The Broken Prince's Love

Cedar had to admit that meeting Lucille had given him more advantages than anything else.

In return, he had gambled away his brain though.

The prince only noticed that when the door closed and he was alone with the guards who looked at him as if he had grown wings because he had kissed Lucille. He ignored that and turned to go to his brother's office. This was it when it came to the rumors about Lucille and him. Now they officially were a couple for everyone here. And to be honest, they acted more like lovers than like friends, so that label wasn't wrong.

Cedar had unwillingly quickened his pace when he had heard the guards whisper about him and Lucille, so he reached his destination quickly. He knocked on the door without skipping a beat.

The response came immediately. “Come in.”

Cedar didn't let his brother ask twice. A part of him almost expected something bad when he entered, like a metal skewer or something like that. That was just because of what had happened last time he had been caught while going out, and this angered him more than he cared to admit.

The office was empty except for two people. There were only Leon, who sat on the sofa with a grim expression, and Theodore, who sat at his desk with a just as dark expression. The emperor was fuming.

There was no metal skewer by any fireplace though.

Cedar closed the door behind him and approached the desk. He stopped in front of it before waiting for his brother to speak up.

A few seconds passed in silence. Then Theodore opened his mouth. “Now. Please tell me what exactly was going on inside your head when you decided to do this. You are usually so logical and composed, and then I suddenly hear that you left the palace on your own without a single guard.”

Cedar cleared his throat. He would need to rephrase his plans a little, or he might end up making it worse. He couldn't just say that he was more capable than a dozen royal guards after all. “I have to admit that it wasn't very clever.” He had had a valid reason though. “But we were never in danger. No one knew, and-”

Theodore cut him off. “Cedar.”

It seemed like logical explanations wouldn't gain him anything here. So, Cedar would have to choose the second option. He forced himself to stop smiling for a moment and put on the most serious expression he could muster. “I sincerely apologize for going against your orders. In the future, I will not ever question your judgment or-” He didn't get far this time either.

Theodore's expression had only darkened. “That's not the issue. Surely, I'm upset that you did this after I explicitly told you to stay here to keep you safe. But I'm not like that woman, who is obsessed with controlling anything. So, don't act like that. There is one thing that is much worse than you ignoring my words. I'm angry because you did something extremely stupid. Do you know what that is?” Of course.

That was the part Cedar had been worrying about most too. “I do. I carelessly endangered Lucille's health. I should not have invited her to come with me. As I said, I deeply regret it. It won't ever happen again. From now on, I will make sure to never subject her to danger ever again.” He really did regret taking her with him. Even if nothing had happened and he had been in control at all times, it had been risky. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something bad had happened to her. He would need to pay more attention to Lucille.

Theodore still didn't seem content with that answer. He just glared at his brother while replying. “Cedar. You didn't just endanger her health but yours too. What were you thinking? I know that you're good in combat, but you aren't invincible. You should know that. You could have gotten hurt or worse. You are staying in the palace for a reason, and you are very much aware of it. We want to protect you. But we can't do that if you plan on solving everything on your own. You're normally not that reckless. Why did you go out without even telling me what you planned on doing?”

Cedar glanced to the side. “I bought something.” He searched for his bag and quickly found it on the table near Leon. He gestured toward it. “That would be the item over there.”

Leonard took that as his cue to stand up. He came to the desk and lifted the bag before unceremoniously putting it on the desk. “I already took a look at it. What is this? Vials? I can guess what those substances are, but I am rather shocked that you would bring them back to us. Don't tell me you seriously went out to do what I think you did.”

Cedar just beamed at the other's serious tone. “I thought that you might be able to use those due to your previous profession. These are Mother's favorites. I can name all of them and show you the antidotes I bought. I can't guarantee that those weren't tempered with, but I'm sure that you can find out whether they are helpful with some time. Having antidotes for each poison they use is good.” He only glanced to the side when he saw a slight movement.

Theodore was even more angry than before. “So, you didn't only go into the city alone, you also went to some assassin to buy poison? Do you know how dangerous that is? What if the dowager empress had already informed them? They could have killed you on the spot.” Not really.

One shouldn't forget that Cedar had been trained by some less trustworthy people when he had been young. He was pretty sure that he could win against any assassin, just because he could play dirty and use the other's shock. He would be scolded for being too confident if he said that though. So, he used the other reason. “Mother is too prideful to admit that I left her. Some of those people only helped us because they were waiting for me to become emperor. If that option is gone, they might turn away from her. She can't risk it. She obviously won't ever admit it because she refuses to accept that I turned away from her too.”

Theodore was silent at that.

In the meantime, Leon already went through the different vials and opened one to smell it.

