Her title had always been the most important thing to Camille. Whether it had been while she had been empress or later when she had been dowager empress.

In some cases, it had been a justification for her. Camille loved to explain that she could do everything she wanted because she was the dowager empress. No one had been allowed to criticize her because of that. No one had been allowed to talk back or resist her violent fits. Althea had always been rebuked with the use of this title too, but she had by far not been the only one. Even Cedar, who was the second prince, had often needed to accept the end of an argument simply because his mother was the empress. Camille had just used her title as a way to ignore everyone who wasn't her husband.

She had told others how they should act often enough, and her rank had served as a reason here too. At the same time, her love for this title was also connected to Camille's pride and her greed. She loved to flaunt her title because she was extraordinarily focused on being the most important person no matter where she went.

Cedar had barely met his grandparents once or twice when he had been a toddler before they had died. He didn't remember much of them, but he had known where his mother's temper had come from after meeting them.

Camille had been raised to be the future empress. Her parents had always offered the world to her, and she had been the center of their attention. This hadn't changed when she had had her coming-of-age ceremony. In noble society, she had immediately caught the eye of many. As the crown prince's fiancée, she had been showered with compliments, and people had surrounded her at all times. Parties had revolved around her, much like everything in her world. Even her younger sister hadn't received as much attention from their parents because Camille had monopolized all of it by acting like she was perfect at.

But that hadn't been enough for Camille. She had wanted all of her sister's attention too and had hoped that everyone she met would adore her. For her, this had always worked out. The former emperor had been the first person to show her what defeat felt like. He hadn't loved her, no matter how much she tried to impress him. Instead, he had taken in a concubine, who had happened to be the daughter of a count. This had only made Althea a bit less influential than the daughter of a marquess, but Camille had been furious. Ever since then, her pride had taken a dent, and after losing Theodore to Althea, it had gotten worse.

From then on, her position had filled the holes in her fragile ego. Camille had depended on her title completely so many times and said it often too. Cedar had never counted, but he knew that it had easily been over a hundred times. His mother had clung to that title and basically lived to become the perfect empress in public.

Maybe this dependence on an important rank had also been what had created her desire to have Cedar become emperor from the very beginning. Because Camille had never been content with what she had, she had always wanted more and more power. Being close to the future emperor and steering his reign like a puppet master had been the last missing step.

Of course, Theodore would attack this point if he wanted to hurt her. The emperor's announcement ended with the following words. “Today, Camille Estien shall be stripped of her title as the dowager empress.”

Cedar had seriously expected his mother to snap now. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had thrown a chair at someone or attacked the emperor.

But silence followed.

The guests had probably expected more issues too and were a bit taken aback. Of course, they didn't complain though.

The one that should yell already didn't say anything either. Camille just stared at Theodore with wide eyes. At least a minute passed without anyone moving at all.

Cedar already prepared to jump up to keep his mother away from Lucille in case it got ugly. But apparently, the news had been too shocking for the former dowager empress.

Camille kept watching the emperor as if she was a statue before she finally spoke up. “This is a joke, right?” Her expression was completely blank while she said that.

Theodore scanned her as if he was waiting for her to jump up as well. “It is not. I will revoke all of your rights as a member of the royal family. I don't want you to use them to harm anyone anymore. From now on, you will only be the daughter of an influential marquess. That is still way too much for you, but don't worry. You will not live so comfortably for much longer. Be happy that the pill you have to swallow now isn't too bitter.” That was only his own opinion.

For Camille, this just now had been the most awful punishment she could receive. Someone so prideful would never accept that she lost her power overnight. As expected, Camille took a while to process this. And then her expression got cold. Her freezing anger, the most dangerous kind, was here now, and no one would like the result. “You can't do that.” This sounded like she was convinced of that.

Theodore sorted a few documents on his table while he replied. “I can. You gave me more than enough reasons.” He looked at Camille to take in her reaction.

