“We secured his corpse. That brother of yours won't stand up any time soon. And the same holds true for his companion. A tall, muscular man with dark hair. His personal guard. He's dead too. We wanted to spare him, but he didn't let anyone pass, so we had to get rid of him.” As one of the attackers told Cedar what had allegedly happened, his words were devastating. He claimed that both the emperor and his personal guard were dead.
Blanche could barely bring herself to calm down. Theodore couldn't be dead. Owen couldn't be dead either. She refused to believe that. If he and Theodore were gone, what had happened to everyone else around them? She froze at that thought.
There was no way that Leonard would have allowed the emperor to be killed in front of him. But the mercenary hadn't mentioned anyone else who died. The attackers hadn't found Leon. And that meant that Theodore couldn't be dead either, right?
The concubine began shivering again. She wanted to calm herself down, but pure dread and hopefulness mixed and left her mind in utter disarray.
Cedar scanned her from the corner of his eyes before replying to the man. “I see. Thank you for the news and your hard work.” He was quiet for a moment before he lifted his gaze and stared at the wall on the other side of the ballroom. “It seems like I'm the emperor now.” He didn't sound like he had truly grasped that this had been his goal for so long. He just kept looking straight ahead for a few seconds before his smile returned.
It didn't seem like it was a genuine one but rather one of the ones he put on against his will. It made him seem like he had trained himself to just smile no matter what happened. Even if a bright smile caused him to look happy from the outside and his voice had a small undertone that made him sound excited, it was obvious to Blanche that he wasn't happy about any of this.
Still, Cedar stuck to his act. “We won. We will need to celebrate soon. After a month of grief, of course. Naturally, I would not do anything as shameless as me crowning myself immediately after my brother's demise, so that will have to wait. But I do need to take care of this nation and show that I will accept the position of the emperor. For now, I will deal with the mess within the palace. We need to calm everything down, but we'll need to prove that I'm the ruler for that.” Cedar addressed the masked man again. “Bring me the crown. It should be somewhere in his room. He has a few, but the biggest one is the family heirloom, so I need that one.”
The mercenary nodded and seemed prepared to comply.
Blanche could just sit there and watch as he moved to the door. Time seemed to slow down as a single thought became clearer in her mind. The crown was in the dressing room, wasn't it? That had been where Theodore had planned on starting his attack. If he was still hiding there after faking his death, those men would find him as soon as they went to search for the crown. That could destroy all chances of her lover being able to start a surprise attack. If those people reached him when he didn't expect it, it could end up with him getting seriously injured.
The concubine opened her mouth and tried to speak, but only a faint noise came out. What was she supposed to say? If she admitted that she didn't want them to check the dressing room again, she could end up revealing that Theodore was there. What else could she bring up? What reason would there be for Cedar not to put on the crown that he deemed to be his now? There was nothing that she could say that would make sense.
Except maybe if she could stall for time by making him believe that there was something else he needed to do first. Countless thoughts rushed through Blanche's mind at the same time as she desperately tried to find out what she should do. She needed to say something, anything that could make the prince believe that he wasn't the winner. That he wouldn't be ruler already.
But it was obvious that he would become the emperor after Theodore's death. Arguing back didn't do anything.
Blanche gritted her teeth and pressed her palms against the cool floor. There had to be a reason for her to stop him. Under which circumstances did the second in line to the throne not take over? Only when there was an empress. But Theodore had divorced Seraphina. And now he only had a fiancée, whom he wished to marry later. The concubine was closer to him than anyone else could ever be, but she wasn't his wife yet. She had no right to call herself empress.
But Cedar didn't have the right to name himself the emperor either.
It was just a quick thought that crossed her mind, but that might have been her last hope, even when she knew this was a risk. She was relying on Cedar having at least a small bit of humanity here and risked her life in case he didn't. Yet, Blanche didn't hesitate as she raised her voice. “I want to ask you again. What makes you think that you could be emperor? Give me one reason why a murderer should take over when the legitimate ruler is here?” She had probably been quieter than she had wished for, and she was also a bit hoarse.
But that didn't matter when Cedar turned to her and gave her his attention. He lifted his hand to stop the mercenary, which almost made her sigh in relief. “Unfortunately, the legitimate ruler is dead. That is why the second in line will take over. As Theodore's closest male relative, I will now become the emperor. That is logical, right?”
