Cedar wasn't the type to be upset or become petty when people didn't listen to him. He barely even expected anyone to accept his advice, and if they ignored him despite his warnings, that wasn't his issue. Though, he found himself a bit frustrated today.

He had told his mother not to do this numerous times.

Like always, Camille disregarded what he had said completely. She thought she knew things better than anyone else and also ignored that the person who had advised her to do this today was someone her son had warned her about. Now she had attacked Lady Blanche, Theodore's beloved fiancée, right in front of the emperor during that woman's own birthday party. Needless to say, it hadn't worked well. Like most of his mother's plans, this one hadn't been thought out in the slightest. She had been sure that Theodore would fall for her obvious lies and that he would give up on his lover, even though she should understand that her oldest son adored his fiancée more than anything else. But even her misjudging this wouldn't have been the biggest issue.

What truly upset Cedar was that his words had been ignored numerous times. Even during the failed condemnation, when Camille should have understood that Theodore wasn't reacting like intended, she hadn't given up. Cedar had begged her to just take a step back, to stop insulting the person Theodore would literally kill for.

His mother had snapped at him for getting involved and had told him not to interfere.

Then things had gone downhill. In the end, the mood had been against Camille and everything she had wished for. So, she had needed a way to get out of here. Naturally, her foolish excuses hadn't worked. She had asked her son for help. Cedar had come to the rescue, as usual. Since his mother had already maneuvered them into a difficult situation though, his options had been limited. He had needed to apologize to Lady Blanche, whom Camille had publicly slandered, and had also needed to encourage his mother to voice a small apology that barely meant anything.

He had made Camille Estien, the most prideful person in this nation, apologize.

That was why Cedar already knew that this evening would be horrible. A part of him was tempted to ask his brother for permission to stay in the palace for just a night so that he could escape this hysteric fit that would follow, but then again, he would rather bite off his own tongue than ask Theodore for anything. So, Cedar walked his mother back to their carriage, at least intending to delay her breakdown until they were alone and she could yell at him without letting any witnesses see.

Camille didn't even do him that favor. He had barely gotten her out of the ballroom when she abruptly pulled her arm away from his and opened her mouth to yell at him. “Are you insane? What was that?” She was so loud that all knights immediately looked at them.

Cedar's smile widened so much that it hurt as he tried to speak as softly as he could to calm her down. “Please let us delay this for one more minute, Mother. We shall discuss this without any witnesses. For the sake of the reputation of the royal family.” A part of him almost expected her to ignore that as well.

But surprisingly, Camille listened for once. She glared at him with enough rage to promise a quite painful end to this horrible day though. Then she whirled around and stomped toward the exit of the building, which announced that this was the last time she would listen to any of his words today.

Cedar held back a sigh as he followed his mother quickly. Letting her wait now would be a horrible idea when she was already in a bad mood, so he made sure to leave the building right after her. He glanced to the side to check how many knights were present and hoped that Camille would acknowledge their presence for long enough to avoid their conversation leaking out to anyone.

And luckily, Camille did stay quiet. Only until they reached their carriage though. At that point, all of their servants had already run away after Cedar gave just a small wave with his hand, which was the signal that told them that their mistress was about to snap. That had been a good decision too. After all, Camille immediately whirled around and yelled at her son, her expression twisted with rage. “What were you thinking? You were supposed to help me, not make me apologize! Did you find it funny to have me bow to that worthless harlot?”

Frankly, those were dangerous words. Theodore might kill her for this if he heard that. But Camille didn't care, so the other part was more important.

Cedar certainly wasn't at fault for making Camille apologize when she had provoked the emperor past the breaking point by insulting his lover in front of countless witnesses. It was only natural for Theodore to demand an apology after that. But Cedar wanted to live for another day, so he would never utter those words. He would rather take the blame than try to make Camille understand that she had made a mistake. “I sincerely apologize, Mother. But that was the only way I saw to-”

It had been a foolish attempt anyway.

Camille interrupted him not even a second after he had begun. She got even louder now. “You damned brat! How can you be so useless? I involved you to make things better, and you only made me look worse!” Actually, she had made herself look bad without Cedar's involvement. She had put herself into this situation. No one owed her a way out now. He had still tried to do it, and she insulted him for it.

Cedar doubted that his mother would listen in her current state, but he tried to explain it. “Mother, Theodore was losing all of his composure. He would not have let this go, so we-” They had needed to retreat.

But Camille once again didn't let him say it. “He would not have let go of what? The truth? I only told everyone what happened. How can you demand that I apologize to that murderer for that?” She had only gotten louder by now.