Camille slowly seemed to understand that this was serious. But as always, she didn't just give up. Her mouth fell open, and she jumped to her feet. “You can't do that! I'm the dowager empress! I am the most powerful-” She wasn't allowed to finish.

Theodore already addressed her in an icy voice. “Sit down. You are not the dowager empress anymore. Do you understand? You committed enough crimes for me to justify this and everything else you will face in the future. And since I'm the emperor and the head of the Estien family, my decision is the one that matters. You can complain as much as you want to.”

Camille opened and closed her mouth a few times before panic overcame her. For a moment, she almost seemed like she was thinking clearly as she stood there with dread painted onto her face. But then she froze in place, and her expression became a bit calmer again. She whipped her head around to her second son. “This punishment can be revoked. Cedar will take it back as soon as he becomes emperor.”

Cedar had planned on staying quiet, especially since his mother was in a difficult situation at the moment. He didn't want her to lose her mind. But he couldn't let anyone believe that he would help her either. So, he tried to speak in a gentle voice to not upset her while he replied. “Mother, why would I become emperor? Theodore will continue to reign for a while, and his wife and daughter are first in line to the throne.”

Camille almost seemed like she didn't care about that. She just stared straight into her son's eyes. “It's not like they are invincible. If I get rid of them, you will give me back my title, right? Swear it.” There her orders were again. She had done the exact same thing while telling him to kill Theodore.

But this time, Cedar wouldn't agree to keep her calm. He tried to be as careful as possible, but he told the truth. “Are you proposing treason? You should realize that this is risky. You are not protected by your rank as a member of the royal family anymore. You will be executed immediately if you attack Theodore, his wife or his daughter.”

Camille let out a little chuckle, but her eyes remained full of hatred. “You wouldn't execute me. I just need to make you emperor, and everything will be fine.” It seemed like she had truly forgotten how many people were present at the moment.

Cedar wouldn't remind her. He just wanted to keep her from proposing treason and connecting it with his name. “You are saying odd things, Mother. Naturally, you would receive your punishment if you were at fault for the late emperor's death, no matter who the reigning person is. I do not believe you should joke about that.”

Camille gritted her teeth while she glared at him. “This isn't a joke, Cedar. You will give me back my title. I gave you enough time. Hurry up, and finish your plot. Swear that you will give me back the position that belongs to me as soon as those insects are dead.” It seemed like she was truly deluding herself. Maybe that was good though. The only reason she wasn't already throwing a tantrum was because she thought that she would get back her title in a few weeks anyway.

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Cedar almost didn't want to correct her, but he had to do it, or the people here would believe that he wanted to kill Theodore. “I am not plotting against my brother. I don't know what convinced you that I was doing so. I will not become emperor, so I will also never be able to give you back your title. Since Theodore's decision is justified, I would not even consider it even if I had the chance. So, please do not speak about such matters as if I would wish to harm my brother and his wife. I am on their side. Please understand that already.”

This seemed to tip Camille over the edge. She froze in place while still standing at the same spot as before. Merely the icy rage on her expression proved that she was barely holding on. A few seconds passed in silence before she spoke in a much quieter voice. “So, you are betraying me?” She surely was slow to notice.

Cedar would have liked to be serious this once. But no matter how much effort he put into it, he couldn't stop grinning. He was truly in a horrible mood at the moment. Cedar would rather deny it, but it was bad. This wouldn't end well. He could either try to prevent Camille from snapping, or he could be honest. For a second, he considered acting like he was on her side just to keep her from doing something bad. But he knew that this wouldn't help him. He couldn't let anyone believe that he planned on betraying the emperor, especially not his mother, who would never give up on that delusion then.

So, Cedar gave his best to reply calmly. “I would not call it betraying you. I merely cut off contact with you because I worried about the things you have been doing. I fully support Theodore and will not help you when you are proposing treason. That should be obvious. But if you see this as me betraying you...then, yes, I am turning my back on you. I will not help someone who wishes to commit treason.” That was a completely logical decision.

