Jenna was a good actress. Cedar had to admit that much. But even she was predictable.

The maid sent to bump into Lucille hadn't looked like she had tripped on accident. She had simply waited for Lucille to get close before throwing herself in the other's direction. Cedar had barely been able to react in time to get his lover away.

And after that, Lady Peril had begun her show. She acted like she was meek and apologetic because of what had happened. Clearly, she was trying to imitate Lucille after she had pointed out that she could be like her. Unfortunately for her, that didn't make her much more interesting or pleasant to be with. She was still the same old Jenna who tried to touch someone against their will until they gave in. And even if she had been a wonderful person, no one could compare to Lucille.

That was what Cedar needed to point out. So, he had no issues refusing Jenna.

Thus, it was a pleasant surprise to see that Theodore was as annoyed as his brother was. Apparently, the emperor knew a bit more than the others though. Otherwise, offering to join Lady Peril for tea would be extremely out of character.

Cedar wasn't happy about this, but he would play along if it led to them doing something helpful. But he wouldn't let go of Lucille or allow someone else to get too close to her. As expected, he would always need to be on edge and wait for some idiot to try something bad. The fact that Theodore had managed to catch Jenna off guard made this a bit better but only a little.

Lady Peril blinked a few times and didn't even try to hide her surprise. “Huh?” She took a moment to collect herself and fiddled with her fingers, which she definitely only did because Lucille sometimes did. “I mean... I guess that wouldn't be an issue. I just never believed that Your Majesty and Her Majesty would consider joining us for a drink.”

Theodore gazed at her with a barely visible smile that didn't reach his eyes. “Me neither. After all, we don't have much time. But we shall accompany you for five minutes. After that, we do have to leave, so I expect us to be able to drink a sip before disappearing. Is that fine?” He was fuming. Unobservant people might overlook it, but Theodore rarely was this upset in public. Maybe being away from his daughter made him worry this much, or there was more to the letter he had mentioned earlier.

Surely, Camille wouldn't tell Jenna to invite Cedar for a drink just like that. Maybe there was some plan here. In that case, Theodore would deal with it. Cedar would just watch that for now.

Lady Peril scanned the royal couple with skepticism but still replied quickly. “I understand, Your Majesty. It would be an honor. I was not prepared to welcome so many guests in private, but it will not take long. I will quickly ask the servants to bring a glass of wine for each of us.” She lifted her hand, and a few seconds later, a maid appeared next to her. She instructed that woman to bring the wine to the seating room before sending her away. Then she focused on the group in front of her. She made another curtsy before speaking. “Everything will be prepared. Would you allow me to bring you to the seating room then?”

Blanche was the one who replied. “Of course. Please do lead us there.” Apparently, she also suspected something unpleasant happening, but the cold undertone in her voice wasn't noticed.

Jenna spun around and slowly moved to the staircase at the one side of the ballroom. The guests made way for the royal family, so it wasn't an issue to follow her.

Of course, Cedar was still unwilling, but he would make an exception. That didn't mean that he would distance himself from Lucille though. His lover seemed rather content being close to him at the moment despite her earlier embarrassment. He wasn't unhappy with this either, so having Lucille hold his arm seemed to be a good choice.

Jenna was as graceful as ever as she led the group to the second floor. She only followed the hallway for a few steps before letting the servants open the doors. “I hope that this modest room satisfies your needs for the time you were generous enough to grant me.” She entered and looked around to check whether everything was fine.

Just now, the servants were filling up three more glasses in addition to the two full ones. It seemed like Jenna had prepared to drink alone with the prince.

Cedar felt disgusted just when he thought about that. He was very content about Lucille being here. That was why he also pulled her close to him when he sat on the sofa. He had coincidentally chosen the edge so that only Lucille could sit next to him, which kept Jenna at a distance.

The other sofa was used by the royal couple.

Lady Peril would need to sit alone on the armchair. She probably hadn't planned that, but she didn't say anything special either. She only sat down after the others had taken a seat and showed them a blinding smile. “I have to admit that I did not expect this. But it is a pleasant surprise. Seeing the royal couple of Artias and His Royal Highness here is truly special. And we finally managed to meet for tea, Lady Valerian.” She still smiled even after voicing such a fake greeting.

Lucille faked a smile as well, but it was only for a second. Then she struggled to keep her expression neutral. Yet, it was obvious that she wasn't happy to be here.

