Theodore didn't even need to respond to the question about whether the others were fine.
Instead, it was enough for two of the men to step forward while they took off the masks and revealed themselves to be the people that Blanche had mentioned, Owen and Leonard. Almost immediately, the rest of the alleged mercenaries also get rid of their masks.
Leon gave her a smile as he spoke up. “So, you do care for someone aside from His Majesty. That is good to hear. You don't want to know what we had to endure until now. Him complaining about being worried because of you was worse than the whole fight. You can calm down now. We have everything under control. All the people here are royal guards. We swapped out those intruders with our own people, one after the other. That is why it took this long. I apologize for that. This lowlife here didn't do anything, did he?” He lifted his foot and pushed against Cedar's leg.
The prince still remained motionless and didn't make a single noise. It wasn't surprising. The wound on the side of his head was pretty big, and blood was coloring his light hair. That didn't look good at all.
Even if Blanche had told herself that she wouldn't have sympathy for him, she cringed at that. She couldn't even imagine how much pain Cedar had to be in right now. Maybe it was good that he was unconscious. She slowly lifted her head. “You should probably treat that wound. I don't think that he tried to hurt me. He purposefully used the dull side of the sword. He was just trying to keep up appearances until his mother arrives.”
But Cedar had still stood side by side with people that were hired to kill her lover, even if he had hated every second of it. Why hadn't that idiot refused? He had to stop listening to Camille at some point. He had always been an idiot that didn't do what he wanted. Cedar always held back for others, and he always ended up getting hurt because of that, no matter in which version of this world.
Theodore watched this whole scene with skepticism before he turned to his lover and gently cupped her face. “I'm sorry for not being more careful. He had his sword right next to you, I couldn't risk it. That's why I needed to make sure that he couldn't move either. I hope that wasn't too...” He glanced over at his brother and raised his voice. “Cedar?” He didn't receive a response. That made him frown as he resumed. “Leon, take care of him. Make sure that he doesn't lose too much blood until the doctor comes.”
The secretary nodded and immediately examined the wound before sending one of the guards to get help from the royal doctor. That was all they could do for now.
Blanche gazed at Cedar for a moment before looking at her lover. “Is everything alright now? Did you arrest the attackers?”
Theodore nodded. “Every single one.” A smile grew on his face as he stared at her. “My plan worked out perfectly. We managed to lure them to us in pairs and could knock them out from behind before tying them up. Their patterns were so uncoordinated that we were even able to get the people from the ballroom without letting anyone notice. Since we pretended to have given up, no one expected backlash, and the royal guards could move without any losses on our side. I predicted everything that would happen without any issues.” Slowly, his smile faded again. “But if I had known that Cedar would find you, I wouldn't have let you go. I'm sorry for not being able to prevent that. I'm so glad that you didn't get hurt.” He leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
She gladly received that while breathing out in relief. Everything had gone according to plan. So, the knights hadn't betrayed them. She was more than thankful for that. But still, she felt like crying. “I'm glad that everyone is fine. I was so worried about you and everyone else too. Please tell me that you won't leave me alone like that ever again. I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt. You can't imagine how much my heart ached when they said that you were dead. Even though I knew that you were fine.” She could barely keep herself from crying and nuzzled her face into her lover's clothes.
Theodore gently patted the top of her head and cuddled with her to calm her down. “I know. I'm sorry, I really am. It won't happen again. I promised that I would stay with you forever. We will get married and have children, you know? There is no way that my life can end already. So, you never have to worry about me disappearing. I will always be right by your side.” He leaned forward to rest his head against hers but lifted it again when footsteps approached them. “What is it?”
The guard that had come to them bowed for a moment before speaking up. “Her Majesty, the dowager empress arrived. She is being escorted here right now, so she should arrive in a minute.”
The emperor's expression darkened at that. “There she is. The last thing she heard was the claim that I was dead. Let's see her expression when she finds us here.” He tightened his hold on his lover and gave her a chance to lean her head against him once more. Then he turned his gaze toward the door.
A few moments passed before their guest arrived.
The doors swung open to reveal Camille, who was accompanied by a few knights. For the first time, she seemed to genuinely show a soft smile that proved that she was more than satisfied with what she had heard. But as soon as her gaze fell on Theodore, her expression changed. First, it was utter shock, then disbelief and lastly unrivaled rage appeared on her features.
