Cedar hadn't expected anything else, but it was still more than annoying to feel how everyone was staring at him. As soon as he stepped out of his brother's office, a whole group of people froze in their tracks to keep an eye on him. He almost rolled his eyes but just smiled at them. Didn't that nosy pack have any work to do?
If he had been happy to avoid one thing in the palace, it was being forced to endure the chatty servants here. It was infuriating how fast rumors spread, and by now, everyone probably knew that the traitorous prince was back. It wasn't hard to find out that most people weren't happy about this either.
But Cedar didn't care. He just walked past them and steered toward the hallway that contained the library. For now, he could deal with anyone who frustrated him by just making eye contact, so it wasn't too bad.
Most people were still as fearful as always after all. They stepped aside when they saw him and avoided looking at him. Another portion just stared at him with curiosity while whispering loudly. Those groups were tolerable since they left him alone. If he was too annoyed, he could just turn toward them, and the problem would solve itself.
But there were others as well.
The members of this third group were extremely hostile when it came to the prince. Those were the people that would refuse to listen when he told them to do something. They would loudly complain and even do something like bringing him uncooked food. In short, they were extremely petty.
And Cedar couldn't deal with those people at all. Not because he didn't have enough strictness but because he knew that he would overdo it if he began a fight with them. So, he couldn't help but sigh when he already identified the guards in front of the library as members of this third group. The prince considered using the second entrance immediately, but he probably wouldn't be able to avoid conflict at some point in time. He might as well find out how brazen those people were to decide whether he would have to deal with it. So, he would face them.
Cedar gave the guards a chance to avoid a fight though. He didn't address them nor look at them, even when they glared back. He just approached the door. For a moment, he thought that he would be able to enter despite the men looking so grim, but he was stopped at the last moment.
Just before he reached the door handle, one of the guards stepped between him and the door. The man didn't say anything and could barely hide his growing disdain.
Cedar kept smiling instead of groaning loudly and was silent for a moment. He didn't expect the other man to move, but he counted to ten to give the guard a chance. Of course, nothing happened, so he spoke up after a short moment. “Is there a problem?”
The guard already returned a far too mocking gaze when he heard that. “Depending on whom you would specify as a problem, Your Royal Highness.” Did he think such a stupid provocation would work on the prince? It definitely wouldn't.
Cedar was good at hiding his emotions, so he would win this game when it came to veiling one's annoyance. “I see. So, there isn't a problem. Would you care to step aside so that I can enter?” He already knew that this wouldn't work, but he tried it anyway.
As expected, the guard only snorted. “If you ask nicely, maybe.” That meant that he wouldn't move aside either way. He wanted the prince to get angry, so receiving a polite response would only make him even angrier.
Obviously, Cedar would do just that to upset the person who picked a fight with him. “Would you please allow me to go into the library? I do not wish to disturb you for much longer. If you let me pass, I will be gone in a moment.” He smiled at the other man while seeming as innocent as ever while his mind already came up with plans to shut the guard up. He couldn't overdo it. Theodore would not be happy if his knights came to harm. And it was doubtful whether the emperor would be alright with Cedar suddenly punishing a guard too. Right now, the prince still had to walk around on eggshells.
The guard's self-control faded for a little moment. Then he covered up his wrathful expression a bit as he spoke up in a mocking voice. “Why would we let you run around the royal palace without anyone keeping an eye on you? I feel like you don't know your place yet.”
Cedar considered ending this whole argument by just opening the door and waiting for the other man to dare to attack a member of royalty. But he didn't want to mess up already when he had just come into the palace four days ago. So, he spoke up in the calmest voice he could muster. “Isn't it you who is overstepping your boundaries? Could it be that you do not trust my brother's judgment? His Majesty said that he didn't want to send a person after me, so you should have to accept this. But if it calms you, I can tell you that I doubt that he kept his word. There is probably someone clinging to me the whole time.” He turned his head and glanced at the hallway behind him to signal that he knew that he was being followed. Then he focused on the guard again. “Besides, it's not like this is the weaponry. It's a library. I don't think I will be able to start a revolt with some pens. Would you refrain from blocking my path for no reason?”
