But even if she wasn't a young girl anymore, she still enjoyed being hugged by her father just this once. She knew that she couldn't expect it to happen more often than this, so she made the most out of it.

She didn't know how much time passed. It felt like an eternity and like only a few seconds at the same time.

Then her father slowly pulled back, and she gave up on the short thought of trying to hold onto him that had crossed her mind. Raymond's face seemed to have way sharper features than normal, but it might only have looked like this because he was pale with dark rings under his eyes. The expression on his face was unusual for him too, which made him seem even more different. He was exhausted and dejected, but there were other emotions layered below as well. Regret and a little bit of anger too. He spoke up in a quiet and hoarse voice, which didn't sound like his normal authoritarian one at all either. “Are you fine, or does the wound hurt badly? What...happened?”

Lucille didn't know whether to fake a smile, so she just stayed serious. “It's alright. I was shot in the stomach with an arrow, but I seem to have been lucky. It didn't hurt any organs, and the bleeding stopped after the doctor sewed the wound. I'm getting pain medicine, so it isn't painful at the moment. Sometimes, it hurts at night but not for long. It's getting better with each day.”

Her father looked at her, and a deep frown came onto his features, which made her fear that he would get angry. But he didn't snap at her. He instead turned to the emperor and spoke up while completely ignoring all necessary formalities. “You said that someone purposefully sent assassins to kill my daughter. I can only think of one person when it comes to methods like this. Was that woman involved?”

Theodore didn't seem bothered even as the other man disregarded the protocol and just replied. “You are correct about that assumption. It seems like the dowager empress is behind this. She ordered those men to injure Cedar, and it sounded like she wished for Lady Valerian's death. The reason is probably because your daughter and Cedar spent a lot of time together. The dowager empress is a jealous woman, so she won't tolerate her son being close to anyone. As you can see, she knows no limitations.”

Raymond gritted his teeth at that. He glanced at Lucille again before facing Cedar. “You said that you would protect my daughter. It seems like you didn't do too much of that.”

The prince looked like he wanted to respond, but Lucille was quicker. “He did protect me, Father. He was the one that brought me out of the building while we were attacked. I think he killed a few men to get me out too. In the end, we were almost safe, but a man with a bow appeared. The arrow only hit me because I jumped in front of him. Then Cedar carried me to the royal guards and brought me here. If it wasn't for him, I...wouldn't be here anymore.” Saying that felt horrible.

Her father pressed his mouth into a line as he gazed at her with that strange expression again. It almost looked like he had been the one that was injured, even though he hadn't been present during the attack. His voice was quiet when he responded. “If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place.” He didn't say anything else, but this alone was accusatory enough to tell them everything.

Lucille wanted to speak up again, but Cedar already met her gaze and replied. “He is not wrong about that.” He slowly let his eyes wander to the viscount before continuing. “I intend to take full responsibility for that too. As you can imagine, I'm not too happy about my mother doing this, and I will gladly show her that. I know that I can never undo what happened and that we can't bring anyone back, but I can assure you that she won't get away with this. If she begins another war, she will be the one to shoulder the consequences. I will not let her hurt Lucille. I don't care what I have to do to ensure that.” His expression was full of determination when he said that.

Raymond still didn't look happy, but he didn't make any dismissive comments. Instead, he seemed tense as he scanned the prince's expression for signs of a lie.

For a while, the room was silent as the men met each other's gaze.

Lucille almost couldn't believe that Cedar had just promised that he would protect her once again. If the situation was a bit more relaxed, she might get embarrassed about it. At the moment, Lucille was much too worried though. At first, she wasn't sure what to say, but then she soon realized that there were a lot of things that she could ask about. So, she spoke up in a quiet voice. “Father, are you alright? Were there any incidents while you stayed at your friend's house?”

Raymond turned to her and slowly shook his head. “Nothing. I didn't hear about a single thing before I came back the next day and the estate was swarming with royal guards. It was complete chaos. I was told what had happened, and even then I wasn't allowed to come here to see you. I needed to testify a few times, and only then, His Majesty wrote that I could visit now.” He seemed bitter while he said that.

Lucille wasn't sure what this meant for her, but she assumed that it wasn't good. She looked down for a moment before speaking up again. “How exactly is the situation at home? How many people are injured?”

Her father's silence already answered her question. But Raymond made it even more obvious by putting his hand on her head while he spoke. “You don't need to think about that until you recover. You need to get better soon. You are still injured, so there is no reason to worry about things that can't be changed anymore.”

Lucille lowered her gaze. She dug her fingernails into her palms while remembering Mathilda's annoying babbling.

Surely, that maid hadn't been very loyal, and she had betrayed the whole family by selling information, but she hadn't deserved to die. Obviously, none of the other servants had been deserving of death either. It was a nightmare that so many had been gravely injured or even killed just because the dowager empress disliked her son speaking to someone a few times. It was sickening.

And it made Lucille feel worthless.

She had been the mistress of the house while her father had been gone. She should have made the others her priority. But instead, she had been the first to run away. She had cowered with her tail in between her legs like a coward, and now people had died because of that. Would the assassins have left the others alive if she had been dead by the end of the mission?

As if Cedar was reading her thoughts, he spoke up at that moment. “Those assassins already hurt the servants before they reached your room. They didn't want anyone to make a sound to avoid alerting me, which means that they killed on sight. It would have been worse if you stayed. Like this, they were distracted by their targets fleeing.”

Lucille's mouth opened, but she didn't get a single word out.

Her father already spoke with a serious expression. “You couldn't have done anything. You cannot fight, can you? You could have been among the injured ones as well if you had tried to intervene. It is good that you fled. If you were the target, the fact that you escaped will be enough to make that hag angry. What you have to focus on now is recovering so that that attack won't have been a success. There are enough people here that will take care of the rest.” It sounded weird to hear that he was angry at another person while trying to encourage her. And yet, both he and Cedar were right.