Blanche forced herself to shake her head. “No. It's not.” She did her best to keep her voice from shaking as she responded. “It's not logical. When the emperor dies, the empress will rule the nation. That is what our laws have determined. You cannot just go against that because you want to.”
Cedar tilted his head to the side. “You are right about that law. But there isn't an empress at this point in time. After all, the divorce papers were already signed, which makes Lady Duremont a duke's daughter instead of a member of the royal family. There is no way that she could rule our nation. You are merely Theodore's fiancée. He only planned on making you the empress. That is great, but there is a difference between that and you being a lawful wife and the crowned empress.”
Now it all depended on how well she could lie.
Blanche balled her fists and met the prince's eyes. If the only way to stop that man now was the existence of an empress, she would become one. She could only hope that her acting skills would be enough for this and that Cedar didn't jump to the immediate conclusion that getting rid of her would be best for him. “That is only true to your knowledge. But we didn't tell you everything. I'm his wife. Theodore and I married already.”
The response came immediately. “No, you didn't. My brother wanted a huge banquet for the two of you. He wouldn't have done it in secret. Nice try, but I would have known about you marrying.”
The concubine had expected that already. Now she was in trouble. She had no way to back that claim. How could she when her words were nothing but a lie? But she couldn't give up now. She needed to find a way to be convincing without actually having proof. What did other people do to fool others? When had people made her doubt her own knowledge? She faintly remembered such occurrences.
That only happened if the person in front of her had been persistent and consistent in their lies for a long time. When others confidentially repeated something to her again and again, she had begun to question whether she could trust them. Bluffing had also helped a lot. That could almost make you believe anything.
So, Blanche had to do the exact same thing. She took a deep breath before she replied while forcing herself to keep her head up and her shoulders straight. “How do you want to know that? You didn't spy on us the whole time. Theo and I married because he didn't want to wait any longer. He feared that your mother would try to prevent me becoming his wife, so we quickly had the ceremony in private, much like our engagement. I wasn't crowned yet, but in the end, all that matter is that the first wife is the empress. That would be me.” She paused for a little moment and then added her last attempt to be convincing. “You can ask the high priest that did the ceremony if you want to.”
Certainly, no one would be able to testify about their wedding since it hadn't happened, but it wasn't like the prince could talk to all high priests of the nation within a few days. He couldn't confirm whether she was right. And if she had two alleged eyewitnesses, she might be able to convince him.
So, Blanche just continued her lies. “In addition to that, I also already wore the crown and the matching attires with a sash and a cape. You know...something that the empress would put on during her coronation. I wouldn't do that if I didn't have some kind of legitimization. Ask the servants. Many of them saw me like that.” This didn't prove that she was empress in any way, but she was desperate.
Cedar watched her with a strange expression. A few seconds later, that usual frustrating smile returned though. “I don't believe you. It's awfully convenient for you to suddenly remember this. I know that my brother wouldn't ever accept a small ceremony. He would want to show his wife to the whole world.”
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Blanche quickly refuted that. “He does want that, but it doesn't have to happen during the ceremony. To be honest, we wanted two celebrations. One smaller one now and a huge one later. Then we would have just claimed that we would only marry on the second date. And you know what? Even if that wasn't true, I would still be the temporary ruler for the first weeks after Theodore's death. He wrote that down in our engagement contract. Get it here, and I will show you the paragraph.”
She had truly remembered that at the most convenient moment. If she had understood it right, Theodore had wished to make her his temporary successor if something happened to him. This part was true at least. For a few days, she should be able to govern everything, which would give her a chance to arrest Cedar now.
The prince still only smiled at her. “I've heard about temporary replacements. You truly are the person that would substitute for him if he got sick. But if Theodore is dead, I take over. A law that would allow you to overwrite my claim on the throne doesn't exist.”
Blanche's heart beat so quickly that she felt like her heart would jump right out of her chest. The fact that Cedar was discussing with her meant he couldn't completely ignore her words or that he at least didn't want to do that. That only gave her a chance to speak more and stall for time. So, she gave her best to resume in the most confident voice that she could muster. “It does exist. Do you know why? Our constitution was written by emperors that didn't want to risk losing their power. So, they needed a way to make sure that none of their family members could just kill them and take over the nation immediately. This is why this law was written. The emperor can appoint someone as the temporary ruler. You can guess whom Theodore chose three times.” She put her hand on her chest, right above her heart. “No matter which one of these two reasons you ignore, you cannot deny it entirely. I should become the next ruler. And if you go against that, it would seem strange. After all, your brother was attacked by some mercenaries who were seen with you. Do you get why it's unnecessary to argue now? I am the empress and thus the second in line to the throne.”