Cedar felt the same. He leaned against the backrest and wrapped his arm around Lucille while trying to ignore how Jenna watched them the whole time.

Blanche broke the silence after a few unpleasant seconds. “Since you were looking forward to welcoming us here, I assume that you had a reason you wished to see us. Is there something you want to talk about, Lady Peril? Is it perhaps related to some extremely influential person?”

Cedar did his best to seem unaffected, but he immediately perked up. He doubted that Jenna wanted to talk about Camille, but the possibility was there. If Lady Peril could use something to her advantage, she would do it. So, luring him out with information about his mother didn't seem so unlikely. But of course, that chance was gone since others were here now.

Jenna just put on a confused expression. “Pardon me, Your Majesty. But I am not sure what you could be talking about. I do not know a lot about any people that could be of interest to you. After all, the most influential people in this nation are all on your side and your close acquaintances.” She had appeared next to Camille in public a few times, so saying this now was a bit stupid.

Most likely, the royal couple hadn't expected much more either. This had only been one last attempt to give Jenna a chance because Theodore was already in the middle of crushing everyone that had ever extended their hand toward the dowager empress. His expression should serve as enough of a warning in that regard.

Jenna only dared to stay silent for a few seconds before being glared at became too much for her. “It is a pleasant surprise that we are able to sit together like this. We haven't had a banquet for a while, correct? Time surely passes quickly. But that is nothing new. So much changed in the past months. Whether that may be changes within the family.” She gazed at Cedar and met his gaze for a bit too long. “Or in the capital.” Obviously, she had noticed that Camille's supporters suddenly disappeared or lost their titles too. Then she should be a bit more self-conscious instead of continuing like this.

Cedar would have liked to turn away, but he refused to admit that he hated looking at Jenna. “Of course. Time has always brought many changes. We all move forward and find new goals with time.” Like he had found Lucille. He looked down at her to underline this. “Sometimes, it is better to continue on a different path instead of aimlessly following the old one.” This was his way of telling Jenna to leave him alone. Of course, that woman wouldn't get it, but that didn't make those words any less true. To him, changing had brought him the most important reason to move on.

And his reason was pretty upset right now. Lucille already seemed to be uncomfortable with how Lady Peril looked at her lover, even though only a few seconds had passed. She was so annoyed that she forgot to be nervous. And at the same time, she got much closer to Cedar without blushing or getting embarrassed, just because she was distracted.

Cedar wouldn't complain when he got to cuddle with Lucille while showing that no one else would ever have a chance. He smiled down at her when he put his fingertips on her forehead and pushed aside a strand of her hair.

Lucille looked up at him. She only understood that she was leaning her body against him now, and a bit of embarrassment became visible on her face. But she didn't even think about moving away once. She just stayed in that position and rested her head on his shoulder.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Of course, Jenna didn't leave them alone for long enough though. “Well, I have to admit that you are right, Your Royal Highness. You have changed a lot over the last few years, especially the during last two. Change can be scary sometimes, but more often than that, it is encouraging. After all, everything can happen, can it not?” She showed him a soft smile that made him want to avert her eyes. She still deluded herself into thinking that she had a chance here, even though she should have noticed that she was being rejected quite harshly.

Even if Lucille wasn't here, Cedar wouldn't consider getting together with a power-hungry woman like Jenna. He had a selfish mother already, so he didn't need another person to treat him like a tool to gain influence. He would have liked to say that outright, but that never helped. He had tried this about a dozen times when Jenna had first started to bother him, so he could be sure that she wouldn't listen. Still, he said it, just to be sure. “But impossible things will not become possible, no matter how hard someone tries. Giving up is the better option sometimes.” Even if he had believed that falling in love was impossible too. And here he was.

Jenna didn't get to answer.

Theodore already chimed in with a freezing voice. “Lady Peril. Surely, you had a reason to invite us. What did you wish to discuss with my brother in private? What was so important that you couldn't have done it during the ball and with your husband?”

Jenna returned to acting like she was meek, which didn't work due to the aura of confidence that always seemed to surround her. “I swear that I do not have any ulterior motives, Your Majesty. But...now that we are sitting here together, there is something that I would like to address.” She rested her hands in her lap and showed the group a forced smile. “This is about our family's business.”

