Theodore couldn't have chosen a worse moment. Why had he needed to send someone to pick up his brother now?

Cedar had rarely been so frustrated upon being interrupted. He had to admit that Theodore couldn't have known, but that didn't make it much better. After all, Lucille and he had been in the middle of kissing on their bed.

At first, they had started in a rather gentle manner, but that hesitance had quickly disappeared when they noticed that they hadn't had the desire to pull back. So, the kiss had gotten more passionate, sloppy and rather steamy.

Cedar had barely noticed the process and only really understood what they were doing when he had paused for a moment and looked down at his panting lover. He had left quite a few red marks on her neck, and she had done the same with him. Anyone seeing them like this would be sure that they were on the right track to sleeping with each other. That thought didn't seem too bad, and while they surely hadn't developed this desire overnight, it still felt surprising.

Maybe it was good that they had been interrupted. If this had gone on for a while longer, they might have crossed an irreversible border.

And yet, it was more than frustrating to pull back because someone knocked on the door. That this servant wanted to pick up Cedar was also rather unfavorable. Surely, Lucille had little desire to see the empress now, and Cedar didn't want to go to Theodore.

For a moment, he genuinely considered just refusing this outright. He had rested his face on Lucille's shoulder for a while now and still hadn't regained the motivation to lift his head again.

The servant outside the door was already getting worried about not receiving a reply. “Your Royal Highness?”

Cedar groaned quietly. He should go. After all, Theodore would leave his office in a short while and spend the rest of the day with his family. It could be urgent, so Cedar would need to hear this, especially since it could be related to Reeve. And maybe it would be good if he did have to climb out of the bed now, or he might have problematic ideas. Still, forcing himself to stand up now would be difficult.

Lucille stirred after he hadn't moved for a few seconds. “Cedar?” Her voice was still hoarse. It seemed like all of the adorable little noises she had let out just now had taken their toll on her throat. Or she was just embarrassed. That could be it too.

Cedar had to admit that he wasn't sure whether looking into his lover's eyes now might not just embarrass him too. He really didn't want to get red in front of her, so he kept pressing his face against her neck. “I have to go, don't I? This is unfavorable.” He sighed again before he raised his voice to allow the servant to hear him. “I will be there in a moment.” He said that but still didn't move for a few seconds. By then, he had already resigned to his fate. If he stayed here now, he would be tempted to continue, and that was a bad idea. So, he allowed himself to nibble on his lover's neck one last time and relished in hearing her sweet voice once more. Then he lifted his head and smiled at her. “Maybe it would be good to take a break here.”

Lucille's face was flushed red. She barely managed to meet his gaze without looking to the side and weakly nodded at him. “Yes... You're...right.” She didn't say more than that, and even this much was cute enough.

It was really good that Cedar had to leave now. He forced himself to sit up and moved his feet off the bed. “Then I will go see Theodore and finish whatever he wants me to do. Will you go see the empress in the meantime?”

Lucille shook her head. She sat up as well and pulled her legs close while covering her cheeks with her hands. “No. I will...stay here...and read.” She didn't dare face anyone now, fearing that they would find out. Judging by how shaky and red she was, this seemed to be a correct assessment. She wouldn't be able to cover up anything.

Cedar was more confident that he could hide his embarrassment. Not in front of Lucille though. He jumped up and glanced at the mirror. His hair was completely ruffled from when Lucille had tangled her fingers into it. He had to straighten it a few times before it looked somewhat normal. That didn't cover up the slight blushing on his cheeks, but if he acted like nothing had happened, it should be fine.

Cedar turned around to face the bed one more time. He leaned down and kissed Lucille's forehead. “I will be back when Theodore stops annoying me. Don't get too bored, my beloved.” He patted her head before pulling back. He waved to her and held back a chuckle when he saw how she averted her eyes and played with her hair.

Lucille truly was too cute. That he needed to leave had saved them quite a bit of trouble.

And yet, he was as annoyed as he hadn't been in a while.