From now on, the guards also didn't have to act like she would be treated courteously here. They grabbed her shoulders and shoved her toward the couple.
Camille didn't even yell this time. It looked like she was so eaten away by hatred that she couldn't focus on anyone but her despised son now.
Theodore met her gaze with a bright smile. He waited until the guards with their guest stopped in front of him. “You didn't think about me when they told you that the emperor wanted to see you, right? How unfortunate misunderstandings can be. You don't look too happy to see me.”
Camille gritted her teeth and stared at him with nothing but unfiltered fury. “How are you alive? Everything was planned out. There was no way for you to have known about this attack.”
The emperor clicked his tongue. “You are more predictable than you think. I knew that you would snap after what happened during the past few weeks. But it's refreshing to hear you admit it immediately. Even you probably know that you couldn't have erased all evidence this time. You will spend the rest of your pathetic life in confinement, you know? There you can rot away without sunlight and think about what you did wrong until the end of your time.”
The dowager empress glared at him for that. “You...you...disgusting, pitiful excuse for a human being. You should have never been born.”
Blanche had intended to stay out of this discussion, but she wouldn't stay quiet about that. Rage welled up in her too, and she couldn't help but address the woman she despised most directly. “Your existence is the one that harms people here and makes everyone want to throw up. It's true that Theodore shouldn't have been born to you. He should have been Althea's son from the very beginning. And Cedar too. You are such a horrible person that you can't even see that the trail of pain and misery you leave behind is your fault alone. You blame others for everything and insist that you were the one being mistreated when you are the villain here. You never loved or cared for anyone. If you did, you would have already turned to your son who is unconscious and lying on the floor while bleeding. You truly are despicable.”
Camille only gazed to the side to find Cedar now. She stared at her son before calling his name in a shrill voice. “Cedar? Cedar, what are you doing? Stand up.”
She received a low groan as a response.
Theodore immediately turned to his brother as well. “Cedar, are you awake?”
The prince's arm twitched a bit as he gave a slurred reply. “Give me a minute, please.” It actually sounded like he was in a lot of pain so that he was barely clinging to his consciousness.
Leonard changed his position to crouch down on the other side of Cedar's head and pressed the cloth he had been using tighter onto the wound. “Do not move. I am trying to stop the bleeding.”
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Cedar replied in a faint voice. “Thank you very much. I shall show you my gratitude later.” It was rather strange that he was acting like this when he was clearly not in the right state to think clearly.
But despite this, his mother still didn't seem to show any compassion. Camille immediately began addressing him again. “Cedar, get off the floor. You are embarrassing the royal family if you do something like this.” She couldn't be serious.
Blanche was actually speechless as she stared at the other woman. The dowager empress wasn't scared about losing her son in the slightest, was she? What was wrong with Camille? Shouldn't that woman have even a bit of love left for the person that had done anything she wanted ever since he had been born? The concubine could just narrow her eyes at the other woman.
If she looked closely, maybe Camille was a little uncertain. Maybe the dowager empress was beside herself because her plan had failed and wasn't able to process the situation properly. But the reason didn't matter. No mother should react like this when their child was clearly in pain and lying on the floor because they were knocked out. Blanche had no words to say about that. To her surprise, she didn't have to.
Cedar didn't lift his head or move much as he responded in a voice that was slightly clearer than before. “Hello, Mother. I'm happy to see you too. But as you can see, I'm in a bit of a predicament. The world is currently spinning for me, so standing up would be a bad idea. Please let me lie down for two more minutes.”
Camille took a step toward him at that. “Cedar, don't you know what situation we are in right now? Your brother tried to kill you, and now he wants to frame us for treason!” She had returned to denying everything. It was quite a pathetic display. There was no way for her to prevent the just punishment now, and everyone here knew.
Even Cedar sighed at that. “I remember it differently, but that may be because of the punch. Did you start training how to hit people, Theodore? Anyway... I would like to recover before needing to memorize false alibis again. Is that fine? We lost this time, so I doubt that I will even need to put in the effort.” He let out a huff of air when Leon used a bit more force to press down the cloth.
Blanche felt conflicted about seeing that but chose to speak up anyway. Being in pain while no one consoled you was horrible. She could at least say one thing. “The royal doctor will take care of you soon. He can give you some medicine against the pain. So, just hold on a bit longer. Don't move.”
