That day, Lucille didn't dare leave her room. She was almost sure that she would end up getting too nervous as soon as someone made eye contact with her and she wondered about whether that person could know for some reason. If Cedar saw her embarrassment, it was fine, but no one else could ever catch her when she was blushing. And she had to admit that she was getting red much too quickly, especially when she was confronted with anything that was related to her lover. She didn't need Blanche's jokes today.
Lucille read for the next hour and almost expected to do so for the following hour as well. She managed to finish one of the new romance books and began reading her favorite book again after that. She didn't get too far with this one.
Cedar came back as soon as the one hour of work was over. When he knocked on the door, she already recognized the pattern and prepared to greet him.
Lucille would have liked to deny it, but she was extremely nervous. She couldn't help but think about their night together whenever her lover said something that hinted at the general sentiment. It wasn't like she minded that much, but this all seemed to happen rather quickly. Just yesterday, she had wondered whether she and Cedar would cross that line in the next few months, and then it had suddenly happened. She didn't regret that in the slightest, and it had been fun, but she was still a bit uncertain. She sat upright on her bed and raised her voice a bit before waiting for her lover to come in. “You can enter.”
Cedar opened the door a moment later and showed her the same warm smile that made her heart melt each time. “Hello. Have you finally finished your book and gotten past that stupid misunderstanding?” He closed the door again and came to the bed to sit down next to her.
Lucille remembered complaining to him about how the love interest in her book had been involved in some scandal that actually hadn't existed and how the heroine had been angry about that. It was just surprising that Cedar remembered that. “I... Yes. It was revealed in an unnecessarily dramatic scene, but now everything is fine. They married at the end.”
Cedar made himself comfortable while taking off his shoes and then let himself fall onto the bed. He looked up at Lucille, who sat directly next to him, and replied with the same beautiful smile as before. “That's...somewhat disappointing. Didn't you say that the love interest is an idiot? He called the heroine stupid a few times, didn't he? How come that person is allowed to marry her when that count was much nicer?”
Lucille had pondered about that too. “I agree. The other person was much...” She cut herself off. “I'm a bit surprised you remember that. The story wasn't that good, and some of the romance novels I enjoy are actually rather stupid. I wouldn't be surprised if you were annoyed whenever I mention them.”
Cedar just grinned at her. He lifted his hand to stroke over her cheek and unintentionally coaxed her into stroking over his head like this. “I love hearing you babble about almost anything. And if you are passionate about something, I will probably like it too just because you care for it. Just don't make me read this specific book. I already know that I won't like the hero, so I am a bit biased.”
Lucille had never planned on making him read any of the books she liked, but she would definitely lend them to him if he wanted to read something. Alone the fact that he listened to her rambling was wonderful and painted a bright smile onto her face while she patted his head. “Thank you very much. You can tell me what you did today in the office too.”
In an instant, Cedar's smile became a bit more playful. “Oh, you don't want to know. Today it was a bit... Let me call it interesting. I was reminded that we may need to be a bit more careful. Theodore barely left me alone about that.”
Now Lucille was a bit worried. “What do you mean? We didn't do anything dangerous. Is he upset about something?”
Cedar shook his head. He scanned her expression as if he thought about whether to tease her a bit more or to let it be. In the end, he chose to stop here and became more serious. He still showed her a faint smile, but he seemed to be rather insistent on this topic being important. “We...didn't do anything bad. It's just risky. This is regarding us spending the night with each other. Everything is fine with that. But we didn't plan it, so we didn't prepare for all eventualities. We didn't...well...eliminate the chances of this having a bit more...life-changing consequences.”
Lucille took a moment to understand what he was referring to. They hadn't used a contraceptive. They had spent the night together, but... Lucille opened her mouth and closed it again as blood came rushing to her head. In an instant, worries surfaced. What would she do if she was pregnant now? How would she deal with a child at her age? Surely, some noble ladies gave birth while being so young, so it wouldn't be impossible, but she felt too unprepared. “That...uhm...” She stammered around a bit while being unsure what to say.
Cedar averted his eyes for a moment before he spoke up. “It should be fine. Since you...could take some contraceptives now. I can go to the doctor to ask for something if that is fine with you. Apparently, there are some herbs that you just have to eat or boil in your tea. I was just...informed of that option in a rather insistent tone. And it seems like taking them now could help still.”