The prince steered toward the door and smiled at his lover once more before he left the room. He immediately closed the door behind him to hide his lover on the rather untidy bed and grinned at the servant, who seemed to be quite surprised about him showing up. “I apologize for the delay. I presume my brother is in his office, correct?” He waited for a little nod. “I see. Thank you very much. I will go visit him then.” And hopefully, he would be able to hide how frustrated he was.

But the odds weren't in his favor. Theodore always noticed.

That was why it wasn't surprising that the emperor only needed one glance of his brother to comment on it. “What happened to your neck?” Why did he have to be like this?

Cedar closed the door to the office behind him and returned a radiant smile. “Good afternoon. I am deeply touched by your concern, but you can rest assured that I wasn't injured too badly. A shadow monster began nibbling on me, but it didn't find me tasty, so it gave up. Does that sound convincing, or do you need another excuse?”

Theodore just continued to grin at that. He let out a drawn-out “Oh” and seemed to wait for his brother to complain. When that didn't happen, he spoke up again. “Did I call for you during an unfitting moment? I sincerely apologize.”

Cedar walked over to the desk and took a seat on the chair across from Theodore. “Don't ask questions when you already know the answer. So. What did you call me here for? I presume that you wanted to tell me something specific. It surely wasn't just for fun, right?” Hopefully. Otherwise, his mood would deteriorate even more.

Theodore became much more serious in an instant. He still put on a slight smile, but it seemed like he mainly did that to calm his brother. “First of all, it's nothing bad. You don't need to worry. But I feel like it's time for us to have a longer conversation about some things.” That didn't sound good.

Cedar's annoyance only grew. This probably included their childhood or his mother in one way or the other. He wasn't keen on talking about that. “Some things? How very specific. You need to narrow it down.”

Theodore hesitated for a moment before he replied. “There are multiple things we have to discuss, which is why this is an issue. I feel like all of them are rather important, but we won't be able to get through each topic completely today. Still, it would be good for us to begin since we have to start somewhere. The most obvious issue is about...our relationship. But we also need to speak about that horrible woman. And naturally, about the assassin we picked up.”

Cedar hated two of these three topics. So, it was obvious what he would pick first. “I presume you discussed the current situation with Reeve a bit. He might give us an additional way to ensure that Mother isn't planning anything. But I also doubt that he is very loyal unless you can prove that you will protect him and offer more than anyone else. I would say that there is no way for us to figure it out without testing him. So, using a little scheme makes the most sense. Give his false information, and check whether Mother finds out about it. That is all I can add.”

“That is exactly what we planned on doing. Yesterday, I spoke to Reeve. He was surprisingly talkative and admitted everything. He even complained about you once scaring him so that he fell off a tree and sprained his ankle. So, it seems like he gave us a lot of details. Naturally, I will not rely on everything he tells us, but I have to admit that he said something interesting. He claimed that the orders for the recent attacks hadn't been given while the former dowager empress had been within the royal estate. He said that he would have noticed it if she had contacted anyone but that she hadn't done that.”

This was logical in some way. If anyone wanted to visit the mansion in which Camille lived, Theodore would inevitably know. Surely, Camille was rather naive when it came to guessing what her son was capable of, but it was still unlikely that she had disregarded the security measures that would be set around her completely. Most likely, she had known that it would almost be impossible to make a move after she was brought to the royal estate. She had definitely been aware of the fact that her restricted freedom from before would be taken away completely as soon as she set the confinement house on fire.

Cedar would guess that his mother had thought about that at least once. However, he hadn't expected the big things to be prepared in advance. “So, unless she did everything behind Reeve's back, that would mean that she planned the attacks beforehand?”

“Most of them, yes. At least Reeve guessed that.”

That would include the first time that people had sneaked inside with that metal skewer, the day at which the carriage was broken down, the day when three men had waited in Cedar's room and the poison incident.