Cedar already gave up on turning this into a helpful conversation, but he couldn't ignore this topic either. So, he tried to at least share a hint of what he had been thinking. “I did not mean to push you into an uncomfortable situation. It was the only option. Even if you told the truth, you clearly said things Theodore didn't want you to address. That is why I did advise you not to do this. Once Theodore heard, it was obvious that-”

This time, Camille lunged forward to close the distance between them. She grabbed his chin with her hand, digging her fingernails into his skin tightly as if she wanted to hold him in place while dragging him down to her eye level. By now, she was gritting her teeth so much that it had to hurt. Her expression was just a twisted mask of rage she couldn't contain as she snapped at him again. “Now you want to blame me? Are you saying it's my fault?” She could answer that question easily herself.

But Cedar didn't want her to throw any more vases tonight, so he didn't say that. He just used the chance to push the blame onto someone else, someone he definitely needed to keep an eye on. “Of course not. You didn't come up with this yourself either, did you? Duke Vasquez knowingly gave you this advice to-”

Though, that didn't seem to help either. Camille let go of him abruptly while pushing him back with a generous shove. She immediately closed the distance between them again, her fists balled as she shook with rage. “Are you saying I got played by some foolish bastard?” Basically. Yes. She never wanted to accept that she wasn't the only one spinning intrigues in the background, but it was a fact. Camille wasn't as intelligent and secretive as she always thought she was. She certainly wasn't the only one capable of coming up with plans either. And in this case, she had run right into the trap of someone else. She would never acknowledge that though.

Cedar still attempted to point out what they really had to worry about. “I did not say that. But you have to admit that His Grace did try to influence you in regard to today. Maybe it would have been wiser to-”

Now he had done it. He had tried to tell his mother that she had been wrong. That never ended well.

Cedar was used to avoiding attacks, but those usually came from his teachers or some assassins. He could rely on the instincts he had built up after years of training to protect him from those. But when it came to his mother, he knew that he couldn't avoid it since that would just make the punishment much worse. Still, his body itched to just step back or to lift his hand to catch Camille's arms. It took all of his self-control to stand still and force himself not to react at all.

She hit him with all of her force. Granted, Camille didn't have too much force since she was a slim noble lady who had never picked up a sword once in her life. It still stung when her flat palm met his cheek and hurt even more when her far too long fingernails scraped over his skin. The superficial wounds weren't the issue though.

Cedar's ear rang for a moment as his head turned from the impact. After a moment, the ringing stopped though, which was certainly calming. This wouldn't have any long-term consequences, so Cedar could easily ignore the aching of the side of his face. It didn't make him happy anyway. His smile widened until he was beaming so much that it almost had to seem unnatural while he turned back to meet his mother's gaze.

Camille hadn't calmed down after venting her anger. Instead, she was boiling like before and even seemed to yell much louder than before. “How arrogant do you think you can be? What good did you ever do for our faction? You would be nothing without me!” She was the one to say that.

What had Cedar done for his faction? The one that wouldn't exist without him?

He had done a lot, actually. Cedar had been the one to manage all the unruly people who wished to use him to gain power. He had won over most of their allies while ensuring that they wouldn't betray the royal family. He had also covered up so many of his mother's crimes that it was almost a miracle that Theodore hadn't tried to limit Cedar's contact with the outside world. And as if that wasn't enough, he kept ensuring that his mother's violent and explosive temper wouldn't ruin her reputation and their relationship with their allies. Cedar had done that during his time in the south palace already, and after, it had just become a bigger part of his duties. After all, he had also brought them out of confinement by coming up with fake alibis and enough clues that managed to sway the best judges in Artias.

To most people, that might be impressive.

To Cedar, it was just the basic thing he needed to do. It was his task as the second prince after all. Though, he would have liked to at least be acknowledged for it a little. He didn't even need praise. He just wanted his mother to accept that he did something to help her plan. He had lived his whole life for this, so it would be fair to thank him a bit, right?

But then again, Cedar hadn't truly expected gratitude. The emperor wouldn't be thanked for ruling the nation since it was simply his task. And Cedar's task, as the challenger of the current ruler, was to stabilize his political power while causing trouble. That was what he was doing right now too.

His mother had ruined this evening by attacking Theodore's weak spot publicly. Insulting Lady Blanche was certainly a horrible idea when the emperor adored her so much. But Camille hadn't understood. She hadn't understood a single of the mistakes she had made today. Provoking Theodore had been one thing, but there had been more. She had not only made it obvious that she had known about a planned assassination against the emperor without telling anyone, but she had also tried to have a trial in a ballroom. Needless to say, justice had never been her true goal, and that was obvious.

Now the dowager empress' reputation would suffer. Allies that barely stuck to her side might change their minds, and even the most loyal members of her faction might be more hesitant to trust her now. And she hadn't actually fulfilled her goal of damaging Lady Blanche's reputation either. So, today had been a huge mistake and nothing else.

Cedar would clean up that mistake now. It would take a lot of effort and time, but he had nothing else to focus on anyway. To avoid further problems, he would rather soothe his mother and make sure she forgave him first though. He showed her a soft smile while replying with a slight bow of his head. “I sincerely apologize, Mother. Please forgive me for this foolish outbreak. I was merely a bit frustrated to have needed to bow to my brother for something like that.”

