Cedar showed his mother a little smile as he finally said what he should have told her directly much more often. “But I don't care why you wanted to make Theodore and me enemies. Either way, we will break that cycle now. Theodore and I won't fight for power nor will we hate each other. We get along well, and we will continue to work together no matter what you say or do. That's why-” This time, he didn't get to finish.

Camille had tensed again, and her anger had come back with full force as she yelled at him. “You are working together with your father's murderer? Are you joking? You despise Theodore. You hate him with every fiber of your being and want to kill him! How can you forget that just because of a few kind words?” She rattled at the gate's bars until one of the guards told her to stop. She ignored that at first and only held herself back when that guard came closer and threatened to remove her by force. That didn't keep her from continuing to hiss at her son though. “Did you forget all of the humiliation that man put us through just because he was nice to you for a few days? He murdered your father, framed us for treason and locked us in confinement! And all of that is suddenly forgotten because he smiles at you while preparing to stab you from behind? Because he allows you to keep some lowly mistress?” She gestured to Lucille and almost hit her hand on the gate in the process.

Cedar was getting tired of arguing. He wanted to leave. Holding Lucille in his arms only did so much against his rising frustration, and he would greatly favor it if he could hug her elsewhere. He didn't need to listen to his mother for much longer. He had seen that she was energized enough to yell at him, and throwing a tantrum didn't seem to be too problematic for the allegedly weak woman either. So, he didn't have to worry about Camille dying any time soon. Her fury would keep her alive for long enough. This meant that he had seen everything he needed to know and could withdraw now. “Our conversation is going in circles. Don't you understand that? You keep telling me the same things, and it's very frustrating to listen to you. I will not change my mind. So, I think that Lucille and I will-”

Camille interrupted him in a much louder voice again. “I will never accept her as your fiancée! Do you hear me? I won't accept it!” It seemed like she wasn't ready to give up on that.

Logical arguments wouldn't help here either, but Cedar wanted to try again. He took a deep breath before replying in an exaggeratedly calm voice. “Whether you agree to my engagement is not important. We only need the signatures of Lucille, me and her father since she isn't twenty yet. I am an adult, so there is no need for you to even worry about my decisions. You are in no position to tell us what to do.” He had unwillingly attacked her weak spot again.

Camille yelled again and used her favorite sentence of all time. “I'm the dowager-” Unfortunately, that phrase didn't help her anymore.

“You are not the dowager empress. You lost that title for attempting to assassinate the emperor as well as the previous esteemed emperor's second wife, Althea Estien. Theodore revoked your status as a member of the royal family. From now, on you have to show respect to others and can't hide behind your title anymore. Raising your voice in the presence of royalty is considered to be rather insolent. So, please do lower your voice.”

Camille looked like she would snap for a moment.

That was enough to make Lucille tense. She hugged her lover a bit tighter and took half a step backward. It seemed like she wanted to pull him away from the source of danger that was right in front of them more than she wanted to protect herself.

It was rather safe though. In addition to the metal gate, the guards around them were prepared to intervene, and based on their expressions, it seemed like they were absolutely furious with Camille, who was threatening their emperor the entire time. If they hated her, that was good. It meant that they wouldn't hold back if trouble arose.

Yet, Cedar took a moment to look down at his lover to calm her.

Lucille both seemed angry and upset. She didn't know what to feel at the moment, but she definitely didn't like Camille very much.

Cedar had to admit that he was very relieved to know that his lover was on his side and that she hadn't changed her mind because of something his mother had said. Unfortunately, he had no chance to tell her that at the moment.

Camille already demanded his attention again as she raised her voice despite being told not to do that a moment ago. “How can you talk to me like that? I'm your mother! Do you have no respect for me?” Few people who saw her like this would respect her, but saying that would probably make her lose her mind completely.

So, Cedar phrased it a bit differently. “This has nothing to do with my respect for anyone in any way. I am just being honest. You, as a marquess' daughter, cannot just come to the palace and yell until someone speaks to you. Maybe it's hard to get used to this, but from now on, you have to hold back a little.” Even if the last few months of her life would change almost nothing.