Cedar tried not to think about the fact that the other man was too trusting since there could be a poison that spread through the air too. A few seconds passed in silence before the prince added something. “I can also tell you the address so that you can get rid of that group later. I would wait a little until then though. So that we can wait for them to use this kind of poison and have access to the antidotes in an emergency. For now, it would be better to keep Mother from being alert too. She thinks that I still want to return to her. If you act like I didn't tell you such confidential things, she might delude herself longer.”

It looked like Theodore wanted to say something now, but Leonard was faster. “You are an idiot. You seriously just marched in and met some of your mother's mercenaries because you trust that she is too prideful? That group probably has some kind of password. You could have told me that, and I would have gone. That would have been much safer.” He closed the vial and put it back onto the table with care despite his obvious anger. “Or you should have told me about that stupid plan if you really wanted to do it. Theodore could have sent some guards with you at least. I could have come along too. You surely shouldn't have gone alone with Lady Valerian. And you shouldn't have lied to my face. You said that you wouldn't go out.”

The emperor froze before lifting his head to gaze at his advisor. “Cedar mentioned this before?”

Leonard nodded while still narrowing his eyes at the prince. “He did. He told me that he could go buy some antidotes to use against his mother's poison. That was a week ago, and he said that he understood why it was a stupid idea after I explained it. He claimed that he would wait a month or so before asking for your permission.”

Theodore let out a loud breath. He pressed his hand to his face and hid his expression for a moment. Then he replied. “Didn't I tell you that he is as stubborn as I am? Maybe even worse? And that he is a phenomenal actor? What did you think would happen? If he mentions things like this, expect him to act on them too. Treat it as if he made a vow to do everything on his own without accepting any help from others because he just won't ask.”

Leonard met the emperor's gaze while responding. “I will be much more careful from now on and just tell you everything he says.” He turned to Cedar and crossed his arms. “You know, I'm usually good at reading people. But I really didn't think that you'd be stupid enough to go out at night. I will keep an eye on you from now on. I should have guessed that something was wrong when Theodore's brother listens to others.”

Cedar shrugged. “It runs in the family. It's good if the members of the royal family have some kind of independence.”

Theodore immediately inserted himself at that point. “Not always. It's good if you aren't incapable, but there is absolutely no need to do everything by yourself. Today just proves that you refuse to ask for help when it would be the easier option. That won't do, Cedar. We're on the same side now. I won't be upset if you ask for help. I will be upset when you don't do it. I know that you're very much able to do anything you set your mind on. Especially now that you don't have to carry around the burden of a hysteric narcissist that keeps starting fights. But there is just no reason for you to bring yourself, and the woman you love, in danger.” Had that just been a compliment?

Cedar was slightly confused by that, but he didn't point it out. “Can I take that as you offering me your help? I will remember that when I need a hand.” He probably wouldn't ask for help though. “I also promise that I won't do something like this again.” Mostly because it was too exhausting and his escape routes were all closed off. And because he wouldn't allow Lucille to move around outside the royal estate without guards again.

Today had been somewhat safe because his mother could never have expected them to go out. From now on, that wouldn't be possible anymore because Jenna might tell Camille, and then the dowager empress could be prepared to strike the next time.

Theodore scanned his brother with caution. He didn't believe Cedar, which was probably the first time he finally showed that justified worry again ever since the prince had come to the palace. Theodore stayed quiet for a moment before he cast his gaze downwards. He reached to the side and lined up a few of the vials in front of him. He stared at them for a while before speaking. “A part of me wants to refuse using these. Since I am personally revolted by the use of such drugs.” He narrowed his eyes at one of the flasks, almost as if he recognized it. He pushed that vial far away from himself before looking at his brother again. “And because I don't want to gain an advantage because you carelessly brought yourself into danger.”

Cedar showed him a radiant smile. “You said that a part of you wants to refuse. So, there is a ‘but’ here. Now that it's here, we can use it.”

Theodore let out a low sigh as he rested his chin on his palm. “I'm pretty sure Leon can work some magic with those. If we know what our enemies base their drugs on, we will have a much easier time discovering what we can do against those. And you are right about it being better if we crush the dowager empress' mercenaries when she is gone. For now, they wouldn't know that we have prepared an antidote for most of their drugs.” He paused for a bit before glancing to the side. “Some of those could end up in that woman's food on coincidence, right?”

Leonard shrugged. “The cooks make mistakes. There can't always be someone watching the meal at all times. Especially not if our most loyal servants take care of it. The dowager empress was sick recently and still lies in bed because of this, so it's unlikely that it will happen again this month. But when spring comes in three months, she surely won't be able to escape a cold. Maybe she'll have a fever again. Who knows.” It was a bit strange that they talked about how to poison Camille right here in front of the prince.