Lucille couldn't even lift a sword. She would have been slaughtered if the prince hadn't saved her. And she didn't want to die yet. Running away had been the best option. Still, she couldn't help but feel guilty, even if she knew that only the dowager empress was to blame.

Raymond slowly turned to the emperor while withdrawing his hand. “What will you do from now on, Your Majesty? This attack cannot remain unpunished. There have to be consequences coming from this. There will be a trial, right?”

Theodore replied in a calm voice despite the obvious fury that hid below his calm facade. “Unfortunately, I fear that a trial will not help us much. As always, there is no evidence to be found. And while we could just make some fake pieces of evidence, this wouldn't do anything unless we have some real proof too. The greatest problem will be finding out how the dowager empress contacts people outside and whether there are supporters among the nobles. To me, it looks like leaving her alive might be too dangerous after all. The last incident didn't break her neck yet, so we'll have to see how we will deal with her from now on. But all of that cannot be solved overnight. Thus, we need to protect the people that she wants to harm. For that reason, I want to let Cedar and Lady Valerian stay in the palace for the time being. Inside the royal estate, they should be protected from most attacks, and we can also keep that woman from poisoning them.”

Raymond was quiet for a moment before he replied. “For how long? For how long will this go on?” His voice sounded strained.

Theodore shook his head once before speaking up. “I cannot tell you that. I can only say that I will not let the dowager empress hurt any more people. The palace is the safest building in all of Artias. I'm not saying that that woman won't try to harm them here, but I know that she will leave evidence if she does try it. And you should know that I want to crush her more than anyone else. Every single one of her losses is good for us. I will not let her get off the hook after this. It may take some time to clean up the capital, but we will deal with it. That's why I would ask you to hold back. I don't want any other family to be pulled into this. Right now, she probably won't target your household specifically, and Lady Valerian is safe here. So, you need to lie low while acting as if you have no idea that the dowager empress is at fault.”

Raymond didn't seem very pleased when he heard that.

The emperor was quiet for a short moment while scanning the other's expression before resuming. “Keep that in mind for your own safety. If you suddenly do something she dislikes, it will not make the situation better for Lucille. Then the dowager empress would only have another reason to attack you. I think what happened shows what that woman is capable of.”

Raymond gritted his teeth and averted his eyes. He was fuming and probably thought about whether he would truly be able to sit still after the dowager empress had sent assassins into his home. It took a few seconds before he spoke up in a quiet voice. “Our family was neutral from the very beginning, ever since the struggle within the royal family became obvious. It seems like that will change now. I will stay silent for the time being to ensure that I don't endanger our household, but I will not forget about this. When the dowager empress burns, I will be the first one to toast to her demise. She tried to hurt my daughter, so she should know that she made herself an enemy for a lifetime.” He sounded like he was barely able to compose himself.

Lucille almost got a bit scared at that before she heard the last part. Surely, her father didn't just stray from his usual path just because she had been in danger. Of course, his mansion being attacked played a big role too, which might be the main reason for him to suddenly change his everlasting neutral stance. But still, it seemed like he had truly been worrying about her. Lucille blinked a few times and scolded herself for getting emotional because of something small like this. It was dumb, but at least she had been able to hide it from most people.

Merely Cedar immediately noticed. He gave her a little smile before patting her hand once. Just that little gesture was enough to make her calm down a bit. She still didn't know why his presence was so special to her, but it was a fact that he wasn't just a stranger anymore.

Lucille smiled back at him before turning to her father again.

Raymond was already looking at her with a conflicted expression. When he glanced at Cedar, it was obvious that he wasn't too happy about the prince being here. But he didn't say anything about that and directly addressed his daughter. “I just remembered. I promised someone to give you a message. Lady Lamont asked me about your circumstances rather persistently for the past few weeks. Is she allowed to know about you being here?”

Lucille froze at that. Of course, Fiona would be worried. If the duke's daughter realized that her friend had disappeared without saying a thing, she would doubt that everything was alright. But could Lucille meet Fiona just like that? She glanced at the emperor.

Theodore responded without skipping a beat. “Do you deem Lady Lamont trustworthy? Her family is certainly on our side, and her father is a minister, so it shouldn't be hard to come up with an excuse for her to visit. As long as she can keep quiet about your whereabouts for two more weeks, it should be fine for her to come for a few hours.”

Lucille's face lit up, and she quickly nodded. “Yes! She would never tell anyone about things that have to be kept a secret.” She would know. She had told Fiona so many horrible things, and never once had a single rumor spread. “I've known her for years, and we've always been close. And of course, the Lamonts are unquestionably loyal to Your Majesty.”

The emperor seemed content with just that. “Good. Then she can visit. I will ask her father to bring her along to the next minister meeting. As far as I know, she was interested in joining them anyway, so she will be happy to come. I'm not sure if telling them now is too late since the meeting will already be the day after tomorrow, but I'll send a messenger.”

Lucille nodded at that as excitement bubbled in her stomach. She was looking forward to seeing Fiona again. It had been a while, and she was brimming with thoughts that needed to be shared. It would be good for her to talk to her old friend again instead of just bothering Cedar the whole time. “Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I would be grateful if that was possible.” She smiled at the emperor before turning her attention back to her father.

Raymond looked like he intended to stay a while longer, and for the first time in a while, Lucille was fine with that. It was nice to speak to her father without being worried about what he demanded of her or about how he would react if the tool refused to do what it was asked to.

She probably wouldn't forget what had happened. How could she? But...

For once, she truly felt like he cared about her as his daughter.