“Yes, please ask him. If we-” Lucille cut herself off. She couldn't just assume that spending the night together would be a common occurrence from now on. But it would definitely be better for her to take a contraceptive, at least for the next few years until they were ready for a child.
Cedar had probably guessed what his lover had wanted to say and grinned at her for a moment. When she avoided his gaze, he reached up to play with her hair a bit while he spoke again. “I will go to the doctor this evening. I hope that he can provide us with something quickly.” He paused for a few seconds and seemed to think about something before he continued with a sigh. “Theodore will make fun of me for this for years to come.” So, the emperor knew already.
Lucille pressed her lips together while trying to ignore how embarrassment rose inside her. How had Theodore already heard about this? There was no way that Cedar had said anything, and she almost couldn't imagine that they had been loud enough for someone to hear. Still, the very thought of someone listening to them made her blush even more. “But... How? No one could have known.”
Cedar closed his eyes for a few seconds while enjoying her massage. “I thought so too. But thanks to someone's enthusiasm, I ended up revealing it unwillingly.” He paused a bit and opened his eyes before he lifted his hand and tapped on his neck. “Do you recognize those? Theodore saw them immediately. That made it rather obvious.”
Lucille glanced down and froze in place when she saw the red spots she had left. She hadn't realized how long those would stay while making them. She immediately averted her eyes while she lay down next to her lover. She hugged him and used that as an excuse to hide her face. “I'm sorry.”
Cedar's hand found the backside of her head, and he began stroking over her hair. “Don't apologize. I don't mind carrying your marks. I was just a bit...careless this morning. I didn't see them, or I would have hidden them while meeting Theodore since it was obvious how he would react. But now he saw and lectured me, so we can stop worrying about it. If he knows, his wife will know in a few minutes, Leon will know and almost every single servant who talks to them as well.” That sounded a bit stressful.
Lucille didn't want anyone to comment on what she did with her lover, or she would die of embarrassment. “I...see.” Next time, she would be more careful and only leave love marks where no one aside from her would see them. “Then your day was rather...”
“Stressful. Indeed. That one hour of listening to Theodore's jokes ruined my mood quite a bit. But well. It's not like we can change that. Instead, we can focus on even more stressful things, and these are more than mildly infuriating. I also received not just one but two unpleasant letters.” That didn't sound good.
She had been glad to change the topic to something less worrisome, but this probably wouldn't do the trick. She tensed a bit while she moved closer to her lover. “How bad is it?”
Cedar shrugged. “It's annoying but not dangerous. I considered taking the letters along with me, but then I decided that we don't want to have them anywhere near us, so let me narrate it for you. The first one was from Lady Peril.”
Lucille's mood immediately soured. “What did she say? Did she try something again?”
Cedar showed her his annoyed smile again. “She expressed her condolences for what happened regarding my mother. She acted like I had to be heartbroken and dejected because Mother lost her title. Then she said that we haven't had an event in a while and that she misses me because we haven't seen each other. Apparently, she is looking forward to the hunting festival and wants to give me a gift there. I presume that she will offer me a handkerchief, which I will not accept under any circumstances. She ended the letter with her signature and invited me to her home once again. Her husband is away on a business trip, so she thought that having some company would be nice.”
How revolting.
Lucille pressed her lips together while trying to ignore the rising frustration in her stomach. “That woman should just leave you alone. I don't get why she is so obsessed with you. I mean, you are great, but you told her that you aren't interested multiple times. Why doesn't she listen?” To be honest, Lucille had hoped that Jenna would give up after some of the last few incidents, including the one where Lady Peril had almost been accused of treason.
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Cedar rolled to the side so that his face was directly in front of hers. He showed her a little smile while he guided his hand to hers and interlocked their fingers. “I think it's because of her desire for influence. I also heard some concerning bits and pieces about her childhood, so there might be more to this too. But that won't concern us in the slightest. After all, I only respond to one woman's advances. That woman happens to lie right next to me. Lady Peril will not be an issue much longer. Theodore is more subtle in her case since he worries about her economic strength, but he made her give up half of the merchants she works with already. He will certainly not let someone who helped Mother live in the capital much longer. He probably won't kill her, but she won't stay here either.”
That answer was satisfying. Especially the part about Lucille being the only woman by his side. She couldn't help but give her lover a faint smile. “I'm glad to hear that.” Though, something else worried her. “And the second letter is...”
