The Broken Prince's Love

It had been expected that Camille wouldn't give up after just a few days. She had nothing better to do, so she would bother her sons as much as possible. Being stubborn seemed to be a trait that ran in the family.

Likewise, Cedar didn't give up either. He refused to see his mother even after a little over a week passed.

Aside from that, it was rather calm. The royal heir seemed to behave like any normal baby would and didn't do much aside from sleeping. Apparently, Aurora had opened her eyes by now, and that was one of the most interesting topics for the servants. At least for those that didn't discuss how the dowager empress got more insane with every day.

Cedar didn't listen to most of the talk and just focused on what bothered him. And that was the fact that Theodore didn't touch a single document, which hadn't originally been a problem for the prince but for Leon, which made it Cedar's as well.

Because of this situation, Leonard kept trying to convince Cedar to finally start working to make up for Theodore's and Blanche's missing hours.

Cedar still had his doubts when it came to giving a traitor political power, but he had little choice here. He wasn't asked as he was dragged into the office and given a pen. So, he was busy rewriting contracts and taking notes about recent developments in the economy while listening to Leon's comments about how horrible the handwriting of some merchants was. There could be worse things to do, but to be honest, Cedar felt a bit uncomfortable suddenly doing what Theodore should take care of.

He didn't want to seem like he was trying to steal more and more privileges from the emperor before doing something stupid. Partly, because he feared that his mother would misunderstand, and partly, because it would be dirty to use such methods when Theodore let him and Lucille hide here. Of course, the emperor was awfully naive, but that didn't change the fact that he was currently giving his twisted brother a second chance.

So, Cedar had refused to sit at the desk, which was Theodore's spot, and had chosen to work at the table. He still felt bad, but after seeing that Leonard did a lot for the nation too, he didn't try to argue anymore. When he was done with his documents, he received a comment about reading as quickly as his brother before he left.

Cedar had expected to be left alone after that, but he soon noticed that this wasn't the case. But at least he met a pleasant person as he stepped out of the office. The men made eye contact, and Cedar immediately walked over to his cousin while being overly formal since they were in public. “It's a surprise to meet you here, Your Grace. What brings you to the royal palace?”

Luciano seemed a bit surprised to see the prince here. He looked at the door of the office before glancing back at his cousin. “I'm honored to meet you, Your Royal Highness. I came here to meet the little princess. I just finished that and wanted to bring some documents to Lord Astame. Seemingly, you also were in the office. Don't tell me you're working for your brother now as well.”

Cedar would like to lie, but he assumed that the other man already guessed what was going on. “In a way, yes. Theodore spends his time with his wife and daughter while I am allowed to read contracts for him. I wasn't asked here, but apparently, I have become some sort of second secretary.”

Luciano smiled when he heard that. “That's good. I know that you used to learn so much about politics that you could recount the constitution by heart. It would be beneficial if you can use that for the nation now.” So, he didn't see the issue with the traitor prince working in a position of power either? It seemed like everyone here was rather dense, or Cedar was overthinking it.

“Well, it means that I have to work instead of doing something fun too. Since I do have some free time, it's fine, but...we'll see how it develops. I can already see Theodore forcing me to do all the unpleasant things for him.” Hopefully not. If Cedar did any more than this, the rumors about him trying to gain power would boil up within days.

Luciano let out a small laugh at that. “He has more important things to take care of, so it's understandable. I don't like leaving my little sister alone either, but if I had a wife, it would be even more frustrating to go to work. We'll see what happens when you marry too and don't have any time for politics.” He didn't give Cedar a chance to comment about this being a bit stupid and immediately continued. “Anyway. It's a great coincidence that we met. I wanted to talk to you about something. It won't take long, but it's somewhat of a personal matter. Could we go to a private room for a moment?” He was still smiling, but the serious look in his eyes revealed that this matter might not be too pleasant.

Cedar could imagine that this was about his mother. He needed all the support he could get, so he had to talk to the one person who might know a bit about Camille too. “Of course. I don't have much to do at the moment, so we can take our time. Follow me.”

The prince brought his guest to the office, where Luciano handed over his documents, before he went to the third floor and steered toward his room. He opened the door and let the other man in while ignoring how skeptical some servants seemed to be.

Luciano looked around and spoke up when the door was closed. “This is your room? A guest room? I'm surprised you didn't take your old one.”

Cedar shrugged. “The interior was a bit too childish for my liking.” That room was connected to too many bad memories. Like the fireplace. “I thought that being here is better, especially since I like this wing of the palace way more.” He would feel kind of strange to live just a few steps away from Theodore. More distance was better, and he was closer to Lucille like this. “But that isn't really important. So, what did you want to talk about? You act like it's serious.” Cedar sat down at the small table in the seating area.