But Cedar had to admit that he didn't care too much. He had dealt with walnuts while they had still made him feel like he would suffocate for at least a year until his allergy had gotten better. His mother could deal with some minor inconveniences too. Especially since she had hoped that he would attack Lucille after she drugged him. “Don't use the one that makes people aggressive though. She is hysterical enough already. You don't need to add onto that, or she will die of high blood pressure before you can fulfill your strange plan.”

The other two men looked at him with skepticism. Maybe they had expected him to be uncomfortable with things like this. But Cedar didn't care at all.

Theodore took a moment to confirm that before he spoke. “Naturally. I want to hurt her and not the poor servants around her. We'll find something creative, believe us. But that wasn't what we had originally been talking about. We were in the middle of discussing you leaving the palace.”

Cedar didn't want to spend his time listening to any more of the same scolding, so he hurried to speak up. “Actually, I wanted to mention something too. I feel like that might interest you. We met Lady Peril in the city.”

Theodore's expression darkened. “What? Did something happen?”

Cedar could begin a long story about how that woman was just plainly annoying, but he only addressed the most important part. “This counts as the final piece of evidence to conclude that she is indeed close to Mother again. She tried to use one of my triggers against me.”

The emperor lifted his head and glared at a person that wasn't here at all. “She did? That woman has some nerve. What would she have done if you had reacted to that?” He probably imagined some of Cedar's most violent breakdowns in front of his inner eye.

The prince would have liked to say that he could have scared Jenna, but the truth might be more horrifying. “She...would have liked it a lot. That was what I didn't quite tell you yet.”

Theodore paused for a moment. Realization flickered across his features. “Is that related to what happened back then? You once lost your temper around her because she kept harassing you, and I just came when you tried to get away from her to avoid making it worse. I remember her being even more clingy afterward. I thought that was because she hoped you would feel guilty.”

Cedar almost let out a laugh. Of course, it wasn't so easy. “I wish. I'm still of the conviction that she is acting, but she might actually have some questionable taste.” That might be related to some vague stories about Jenna's past that he had heard. Lady Peril was more traumatized than she admitted to being, but that didn't make it any more pleasant to deal with her. It also didn't excuse a single thing she had done. “Apparently, she liked being threatened. She liked it a lot. She keeps asking me to do it again after all.”

Theodore's mood only deteriorated even more after hearing that. “And she'd even use your triggers to make that happen? How disgusting.” He truly looked like he despised Lady Peril right now.

That didn't help Cedar in any way, but it was satisfying for some reason. He had other things to point out though. “I know. But the important part is that Mother had to have told her. About the disappointment thing. And that is one of Mother's favorites, so she must trust Lady Peril. Which means that we will need to find out how they are in contact. After all, Mother certainly didn't go to visit her.”

Theodore remained silent for a moment. “They could talk during balls. But you are right. They probably exchange letters in some other way too. It seems like we will have to put the Peril family onto our black list.” That sounded like it was almost like a death warrant. He only needed to glance at Leon once before the secretary nodded. The emperor opened a drawer and pulled out a book before making some notes while speaking. “Do you have an idea how we can find out more without making it obvious that we are investigating them?”

Cedar wasn't sure why he was included here, but he just replied. “I doubt that caution is necessary when Lady Peril is that careless in front of me. She repeated some of Mother's recent words two times already, and she spent time with Mother during your birthday ball. It's obvious that Lady Peril is on Mother's side. And since she controls her husband, we can assume that the whole family won't be as loyal to you as they could be. I don't know about anything private, but if you want to ruin her business, which you probably will judging by how ruthless you were during the past year, I have an idea. There is someone who could find out more about her. Luciano. He's your man for business, right?” Even if it was odd for the emperor to suddenly trust a person who was part of the family that had caused the most trouble for him aside from Camille. “And Lady Peril happens to have monopolized the perfume market. You could just say that you want to keep her from doing something odd with this. And then you can accuse her of cartelization.”

Theodore nodded to himself before he wrote down something. “I already did something similar. From what I know...or rather from what I would guess...Lady Peril will only become much more powerful if no one intervenes. She might even end up being the most influential woman in the nation, if one doesn't count the empress. So... We need to get her out of the game early on this time.” He punctuated his sentences by tapping the tip of his pen on the paper. Theodore searched for a few lines on in his book before seemingly finding them. Then he underlined something and read through it again. “There it is. I almost forgot that. Lady Peril will begin to extend her influence soon. She will start to produce cosmetics. Based on my predictions, that is. I will prevent that. We don't have to worry about her becoming too influential again.” He shut his book with a loud slam as soon as Leon tried to look inside. He met his advisor's gaze for a moment before speaking. “Call Duke Vasquez here. We will remind him to pay attention to that witch. I know that we still have a few months, so he can come here in four days without needing to rush.”

Leonard nodded and immediately began to prepare a letter. He was so quick and complained unusually little, so it was quite obvious that this was serious.

Cedar just stood there and scanned his brother.