Cedar stared ahead while wondering. The thought made him more than uncomfortable. “The idea itself would make sense as it ensures random attacks we can't predict. But that strategy would also mean that she isn't able to react to recent developments. Mother is a very emotional person. She always favored acting before thinking, and I almost can't imagine that she would give away the power to influence her attacks because she passed on the orders much earlier. It's more likely that Reeve just didn't notice”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Theodore reached into one of the folders next to him and pulled out a piece of paper, which he pushed toward his brother. “I thought that first as well. But she did have another way to influence the events outside. This...” He tapped onto the paper. “Is one of the letters the former dowager empress sent Lady Peril. It mentioned the flower pots that seemed suspicious to you as well. She described some specific positions, and based on the order, one could determine her orders. At first glance, that makes perfect sense. It would fit together with her thinking that she can control others like this despite her position and believes that we would be too stupid to notice. But to be honest, something about this irks me.”

Now that he mentioned it, Cedar was pretty sure that he had wondered about that too. There was one thing that made little sense. “I understand what you mean. Mother wanted to depose of Lady Peril. She wanted to frame her for drugging me. She would have never sent that woman any important information, especially not since she hated Lady Peril for the last few years already.”

Ever since Jenna had shown interest in Cedar, Camille had been rather upset about that, and her possessiveness had caused her to resent Lady Peril. So, she definitely wouldn't plan on keeping Jenna around for longer, even if Cedar had become emperor.

Theodore affirmed that with a nod. “Exactly. Lady Peril will not continue to live in luxury for much longer, believe me. I will not convict her for trying to drug you since she really didn't know, but we'll find something. We already attacked her businesses, and thus, it is clear that she will not prevail for long. The former dowager empress knows that. She wouldn't inform such an ally, whom she wanted to get rid of in the near future, of the flower pots when those are her main way to communicate with the assassins working for her.”

If that was the case, Cedar had to congratulate his mother. “I didn't expect so much talent in plotting of her. She led us to believe that she was ordering people around with that strange code, but she actually had prepared everything in advance. Mother might have sent some orders with those flower pots, but we can assume that her main way of communicating her wishes was different. She would have needed to do that before she burned down the confinement mansion. That would be an extensive plan.”

It would also give away more power than Camille was normally ready to relinquish, and to be honest, it was rather inflexible. After all, she wouldn't be able to adjust her plans afterward anymore. Why would Camille, who normally acted on her whims and had hysterical fits, suddenly come up with something like this?

Theodore lifted the letter again and put it back in with the others. “That bothered me too. This would mean that we can't make assumptions about when she will strike because she randomly placed the attacks. Nothing happened for a while now, and then Reeve suddenly came. Surely, he didn't attack you, but he could have. This means that we will have to expect issues up until the far future.” He sounded much more ominous than he would have needed to be near the end.

Cedar saw that as an indirect clue. “So, you will speed things up now? You will make her a commoner then and throw her into a cell. Then you will let some of the people who hate her most visit her occasionally while you deal with the remaining assassins on her side. After that, you will end it.”

Theodore's expression didn't budge while he replied. “Indeed. I wanted to make sure that you knew because that will not be pretty in the slightest. But after that, we will finally have peace. It will still take a little while longer though. At least if it's true that she gave out orders that could be fulfilled even after her death.” Maybe.

But Cedar was fed up with waiting by now. In the past, he had stood by while countless horrible things had happened, and even now, it felt like he was doing the same. He could see how the noose was tightening around Camille's neck as she suffered more and more each day. Most likely, she was already breaking down because of her lost title. At this point in time, Cedar really couldn't see the reason anymore, even if he understood his brother's hatred in some way. All of this was taking far too long. “Theodore. I know what your plan is. But people may get hurt because you hesitate. Surely, you might still need to crush one or two families that supported Mother and are hiding away now and all of those assassins, but you can take care of that after you finish this. To be honest, I worry a little when I see how far you would go to make Mother suffer a bit longer. I can imagine how that sentiment developed, and yet, I don't think that it should direct your actions. In the beginning, I understood your...forced contact strategy. That made sense, but I proved it often enough, right?”

Theodore was silent for a moment. He took a few seconds before he replied. “Of course. I believe you. I know that you won't change sides.”

Cedar doubted it. Otherwise, this strategy wouldn't have made sense. “So, you deny that you purposefully left loopholes for her to slip into the palace? That you attended her banquet with me despite normally never considering looking in her general direction? That you allowed her to attend balls just so that I would need to see and ignore her? That you made her meet me more often?”