Cedar's smile became even more fake than it had been before. There was only one person who could evoke this response from him, so it was obvious even before he replied. “It's from Mother. She sent an invitation for dinner and wants to see me desperately. Obviously, we won't go. We don't really need to do anything regarding this letter and can just ignore it, but...”
Lucille didn't like news like this at all. “Clearly, we shouldn't go. Do you worry about her now that she lost her title?”
Cedar let out a little snort. “You always have to worry about her. She does more dangerous things than normal ones. But...” He stayed quiet for a moment before he resumed. “Going there wouldn't make that better. She would use the whole evening to manipulate me, gain my pity or insult us. I don't need to have that, and you don't either. There is no question when it comes to whether we should see her.”
“I understand. But why did you even tell me if we won't go?”
Cedar hesitated for a moment. “I don't want to go, but this might be the last time that I can ever eat with her. Just refusing that would make me feel horrible. But I will not allow her to use that against me again. You don't have to worry about me.” He was still emotionally invested. Even if he wanted to ignore it, a part of him still told him to help his mother. But that part of his was much weaker than his desire to stay away from Camille. That was good. It would take a while for him to tear away completely, but he was steadily moving forward each day.
Lucille showed her lover a bright smile. “You are making the right decision. And I'm here to support you. Always. Remember that I trust you fully.”
Cedar watched her expression for a few seconds before he opened his mouth. “I'm honored that you put so much trust-” He didn't manage to finish before someone knocked on the door. He ignored that and ended his sentence first. “Into me. I am happy that you are showing me so much of you. You can rest assured that I will do my best to show you all of me in return. It will take me a while to get used to this, but I am stubborn. So, don't worry. You will get to see everything there is to be seen.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingertips before he finally rose to his feet to greet their visitor.
Lucille didn't even need to stand up to recognize Angelica, who explained something to the prince, by the door. She waved to the other woman and was met with a friendly smile.
A few seconds later, Cedar turned around and addressed his lover. “Blanche and Theodore have to attend an unplanned audience. They asked whether we would mind watching Aurora in the meantime. Do you have an issue with that?”
How could Lucille mind watching over a cute and angelic baby along with her beloved? As long as Theodore and Blanche weren't there to tease them, she didn't mind going out either. “Of course not. Now?” She received a nod, so she brought her legs over the edge of the bed to stand up. She almost tripped when she got up onto her feet and realized that this might have been a bit too quickly. Thankfully, her head didn't make her dizzy for longer than a second, so she managed to walk to the entrance without stumbling again.
Still, Cedar had seen her. He watched her with a little smile on his lips. “Are you alright?”
Lucille quickly nodded as reached her lover's side. “I am perfectly fine. Let's go.” She greeted Angelica, who hid a small chuckle behind her hand, and immediately wanted to hide herself. Why was the other woman looking at her like this? She hoped that her neck wasn't the problem. Angelica's grin made it likely that this was indeed the issue, but Lucille tried to ignore that.
The couple followed the maid to the royal couple's room and faced two rather serious people instead of the jokes they had expected. Blanche and Theodore had already prepared to leave but seemed unwilling to leave the room. The empress held her baby and pressed about a hundred kisses onto Aurora's head before she even put her into the cradle. The emperor was similarly affected and stared down at his daughter for a minute or so before finally tearing his gaze away again.
Aurora herself didn't care very much and just closed her eyes before she began to sleep within a few seconds.
Blanche looked like she was unsure of her decision and only put on a playful smile when she looked at the couple. “Good day to both of you. I hope that we didn't bother you during an unpleasant time. We didn't want to disturb you.”
Lucille quickly replied with a little smile in return. “It's fine. We didn't have anything planned. If we can see Aurora, it's a treat, so you don't have to feel bad.”
Theodore certainly looked like he felt bad. He glanced at the cradle and had to force himself to avert his eyes. “Thank you very much. Blanche will go back in half an hour to ensure that everything is fine. If Aurora gets hungry, which shouldn't happen since she was just fed, you just have to send Stella to us. If anything else goes wrong, you can-”
Cedar cut him off there. “Everything will be fine, Theodore. We're in the palace, and her mother will come back before Aurora even wakes up. So, you can relax. Stella is here as well, and she often helps with Aurora, right? Don't worry. Focus on your meeting, and don't rush it too much. We will be here to busy your daughter. She had enough toys to be distracted for hours at a time.”