When their eyes met, Theodore spoke up. “You will be present during that conversation too. I can promise you that we will take care of everything necessary. I won't let her bother you again. Is there something else you need to tell us?”

Leonard raised his voice on the other side of the room. “He needs to give me the address of the assassins so that I can begin investigating.”

Theodore turned back to his brother. “Then it would be nice for you to write that down. If you don't have anything else to do, you can go back. It's late, so you should go to sleep to get some rest.”

Cedar was a bit taken aback for a moment. Had talking about Lady Peril just prevented him from being scolded for an additional hour? He should remember that. Mentioning someone Theodore hated could stall for time. Cedar showed him a bright smile while he took the paper and pen he was given. “I will. I won't keep you from going back to your wife and daughter.” He wrote down the address and the knocking pattern as well as the password before returning the paper to Theodore. Then he prepared to leave. “I wish you a good night then.” He received mumbled responses in return when he left the room.

Surprisingly, Theodore also forgot that he had wanted to scold Cedar during the next few days. He didn't address the topic anymore and just insisted that his brother would help with some contracts.

In the end, Cedar caved in and finished that so quickly that Leonard was completely lost. This allowed him to spend more time with Lucille, which was pleasant and also amusing since she was way too embarrassed about their second kiss. So, the next four days consisted of Cedar teasing her about it while also enjoying how soft their interactions were when they just sat together and talked.

Unfortunately, that didn't keep Leon from dragging the prince away when Luciano arrived. Cedar was pulled into the office and had to sit there with the other three men while listening to their conversation.

Luciano had stayed quiet for a while before he spoke up. “It's almost a family meeting by now. Do we have another male relative who isn't here?” He only said that because he found it amusing to see the prince here.

Cedar didn't comment on that and leaned against his backrest. “If your mother doesn't have another son, we should be safe. For now, at least. But that isn't what we came to talk about.”

Luciano nodded and turned to the emperor, still with his wide and somewhat smug grin. “So, Your Majesty. Do you have another scarily accurate prediction for me?”

Theodore grinned back, even if he couldn't hide the small bit of contempt toward whomever he would mention now. “Indeed. Our most annoying enemy will have to lose influence soon. I haven't decided whether she should go bankrupt yet, but she will have to stay away from the cosmetic market and give up some parts of the perfume market. I mentioned Lady Peril often enough, so you know that she is one of the most dangerous people to our economy.”

Luciano quickly became serious. “I will take care of everything you mentioned. Of course, that woman is on top of the list. I kept the investors you listed from contacting her. Until now, I wasn't able to do anything about her trading contracts, but I could try to insert myself into those too.”

Theodore nodded. “It will be crucial to weaken her enough so that at least one other business will stand on equal ground. This is important because of the reasons we listed last time and because we suspect that she is working together with the dowager empress.”

Luciano's expression unwillingly darkened. “It shouldn't have been surprising. That woman would do everything for power. I'm just surprised that she didn't change sides again after Cedar started helping you.”

Cedar was a bit surprised about that too. But he suspected that Jenna believed that he would end up on his mother's side again. That only made her even more unlikable. Lady Peril deserved the medal for being the second most annoying person in this nation, right after Camille.

Theodore opened his folder and sorted some papers while he spoke. “Well, since Cedar just doesn't like her, being on either side won't help her. But she chose to be our enemy, so we will crush her. At first, only in the more mild sense since she wasn't involved in treason. I won't let any traitors stay among the ranks of nobility though.” He said that with an expression that made it obvious that Lady Peril would probably not consider her future punishment ‘mild’.

It wasn't like Cedar cared though. He would just listen to the conversation and try to memorize as much as possible out of it. But before he could focus on the matters at hand, a loud noise came from the hallway.

It sounded like some people were yelling somewhere far away. Apparently, Luciano, who was already immersed in some contract, didn't hear it, but the other three men perked up.

Cedar hated it, but his first thought went toward Lucille. What if she was hurt? He tried to force himself to stay here for a second but failed immediately. “That was awfully loud just now, wasn't it?” He stood up and listened to the noise again.

Those were definitely screams, and Theodore and Leonard heard that too.

Cedar turned toward the door and prepared to search for the origin of those sounds. “I will go and take a look at it.”

Luciano seemed a bit surprised at that. “Really? Isn't the palace always rather loud? There are many people here.”

Theodore followed his brother immediately. “It's always loud when something goes wrong. This is either an accident or something that came from the outside, and we dislike both. We're coming too.” He was probably referring to himself and Leon, but that didn't matter much.

Cedar had barely opened the door when a servant ran into him with full force. He barely managed to stabilize the young woman without switching into his fight stance before he recognized her as one of Blanche's maids.

The woman was panicking, and tears were running down her face as she almost yelled her complaint. “We need you to come to Her Majesty's room immediately!”