His mother didn't seem content with his response, even though he had tried to be nice. She clenched her jaw and glared at him through narrowed eyes. “What are you saying? I'm the dowager empress. It doesn't matter how I act!” That would be a lie even if she still had that title, but well. “Theodore might have tried to get rid of me, but soon, I will get my title back officially too. And then everyone will regret looking down on me!” She said that with so much malice in her voice. She really believed in it. That was painful to watch.

Cedar glanced at his lover. Lucille was fine, so he might be able to continue the conversation for a little while. He selfishly wanted to tell his mother something. He knew that Camille probably wouldn't listen, and he couldn't change the future anymore, but a small part of him at least wanted her to be prepared for what would follow. So, he spoke even if his words would probably be wasted. “You truly have no self-awareness. Mother, have you not understood even now? Did you think about why you are still here even once? Didn't you notice that something was odd?”

Camille stopped yelling. At least she would pretend to listen, but that didn't mean that she would understand. “What do you mean?”

“Surely, it has to seem strange to you too. You were ordered to stay in confinement for the rest of your life. But for some reason, Theodore let you move into a mansion in the royal estate. He let you come here to meet me. He let you attend events. He allowed you to hold your own banquet. And not only that. He let you plot happily, even though he has people stationed all around you. Theodore observes your every step. Why did you think you managed to continue your plans anyway? That was because he knew about them and allowed you to resume like this. Now I am asking you whether you never thought that this was strange. Why would Theodore do this?”

The reason was so painfully obvious that Camille should know. But she just glared at the person who wasn't even here without showing any signs of the fear she should feel upon knowing that she would be executed this year. “Theodore is an arrogant bastard. I don't care what his plans are. He will try to kill me. He despises me and will stage some kind of accident or assassination to frame me.” More bitterness came back, and she stared at her son with pure hatred in her eyes. “You should try to defend me and not stand by his side.”

Cedar chose to ignore that since his reasoning would help little. He was direct instead. “He hates you as much as you hate him. That is true. Since you killed his mother in front of his eyes, you can't blame him for that. He will get his revenge. He has been crushing our former supporters left and right. Haven't you realized that either? He is destroying the limbs of the beast first before he will deal with the head. Theodore told you that he would get revenge for what you did to his mother, the people he cares about and the nation a few times now, did he not? Why aren't you preparing for that? You should know how stubborn he is. He wouldn't forgive you or change his mind. And you certainly will regret it if you keep fighting against him now. Please just give up.”

This might be a last desperate attempt to keep Camille from facing the most gruesome ending imaginable. A foolish appeal for her to refrain from making this worse.

But to be honest, that didn't change the fact that Theodore would still hurt her a lot to punish her for what she had done to others in the past. And yet, Cedar would have liked her to finally show some regret, just so that the ending wouldn't be as painful as it would be if she continued like this.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

As always, the second prince remained unheard.

Camille was boiling and lifted her hand before slamming it against the bars of the gate. “Why would I withdraw when your brother is trying to crush us? You are just doing this because he manipulated you with some kind words. How stupid can you be? I, as the dowager empress of Artias, will never yield and let the nation be ruled by a gruesome tyrant who killed his own father! I will not rest before Theodore is dead and buried! And his whore wife and the brat she gave birth to as well!” She had just proposed treason in front of at least a dozen witnesses. That didn't just show that she was mentally unstable but also that she sometimes had issues with thinking logically.

Cedar sighed quietly. He focused on patting his lover's hand while trying to seem unaffected. It was good that Lucille was the only one seeing right through him, so no one else could tell how upset he was. Luckily, his lover was kind enough not to reveal it. She didn't say anything and just stood by his side to support him. Cedar allowed himself to breathe in and out before he turned to his mother once more. “Please don't threaten our emperor, our empress or the crown princess. And aside from that, you need to remember one more thing. You are not the dowager empress.” He had raised his voice a bit this time to underline that. “You will not continue to misuse a title that doesn't belong to you.” His mother looked so offended that he hurried to add something “As a member of the royal family, I am expected to remind you of this, so do not feel like I was insulting you.”