Theodore still seemed skeptical, but he closed his mouth and didn't continue what he had intended to say. “Thank you for helping us. I will try not to worry too much. But be careful and tell us if even the slightest thing is strange. I know that we already left Aurora alone for two evenings, and she didn't mind, but we're still...”
Blanche continued for him. “We're a bit worried about her waking up and crying because we aren't there. So, please calm her down if that happens and call for us. I don't want my baby to cry when we can prevent it.”
Lucille would have liked to do more about the parents' worry, but she could only repeat what had already been said. “Since Aurora just fell asleep, it will take a while. We will inform you if she does stir and seems unhappy.”
Blanche nodded, but she still glanced at her daughter once more to make sure. “Alright. Thank you.” She and Theodore stayed for a few more seconds and just worried about their daughter before they left the room.
As soon as they went out, Cedar closed the door behind them. “These two are overly worried. There is no way that Aurora would make problems. She is calm as long as she has someone to take care of her, can sleep and is fed. We will probably just sit down here while she won't notice a thing.” He walked over to the sofa and slowly took a seat while trying to be as quiet as possible.
Lucille followed while attempting to do the same. She reached the sofa and sat next to her lover before allowing herself to get closer to cuddle with him. “I'm pleasantly surprised about them not....asking anything about us...you know.” She was happy that she could hide her face by simply resting her chin on her lover's shoulder.
Cedar allowed his lover to position herself next to him and then put his arms around her before he spoke up. “Well, that must be because they are worrying about their daughter. They forget everything else, which can only be good for us at the moment. I am pleasantly surprised about Theodore attending an audience with his wife, especially since he didn't drag me along. I wonder who is daring enough to trouble the emperor and the empress with such short notice. They probably are an unpleasant person since the royal couple was so upset. Maybe Lady Peril is bitter because of her business. She would certainly be brazen-”
A small noise came from the cradle. It sounded like a half-loud sob but also like some sort of high-pitched scream.
Cedar lifted his head and glanced at the cradle. “Is she awake already? I can't believe it. We just said that she would sleep for another few minutes.” He held still for a moment and listened again.
The quiet whining continued. Aurora was extremely frustrated with something, and her little sobs made that seem heartbreaking.
Lucille let go of her lover and stood up to walk over to the cradle, with Cedar following directly behind her. She leaned down to look into the cradle and gently pushed it to the sides in hopes of calming Aurora down like that. This didn't help.
Aurora just lifted her arms and stretched them out as if she wanted to grasp something. It was obvious that she didn't want to sleep when she looked at the people in front of her with round eyes.
Cedar was the one to give up first. He bowed down and picked up the baby.
As always, Aurora liked him a lot. She held her arms in his direction and stopped whining as soon as she was in his arms.
Cedar brought her over to the sofa and sat down while picking up the rattle from the table. He put a few pillows around the area next to him and positioned the baby so that she could sit and lean against him and the backrest of the sofa. Then he shook the rattle a few times before handing it over to Aurora, who enthusiastically received it and began shaking it with as much vigor as she could muster with her tiny arms.
Lucille couldn't help but grin at that display. She watched the two for a while before sitting down as well. This earned her a skeptical gaze from Aurora, even though she had purposefully left some distance between them to avoid making the little girl uncomfortable. A few seconds passed in silence, which was only interrupted by the almost rhythmic clattering of the rattle, before she allowed herself to speak up. “She is truly adorable. It's nice to see that she is happy with her life, but that shouldn't be surprising. Aren't a lot of people pampering her?”
Cedar ignored how Aurora accidentally hit his arm with the rattle and just glanced at her once before he made eye contact with his lover. “She is the crown princess and happens to be a cute baby at the same time. Her parents are smitten with her too. What did you expect?” He looked down at Aurora when she managed to shake the rattle with a bit more force so that the noise got louder. “Time really passes quickly. She is half a year old, isn't she? She is much heavier than before, and she can finally sit comfortably too.”
One had to admit that Aurora's sitting was more leaning against her uncle and playing with whatever toy he gave her to distract her, but Lucille could remember exactly how the tiny Aurora had lain around without moving much for the first few weeks. This was a big change.
“That is true. She is still small, but she used to be much smaller. I'm glad to see that she seems to be eating well. I don't think we need to worry about her growing up to be a healthy, young-”
Just at that moment, the rattle was thrown away with so much force that it landed on the table, which maybe stood one step away from the sofa. Aurora let out a strange noise when that happened and shook her balled fists while staring at her fingers as if she wasn't sure why her toy was gone.