Prince Linden's arrival had been quite pleasant, but now Cedar had to ruin it. But at least Blanche wasn't alone.

Theodore gently rubbed over his lover's arms while pulling her against his side. “We would be very content if the days continued like this. It's been very peaceful. If nothing unfavorable happens during the next weeks, everything would be perfect. Thank you for your consideration, Cedar.” His tone was full of mockery, but he couldn't hide the small hint of annoyance in his voice. He leaned down to kiss the top of his lover's head.

Cedar watched that with a strange expression and put on a smile that seemed a bit forced. “Of course. These past weeks really have been quiet. I...almost didn't trust it completely.” He gazed to the side and kept quiet after that.

Blanche didn't know what he was planning, and she didn't like that one bit. Surely, Cedar wouldn't do anything just because he could make everyone wonder what was going on in his head. He had to have a goal in mind, and it probably wasn't a pleasant one. The concubine glared at him for a moment before leaning her face into her lover's chest.

Everyone was silent for a while until Theodore spoke up while searching for Linden's gaze. “I almost forgot to mention it. Tomorrow there will be a small meeting with the most powerful nobles in the capital. They asked me whether they could come and spend an hour or two here. I agreed since they seemed to look forward to it. Do you mind speaking to them for a bit, or do you favor avoiding them?”

Linden tore his gaze away from Cedar, who was still staring at the floor, to make eye contact with the emperor. “I do not mind. I would be happy to meet the people that are governing this nation from within. As I previously mentioned, I don't know a lot about your system and norms though. I read about the basic things, but that will not help much.”

Theodore gave him a little smile. “Do not worry about that. No one here wishes to criticize you. Everyone will just be happy to meet you. If you greet them and have a little chat with them, they will be content. They need someone to assure them that our countries won't go to war. They have been scared of that possibility from the very beginning. Ah, now that I mention it.” He turned to his brother. “You and your mother will surely attend too, right?”

Cedar snapped his gaze up and quickly returned to a little smile. “Oh. Of course. I didn't expect you to invite us to such an important event. We will come under any circumstances. And we will be on time then. I apologize for arriving too late today once again.” It still looked like he was forcing himself to smile, which only proved that he was a good actor. He was so good that it was terrifying. But that was still better than the deranged grin he had shown Blanche while he had threatened her.

The present people were silent once again until Linden spoke up. “Will everyone here attend as well? I hope that this question doesn't offend you, but will the empress and your fiancée come too? I would like to know a bit more about the ranks and political system here before attending. Unfortunately, I am not sure how much they might be involved in politics. In Northern Ocrea, the queen takes care of many tasks, and I heard that the empress in Artias has similar duties. Is that true?” Surely, he hadn't meant any harm with his question, but he unwillingly had revealed something to the last person that should have this knowledge.

Blanche immediately braced herself for the reaction this would cause. Still, she clung to the hope that Cedar might have coincidentally not listened properly at that moment. Of course, she wasn't that lucky. She glanced at the prince in front of them, and it quickly became clear that he had paid attention.

Cedar blinked at them twice before processing what just had been said. He whipped his head around to the crown prince before staring at his brother and the concubine again. “Fiancée?” It almost seemed like the color drained from his face as he looked at them in total disbelief. If the reaction hadn't come a second too late, she might have thought that it was genuine. Though, Blanche knew that this was an act. At the ball at which they first met, Cedar had asked about them being engaged too and had not cared about it at all. So, it was unlikely that he was bothered by it now. Normally, he also didn't lose his composure because of new information.

Still, Blanche almost believed him. Until now, she had just seen him fake a smile. It wasn't surprising that the rest of his expressions seemed way too genuine as well, but she was still taken aback by that. His level of self-control over his facial features was terrifying.

Theodore didn't let his brother's acting confuse him. He grinned at him and patted his lover's hand. “Indeed. We got engaged on the day of my birthday in the pavilion in which we met. Isn't that romantic? I apologize for not telling you. We decided to keep silent about it for the time being. The situation right now is a bit tense, so we thought that this might be better.”