Theodore seemed unusually indifferent when it came to this. Normally, he would at least fake a smile, but right now, he didn't even see the need to do that. “I said all that needed to be said. You monopolized the perfume market by weaving a complicated web of contracts that force traders to relinquish all of their items to you if you demand it. This ensures that some of the most favored ingredients for perfume are all owned by you, and you can sell them for extremely high prices. That forces others to sell their goods for higher prices due to the raised cost of the ingredients. Do you understand what this means? People will buy your products, and that only gives you more money to support other merchants who will become dependent on you. We stood by for long enough. Either you can give up half of your business, or you can refuse and see what the emperor is willing to do to save the nation's economy.”

Jenna only seemed to understand how serious this was now. She did her best to seem scared and powerless while lowering her head a little. She purposefully made herself sound a little as if she was about to cry. “But, Your Majesty, I never intended to harm Artias' economy. I did not know what kind of damage I was doing, and I still don't. I merely did what it took to create a business that would allow me to sell perfume for an affordable price. I will not form any connections to new merchants if that is what you-”

Theodore cut her off there. His tone was even more icy than before now. “So, you are saying that you didn't plan on getting involved with the cosmetic market in general? That's odd. I was sure that your plan was different. You wanted to add creams and lotions to your stores. You would have used up a lot of money to bind merchants to you again and would have repeated what you did with the ingredients for perfume. Within a few months, you would have owned the most selling business in all of Artias. Then you hoped to be able to do the same with other cosmetics in a year or so. Don't think we didn't notice that. And don't think we are naive either.” He gazed at the other woman with so much hatred that she cowered a bit.

Now that it wasn't Cedar, Jenna suddenly didn't like being glared at, did she?

As expected, Theodore didn't have the slightest bit of sympathy while he continued. “You know what you can do to our economy by monopolizing a huge part of the market for luxury goods and pushing out dozens of other businesses. I know what your goal is, and you won't be able to obtain what you want. Neither your first goals nor your long-term one.”

Jenna probably realized that she would have to give in here now. She lowered her gaze and grasped the skirt of her dress tighter. “I...sincerely apologize for my ignorance, Your Majesty. I will abide. I will give up half of our family's business. Please just give me a month to prepare it, and I will have taken care of it.”

Theodore's voice was as cold as before when he responded. “Good. You have exactly one month, and then I want to see progress. Otherwise, I will treat this as you willingly harming the nation.” The fact that Blanch was cuddled against him and he still spoke with so much resentment should remind every sane person to be scared. Jenna should probably be careful since the emperor addressed another topic without a warning. “I assume that the glass that has been standing here from the very beginning was intended to be yours, correct? Then the other one next to it must have been for the one person you planned to invite. That would be my brother.”

Jenna misunderstood this change of the topic. She relaxed and believed that it would be fine as long as she obeyed now. Since she could speak about her favorite topic now, she didn't feel any shame despite this direct inquiry. She averted her eyes and got a bit red. “Indeed, Your Majesty.” She knew well that meeting another man in a private room while her husband attended the party would seem odd. And she didn't even question why the emperor would ask this for one second. How foolish.

Theodore watched her with that calculative gaze that Cedar had only seen a few times. “I see. Would you give it to me for a moment?”

Jenna was taken aback by that. “I... The glass?” She was even more confused when she received a nod, but she obeyed quickly. “Of course, Your Majesty.” She stood up and picked up the glass that had been in front of Cedar, not without standing as close to him as she humanely could, before bringing it to the emperor.

Theodore accepted the glass with a cold expression. He waited for Lady Peril to sit down before he lifted the glass to his face. He only took in the fragrance of the liquid for a moment, and it seemed like the temperature in the whole room dropped.

Cedar had seen his brother being furious. He had been the one being threatened to leave Blanche alone multiple times, so that made sense. But he was pretty sure that even he had never been gazed at with so much fury. He would even say that only Camille and the former empress, Theodore's ex-wife, were able to make the emperor that angry.

Which meant that this evening wouldn't end well for Jenna.

By now, Cedar could guess what this was about. But the fact that Lady Peril didn't seem too nervous while handing the glass to the emperor proved that matters were a bit more complicated than they might have seemed.

Lucille next to him had tensed and watched the scene with concern. Most likely, she was sensitive to the emperor's anger, so she picked up on the tension that surrounded them quickly, and she didn't react kindly to other people's anger. But she might not have grasped what this could be about yet.