The guard seemed to be one of the especially frustrating people. He bowed down to the other man's eye level. “If you want to pass, then make me step aside. I'm curious as to how you would handle that.” After all, he was taller than the prince and probably thought that he trained more often.
Cedar didn't bother with correcting that assumption. He only smiled back and replied. “You truly are insistent on me not entering this little room. Why is that? I know that you are a member of the royal guards. I can't tell you what to do since you only have to listen to my brother. But you also can't tell me what to do. So, you can't keep me from entering, and you also cannot ignore my orders without a specific reason.” He already knew that this wouldn't work either. He would have to get creative here.
The guard just laughed and exchanged an amused look with his colleague. “What are you going to do about it? I doubt that you can just force me to step aside. After all...” He raised his hand and held his palm over his head before holding it over the prince to signal that he was at least a head taller. He didn't say anything aside from that.
Cedar held back a groan. He felt like he was a child all over again. “How petty. Then I guess I have no choice.” He had to admit that he did have multiple options here. He could just walk around the library and use another entrance on the other side. Cedar could also take away the guard's sword in a second and make him step aside. Or he could insist on involving Theodore, who would permit him to enter. The second option was the most tempting one. But obviously, he wouldn't do that now that he was finally in the palace. He would use a secondary entrance though, but that one that was a bit special. “I won't go bother my brother because of some childish hoax like this. So, I'll use the other entrance.”
The prince spun around without paying attention to the satisfied expression of the guard. He stopped after just a few steps before facing the wall. At that point, he could practically feel how the knights stared at him, but he didn't give them a second glance. He just put his hands onto the wooden wand panel and moved it around a bit before he found the small handle. A bit of pressure was enough to make the wall open with a creak. Now he glanced at the guards and couldn't help but smirk at their surprised expressions.
The knights of the palace knew about many secret routes but not about all of them. No one but members of the royal family had ever been told about the most important ones. This passage was rather useless since it was in plain sight, but right now, it was helpful.
Cedar crouched down a bit to pass through. He considered closing the door behind him to use the other exit to leave. He could avoid seeing the guards again like this, but that would be a detour. He wasn't ready to walk for two extra minutes because others troubled him in his own home. So, he would leave through this small secret exit again. But first, he had to get what he came here for.
He ignored how the guards inside the library stared at him suddenly emerging from the wall and just approached one of the maids that cleaned the shelves. He asked her to bring him a few books a young woman would enjoy, which made her run off in a hurry.
It seemed like some people were still polite in this damned palace.
After a minute, the maid returned with a bunch of romance novels and gave them to him. She didn't even dare to ask whom he was getting them for, even if she seemed very curious.
Cedar thanked her and wanted to leave through the hidden passage, but he stopped when he saw that a shadow sat directly beside it. He definitely wouldn't bow and allow the other man, who was as petty as a toddler, to knock him down like this. So, he walked out through the main door and already regretted that his pride kept him from choosing the other way out. He had barely closed the door when the guard already stood behind him. Cedar turned around and immediately had to stare upward to meet the other's gaze.
It was frustrating that this damned knight was so much taller than the prince. This normally gave Cedar an advantage while fighting, but during a conversation, it was plainly annoying if the other party was a giant. Especially since Cedar would say that this guard was ridiculously tall.
But of course, Cedar didn't admit that he was irritated by the knight standing so close to him and just smiled. “May I ask what this is about?”
The guard's expression was blank for a moment before a wide, complacent smirk grew on his lips. He towered over the prince and looked down at him before moving his hands toward the books that Cedar was carrying. He took all of them without receiving much backlash. He didn't know that he had just given the prince a chance to act with both hands now as he lifted the tomes and scanned them with mockery. “Those are the books you read?” He showed one of the cliché romance novels to the other man.