Cedar still stared at him with wide eyes. “That's... It's understandable. I'm sorry. I just need a moment to process this. But I didn't think that you would suddenly do this without... I apologize.” He looked like he was trying to read the expressions of the people in front of him before averting his eyes. “Congratulations.” It sounded way too dejected to be genuine. But Cedar was always acting when he sounded upset, so he was definitely doing this on purpose now.

The emperor just saw that as a sign to smirk at him. “Thank you. We'll tell you about the wedding sooner. If you are still willing to visit us then, at least.”

Cedar raised his head again to show his brother a forced smile. “Of course, I will come. How could I miss your wedding? I'm surprised enough that you managed to get engaged without informing us. Mother and I would have visited to congratulate you earlier if we had known this. Will there be an engagement party sometime?”

“There will be one. We are planning on holding it in a few months. When everything has calmed down, we can have the most lavish celebration anyone could imagine. Just wait for it.”

The prince scanned the couple for a moment while still showing this sad smile. “I see. If you are happy with this, I will gladly support you. You said that you didn't want anyone to know, correct? I won't tell anyone, I promise. If that helps you, I will hold myself back.” If he said it like that, Blanche believed even less of what he had told them.

The concubine didn't even want to look at Cedar to read his expression though. He was acting odd, and it began to confuse her. What exactly was he trying to do? Did want to seem like the dejected younger brother that suffered under the emperor's strictness or something like that? She hadn't believed that something could be more frustrating than his smiling, but it seemed like him dropping his facade to put on another act was worse.

Right now, everyone would believe that no one here had a reason to glare at the poor man standing in front of them. Cedar was even gazing at the floor in a depressed manner, which didn't make any sense to Blanche.

Maybe she was a bit upset about this because she knew how to deal with his smile. As long as he angered her with a grin, she had no issues remembering that he was evil. But as soon as she looked at people that seemed like they needed help, she began to pity them. Naturally, she didn't forget who was standing in front of her, but she couldn't help but wonder how Cedar had learned to act this well when Theodore couldn't. To her, it wasn't normal that someone could control all of their emotions like this. It was as if he was used to always acting exactly like another person wanted him to.

Blanche didn't want to remember the details of what she knew about that. She averted her eyes, leaned her head against her lover and relished in her close proximity to him while refusing to speak up still.

Theodore was the one opening his mouth again while maintaining eye contact with Cedar. “Please do hold back. We wouldn't be too happy about rumors, especially when we know especially who could have caused them. Do not speak about this.” He sounded threatening for sure, but at the same time, he seemed like he doubted that this would work.

Cedar, on the other hand, managed to look at his brother like he was shocked to even be accused of spreading secret information. “Of course! Why would I speak about it when you asked me not to? What do you think of me? There is no need for you to worry, Theodore. I...am a bit surprised that you didn't even tell us about something as grand as this, but I guess it couldn't be helped. Naturally, no one will hear a word.”

Seraphina watched that scene with dismay, but she probably knew that it was over anyway. They couldn't save this secret anymore, so distracting the others would be best. She waited for a moment, and when no one said anything, she chimed in. “I believe that we saw enough of the garden then. Prince Linden, would you mind accompanying us inside? We will show you to your chambers for now so that your servants can store your baggage. Afterward, we could visit the most important rooms.”

Linden was probably happy to end the cold family feud. He nodded swiftly. “I would be happy to. Please lead the way.” With that, the empress walked forward, and the prince trailed behind her.

Theodore and Blanche followed them at some distance. She couldn't help but notice how odd this was. The ruler of the nation should walk around with the guest after all and maybe escort his wife. But somehow, none of them seemed to act according to the norms. The thing that confused her the most was that Cedar didn't hurry to cling to Linden anymore though.

Instead, the prince seemed like he had given up on talking to their guest for now. He chose to walk beside the couple, which was extremely uncomfortable. Blanche leaned into her lover and occasionally glared at Cedar, only to jolt when he met her gaze. She truly panicked when he opened his mouth to say something to the emperor.

Thankfully, Theodore spoke up first. “Did you have the doctor take a look at it?” He scanned his brother, or rather his hand, with obvious skepticism.

Cedar returned to his bright smile, seemingly giving up on his act as soon as Linden was gone. He turned away and stared straight ahead as he replied. “Of all things you could address, this is your main concern? What could you be referring to? I don't think that I would need to visit a doctor.” That was what he was playing now?