Cedar replied in a rather dry manner. “It's not like I can run away, so you don't need to worry about that. I'll stay here for a few more minutes if that's fine with you.” After that, he closed his mouth and let Leonard cover the wound.
Theodore watched his brother for a while before he turned back to his mother. “This is the end, Camille. From now on, you will never have the chance to hurt anyone ever again. All the responsible ones for this attack will be arrested as well, and they will meet the fate that they deserve. So, you can stop your lies now. Because I will find every single piece of incriminating evidence and bring it to the court. You will never ever have the chance of even defending yourself when we have so much that we can use against you. You can spare your breath and refrain from voicing threats since you will relinquish all of your power now. We win, you lose.”
The dowager empress' features were overcome with even more fury than before. She raised her hand and began gesticulating wildly. “You will never win, do you hear me? You are nothing but a curse to our family! You traitor, you murderer! Your own father died at your hands just because of your greed for power, and then you decided to make me your scapegoat. You heartless monster!”
The emperor narrowed his eyes at that. “That's rich coming from you. If you were swayed by the truth, I would explain it to you from the very beginning as well. But I know that you actually don't believe what you are saying. Your true problem is your immense hatred for Althea, my mother, because Father loved her. Even her death didn't pacify you, and now you direct your fury onto the people that remind you of her. You hate me because I chose her over you as my mother, and you hate Blanche because I love her and it reminds you of your own failed relationship. If I say this directly, it must sound ridiculous, even to you. How about you stop deluding yourself and just admit the truth?” Theodore demanded that, but he didn't leave a chance for anyone to speak before continuing. “You are only being driven by two goals. Getting revenge on Althea, who never did anything to harm you, and grasping more power. By doing that, you hope to fill the empty spot in your chest where your heart should be, but that won't ever work. Now you will suffer for all the people that you hurt while making your path toward your goal without any care for human lives. Give up.”
Camille's expression had become nothing more but a grimace out of pure hatred. It made her look like she had lost all reasons to live except for her hatred for her own son. “You are so disgusting that it makes me want to kill you with my own hands. How could I have given birth to such a monster like you?” There was no way that this woman would ever regain her sanity, that much was clear.
Blanche knew that arguing didn't do anything. It wouldn't help them in the slightest, but she couldn't hold back. “The monster here is you. You are the one that killed countless people and still blames everyone else. Can't you see? You are the evil person. Let us end all of this now. You can cry and yell as much as you want. You will never end up being happy if you keep on living with hatred as your only goal. And now you will receive what you caused others as well. Misery. You will spend the rest of your life knowing that you lost today because of your flaming rage that blinds you to even the slightest bit of human affection.” While she spoke, it felt like her blood was boiling. She was way too angry because of that terrible woman. Because she knew that both sons had suffered so much because of Camille.
Theodore gently stroked over her back and pulled her closer to him to whisper. “Don't waste your breath on her. We will be done in a moment. I will send her away now.” He lifted his head, and in an instant, his expression turned from soft to hateful. “I, Theodore Estien, the emperor of Artias, will now announce the punishment for this horrible crime, the attack on the inhabitants of the royal palace. This will be seen as treason, and thus, everyone involved will receive harsh punishments. I declare that-”
Camille cut him off without any hesitance. “Duke Vasquez was involved. He helped us make contact with the mercenaries. You need to ensure that he and his family are punished too if you want to be fair.” She was still raging when she said that but had forced herself to say this in a quiet tone. She wouldn't receive the answer she would like anyway.
Theodore smiled at her. “Oh, you haven't heard? Claude Vasquez is dead. The new duke is his son, Luciano Vasquez. You must have messed up the titles.”
But Camille didn't act surprised. “No, I am referring to the right person, Luciano Vasquez. He was playing with all of you. He acted like he was so innocent when he was actually just extorting your sudden kindness that you never showed your own family. Luciano helped us contact the mercenaries and plotted this attack-” Camille got louder with each sentence until she was cut off by a quiet complaint.
Cedar groaned a bit before moving his head despite Leonard's warnings and blinked at the emperor and the concubine while showing them a bright smile. “I don't know if it helps, but she's lying. My cousin didn't contact anyone, not even us, for at least three months. She is upset because Luciano won't talk to her anymore and because he ignored her letters. She doesn't like him suddenly being on your side. That's why she wants to drag him down too. So, don't trust her too much. You are used to that already though, right?”