Cedar was almost slightly offended by the fact that the other man thought a comment like this would upset him. Did he seem like his ego was that fragile? He replied without stopping his smiling. “Possibly. I do not believe that I have to justify my taste to you, but I will tell you since you seem to be awfully bored with your life. These are for Lady Valerian. She arrived in the palace with me and is currently the guest of Her Majesty. Does that satisfy your curiosity? Would you mind stepping away now? You kept me from bringing this to her long enough. Focus on your own matters and stop causing trouble. You don't want to inconvenience Her Majesty's guest. Correct?”
Stolen novel; please report.
The guard didn't seem to like that answer. His smirk stayed, but his eyes twinkled with annoyance. He probably hated that he wasn't able to provoke the other man. But he definitely wouldn't give up. He was the type of person who would only do worse things if he had failed before. And as expected, he just grinned at Cedar while he let go of the books, which fell onto the floor with a thump. The guard let out a chuckle at that. “Oh. What a shame. I accidentally dropped them. I didn't mean to do that.”
Cedar felt how annoyance was slowly rising in him. If he was a little less frustrated, he might have just left it at this, but he was too involved now.
This guard was too insolent. That man didn't even seem to care whether he destroyed the items that were meant for another person.
Cedar knew that he should just stay quiet, but he had reached the point at which he didn't want to. He wanted to make sure that the guard would regret this. As long as he didn't hurt anyone, it should be fine, shouldn't it? The prince kept smiling, but he used a much more authoritarian voice than before as he replied. “These are possessions of His Majesty, the emperor of Artias. What are you going to do if they are damaged? Are you going to take full responsibility for throwing them onto the floor due to your carelessness? Or can I see this as a sign of disrespect directed at the royal family?”
The guard seemed to be more stupid than the prince had previously thought. Normally, people noticed when Cedar was getting angry and quickly left, but this man here was clueless. He laughed and spoke with mockery dripping out of his voice. “If you care about those books, why are you hesitating? Don't leave them on the floor. Pick them up quickly. Hurry.”
Cedar let out a chuckle as well, but his was more of a warning. “You are right about them not staying on the floor for much longer. The person who will pick them up is you though. Since you were the incapable person that dropped them, it should be only natural that you will fix what you messed up. I will order you to hurry if you don't understand it any other way.” That was enough to make the other party react exactly how he needed them to.
The guard's smile faded, and traces of anger appeared on his features. Then he took another step forward so that he was barely a hand width away from the prince. He leaned down and spoke with much more wrath. “What makes you think that you have any rights here? You are the person who waltzed in with a bunch of soldiers while trying to kill His Majesty. No one here will forgive you.” He was so upset that he wouldn't notice anything. Perfect.
Cedar made sure to keep his eyes on the other's face while moving his hands so that the guard wouldn't even catch a glimpse of it. He wouldn't make a single noise either. He only needed a few seconds, and the situation would turn quickly. So, he chose to reply in a provoking manner. “That's not your place to decide. If my brother says that I will stay here, it seems like I have to stay. And did you never think about why that revolt ended without a single death on your side? Don't tell me that you didn't realize that I was the one who ensured that. I let Theodore hit me on the head just so that there wouldn't be a massacre. You should be a bit more thankful.”
This effectively ruined the guard's mood. His face scrunched up, and he hissed back. “Thankful? Oh, I can definitely thank you for committing treason. You will not like what happens in that case one bit though. Surely, His Majesty won't even bat an eye if you come back with a few bruises. What do you-” He wasn't able to finish his threat.
A third voice chimed in. “What's going on here?” That was a huge coincidence, wasn't it?
Cedar turned his head and almost laughed at how ridiculous it was that he met this one servant here. He made eye contact with the other man and spoke up. “Harris? It's been a while since we saw each other. How are you?”