They should ignore that. They had no reason to get involved at all.

But Blanche was skeptical. She knew little about wounds, but she would claim that the cut on Cedar's hand was an issue. She couldn't help frowning and speaking quietly. “You were bleeding, and it looked pretty bad. Did you at least wash the wound?” She felt like a scolding mother and didn't doubt that she would be made fun of for it.

Surprisingly, Cedar didn't joke in return and didn't even look at them either. “If I did have such a troublesome injury, I would surely have taken care of it. I don't remember anything problematic happening though.” That lie was so obvious that it hurt.

Theodore narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Don't act dumb. I meant your hand. The one my guard slit open when you threatened Blanche.”

Cedar still didn't look at him, but he lifted the according hand now before began speaking and simply wouldn't stop talking. “Oh, that little thing? Don't worry about that. It's almost healed already. Plus, I would say that I did not threaten Lady Blanche. Your guard overreacted, which should possibly be avoided in the future since sudden duels do not sit well with me. Self-defense on his part certainly wasn't necessary. I might have been a bit impolite, for which I must apologize once again as that day simply-”

Theodore had gotten more upset with every word and cut his brother off here. “Don't you dare act like you didn't threaten Blanche. And what little thing are you talking about? Cedar, I saw you with blood dripping down your whole hand. Don't lie to me now. The wound was quite deep, and it could have gotten even worse quickly if you had kept up your foolish behavior.”

Cedar merely chuckled at his harsh tone. “Now, now. There is no need to get so upset over something so meaningless. I certainly won't trouble you by suddenly dying because of blood poisoning, so you won't have to deal with accusations of any sort. I wouldn't focus on this if I were you. Controlling your staff might be a more important concern. My door was locked today, so I needed to climb out of the window to leave my room. Then the carriages coincidentally broke at the same time after the coachman was already far too late. I doubt that is the work experience you wish to promote.”

Theodore glared at him again, but it didn't help. He unwillingly needed to step back. “Fine. Do whatever you want. It's not our concern if this wound gets infected. Maybe this will make you remember which lines not to cross. I apologize for the inconvenience due to the staff, but it's odd that you address that so directly. You really are in a horrible mood today. Did she throw a tantrum?”

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Cedar's smile widened. Blanche almost thought that he would ignore that question, but then he finally leaned forward to meet his brother's gaze. “Ah, it seems like you can at least guess that part. But since she didn't change much ever since we lived together for years, that isn't very special. But to answer your question, yes, she did. Thanks to someone, the carriage didn't work, and she refused to walk here, which is why I'm alone. How could the dowager empress ever take a few steps through the forest after all?”

Blanche had been confused at first, but she quickly understood who they might be referring to. It was strange for Cedar to admit that his mother had flat out refused to put in some effort to meet the future ruler of a new ally. Apparently, the relationship between the prince and the dowager empress wasn't as good as they liked to portray it. But why had he responded truthfully if that was the case? In fact, it was also odd that he seemed to smile more when he was annoyed, but maybe that was his way of dealing with it. Or was that an act too?

The concubine would lie if she said that she wasn't curious. How much would Cedar admit if he was asked? She scanned him from the corner of her eyes before speaking up. “So, she used to throw tantrums in the past too?”

Theodore replied instead of his brother. “Occasionally. Whenever something happens that would require her to act a little differently than normal, she gets upset. If someone tells her to stop complaining or wants to help her, she becomes extremely irritated. I don't think it happens that often though. She usually controls her emotions well unless I or Althea are involved.”

Cedar chuckled again. He turned to his brother to make eye contact. “I am not sure whether you can judge her as easily as you believe to. She is a rather complicated person. I do not wish to criticize our dear Mother though. She is wonderful.” He spoke in a very cheery tone, but somehow, he didn't sound like he was being happy at all.

Blanche was even more taken aback now. Why was the prince indirectly agreeing with Theodore? Those two despised each other, so it was odd to hear them talk about a subject on which they had a similar opinion. After all, Cedar had admitted that Camille was complicated, which was a special thing when it came from him.

