As Cedar had heard the yelling, he had panicked a little. He knew what his mother did to servants when she had another fit, so he didn't doubt that Lucille could be a victim here too.

When he had stormed into the room, he had been relieved to see that the broken cup was the only sign of violence here. But his relief quickly turned to rage when he noticed that Lucille was petrified, and that rage had become pure dread when she had run toward him. He had thought that she might be hurt, so he almost couldn't trust his luck when it looked like she was unharmed.

But in the end, Lucille was still panicked and cowered behind him. Of course, his mother had made sure to scare her.

Camille's actions were predictable.

That didn't serve to calm Cedar down though. He could only glare at his mother for a moment, of course still with an exaggerated smile. He spoke up when she opened her mouth as well. “I assume that this conversation is connected to me. What did you talk about? It's surprising that you suddenly decided to invite Lucille without telling me beforehand. Wouldn't it have been more logical for me to be here too?”

Camille carefully lifted the part of her dress in front of her feet and strode over to him with elegant steps while trying to hide her anger about Lucille falling into Cedar's arms. “Of course. But I thought that informing you first was unnecessary when we could have most of the discussion without you. I only needed to be honest for a bit. There was absolutely nothing bad we talked about, so there is no need for you to be tense. Cedar, how about-”

He might have allowed her to finish her sentence at any other point in time. But Cedar already saw that she wanted to come to him to put her hand on his head. He didn't need her to get closer when Lucille was hiding behind him. So, he looked at her without bothering to hide his anger and cut Camille off. “Did you spend the last ten minutes badmouthing me? That wouldn't be surprising. I didn't expect any less of you, Mother. What is surprising is that you didn't manage to make Lucille scared of me already. I would have to guess that that was your goal after all. Because you don't like her spending time with me, you would have liked it if she distanced herself from me.”

Camille's expression betrayed that he had caught her. But she quickly became much more cold again. “I didn't tell her a single lie. I told her the truth multiple times, and she was the one who suddenly yelled at me. I stayed perfectly calm.”

Cedar let out a low huff. “As the teacup on the floor can attest. I doubt that Lucille threw it, and the guards here didn't do it either.”

The dowager empress straightened her posture and came another step to him as she lifted her chin. “That has nothing to do with the conversation. I only wanted to tell you that I didn't do anything out of my authority. I invited a noble lady here to have tea with me. If you get a little annoyed at that, it's not my problem.”

Cedar eyed the table without turning his head. “Then it's good that you invite people for tea without bringing a cup for them. Anyway. I have to correct you. I'm not annoyed.” He showed her a bright smile, which already made Camille prepare to stroke over his cheek. He quickly revised that statement. “I'm furious. Which is why Lucille and I will take our leave now. I wish you a wonderful afternoon. Have fun during the tea party.” With that, he turned away and grabbed Lucille's hand to pull her with him.

A crowd of knights had gathered by the door and made way when the prince came out of the room again. It seemed like everyone was as nosy as always. How familiar this was.

Cedar ignored them in favor of trying to exit the room. He was quickly stopped though.

“Cedar, you can't leave just like that! You need to talk to me! Running away will not solve anything!” Camille almost seemed a bit desperate again. So desperate that another hysteric fit wasn't unlikely. That would cause many more problems than sacrificing a few minutes would.

Cedar would rather swallow the bitterness and bring away all people who reacted sensitively to such conversations to deal with it himself. “Fine. I'm giving you ten minutes. But before that, I will bring Lucille out. A family feud has nothing to do with her.” He ignored how his mother's face lit up at that. He suspected that this little smile would fade as soon as she noticed that talking to him wouldn't make him change his mind overnight. The prince turned back to the door and focused on walking forward as he gently guided Lucille, whose shoulders he was holding, out.

Thankfully, Camille stayed quiet this time, most likely because she hoped to have higher chances of success later.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Cedar let go of Lucille and spoke up. “She really didn't threaten or hurt you, right?” If she had gotten hurt, he would have blamed himself for the rest of his life. This had been his fault for losing sight of her during the tea party.

Lucille quickly shook her head. “I'm fine... It's just...” She averted her eyes and barely dared to whisper her response. “She said so horrible things about you. She's...she's...” She probably had so many mean comments about Camille in mind. The only reason she didn't voice them was because she feared that he would get upset then. That was nice of her.

And unnecessarily considerate.

Cedar glanced to the side and scanned the knights before grasping Lucille's arm and carefully pulling her away. He didn't need all of those people to watch the conversation. He brought her toward the staircase and only spoke up there in a quiet voice. “I already guessed that she would say some nasty things. I would ask you to forget that since nothing she voiced was true, but that would be a lie. She probably told the truth in most cases.”