Harris barely took a split second to recognize the prince. He blinked a few times before replying. “No way. Your Royal Highness? What are you doing here?” His confusion was justified. The fact that they met was truly a great coincidence.
Harris was a young servant who worked in the royal palace. Despite blending in well with his small stature and brown hair, he was quite famous with his colleagues and had impressive connections that allowed him to do many things others couldn't.
That was exactly why Cedar had used this man to spy on the palace before the revolt. He had blackmailed the servant by threatening the other's lover for a while. But since he hadn't been very ambitious back then, he had ignored how Harris had barely carried out any orders. Instead, he had just listened to what was going on in the palace and had chatted with Harris a few times. In the end, he had allowed himself to be a bit less tense around the other man since he had known that they wouldn't see each other for much longer. Apparently, he would see him again after all.
But right now, Cedar was in an unfavorable situation, so he couldn't think about that. Harris had caught him in the middle of stealing the knight's sword and holding it against his neck, so Cedar was at a disadvantage. Still, the prince just acted like nothing was wrong. “I apologize for this scene. I will take care of it in an instant.” He turned to the guard again and spoke up with mockery in his voice. “Oh, by the way. If you want to have your sword back, you should hurry and pick up those books.” He couldn't help but be content when he moved the blade forward just a little bit to let the other man feel that it was pressed up against his neck.
The guard's eyes widened, and in an instant, all confidence was drained from him. He was terrified, but that didn't stop him from speaking. “When did you-”
Cedar didn't want to hear any of that. He just stared into the other's eyes while speaking. “Does that show you what I could have done? The revolt was nothing in comparison to that. If I wanted to, I could have already done much worse and made sure that the palace wouldn't recover so quickly. Keep that in mind. The only reason no one is dead is that I never wanted causalities. Be happy that my mother didn't plan the attack by herself. And think about who you are provoking next time. Pick up those books. Now.”
If the guard was clever, he would know that Cedar couldn't just harm or kill a knight here. But he didn't think about that. He just hurried to bow down and quickly collected the books to hand them back to the prince.
Cedar accepted them with a smile as he let the sword drop to the floor. “See? If you just do what you're told, it works out well. Be more careful around people whom you don't trust. It won't do if some royal guard lets a wanted criminal steal his sword while his colleague is motionlessly watching.” With that, he turned around and glanced at the corner of the hallway, behind which Theodore's spy probably sat. He wouldn't be surprised if the emperor would know about this within a few hours, but since he hadn't hurt anyone, it should be fine. He had just responded to a threat. The prince didn't pay much attention to that and faced Harris for now.
Harris frowned at him with crossed arms before he let out a sigh. “You come back and immediately scare staff members again. And you wonder why everyone dislikes you.” He was as brazen as before. It was relieving to see that he hadn't changed much.
Cedar smiled in return and gave a curt explanation. “Oh, don't worry. I was just mad because he threw the books onto the floor. After all, these belong to the royal family, and dropping them on purpose shows a lot of insolence. When I pointed that out, he threatened me, so I made sure to remind him to be careful around others. There wasn't a real issue. But that was enough about me. How come you are still in the palace? Did my brother figure it out after you dropped enough hints?”
Harris raised an eyebrow and scanned the prince skeptically before replying. “Somehow, I knew that you would be aware. You were never careless, so I wouldn't be able to hide that I warned His Majesty. You knew exactly what I was doing, and you never bothered to do anything about that. I guess that is what saved my life. Your mother would have killed me.”
“I'm pretty sure she almost tried that. I remember discussing it with her. But I don't think that she even remembers you by now. She has other things to plot against this year.” Cedar didn't specify what those were and just kept smiling.
Harris let out a huff of air at that. “It's nice that you tell me that so outright. You truly don't ever wonder about what others will think before you speak. I don't know whether that is a good or a bad thing.” He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he was interrupted.