Theodore spoke up much quicker this time. “I don't deny doing that. But I did not do it to confirm whether you are loyal. In the beginning, maybe. But after that, this wasn't my intention.”

“What was it then? Was your goal hurting Mother because I pushed her away more each time? If so, that succeeded. She is definitely upset now.” But it probably wasn't anywhere close to what a normal mother would feel if her child deserted her. Camille was probably more unstable than ever before because her emotional support had disappeared. Now no one was there to clean up her mess, and this had to wreck her.

Theodore quickly opened his mouth to refute that. “I have to admit that it was satisfying to show that woman that the person she took for granted is so disgusted by her that he will turn away from her. But that wasn't my intention. It was about your reputation too. To ensure that no one questions you in the future. I also wanted to help you sever your ties to her.” He looked so serious and convinced.

Cedar leaned against the backrest of the chair and crossed his legs. Now the conversation would get even more unpleasant. “I guessed that. But I still don't know what seeing her will offer me aside from the insults she hurls at me. I get rather upset whenever she says something about Lucille, so hearing that might cause me to be more distant with Mother. But why would you place your bets on that when it isn't necessary for your cause? I understand the part about hurting her by using me, but-”

“I never once had the intention to use you. It's good when you push that woman, but it helped you more than it hurt her. Let me explain that to you before you get angry. This is about the first time you met her after you came here. That day, you saw her after using a secret passageway to get to one of the mansions. You remember, right?”

Of course, Cedar remembered. That day, he had told his mother that he would cut off all contact with her. He had first said that he didn't want to be emperor and that he didn't want to kill Theodore. And he had finally positioned himself in this war. “I do. What about that?”

Theodore immediately continued his story. “You know that Leon followed you that day. He watched what you were doing from one of the hiding places in the walls. You didn't see yourself while you spoke to her and said that you didn't want to see her again, but he did. You felt horrible that day. It was obvious even as you smiled more than ever to hide it. You were shaking the whole time. After you came back, you have been in some hazy state for a few days. You acted like you were fine, but you were so upset because you had decided not to help that woman. You barely ate or slept nor did you seem to be fully listening during any conversation. And look at you now. You can fight back against her, tell her what is on your mind, and you can ignore her. It may not be pleasant for you still, and we can never get rid of the past entirely. But you made progress, much more than you may have noticed.”

Cedar was still rather skeptical about this. He beamed at his brother while thinking about what to say, but he couldn't deny any of this. He had felt like a walking corpse after telling his mother to leave him alone. Merely Lucille's hug had kept him sane that day, and he had fallen asleep in her arms. He couldn't deny that he had been shaky and that he had been about to cry either. “I guess that you may have caught me in a bad moment there.” His desire to invalidate his weaknesses grew, and he was already prepared to explain that it hadn't been that bad, but he didn't get the chance.

Theodore already spoke. “Don't say that. You have the right to be upset when it comes to that woman. No. Actually, you have the right to be upset about everything in your life. It's normal to be angry or sad when something bad happens. And you are obviously still affected when that woman is mentioned, and that isn't a problem. But you have to admit that you noticed a change too. You are much happier now. Not just because of Lucille, even if she plays an important part. You are also happier because you finally have the chance to interact with others without constantly plotting. Blanche and I are examples. You sometimes joke around with Harris too. You are closer to our cousin and aunt, and you began to teach some of the royal guards, who happen to adore you. You can open up slowly now, and I can guarantee you that you will only find that easier with time. No one here will push you. And most importantly, no one will hold you back either. From now on, you don't have to bother thinking about what that woman will do if you react in one way or the other.”

That was easy for him to say.

Cedar wasn't sure about this. In fact, he was sure that he would always worry a bit about whether the people around him would lash out, even if he did try to get it out of his system. Like his smiling and his automatic fighting reflexes, this probably wouldn't disappear. “Possibly. I am able to speak to people without fearing that Mother will throw them out of the palace now. But what does this have to do with your-”

Theodore raised his hand to stop his brother. “Let me explain. I understand that it may feel odd to you that I thought about this for so long, but this is important to me. You can form relationships with others now because you understood that that woman was wrong. You guessed it before already, and now you are positioning yourself on the other side. But that is only possible because you aren't as tied to her anymore. That was because you had so many chances to meet her while rejecting her manipulation and pulling yourself away from her. Each time you faced her, your grief turned to rage and annoyance. You lost more of the affection you felt for that woman, and what bound you to her disappeared because she herself showed you her ugly side more prominently than before.”