Lucian nodded. He sat down too before beginning to speak. “If you don't mind, I would like to begin by telling you something. You don't have to say anything. It would just be nice if you listened first.”

Cedar suspected that he would hear rather unpleasant things. But he was used to that, so he didn't bat an eye. “Naturally. Go ahead.”

Luciano rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands in front of his chin. He was quiet for a short moment, and his gaze became a bit more vacant as he remembered something. “I don't know if you heard it already, but I was present during the fire in our mansion. Obviously, it wasn't an accident. It was set on fire on purpose. By our dear dowager empress, of course. The reason was, as always, destroying evidence. But to make sure that no one would survive, the men your mother sent killed the people inside first. The victims were the six royal guards His Majesty sent and my father.”

Cedar remembered how shocked he had been upon hearing that. He had felt like his mother would attack her sister soon, but he hadn't expected attempted murder so quickly. At least he hadn't expected that the children of the family were supposed to be killed too, even if he had known that Claude Vasquez, the former duke, would soon experience his demise. That event had only shown him that he needed to expect the worst from his mother. “I am aware. I do not know why you are telling me this though. If you-”

Luciano cut him off. “Let me talk. I'm not trying to blame you. You were the one sending us that warning shortly before everything went downhill, right? No one will blame you since you weren't at fault. Just listen. We both know that my father wasn't a good person. He might have had some sadistic and psychopathic tendencies too. He committed countless crimes, both with and without your mother. And while I didn't get involved in any of those crimes, I knew what he was doing. I could have told someone and made sure that he would stop, but I didn't do that. So, I was responsible too. Father knew that. And that wasn't the only thing he was certain of. He had known that His Majesty would crush him a while before he got put on trial. After the incident with Her Majesty, it was quite obvious that His Majesty wouldn't sit there quietly much longer.”

Cedar wanted to stay quiet, but he had to ask something here. He had gathered some information about the growing conflict between Claude Vasquez, the former biggest supporter of the dowager empress, and Theodore and Blanche. So, he knew bits and pieces, and they were enough to paint an ugly image. “There were multiple conflicts between him and Her Majesty, if I remember correctly. Do you mean your father starting a fight and getting thrown out of the palace? Or him appearing at a tea party, only to be sent away? Or him trying to drug her?” He hoped it wasn't the latter one. He had been present that day and had once again been reminded that his mother had no piece of humanity left and just saw him as a tool without acknowledging his or others' emotions.

Thankfully, Luciano didn't address that date. It had probably been just as unpleasant for him since his father had demanded the same disgusting thing of him. His face scrunched up for a moment, but he quickly neutralized it. “The second incident. His Majesty swore to crush Father during that tea party, do you remember? He said it in public with so much conviction that all of us knew that it was true. But that is not the important part. As I said, I was there when the fire began. I actually lied a bit to His Majesty when it comes to that. I said that I rushed in and found everyone dead, but that wasn't true.” That was surprising.

Normally, Camille hired stupid but efficient people. In that case, those assassins had probably thought that no one was there to help the injured while searching for the rest of the family to kill them, only to realize that they had been brought to safety.

Luciano fiddled with his fingers in a barely noticeable gesture and stared into the distance while he continued. “Father was already severely wounded and in the middle of bleeding out. But he still talked to me for a minute or so.” It was obvious how unpleasant he found it to talk about that, but he resumed. “He apologized for treating me harshly in front of witnesses and explained why he had suddenly made an effort to seem even more power-hungry than he was. He wanted us to survive. After all, he had noticed that his plan would end with our whole family being eliminated if we continued like this. So, he had to make sure that we could change sides.”

Slowly, it dawned upon Cedar what this was about.

Luciano was quiet for a short moment before continuing. “Father said that the most important part was us moving on. And to do that, we would have to prove that we were innocent. And what is the easiest way to seem innocent? To be a victim. That meant that there was only one other role needed. So, my father became the villain. He didn't manage to explain everything to me, but he told me where a letter for us was hidden. There he had written that he loved all of us and only wanted to make sure that His Majesty would see him as the psychopathic, evil man, who used his family. So that we could get out of this without many issues.” He finished and stayed silent after that.

Cedar wasn't certain what to say about this. He could imagine what might follow and met his cousin's gaze with a smile. “That isn't all you want to say, right?”

Luciano nodded. His smile had disappeared and left behind a completely serious expression. “This time, it's a question. Mother told me this when she saw how the dowager empress acted around you. Are you playing the villain and victim game too?” There it was.