Another servant was standing next to Harris, another young man who was a bit taller. He nudged his colleague while glaring at Cedar. “I think we should go now. This person isn't someone we should talk to.” Judging by his cold gaze, this was more of a personal grudge instead of one because of the revolt.
Cedar only took a second to guess why this was the case. “Wait. Allow me to take a guess. Harris, that is your beloved person over there? Clark, was it?”
Clark froze at that as a deep frown came onto his features. “At least it seems like you haven't forgotten what happened.” His voice was as freezing as his gaze.
Cedar couldn't blame him. This man had a reason to hate him. After all, he had blackmailed Harris, the other's lover, and Camille had even poisoned Clark once. “Of course, I remember. I'm not that forgetful. That is why I am aware that you aren't too content with me being here. But I can assure you that I have no ill intentions. I will merely spend a few weeks here in silence until everything has calmed down.”
That was a complete lie. Things would never calm down. Not when Theodore was the ruler while Camille, who was being eaten away by her resentment and exaggerated pride, was alive. Cedar was sure that there wouldn't be peace as long as those two were within the same world. His mother would never give up.
Harris tapped on his arm as he listened to that unsatisfying explanation, his skepticism showing openly. “I get that much. But why exactly are you here? I cannot imagine that His Majesty would be happy to let you stay here for no reason. There has to be something that forced you to come back. Why do you need to wait until things calm down?”
Clark chimed in a moment later. “I heard that he carried a bleeding woman into the foyer a few days ago. George was in the entrance hall when it happened. I assume it has something to do with that.”
“I see. The rumors have already spread.” Cedar glanced at the two men who stared at him with curiosity, which they weren't able to hide. He had expected that much. There was no harm in giving them a little explanation. “Since it has come this far, I might as well be honest. My mother sent assassins after me, and Lady Valerian jumped in front of me so that she got hit by the arrow instead. Theodore agreed to let us stay in the palace for a while so that we can make sure that nothing like this happens again.” He could see the exact moment in which the others processed that statement.
Harris dropped his arms to his sides and stared at the other man as if he was in utter shock. “Your mother tried to kill you? Why? You are the one that's always by her side. Why would she target you? She wants you to rule for her, doesn't she?”
Cedar didn't have the energy to explain it in more detail, so he gave them the short story. “We had a fight. That ended up with me running away. She got upset, we exchanged some letters, and she was still as unkind as before. I may have told her that I wanted her to leave me alone for a few weeks. She responded with threats and insults, so I wrote that I didn't want to see her at all after that. And you can guess what the result was. I'm now officially her enemy. After all, she didn't manage to convince me to come back by shooting an arrow at me either.” He smiled after saying that and waited for a response. He was only met with stares of utter disbelief. It was quiet for a moment before he added another sentence. “If that shocks you, you don't know my mother very well.”
This was exactly what Camille would do in this kind of situation. Everyone who had talked to her more than once should be aware, so no one had a reason to doubt this story.
But even Harris, who had seen the dowager empress a couple of times, seemed to be taken aback and showed a rather dejected expression a moment later. “That's...horrible. I don't think that woman is sane. Trying to kill one son is enough, and now she targets the other one too? I can't believe it. You've always...helped her no matter what she asked of you. Is that how she pays you back?” He glared at the person who wasn't even here before crossing his arms again. Why was he so upset about this?
Even Clark seemed shocked despite not having to do much with the situation.
Cedar could only hope that not everyone would react like his. He didn't want to be forced to explain too much. So, he just beamed in return before speaking up. “It was nice to meet you again after such a long time. But I fear that I cannot stay here much longer. I have to bring those books to Lucille before she gets too bored. I will take my leave then. Good afternoon.”
The prince noticed the slight confusion on the servants' faces when he mentioned Lucille's name, probably because they didn't know her, but ignored that. He just turned around and walked past the still shocked guard before he went back to the doctor's office with the books in his hands.
Hopefully, Lucille would like them at least a little. Cedar had been forced to put a lot of effort into getting those books.