Theodore seemed to be a bit confused too, but he hid it quickly. He just shrugged at the last comment. “I won't agree with you this time. Unfortunately, there are some things that don't make her a pleasing personality. I am only talking about the times in which she is angry, of course.” He said that with a lot of sarcasm.

They reached the staircase that led to the main entrance and began climbing up when the emperor slowed his steps. He scanned his brother's back with a little glare and seemingly didn't know how to deal with Cedar's strange behavior today. This made him lean over to his lover to whisper. “Don't worry. He won't cause any trouble. And even if he talks about our engagement, that won't be a problem.”

Blanche gave him a fake smile and leaned her head against him again. “I hope so. But let's not focus on that. Prince Linden is more important. We should keep Cedar away from him.”

Theodore nodded with a grim expression. “I will. But something else will be a problem first. Please stay close to me. Don't go to the center of the room now.”

Blanche found that sudden comment surprising, but she only affirmed it with a nod. If her lover asked her for something so specific, it would probably be important.

The couple followed Cedar inside the foyer, where Linden and Seraphina were already waiting.

Theodore glanced upwards for a moment before taking a step to the side and making a small detour to reach the group. That just made Blanche tense more.

The empress was in the middle of explaining something to their guest already. “And this entrance hall is mainly used to welcome visitors. Many people also use it to avoid the smaller and narrower hallways too. As you can see, the main stairs are big enough to allow most items to be carried up here. Naturally, that will not matter to you much. But if your servants ever plan on bringing baggage upstairs, they should use these stairs or one of the four other bigger ones in each corner of the building. There are countless smaller ones too, and some are even too narrow to allow a barrel to be moved past them. If you keep that in mind, there will not be any issues with you transporting everything within the palace.”

It wasn't even certain whether Linden cared about all of this, but he listened patiently until the end and was basically glued to Seraphina's lips. He seemed to be a very polite person, which could only be good if their nations wanted to negotiate a lot in the future. He only spoke up when the empress was finished. “The way you structure your buildings seems to be different from the way we do it. It's refreshing to see something new. I am pretty certain that your foyer is as big as our ballroom, and we do not use as much gold. Though, this offers a striking display. Do other royals except for you four live here?”

The empress showed him a polite smile. “Thank you for your kind words. We are very proud to hear that the interior suits your tastes. Currently, only His Majesty and I are part of the royal family and reside here. Lady Blanche will be royalty after the wedding, but you could count her already. His Royal Highness and Her Majesty, the dowager empress live outside the palace. They are at home in a mansion that belongs to the royal estate due to some issues in the past. I am uncertain of the exact number of your family members, but I assume that the royal family in Northern Ocrea is a bit bigger.”

Linden shook his head. “Currently, only my father, my uncle and aunt and my sister live in the palace. Along with me, of course. I would assume that we have fewer servants though.”

Theodore chimed in at that. “Well, we only have that much because our building is so big. It would be much more relaxed if the size was about half of the current one, but this palace was built centuries ago. It would be hard to change everything suddenly. So, we will have to deal with long ways to our destinations and a huge number of staff members. Most of them will roam the hallways at all times. I hope that they will not disturb you much.”

“It is alright. I would never be sensitive to those kinds of things. I am used to many servants running around in the middle of the night, so it should be fine.” Linden almost seemed a little annoyed when he thought back, but that edge in his voice quickly disappeared. “I do not wish to rush you, but I would like to avoid forcing our people to carry the baggage the whole time. Would you mind bringing me to the rooms that my attendants and I are allowed to use then?”

Blanche turned around to scan the people that were waiting by the entrance. Aside from a group of guards that most likely protected the crown prince, numerous servants stood there too with bags and chests in their hands. Apparently, they were in a hurry to store all the things and hadn't even waited for the other servants to signal them that they could bring them upstairs now. A few staff members even stood next to the guests and seemed to ponder how to offer their help.

Theodore examined the group too before turning to the crown prince with a smile. “Naturally. I will bring you there. I would just like to ask you for a favor first.” His smile faded slowly. “ All of you, to be more specific.” He glanced at Prince Linden, Cedar and Blanche individually for a moment. “There is a little issue that worries me, so I would like to point it out. When we start walking, please do not move closer to the center of the room. I can almost predict that something unfavorable was planned for us by outsiders. So, please follow me instead of steering to the side.” He waited for a moment to confirm that everyone had understood him.