Blanche was in shock for a moment. Why was Cedar telling them that? Information like this was very important. Wasn't he going to support his mother's words?
Camille seemed to be as taken aback as the concubine and balled her fists while almost shaking with rage. She whipped her head around to her son as soon as he spoke. “What are you saying? How can you dare to talk back to me? Those people betrayed me, don't defend them! They suddenly turned their backs on me even though Selena is my own sister!”
Cedar let out a low chuckle that was followed by another groan. Only then, he spoke. “Maybe you should have thought about that before burning down Aunt's house and killing her husband. She surely won't be happy to see you anymore. Especially since you would have liked her and her children to die during that fire too. What makes you think that she owes you something after you attempted to burn her alive?”
That made Camille lose her composure completely. “What? Why are you saying that? She's my sister! I always stood up for her when we grew up. I gave her to a rich husband so that she could live comfortably! I only asked for loyalty in return. And when she turned her back on me, I only paid it back to her. None of this would have happened if she had stayed by my side. And why are you arguing against me now too? Don't tell me that you plan on betraying me as well. Is that why this failed? Because you told them what would happen?”
The prince let his head sink to the floor again. “Don't be ridiculous. Do you think my head would hurt like this if I had helped them? I obviously got caught off guard by my brother. He was one step ahead of us, as always. I would say that we can try again, but I doubt that we will have the chance.” He slowly titled his head toward Theodore. “You were in the middle of announcing our punishments, right? Is it the south palace again or execution this time, just to change things up a bit?”
Theodore looked at his brother with conflicting emotions for a while before replying. “Why are you... None of those. You will be put in confinement for now, but I found a more troublesome location for your mother.” Blanche vaguely remembered him mentioning a rusty cellar as an alternative, and she could guess that he would actually pull through with something like that.
Cedar, who should expect something horrible, didn't seem to be too scared though. “I see. As generous as always. Then I will gladly accept that offer. Can I make a request? Take out all the vases, please.”
Theodore was quiet for a moment before replying with traces of dejection on his face. “I will see what I can do.” He gazed at his brother for a bit longer before turning to the guards. “I will now declare what kind of punishments the traitors will receive. Due to the obvious guilt of the two main perpetrators, there will be no trial for them. I, Theodore Estien, the emperor of Artias, hereby order the eternal imprisonment of Camille Estien. She shall never take a step out of the estate that I sent her to ever again while being confined in a cellar without any light or access to the outer world while being kept in chains. I will deal with how exactly her life there will look myself until the day I have her dragged out there and beheaded in front of the whole capital. For now, she will be put in a cell in the palace until she can be brought to her future home. Cedar Estien will accompany her to that estate for the time being. His punishment will be specified later, and for now, he will be brought to the doctor's office so that his wound can be taken care of. All mercenaries that were arrested here will be put on trial so that they can be judged based on how deeply they were involved in this incident.”
Blanche had the feeling that he only said that to keep her from hearing that all the mercenaries would most likely be executed. The men's involvement in this case consisted of breaking into the royal estate, bringing weapons here, attacking royal guards and attempting to kill the emperor. This was obviously treason. In some cases, they might be brought to some prison in the south, but execution was more likely. She didn't have much to say about that though.
What surprised her more was that Theodore had left a chance of him pardoning Cedar. Even though he had said that he hated his brother often, there had to be some trace of sympathy there. Or he still felt bad about being raised by Althea while his brother had suffered. At least her lover didn't want to punish Cedar by locking him in with Camille for his entire life.
The concubine scanned her lover for a moment. Theodore was obviously exhausted as well, more than she was. She had only been faced with emotional difficulties, but he had actually been forced to condemn his own mother after a strategic battle, so that was understandable. She would have liked him to avoid fighting, but she couldn't change it now. So, she would do her best to calm him down by showing him some of her affection. She gently ran her fingers over Theodore's back and nuzzled her face against him. “Theo, you are doing well.” She whispered that to him, which earned her a small kiss on her forehead.
Theodore brushed his fingers over Blanche's head while whispering back. “We only need one more moment. Then we can cuddle all we want.” They were obviously in each other's arms already, but it seemed like that wasn't enough for him. They would probably have a long and teary reunion after this. For now, he focused on the last thing he needed to do.