Camille gritted her teeth. By now, she had done that so often that it wouldn't have been surprising if she was seriously hurting her jaw. But of course, she wouldn't pay attention to that but focused on useless power games instead. “My title is still mine, so don't act like it belongs to someone else. And if I lost my title, you shouldn't have yours anymore either. You are my son, so you should be punished just as harshly.”

Cedar almost sighed again. He forced himself to reply calmly despite his annoyance. “My position as the prince of Artias is based on me being the previous esteemed emperor's son. Do not confuse that with anything else.” But he wouldn't fight about that. In fact, he didn't want to fight anymore at all. He had said what needed to be said, and Camille had seen him once in a while, which meant that he was done. So, he chose to end the conversation here. “I fear that this is all the time that we have for today. I hope that you can return home safely and that you will not experience any trouble today. Please do rest well and eat normally again. It would be unfavorable if you got sick.” He knew that they would just continue arguing if the couple stayed here. So, he immediately turned around and led Lucille away. He didn't hope that they would be able to leave in peace, but it was even worse than he had expected.

Camille screamed as soon as he had stopped speaking. “Stop! Cedar come back! Didn't you hear me? Come back!” She took a moment to notice that she was being ignored. Only then did she understand that this wouldn't help and changed her approach. “Lucille Valerian, I am ordering you to stop this instant! Move over here.”

Lucille slowed her steps. For a moment, Cedar feared that she wanted to go back, but his lover just gave him a weak smile. “Let's leave. Neither of us has to listen to a person without power.”

Cedar nodded at her and tried to pull her away again.

But of course, this didn't make Camille happy at all. This time, she was even louder than before, and it sounded like she was trying to move the gate again. “How dare you? You keep ignoring me, you whore! You just stand by and watch while laughing about how much you have wrapped Cedar around your finger. You must be content with yourself, you self-centered harlot!”

Cedar would have liked her to shut up, but he knew that addressing her now would only prolong the conversation. So, he just whispered to his lover. “Feel free to ignore people who dare to insult you. She won't have the chance to do this for much longer. Theodore will deal with her this year.”

Lucille didn't look like she felt very offended either, so it wasn't a wonder that she accepted this without complaints. “She said much worse things about you, so I am content if she stops trying to hurt you. I don't really care about whether she calls me-” She cut herself off when the yelling behind them got louder. Despite her better judgment, she listened, and then rage came upon her features. She looked like she tried to hold back, but what she had heard was enough to make her spin around. She wasn't exactly loud, but she said it in a volume that allowed Camille to hear her. “Stop insulting Cedar! We have every right to ignore you if you act like this! No matter what you do, I love Cedar, and he loves me. And I will tell him that as often as he wants to hear it. You have no influence on our life nor do you have the right or the chance to bring us apart!” Her voice broke once in the middle, not from grief but from anger. She never spoke like that.

Camille couldn't care less. She just said what she always said when she was faced with criticism. “You are nothing but a lowly mistress who feels better because a prince busied himself with her for some time! I am Cedar's mother! He has to listen to me, and in the end, he will choose me over you. He would never turn away from me, and you arrogant bitch will learn that first-hand!”

“You gave birth to him, and after that, you only hurt him! Nothing that you did that would make him owe you. He has countless reasons to leave you behind completely. Be thankful that he even talked to you today!”

It was obvious what Camille would say about that as soon as she opened her mouth. “You-”

Cedar immediately stopped her. He didn't need to listen to how his lover got insulted one more because she defended him. So, he shut his mother down and would even use a little lie to make it harder for Camille to swallow. “Did you forget one crucial thing? Lucille is my fiancée. She is a part of the royal family while you are not. If you insult her one more time, I will charge you with slandering royalty, and that will give you a punishment you don't want. And if that isn't a logical reason for you, remember that I will hate you more each time you try to hurt my beloved. Understand?”