In an instant, the atmosphere just soured. The empress furrowed her brows. Cedar didn't say anything, but his eyes immediately wandered around the foyer.

Linden looked around as well before nodding. “Please lead the way.”

The emperor did exactly that. He brought his lover with him and made a big bow around the mosaic on the floor that determined the center of the foyer. Many people seemed to be confused at that, but no one dared to speak up. Only when the group had passed by, Theodore stopped and raised his head.

It took a mere second before Cedar spoke. “The second floor.”

It was just a small comment, but Theodore had already located the issue too. He narrowed his eyes at a person on the second floor.

The servant was standing there near a wall that was joined with the ropes keeping the chandelier in place. He was suspiciously close to the rope with some metallic item in his hands. That person immediately backed away as he heard voices around him, only to be grabbed by a group of guards after the emperor waved his hand.

Theodore glared at the person that was being arrested and sighed. “I apologize for that. It was the same scheme again, just a bit earlier. How surprising.”

The servant fought back as the knights subdued him, and a loud clatter sounded through the otherwise almost silent rooms as a knife fell to the floor. It didn't take a genius to know that he had intended to cut the rope of the chandelier with that.

Even the thought made the crashing of glass on stone sound in Blanche's ears

For a moment, Blanche was frozen in place as her mind wandered to an entirely different scene. That chandelier was heavy. It could easily have crushed someone without anyone being able to intervene in time. Her lover had prevented that incident though. He was incredible. He had been able to predict what others were planning way before it had happened.

Though, a part of Blanche almost felt like that chandelier had fallen right in front of her. The clashing sound still didn't seem to quieten down, and now she could basically see imaginary glass splinters spread everywhere as a red liquid colored the floor below. That was probably an illusion of her shocked brain, but it seemed real like a memory for a moment. A memory that was too clear to be based on the pages of a novel. Blanche felt herself shaking a bit as she opened her mouth, not even daring to avert her eyes. “How did you do that? How...”

From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Theodore looked down at her. He seemed to be serious judging by his voice. “I merely used my experience. Those people always use the same patterns over and over again. I am starting to be a bit frustrated. After all, finding out what they are planning doesn't tell me who they are or why they think that any of this is a good idea. But it's really important that we prevented it this...” He cut himself off as someone else approached.

The concubine didn't even look up, but she heard Cedar's voice a moment later. “That man is arrested now. Are we certain that no helpers are within the palace?” He paused. Seemingly, Theodore gave him a small response with a nod since Cedar didn't ask again.

Silence followed for a moment. Blanche forced herself to look up as she did her best to hide that icy fear still ran through her veins.

Theodore hugged her and tried to keep her calm, but he was naturally still upset about the incident. As he spoke again, his voice was cold. “We'll arrest that man and interrogate him properly. We will find out what he knows.” He seemed far calmer than anyone that had just stopped an assassination attempt should be.

Cedar was the same. For the first time in a while, his smile had dimmed so much that it almost faded, and this seemed like an honest expression for real. But instead of getting angry, he just analyzed the facts calmly while being quiet so that only Theodore and Blanche would hear him. “I believe I do not need to point out what this means. Whoever got involved will be a problem. What were they trying to accomplish? No matter who that chandelier might have hit, it would have been a disaster. There is no one here that benefits from that. They risked a war with that.”

For once, Blanche believed that he was serious about what he was saying. Cedar wasn't lying now. He probably had no idea who the perpetrator was either. It wouldn't have made any sense for him to be acquainted with that person. As he had said, any outcome here would have troubled his faction too. If the chandelier had fallen onto them, one person or multiple people could have gotten hurt. In any case, it would have been bad.

Naturally, the emperor risking a serious injury was problematic when a great number of people just waited for his fall. The second prince would easily be able to use this chance to grasp the throne. However, he would also be suspected of being involved in this matter since he was present. Some might even blame Ocrea since an accident had happened as soon as their people arrived, and Cedar didn't need a war.