Theodore was already beginning to clarify though. “It has been a while since someone managed to make me this angry. There are only two people in this world who ever reached that level, and it didn't do any of them good. Now. Lady Peril. Would you mind telling me what kind of drink this is? You better have a logical explanation as to why there is a specific ingredient in here.” His tone was so icy that it would make a glacier seem warm.

As expected, Lucille tensed and moved closer to her lover. She really couldn't deal with other people's anger.

Cedar wrapped both of his arms around her and stroked over her head before whispering to her. “Everything is fine. Theodore will deal with it.”

She nodded at that, but she tightened her hold on him. She was unwell, and yet, she kept her eyes on the scene in front of them.

Lady Peril's confidence had been reduced a bit after being addressed like this. She didn't seem to be scared though. She was more confused. “Pardon me. Your Majesty, I have no idea what you could be talking about.”

Theodore leaned forward and placed that glass on the table. He used so much force that Cedar worried about it splintering for a moment, but that didn't happen. Luckily, the emperor controlled his strength, but that didn't mean that he would also hold back when it came to glaring at Lady Peril. “You don't? Don't act stupid. What did you put in here?”

Jenna gazed at him with concern before looking at the glass. “Wine, Your Majesty. I had my servants fill all the glasses with the same substance. It's all from the same flask. I can ask them to bring it here.” A deep frown slowly appeared on her forehead. By now, she was panicking, but she still tried to hide it.

Cedar could guess that this had to be about some sort of drug. Obviously, Jenna didn't know about it, which left the question of who could have ordered someone to put it inside. Cedar suspected that there was only one person stupid enough to pick a fight with him like this. But he stayed quiet and focused on caressing Lucille's head. Normally, he would get involved, but he felt like his brother was much more upset than he could be right now. He didn't need to complain too when Theodore already took care of scaring Jenna to death. That was great since he didn't need to show Lucille how he got angry, which he would be reluctant to do.

The emperor glared at the woman in front of him. “You are telling me that you weren't the person that put this drug inside his drink then?”

Lady Peril finally understood what had happened, and the final pieces of the puzzle clinked in her head. She was terrified now. Still, she kept her head up high and met the emperor's gaze, but the panic in her voice was undeniable. “Your Majesty, I would never do something so vile and traitorous! I would never dare to drug a member of the royal family. I swear that on my life!” She whipped her head around to the prince. “Your Royal Highness, please believe me that I would never use something so dirty!”

Cedar hated the fact that she tried to gain his help, but he had to admit that he pitied her a bit. Not for being in this position since she had brought herself here due to her own stupidity. But he pitied her for falling for his mother's words. And even that was her fault. After all, he had warned her the first time that she had stood next to Camille in public. “I told you that she does what she wants with her pawns, did I not? You can be thankful that I know how she works. If I believed that you were responsible for this, I would have announced that you were planning on committing treason immediately.” Even if he could confidently claim that he doubted that Jenna would actually drug someone due to her difficult background story. She would never go further than being pushy and disgustingly close. But that had been too much already, so no one would help her now.

Theodore already continued without leaving a second of silence while still glaring at Lady Peril with a bit too much hatred. “But do you know what? You can still be executed for this. Because you can't prove that you weren't the one trying to drug my brother. So, I would suggest you quickly come up with another solution that makes more sense than you doing it yourself.”

Of course, it would be hard for Jenna to come up with something on the spot. Judging by how she stared into the distance while becoming tenser with each passing second, she knew that too. She didn't have any proof that Camille was the responsible one. How was she supposed to explain that a person in confinement had smuggled poison here? And maybe she knew that blaming Camille wouldn't make her ending pretty either.

After all, the old Duke Vasquez had tried to save himself by turning on the dowager empress. He had left prison for one day, and immediately, he had been killed by a group of assassins that had set the whole house on fire afterward.

Camille didn't like being betrayed very much, and Lady Peril knew that.

Still, Jenna only had two choices now. She could reveal her suspicion and risk a painful death or act like she had tried to drug Cedar and be thrown in jail, which would end with Camille disposing of her too. One option was a guaranteed dead end, so it was obvious what she would do. Jenna's eyes widened, and she feigned shock. “Someone...someone else must have done it! There has to be a traitor among my servants! This might...might be the dowager empress' doing.” That she said this wasn't surprising. That she did it so directly was surprising though.