And that finally seemed to break Camille, who spoke in a strained voice. “Cedar, I'm your mother. I raised you. I was the only one in this damned palace who ever looked at you with affection instead of fear.” She sounded like she was about to yell and barely held herself back.

Cedar could basically feel how the slap would feel if Camille got close enough to him to lash out. Thanks to the royal guards, he wouldn't actually need to feel it, but he was still on edge. He didn't need Camille to surprise anyone if she suddenly lunged toward him and attacked Lucille. He glanced at his lover, who looked at him with uncertainty, and smiled at her before he focused on his mother again. He opened his mouth to reply, but someone else did it first.

Theodore sounded rather annoyed while he spoke despite just having been threatened indirectly. “Maybe Cedar didn't have many social connections to anyone because you dismissed any servant he spoke to more often than three times. You made sure to keep him far from anyone else, so don't use that as an argument against him now. And how can you still call yourself his mother? I don't think you ever did something that would qualify you as such.”

Camille didn't even look at him. She kept her eyes on Cedar while piercing him with her gaze. “Cedar, you don't know what you are doing right now. You are really making me angry, and we both won't like that. By the time you come to your senses, you will need to spend years making this up to me. You will come back and cry, and we both know that.” Apparently, she still told herself to believe in that. But her strained voice made Cedar unsure whether she actually believed it.

Cedar was ready to give up here since he really didn't need her to get too angry. But she glared at him with such fury that he was convinced that ignoring her would not be better. “I will not come back. I joined Theodore's side because I came to my senses. I will not change my mind again.” Apparently, that hadn't been a good reply.

Camille balled the fists of her unhurt arm while her face scrunched up. She began yelling just a second later. “You useless, ungrateful brat! You damned-” She didn't get very far.

Blanche cut off the other woman in a cold voice. “Watch your mouth. You are speaking to a member of the royal family, Camille Estien. Cedar's rank is much higher than yours So, I would suggest you calm down now, or we will have you forcibly removed from the palace.” That was completely unnecessary when Camille was long gone. Most likely, Blanche hadn't actually expected a response anyway.

After all, Camille ignored everyone but Cedar and just stared right at him. She didn't yell anymore, but her icy tone wasn't much better. “You belong to me. You've always lived for me, haven't you? You need to help me. No matter what I demand of you, you have to listen. And soon, you will remember that again because you will be all alone without me.”

Cedar would like to claim that he didn't care for her words. But he did feel a slight sting in his heart when his mother acted like this. By now, he should have understood it at last, but still, he couldn't help but hate that Camille was so full of resentment that there wasn't any space left for love. Cedar hated her tone when she spoke to him like this, and he hated being told that he would be alone. Hearing people say that no one truly loved him had been one of his triggers in the past, and it still hurt him, even if he didn't admit it. Knowing that it was the truth didn't make it better, even after he had listened to his mother's insults and her orders for two decades. He was used to it.

And still, he just sat there and smiled because of this damned reflex. He reminded himself that this scene could only help them in the long run.

Theodore was doing this on purpose. He wanted the guests to see just how ugly Camille could get when she was upset. And maybe he wanted them to see that Cedar had been forced to deal with that woman ever since his birth too. This would make it easier to prove that Camille deserved an execution while Cedar wouldn't be punished later.

But it was still bitter for Cedar to have to listen to this. He wasn't sure what about him had given it away, but he suddenly felt how Lucille moved her hand to his. He didn't hesitate to take it into his and intertwined their fingers. For some reason, even this little gesture made him feel at rest. But he couldn't calm down completely or leave the room. He still needed to deal with his mother.

Camille was still glaring at him with so much fury that it was concerning. When she received no response, she opened her mouth again, and it seemed like she would yell once again. But then she froze in place and stayed silent for a moment. This couldn't mean anything good. After all, it seemed like she was thinking about what to say to Cedar instead of yelling at him. This would probably hurt him much more than the rest.