The same would have happened if Seraphina or Blanche had been hurt. Both of them were linked to the royal family, and them getting injured like this would fuel the tension between Theodore's and Cedar's supporters. The emperor certainly wouldn't be happy if his lover came to harm, and whether his revenge would cause issues was pretty clear.

Naturally, Cedar's injury would have caused a similar situation with reversed sides. The dowager would definitely have blamed her eldest son and tried to use this to lead a revolt against Theodore. Upon losing her only chance for the throne, she might be fine seeing the world burn, which was a risk they couldn't take.

The political situation within Artias would become strained to the point of a cold war if anyone had been hit by that chandelier. But that wouldn't have been the biggest risk. The dowager empress could certainly have accepted these threats, but something else should keep both factions from even considering this method.

The worst case of all would have been Linden getting injured or worse. If a guest from another nation came, their security had to be ensured under any circumstances. Especially if that person was from Northern Ocrea, with whom Artias was on the verge of war. The fact that Linden had almost been put in danger was bad enough. No one wanted to imagine what the outcome of that chandelier falling onto him would have been. Naturally, the crown prince being injured or even killed by that would have erased any chances of the two nations getting along. They might even have accused each other of staging this and entered military combat.

They would have. Blanche was sure.

Camille and Cedar weren't stupid. They were very much aware of this. They would never risk ruining the country they wanted to rule, at least Cedar wouldn't. His goal was to increase Artias' wealth and form bonds with possible allies. This wasn't his plot. Obviously, Theodore hadn't planned this either. That only left one conclusion.

Blanche tightened her hold on her lover's arm and gazed at Seraphina. The empress was already meeting her gaze and nodded slightly. They both knew what this meant.

The mysterious third party that hoped for a war between Northern Ocrea and Artias had made their move.

Theodore was still quite upset, but he focused on Blanche more than ever. He kissed her forehead as he pulled her to the side so that she wouldn't need to see how the servant upstairs was being arrested. The sounds were enough to reveal that person was struggling as much as Evelyn had. Her lover stood between her and the staircase though, so she couldn't confirm whether the servant was as desperate too. The emperor rested his hand on her cheek and guided her to look into his eyes. “Are you alright?”

Not truly. Blanche was still frozen in fear.

Still, Blanche hurried to nod and pushed the way too realistic image of shattered glass in her mind away. The sound of a loud crash and the following screams echoed in her ears as if she had truly witnessed that chandelier falling down. Even if it was still hanging on the ceiling. She shook her head to herself before replying to her lover. “Nothing happened, it's fine. I was just surprised. Thank the gods that you found out in time.” She tugged at his sleeve for a bit as the urge to get him away from that dangerous objects grew.

By the gods. What would she have done if that had threatened to hurt Theodore? She would have done all she could to get him away in time. Even now, she trembled with the urge to push him far away.

Theodore smiled at her, but his eyes were full of sadness when he responded. “Last time, I didn't make it in time, and that was catastrophic. But back then, everything was completely different. I'm glad that we managed to erase the possibility of that happening again now.” He pressed another kiss onto her lips and looked at her for a moment.

And for a second, Blanche opened her mouth and wanted to ask why he had used those words that chilled her to her bone.

But Theodore already lifted his head to gaze at the others. “I assume that no one has been injured? I deeply apologize for this issue. In the future, I will do my best to prevent any other incidents. I will act as fast as possible to limit the number of inconveniences, but we may need to be more cautious from now on.”

Linden scanned the chandelier with a deep frown on his face before looking in the direction of the servant that was currently being arrested. “As far as I am concerned, nothing was able to cause any damages to anyone here. This is the third party you were mentioning?”

Theodore nodded. “I fear that they may try everything to cause a war between our nations. Injuring you while you are here is the easiest way to do that, so we will need to be extremely careful from now on. I am unsure how they will gain power by doing this, but I can assure you that the two factions backing the members of the royal family would never risk military conflicts. There may be greedy and vile people among them, but they wouldn't wish to lose their prosperity because of a war.”

Right. That was a fact. But wasn't it also a fact that there was another enemy they needed to get rid of quickly now? Blanche didn't know anything about that though. She wished that she had somehow gotten the information from the second novel too. Maybe that would help.

But at the same time, a part of her doubted whether the replies to any of this rested between the pages of a book at all.