Lucille abruptly stopped and looked up at him. “What are you saying? She lied the whole time! She said such horrible things that I refuse to repeat them. She told me all of that, and whenever I said that it wasn't true, she continued with even worse things! I wanted to keep quiet, I really did! But then she suddenly started to accuse you of being...and then I couldn't hold back. I raised my voice too...and...and she got really mad.” She looked so dejected while saying that.

Cedar let out a low mutter under his breath. She definitely shouldn't try things like that. He gave her a short moment before he spoke up. He wasn't sure whether she would cry if he reminded her of what had happened, but he needed to tell her something important. “So, you risked making her angry because you defended me? That was a foolish idea.” He immediately added something when Lucille's bottom lip trembled as if she was about to begin sobbing. “I mean, I'm thankful. Few people would take my side. But you don't have to do that in front of her. It would be better if you agree with everything she says, or she gets upset quickly. You saw how easy she is to provoke, right?”

Lucille weakly nodded.

“See? Keep that in mind when you meet her. She isn't the type to forget. If she feels like you offended her, she doesn't mind suddenly addressing that topic again in a decade. So, you don't have to anger her unnecessarily. Keeping your head low and being polite would be-” Cedar cut himself off.

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That wasn't true.

Being meek and kind had never helped Althea. It had earned her a slap or insults and a punishment more often than not. This had nothing to do with disrespecting a reasonable person. This was his mother feeling attacked when other people around her gained the attention of people she ‘cared’ for. So, he could keep his advice to himself.

Cedar stayed quiet for a moment before correcting his statement. “You have to be polite to some extent since she is royalty. But that won't keep her from being mean or hostile. She will keep insulting you. And she might try even harsher things. So, avoid her as much as possible. If you have to interact with her, ensure that many people are with you, preferably me, Theodore or Her Majesty. But just having witnesses is good too. In any case, you shouldn't follow some random people when they lead you to a strange room.”

Lucille nodded to everything he said. When he finished, she was silent for a bit longer before speaking up. “I thought that girl needed help.” It sounded like she was defending herself, which quickly made Cedar respond.

“It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known that she would suddenly begin doing something like this. But now you know. From now on, you can expect her to try something every second day. Don't trust it when people you don't know very well approach you. It's better to be overly careful too often than to fall into her trap. Within the palace, she shouldn't be able to harm you, but that doesn't keep her from stirring up trouble. It would be best for you to stay far away from her.” Cedar put on a bright smile, but in reality, he was boiling.

What was his mother thinking? Did she seriously believe that no one would notice? Obviously, someone would have informed the emperor at some point. And Cedar would have noticed too. One of the two most influential men here would have prevented anything bad from happening. Had making sure that Lucille hated Cedar been more important to Camille than anything else? It seemed like the dowager empress really didn't like that her son spent time with a person who could slowly begin to care about him. And that angered her so much that she quickly wanted to get rid of Lucille.

That was pathetic. After all, it only made it more obvious that Camille was desperate at this point.

Cedar glanced over at Lucille just when she spoke up.

“I will try my best. I don't know if I can run away from the dowager empress though.” She was so uncertain while saying that.

He gave her a little smile. “I will be there so that you don't have to run away. I can't tell you that I will never leave your side, but I can do my best to keep an eye on you no matter when. I don't want to leave you alone with her.” He led her up another staircase. “I will bring you to your room so that you calm down for a while. You can either return to the tea party a bit later or stay here until the end. I will talk to my mother and then search for my brother to explain the situation to him. Is that fine?”

Lucille quickly nodded, even as she kept her eyes lowered. “Yes. Can you tell Fiona too? I left her sitting there all alone.” It was a good idea to inform Fiona. Lady Lamont seemed like she was much more cautious, so she might be able to protect her friend a bit.

“I will tell her. I will inform your father too.” They reached the third floor, and Cedar brought Lucille to her door. “There we are. Do you need help from one of the maids or anything else?”

Lucille shook her head as she turned her back to her room to face him. “No...I'm fine.” She averted her eyes for a moment. “I...” She seemed like she wanted to say something but didn't dare to do it. When she stayed quiet a bit longer, bad memories seemed to come back to her. She pushed them away and looked up at him with a scrunched-up face. “Nothing she said...was true. She said so many bad things, and all of them were wrong. You're wonderful, and I like you a lot.” She pressed her lips into a line and seemingly struggled to regain her self-control. She was shaking a bit too.

Was she upset for him? She hadn't been talking about being insulted herself, and still, she was this affected. It was odd.