A pause of multiple seconds followed.
The concubine could only focus on Cedar as she waited for his reaction. He would either laugh at her now, or he would believe her. She could only hope for the second option. If he didn't trust her now, she would be in serious trouble. Though, it might also be troublesome if he did believe her.
The prince stared at her for a while before he opened his mouth. “I see.” With just that, he rose up from the throne. He climbed down the stairs of the platform and strode toward the concubine, who was still sitting on the floor.
Blanche desperately tried to calm her breathing and lifted her head to make eye contact with Cedar. She had no idea what he would do now, and in all honesty, she was a bit scared. She doubted that it would be good for her to provoke Cedar. And proving that he couldn't rule despite it having been his lifelong goal would certainly upset him. Currently, she relied on him not instantly killing her quite a lot, even when she wasn't sure why she felt so secure in thinking that he wouldn't. She gave her best to seem calm and composed and somewhat dignified, even though she was kneeling on the floor.
Shortly before the prince reached her, Noah stepped between them. “Your Royal Highness, keep your distance.”
Cedar came to a halt in front of him. “Theoretically, it would have to be ‘Your Majesty’. But since it's a sudden change, I will not be upset with you because of this. I do dislike my orders being ignored though. Step aside now. I don't think that you have the authority to stop me.”
The knight didn't budge. “I refuse to listen to the orders of a traitor. You will not come closer to her, Your Royal Highness.”
The prince let out a sigh. “I see. I would like to avoid this, but I can't let anyone undermine my power already. Then we will have to do this the hard way.” In the blink of an eye, he had pulled out the sword from the sheath and aimed it at Noah. “You have ten seconds to step aside. I know that you are a good fighter. A very skilled one. But I am too, and I am the only armed person here. You will lose and get hurt. There is no need to show that to Lady Blanche. I don't intend to harm her. Step aside.”
Noah still stood there without moving. He just tensed his muscles and seemed to brace for a fight, even if it was obvious that this wouldn't end well.
Blanche glanced to the side and found Noah's sword lying on the floor. For a moment, she considered rushing toward it and picking it up, but she knew that it was useless. The distance was too far, and she would never be able to reach it before one of the soldiers moved. Why had Noah thrown it away again? She didn't know, but it was horrible. Theodore had told them to keep Cedar from drawing his sword, and now it seemed like the situation would escalate soon.
Cedar always won duels. Somehow, she was sure of that.
For some reason, Blanche was certain that the prince wouldn't hurt her, but she wouldn't let Noah carry the risk she might be willing to take. Cedar was too good with the sword for them to try anything. Her reaction had been clear from the very beginning. “Noah. Let him pass.”
The knight whipped his head around to her. “What? I can't-”
“Noah.” Her voice was firmer now. If she needed to get him out of harm's way, she didn't mind being harsher. “As the empress of Artias, I order you to stand back.”
Noah gave her a pained look and gritted his teeth, but he obeyed. “Yes, Your Majesty.” It seemed like he had chosen to play along with her little scheme. Still, he fought himself while stepping aside.
Cedar watched the knight for a moment, almost as if he didn't trust Noah to hold back. “Stay over there.” With that, he turned to the concubine and gazed down at her. “So. You insist that you are the rightful ruler of Artias and call yourself the empress? That is unexpected. I thought that you would never lie to gain power, but it seems that I was wrong.” This provocation was too obvious to faze her.
Blanche did her best to ignore the uncertainty that she felt upon seeing a man with a sword towering above her and spoke as if she was full of confidence. “How is it false of me to claim the power that rightfully belongs to me for myself? Surely, I can insist on laws being involved when we determine the claim on the throne of Artias. Since I am the empress, I will rule the nation from now on.”
Cedar looked at her while searching for the slightest movement on her face that indicated that she was lying. “You act like you are sure about that. I'm a bit concerned about you not being depressed because of Theodore. Instead, you are here arguing with me. Shouldn't you be heartbroken or something like that? I would say that it's good for you to move on quickly, but I am a bit taken aback. But that doesn't matter right now. You definitely are the empress?”
She struggled with pushing away her worries about Theodore and nodded. “I am. Ever since Theo and I married, I've held that title. That means that there is no way for you to take the throne.”