A few seconds passed in silence before Camille finally spoke. “It's a rebellious phase, isn't it? You want me to give you more affection and force me to do it like this. Fine. You won, Cedar. I need you, or I will lose my mind. Are you happy now? Because you can finally admit it now too.” A smile came onto her lips, and that was much more disturbing than her anger. Especially since something like insanity shone in her eyes. “You are aware that you can't live without me either, right?”

The prince wasn't sure what she wanted to hear, but he didn't want to give it to her either way. Cedar knew that refuting her words would simply lead to her saying that he was a liar, and agreeing would be even worse. So, he refused to answer. “I am unsure what you are referring to. In any case, this does not concern this trial. I believe that we should not bother the spectators with such useless banter.” That probably convinced his mother more.

Camille let out a single laugh, and then she confirmed his guess. “So, you don't want to admit it in front of others? You know that it's true then. How about we finally stop this farce? You don't need to fool anyone here anymore.”

Cedar could guess what this was about too. So, he just gave his mother a smile and replied in a polite tone. “I am uncertain which of my actions would seem like they were supposed to fool anyone. At the moment, I am merely discussing with you despite this being a conversation that should be had in private. I am not-”

Camille cut him off. She still showed him a faint smile, but her anger had returned despite only a few seconds passing. “Of course, you know it. It's shocking to see how far you are going to win Theodore's trust. Do you want to let him get rid of me now to prove to him that you are on his side? And then you will stab him in the back to become emperor? That won't be so easy. Especially since I will be really upset if you continue like this.”

Cedar could already see how confused the guests around them were. All in all, it seemed like most believed Camille to be a maniac who said strange things, but he couldn't be sure that those words wouldn't harm his reputation. He couldn't do much against his mother blabbering on now, but he could clarify one thing. “I have no desire to become emperor. I believe we discussed that topic already.”

Camille still tried to smile, but her fury made it hard for her to keep up that facade. She glared at her son before beginning to speak in a tone that was probably supposed to sound cheerful. “You have some nerve lying to everyone like that. But you were always like that. You could spout lies one after the other without even batting an eye. Everyone should know that by now, and still, it seems like Theodore is too stupid to get it. But we can just remind him and everyone else in this room. Maybe we should tell them the reason why you really came here. Let's see if they still welcome you with open arms then.” So, she wanted to talk about that plot now. How annoying.

Cedar held back a groan and squeezed Lucille's hand once. That was his way of warning her that the following speech would be rather exhausting. Lucille probably understood that she since just squeezed his hand back and kept it in his.

Camille was rather discontent with her son's missing reaction and hurried to continue while addressing all of the people inside the room. “Cedar came to the palace intending to betray the emperor of Artias. He wanted to gain Theodore's trust before I would kill that bastard. Then Cedar would become emperor. Such a treacherous plot could easily have allowed us to win if we had pulled through with it. That would have ended with Theodore and his disgusting family being dead. Do you understand that? And do you know who came up with that plan? It was Cedar.”

A murmur went through the crowd. But it would not help Camille. After all, everyone glancing at the royal couple would see that those two didn't bat an eye.

Blanche glared at Camille like before and didn't hide her dismay.

Theodore had a blank expression. He was completely calm while Camille told her story and just glanced at his brother to make eye contact once. His lips formed a faint smile before he returned to being emotionless while watching Camille. This wasn't what someone would do if they found out about a planned assassination attempt. The emperor's missing reaction should have given Camille an important clue, but logic didn't seem to work here.

Camille didn't care about what the people around her said. She just wanted to hurt Cedar's reputation. It was unfortunate for her, but that wouldn't do much. She would notice that if she cared to look at her son, who was much too calm. But of course, she didn't do that and just did what would help her in the ideal world she had come up with in her mind.

Cedar let out a sigh before he leaned against the backrest of his chair. This would take a while. He could just stay quiet in the meantime and wait for her to realize that she couldn't hurt him like this. There was merely one little thing that worried him. There was one person here whom he needed to talk to about this.

If she misunderstood, this would be more than horrible.

He didn't dare speak up now though. He would just sit here and ignore the churning of his stomach while pushing away the thought of what it would feel like to have Lucille look at him with disgust.