Cedar knew that he shouldn't over-interpret this. He also shouldn't be happy about someone innocent defending him despite him knowing that he wasn't a good person. But still, he couldn't help it. His heart skipped a single beat, and it felt like an honest smile forced itself onto his lips. He wanted to say a lot to her at that moment, but nothing much left his mouth. “Thank you.”

Lucille was truly too kind. She still defended him, even though he didn't deserve it. This only made it even clearer that he wasn't someone who should spend a lot of time close to her. He was the worst influence she could have in her life, and yet, he wasn't able to stop himself.

Cedar looked at Lucille for a moment, and their eyes met. Something unknown stirred inside him. He wasn't sure what that emotion exactly was, but it made him act. Before he could think about it much, he leaned forward and pressed a small kiss onto Lucille's forehead.

It felt strange, in the most beautiful manner imaginable. He was sure that he had only touched her for a second, but that was enough to take his breath away. His lips prickled, and that weird sensation almost made him want to wipe over his skin to make it stop clouding his mind. Unfortunately, that sensation spread through his whole body like a spark and revealed that he wouldn't forget about this any time soon.

Lucille tensed when she processed this, but it wasn't in a bad way. When he pulled back to look at her, she stared at him with wide eyes while her whole face got red faster than he had ever seen it. Doing this had been a horrible idea, but her reaction almost made up for it.

Cedar gave his best not to think about how soft her skin had been or how pleasant it had felt to touch her. He ignored how his heart might have beaten a bit faster and just smiled at her. “Take care of yourself, and relax in your room for a bit. I will go deal with the mess downstairs.” The mess that was his mother.

Lucille hurriedly nodded and then almost darted into her room. She waved at him before closing the door behind herself with too much force, and then another thump sounded. That made it seem like she had leaned her body against the door with a little too much energy.

Cedar almost laughed at that, but he was already fuming about his mother. He turned to the side and prepared to go down the stairs, only to stop when he saw Harris standing there with crossed arms. Great. The servant had seen that thoughtless action just now. This definitely wasn't pleasant, but at least he could use this. He approached the other man. “I don't need you asking any questions. Mother is currently sitting in the seating room in the west wing. About a dozen guards are standing at the door, so you can't miss it. She caused trouble again. Inform my brother immediately. It would be good if he can release me in a few minutes.” Otherwise, he would be forced to sit there for at least three hours while listening to Camille rant.

Harris had seemed skeptical, but his mood shifted as soon as Camille was mentioned. His expression darkened. “I will tell His Majesty. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“Fight with my mother, I guess. I would like to avoid her since I really don't have the energy to face a tantrum now, but I said that I would talk to her. I will have to be more direct about not wanting to see her.” Even if Cedar hated that thought already. He knew what sort of reaction he would get, and he was aware that his mother would do her best to manipulate him into obeying again.

And then he might end up listening if he didn't pay close attention. So, he needed to be prepared and make sure that Theodore came to intervene quickly.

Thankfully, Harris just nodded and rushed off. Either he was an idiot for still helping the person who had blackmailed him, or he hated Camille more than he hated Cedar. Either was good.

Cedar began walking down the stairs. He would have liked to go slowly, but he couldn't risk it. Not when he had to fear that his mother would infuriate everyone around him and possibly stir up a fight with the royal guards. Even if he found most of them unbearable, they didn't deserve to experience Camille's fury. The prince sped up and quickly reached the seating room again.

As expected, Camille stood in the doorway and seemed relieved when she saw him. She knew very well that he wouldn't lie to her about this, and yet, she was much too smug when he entered the room. She sat down on the sofa before him and patted the spot next to her. “It's been a while since we were able to speak in peace and quiet. Come here. Too much time passed since we cuddled, and I missed you way too much. I brought you honey candy as well.”

Cedar purposefully steered to the other couch to sit down there. He didn't need to be close to Camille when she would try to lure him in with fake affection again. “If I remember correctly, we just saw each other this week. You suddenly came into the palace without permission, remember? In any case, I would ask you to hurry a bit. We are in the middle of a tea party and can't stay away for too long.”

Camille's expression darkened at that cold response. She let her eyes roam across the room, and it quickly became obvious what she was thinking when she saw the six guards that stood inside the room. “Leave us alone.” She only wanted to be alone so that she could get close to Cedar to hug him.

The prince really didn't need that unless he wanted to fight the urge to give in and obey in return for some worthless displays of affection. To his relief, none of the guards moved.

It was quite obvious that those knights wouldn't let the most dangerous person here alone in the palace. For once, their overprotectiveness was good.