That was exactly what Cedar's plan had been. That was why he had told his mother that going through with an unsuccessful revolt would be perfect. Because Cedar could just show how tired and frustrated he was because of Camille, which had never been a lie, and gain Theodore's trust with that. Then, he would use the first opportunity to flee from confinement, hiding somewhere close to where royal guards frequently appeared. And then he would have been attacked. He would have gotten hit with an arrow and fled to the palace, with the exchanged letters being proof of his fight with his mother. With this, they could just have blamed everything on the dowager empress, who had traumatized her son. Theodore would have bought that easily and allowed Cedar to stay in the palace. Then they could have waited for Cedar to get closer to his brother before another assassination attempt would follow. After that, the second prince would have seemed like a good alternative to the previous emperor and not like a bloodthirsty murderer.

At least that had been the plan before Cedar had noticed that it didn't feel too bad to stay away from his mother. And now he had decided to make that act of being on Theodore's side a reality. He showed his cousin a bright smile. “That's an interesting question. Let me guess. Aunt guessed that quickly. She's always been good at understanding what Mother was doing.” Maybe Selena was the person who could read Camille best right after Cedar.

Luciano just nodded but didn't speak to avoid giving Cedar a chance to distract.

The prince stayed quiet for a little moment. Admitting this was dangerous, but then again, it was the truth. As long as he didn't lie and stayed on this side, there wouldn't be any questions later. And since Luciano hated Camille more than many others, it would be fine for him to know. Cedar chose to reply in the most obvious and still hidden way. “It's an interesting concept. In the past, that may have been an appropriate way to act. But I doubt that it would be logical for me to follow a plot like that now.”

A small smile came onto Luciano's lips. Even that short response had been enough for him. “That's what Mother said too. She said that you must have changed sides in the middle and that the dowager empress still doesn't accept that.” He was silent for a few seconds before he resumed. “I'm glad you managed to get out of that woman's web.”

Unfortunately, Cedar was far from safe at this point in time. “I'm not out yet. But I'm doing my best to cut off every thread at the moment. It will take a while though.” Especially if he didn't manage to avoid his mother. He had no desire to get close enough to let her hug him out of fear that he might lose his composure.

For a few seconds, the both of them were silent before Luciano smiled again. “I am sure that you will manage to get away from her. She gave you enough reasons to, right? She may be stubborn, but that runs in the family. We didn't give in, so you won't either.” He seemed content with that before standing up a moment later. “I think that was all we should discuss, or your brother will wonder what is going on.”

Cedar stood up as well while putting on a smirk. “That's not your reason for leaving so quickly. You just don't want to stay away from your sister too long.”

“You caught me there. But how could I miss more time with Rebecca when she won't stay a baby for long? I need to use the time when she is still interested in colored blocks. At some point, she will be older and might not want to see me as much, so there is no way that I will miss a single day. I apologize for chiming in like this and running away again.”

Cedar showed him a bright smile while they left the room. “Don't worry. It was pleasant to meet you. I will bring you to your carriage.” This proved to be a mistake.

He had originally planned on having a short conversation with his cousin on the way before returning to the palace without any issues. But he wasn't that lucky though.

As soon as they reached the plaza in front of the entrance, Cedar regretted his decision. He already saw the commotion from afar. Only one person would dare to cause trouble here without being dragged away immediately. Cedar sighed and turned to his cousin. “It would be best if you hurry to your carriage before she sees you. I will quickly return to-” He wasn't lucky enough for this either.

A loud voice already cut him off. “Cedar!” Now that Camille had seen him, she probably wouldn't leave him alone. Great.

Cedar met Luciano's sympathetic gaze. “Well, it seems like I have to talk to her. I wish you a wonderful afternoon. May your day be more pleasant than mine.” He waited for the other man to nod before approaching his nightmare.

The servants and guards stepped aside while watching how the prince approached the group with differing expressions. Some seemed annoyed, others were relieved because they expected him to take care of this. There wasn't much time to pay attention to them though.

Camille had somehow managed to enter the royal estate and had only been stopped upon wanting to approach the palace. She was as dressed up as always but had a red face from the yelling. “Cedar, there you are. Finally.” She tried to take a step forward, only for some guard to hold her back with his arm. That earned him a venomous glare before Camille focused on her son. “Tell those incompetent people here that I'm rightfully trying to enter my own home. You're here to meet me, so I can come in, right? I missed you so much. And you just didn't see me. Do you know how cruel that is? Your mother is here, so you need to greet me.” Either she didn't get that demanding anything wouldn't help her, or she truly tricked herself into believing that it would.

Cedar showed her a blinding smile. “Good afternoon, Mother. I believe that there may be a little miscommunication here. Did Theodore invite you?” The answer was obvious.

The dowager empress didn't bother to give it. “You have to meet me now, Cedar. There are a lot of things I need to tell you. This time, I won't let you run away without a reason.” Her presence was a pretty good reason to run away though.