The prince stared right into her eyes and kept silent for a moment. Then he replied with indifference in his voice. “I see. But is it wise for you to tell me that? After all, I came here with the intention of becoming emperor. Now that I defeated the first obstacle, a second one shows up. How should I deal with that? I believe that you trust me too much. I will always choose the easier way. And that is making sure that no one here steals my position. So...” He took the last step forward and brought the side of his sword to her throat. “The best way for me is killing you right here. It seems like you were hurt during the revolt as well, and I came too late to save you. That excuse works for you like it works for Theodore. Why are you so confident that I won't kill you?”
He should have smiled while voicing such a threat like he always did, or he should have been intimidating. He had threatened her already, and she knew how terrifying he could be. But everything about him now seem like he was just exhausted.
Blanche couldn't even bring herself to be scared, especially not since the blade didn't even touch her skin yet. Even for a person without experience with weapons, it was easy to see that Cedar wouldn't kill her now. At least he wouldn't do it with this side of the weapon, with the one that had once rested against the wall of Theodore's office and was so blunt that it couldn't cut anything anymore.
So, she was calm, but Noah, who was standing a few steps away from them, panicked. He came rushing toward them, only to be stopped by Cedar moving the sword closer to Blanche.
The prince didn't even bother looking at the knight while speaking. “Stay over there. Didn't you hear me earlier? I'm serious. Don't you dare move any time soon. My patience is limited too.”
Noah stayed back at that, but the rage on his expression made it obvious that he might end up trying something stupid.
Blanche quickly spoke up. “Noah, it's fine. Let me handle this.” She kept her eyes on Cedar while not daring to move. Even now, she couldn't read that man's expression at all. She had no idea whether he just wanted to scare her or whether he would actually hurt her. She could guess that he wouldn't, but she had no certainty. In any case, she couldn't avoid it by moving away. So, she would have to talk in an attempt to stall for time until she could make assumptions about his intentions. “You ask why I believe that you won't kill me? I know that for a fact. Because you are not an emotional mess like your mother. You think before you act. This whole plan is way too risky, so I am sure that your mother was the one that came up with it. But you chose to make the best out of it. That is why you won't risk your victory because of something like this. If both the emperor and the empress die during the same attack, it's not a coincidence. It was a planned assassination. And who would benefit from that? Only you. There is no way that the citizens won't jump to conclusions. There will definitely be a trial about this, and they will find out that you are guilty for sure. So, killing both possible rulers at the same time is too risky.”
Cedar's missing smile was actually starting to feel weird now. He just kept staring at her as if her expression would give away something. “You are correct about that. But this would only be a problem if two rulers were killed. Officially, no one knows about you and Theodore marrying. As long as I find that high priest, which should be easy with us only having half a dozen, I can just ask him to stay quiet nicely. Then no one would have a reason to assume that I would want your death.”
The concubine felt the urge to swallow, but she had no way to do that secretly, so she held back. There was only one argument against this that would come to her mind. If she claimed that others knew about this false marriage, she could prove that people would suspect something. But in reality, no one knew, and if she named a witness, she risked them getting injured by Cedar in the worst case. She could only speak about a person that wasn't within his reach, and just one of those came to her mind. “Seraphina Duremont knows too. She should be Northern Ocrea's queen soon. She can easily speak up for us, and she will as soon as this reaches her ears.”
Cedar let out a chuckle, but it seemed like he was just putting on a pretense with that barely visible smile. “And you think that she would help you? You stole her husband and her power. She has to be holding a grudge against you. What makes you believe that she would actually use her voice to spread information that benefits you? The man that abandoned her and the woman that sent her away to Ocrea?”
Blanche had planned to say something entirely else, but upon hearing this, she felt slight annoyance rise inside her and hurriedly talked back. “Actually, I didn't send away anyone. Lady Duremont fell in love with Prince Linden, and he loves her too. That's why they married, so you can stop claiming that she was thrown out of the nation. She left of her own volition. And do you know what? We are writing letters to each other. She doesn't hate me, it's the opposite. But if you don't believe that, I can assure you of one thing. She hates your mother more than she hates me. So, she will definitely not help you with her silence.”
Cedar scanned her for a moment before replying. “You have a point. And what now? We are in a difficult position, aren't we? What will happen now that you clearly have become an obstacle in my way?”
That was another question they would have to answer.
At least it seemed like Blanche did have a chance. After all, Cedar hadn't immediately killed her, which left the question of how far he was actually willing to go here. She might be able to distract him if she was careful.