No, Camille did not understand. That was what made her this frustrating to deal with. She just saw that her son was trying to leave again and doubled her efforts. Maybe she had realized that she was on the losing side, but still, she refused to let him go. She sank to her knees again and used a different tone, one that sounded much more vulnerable. “Cedar! Cedar, please don't leave! I'm hurt, you can't just go. Cedar!” Her voice was so shrill that it hurt in his ears.

Unfortunately, not only Cedar's ears hurt. At that moment, something unpleasant formed in his stomach. He hated leaving behind his mother, and yet, there was something else aside from disappointment and bitterness that he felt at the moment. He wasn't completely sure, but he could swear that he felt a small hint of disgust. There was no way that he could hold such a sentiment for his mother, and yet, he didn't want to look at her anymore. He suddenly didn't feel too bad about letting her sit there anymore.

Knowing that only unsettled Cedar more. He wasn't used to feeling something like distaste for his mother. Surely, a small portion of anger and grief had accompanied his affection for her. And each time that she had attacked Lucille, he had liked his mother less. But that he found her presence this revolting was definitely new. Just hearing her voice call his name made him want to throw up.

Cedar considered ignoring her completely, but that would make him feel even stranger. So, he looked over his shoulder once more. Maybe it wasn't his mother whom he found this nauseating but how she acted. Seeing her how she sat on the floor and wailed for help after insulting Lucille definitely didn't make Camille seem too dignified. He couldn't hold back the comment. “Please give it up already. It's painful to see you sinking further like this. You are usually so prideful. And what are you doing now? You are kneeling in the dirt and starving yourself. What will that do except for destroying your reputation completely? Did the dignified version of you disappear along with your title? Pull yourself together and leave quietly.” Without noticing it, he seemed to have said something wrong.

It was silent for a few seconds, which was odd enough. His mother seemed to be paralyzed for a while before she moved again.

All of a sudden, Camille's anger faded, She just stared for a moment. Suddenly, she stood up in a rather graceful way and then paid more attention to her posture. “I understand. I will not disappoint you, my dear Cedar. Your mother will always be on your side, even if everyone else turns away. Don't forget that.” She stayed still after, keeping her eyes on her son.

Cedar could only blink at that display. What had gotten into Camille just now? That wasn't like his mother at all. There was no way that she would just pull herself together because he told her that her dignity was in danger. Right? Was she doing this to catch him off guard?

Lucille next to him shifted her weight on her feet and gazed at him with worry. “Are you...alright?” So, she was worrying about him more than about his mother. To some extent, that was logical.

Cedar was still smiling as brightly as before, but that only betrayed how unhappy this meeting had made him. He knew that Lucille could see right through that. He still tried to seem a bit chipper about this to keep her from worrying too much, pulling her away from Camille in the process. “I'm fine. I never liked meeting my mother, and as you can see, she was in a horrible state. I hope...that she won't do anything stupid now. I really do.” But he still didn't believe that for one second.

Camille would try something horrible soon, would she not? What could that be? The assassination attempt Theodore was waiting for? Or was it something completely different?

Lucille almost seemed like she could read his mind. As they rounded the corner of the palace, she stopped and lifted her hand to put it onto his cheek. She stroked over his skin while making him look at her and then gave him a faint smile. “Everything will be alright. We will win either way.” She wanted to seem convincing, and with her soft tone, she somehow managed to do that as well. She went onto her tiptoes to bring her face closer to his. “I love you.”

Cedar lowered his head and rested his forehead against hers while keeping his arms tightly around her. “I adore you. You are the person I care about most in this whole world.” That was why he couldn't risk losing her. He needed to protect her, especially now that his mother acted unpredictably.

He normally shouldn't expect Camille to come up with clever plots since she had always been rather direct, but today, she had been different, at least after he had told her to stay calm. Something was off now, and when he didn't understand what was going on inside her head, it was dangerous. He had a really bad feeling about this.