Cedar had already heard enough. To be honest, he was still fuming because his mother had managed to plant that little bit of doubt about him not really liking Lucille into his head. He had only begun asking himself whether he was trying to imitate Theodore after his conversation with her. He was pretty upset with her, which gave him a small advantage of being able to keep his mother at a distance now. Cedar prepared to step back in case she moved to hug him. “I am, unfortunately, quite busy at the moment. So, I hope that you understand that I cannot accompany you today. If you wish to meet me, please do send a letter in advance so that I can plan properly.” He could ignore that more easily than her being in front of him.

Camille's face only scrunched up at that. “Cedar.” Whenever she repeated his name, she sounded more strained.

That was enough to make him want to run to her side. It truly felt like she had conditioned him to do that. But Cedar forced himself to hold still. “Mother.” He didn't say more than that. He only needed her to understand that he wouldn't listen to her.

Camille opened her mouth, and he was sure that she would say something he would hate, but she was interrupted.

“Your Royal Highness!” A servant came closer from the palace.

Cedar quickly saw that this was Harris, but he didn't have a chance to respond.

His mother already raised her voice. “How can you dare to call out to-” It was obvious that she would criticize the servant for interrupting a conversation and addressing a member of royalty in a louder voice. That wasn't an issue. But she might also recognize Harris, and then it would be problematic for the servant, who had allegedly helped her in the past while giving Theodore hints the whole time.

So, Cedar quickly chimed in. “Mother, leave that to me.”

Of course, Camille didn't give up here. “But-”

Again, Cedar cut her off. “You have no qualifications to scold the staff members of the royal palace at the moment. You were not addressed, I was. Stay out of this.” The harsher he was to her, the more the ones around them would understand that he was distancing himself from Camille. And the angrier he made her, the less likely she was to hug him, which was the most dangerous thing she could do. So, being like this was the best option, even though it made him miserable. The prince did his best to ignore his mother's expression and his urge to calm her to look at Harris. “What is it?”

Harris quickly spoke up while trying to keep himself from glaring at the dowager empress. “Her Majesty wants to see you.” That was surprising.

Cedar turned his whole body to the other man. “Her Majesty? Not His Majesty?” He received a nod, which only soured his mood more. He knew what would follow before even looking at his mother.

Camille already addressed him in a voice that was shaking with anger. “Don't tell you suddenly decided to show interest in that wench too.”

Cedar almost sighed, but he just turned to his mother and explained in a calm tone. “First of all, please do not call our empress by such a derogatory name. Your reputation already hit rock bottom, and you are about to make it drop even lower than that. And secondly, am I not allowed to talk to my brother's wife and see my niece? What is the issue here?”

The dowager empress gritted her teeth. “How come you can make time to see her and not me?” Because she was infuriating while Blanche was only a bit confusing. And because Blanche wasn't trying to kill Lucille.

Cedar beamed at her. “As I said, I am visiting my niece. She was born only a little over a week ago, so I have to admit that meeting her is a priority at the moment. She will grow up so soon, so we have to make the most out of seeing her when she is so small.” He regretted mentioning the poor baby a moment later.

Camille's face scrunched up already. “So, it's a crown princess. Is she-”

Cedar cut her off at that point. “No. You won't see her.” He hadn't meant to interrupt her so harshly, but he hadn't been able to hold himself back. He only needed to remember what kind of things had suddenly happened to Theodore as a child after Camille had spoken to strange people, and he only had to remind himself of how he had been raised. There was no way that Camille would get anywhere close to that innocent child.

As expected, Camille took that as a personal insult rather than a security measure. She put her hand on her heart while she narrowed her eyes at her son. “She's my granddaughter and the royal heir. I have the right to see her. Are you saying that you don't trust me?”

Cedar grinned back at her. “I never said that. But to be honest, you are right. I don't trust you at all. Especially not around children. You always came up with the most vile schemes when children were involved. Remember the herbs you gifted Theodore? Don't think I forgot about those. They certainly would not have been good for Her Majesty during the pregnancy. So, please don't insist on discussing. Either you can leave in peace now, or the guards will drag you away. Pick one. I doubt that you want to show Theodore how you are being forcefully removed from the estate. After all, you hate when he watches you doing something embarrassing. So, I would suggest that you leave.” He spun around at that and left.

Ignoring how his mother yelled after him was harder than it should have been, but at the same time, it was relieving to some extent. At least right now.

In a moment, he would face the empress, and that might not be too pleasant either. After all, he still couldn't understand what was going on inside Blanche's head. But he might still be looking forward to seeing the crown princess again, just since that would distract him a bit.

Unfortunately, that was all overshadowed by the nausea that formed in Cedar's stomach as he ignored his mother's yells, which almost made him feel like he was genuinely sick. Hopefully, this would stop soon. He prayed for it, but he guessed that it would stay like this the entire day.