Cedar would argue about that. He had been the one to support her after his father's death, so he had witnessed some rather unfavorable moments. Not to mention the fireplace incident. He was rather sure that those times had been just as bad as everything that was happening now. But he didn't say that and just kept listening.

Theodore was already in the middle of continuing anyway. “That woman herself unwillingly helped you distance yourself from her. She made you hate her more every time she attacked Lucille in front of you, whether it may be verbally or because she sent someone to harm your lover. When she insults you, it also doesn't make you happy, and sending assassins will not gain her much either. Ever since you turned away from her, she has been extremely unstable and even more hysteric than normal. Obviously, she would be harsh to you then. So, making you meet her always ensured that you would hate her more. You admitted that yourself last time.” That might be true.

Cedar wasn't sure what he had said last time. He had been very upset then, so he would rather not think about everything he had told his mother. “Possibly. And? Didn't the moments in which she was nice worry you?” He expected at least the slightest bit of hesitance.

But Theodore seemed rather honest when he replied. “I wasn't worried. At that point, you had already put an emotional wall between you and her. Because you had experienced what people who truly care about you act like. You can tell the difference between the affection of people who genuinely want to give and those who will only take. I merely didn't trust what she would try and wanted to keep you from harm.” He frowned, and his expression got much more grim than before. “That is why I shouldn't have allowed that woman to enter the palace with a dagger. I really didn't think that she would attack you directly. We will keep that in mind from now on.”

Cedar suppressed the nausea that rose in his stomach whenever he thought about how he had hurt his mother that day. He didn't want to talk about that, so changing the topic seemed like a good idea. “I understand your reasoning. And I can agree that you weren't completely wrong with your assumptions. But let me ask this. Why was that necessary for you? You were always risking something going wrong when you let her get close or gave permission for her to attend balls. You could have used other methods to make sure that I wouldn't help her anymore, and everything else is not really your problem. Why did you concern yourself with this anyway when you didn't have to?”

Theodore's response came immediately. “Because you're my brother. I care about you. I want to spare you as much pain as possible in the future. I messed up when we were children and even after that. Badly. In the beginning, I just saw you as something that would stop that woman from bothering me, and after that, I was stupid. I didn't know enough, and yet, I judged you and treated you as if you were responsible for what happened. I failed to protect you, and I didn't reach out my hand when you were all alone with that monster either. That is one of the things I regret most in my life. I can't make up for that anymore, but I can try to help you a bit now. I want you to get out of that woman's web of pain and terror with as few wounds as possible. You are already carrying enough scars, and I refuse to let any new ones develop if I can prevent it. This is part of why this is taking so long too, along with me dealing with the people that support that woman.”

Cedar wasn't happy about his brother's speech. Firstly, he didn't like hearing Theodore say things like that. It felt weird. Cedar had always just seen his older brother as a rival, so it didn't bother him that Theodore had seen him as some sort of pacifier for their mother. That had been close to what Cedar had truly been after all. But he didn't want to think about that part too much in general. Being told that his brother cared for him was odd in multiple ways. Cedar focused on the last sentence instead of trying to comprehend the rest. “So, you are delaying this over and over again because you want me to...do what exactly? Do you want me to distance myself from Mother even more?”

“I don't necessarily want something from you. More than that, I want to help you. I hope that giving you some time will make this easier for you, and that is needed because the ending is already clear. That woman will get executed, Cedar.” That sentence cut through the silence and seemed to make everything much more tense than before. Theodore resumed a moment later though. “She will be beheaded in front of us. I won't make you watch that, but you will know that it happens. If you were still as dependent on her as before, that would have crushed you too. Because you believe that it is your fault if she gets punished, even though it is only hers. You always do.”

That comment stung. Not because it was a lie though.

Theodore was right.