Camille wasn't content with that. No, she was still quite furious and didn't let him think about anything else. “Do you think that excuses it? You made me bow to those bastards too!” That was the main issue for her. She didn't even see that this event today meant more than her humiliation.

Even though one of her long-term allies had just collapsed in front of her after clearly having been poisoned.

To Cedar, that seemed like a quite important thing. They had to find out which poison had been used and also locate the one using that poison on Julien Sefare. His mother had dragged that man all the way to the palace, so he had to have been poisoned even before they had met. By someone that had probably known about this plan today and wanted to blame this on the dowager empress. Cedar could only come up with one name if he considered that. It seemed like he would have to start his own investigation soon.

But since it would be risky for Camille to keep trusting the main suspect, Cedar wanted to warn her. “I am aware that this was quite an unpleasant experience. I promise to make up for it soon. But I do have a small concern. We should discuss what happened to-”

His mother didn't listen. She didn't yell anymore, but she looked so hateful as she glared at him. “Be quiet. I don't want to hear another word from you.”

Cedar was usually silent when she told him that, but he couldn't waste time today. “Mother, this is a serious topic. Whoever hurt Sefare might-”

And that was enough to make Camille lose her composure again. “I told you to shut your mouth.” Her voice echoed in the empty garden as she just glared at her son as if to check whether he would dare to disobey again. If he did that, she would surely make him regret it. She didn't want the truth right now, so Cedar stayed quiet. Camille lowered the hand she had raised already again. Her expression was grim as she spat out the next words. “Finally. I will go to the carriage now, and you will take a walk and come back when you calmed down and are ready to apologize properly.”

Cedar was quite calm though. He only watched in silence as his mother whirled around and stomped to their carriage. He even followed her when she lifted her arm without another word and helped her climb in the carriage. Then he turned away as he heard Camille slam the door shut. If his mother wanted him to stay away for a bit, that might be best. So, he decided to take a small walk around the palace. He would pass by a few guards for that, but it was dark. That should be enough to give him some privacy for a moment. Not that he expected to be left alone for too long though.

The prince was infamous around here. Whenever he entered the palace property, he was surrounded by people who watched him. So, he didn't even have to wait before guards began whispering.

Cedar ignored them. For the moment, he just pulled out the small powder box he was carrying around and swiftly checked his cheek in the tiny mirror inside. The handprint didn't look too pretty. It was quite bad, actually. The reddened part stood out a lot, especially the marks of Camille's fingernails. It would heal within two days or so, but Cedar would have to cover it up until then. He held back a sigh as he wiped over that area and ignored how much his wounds stung just because of that soft touch. That just reminded him to put on powder quickly. He was quite generous with it, just hoping to cover the reddened handprint as much as possible. Unfortunately, the powder was old and barely stuck to his skin, so he would need more time to fix his face. That didn't work too well though.

The prince was once again as unlucky as always. He ran right into someone when he rounded the corner. Normally, that might be fine.

The one he happened to meet was Leonard Astame though. That man wouldn't just ignore him. And as expected, Lord Astame was quite unhappy to see Cedar here and immediately asked questions.

Cedar didn't want to say that he had stayed here to avoid his mother's anger, so he came up with an excuse. And of all the things that would explain why he might wish to stay here, only one seemed logical. So, he asked to see Theodore. Since that would be useless when he had nothing to share, Cedar also decided to use this chance for his own good. There was something he should discuss with his brother anyway.

If Cedar truly thought about it, giving information away might be unfitting. If he was serious about this political struggle, he shouldn't be so petty and share something Theodore shouldn't know just because Cedar was annoyed with his mother. He shouldn't have any time for things like that. But then again, this was an important topic. Whether he would lose his advantage didn't mean much if it could protect the royal family. So, Cedar pulled through with it.

He met Theodore, his greatest enemy, and gave him a hint. Multiple hints, actually. He waited by the terrace, and it only took a few minutes for the emperor to arrive.

“We didn't poison Sefare.” That was the first important thing he told his brother.

Theodore didn't believe him, of course. But he had hesitated for a moment. That was the most Cedar could hope for right now. The overly careful emperor would surely at least try to find out whether his brother had been honest for once in his life.

He had also told Theodore that he hadn't been involved in two of the incidents the emperor wished to blame on him. The attack in the forest, which had occurred during Theodore's picnic with his lover, and the poisoning of Lady Blanche. Cedar hadn't given the order for either of those things, and his mother hadn't given it either. That said a lot about what was happening in the background.

Someone was trying to escalate the conflict for the throne even further. That was why they committed crimes and blamed them on the parties that fought in the conflict for power. That was why that very same person might have attacked Prince Linden just because it gave them a chance to win more power.

Cedar could just imagine one perpetrator in this case. Who would be powerful enough to pick a fight with the royal family while hoping to come out on top victoriously? Cedar would say that only his foolish uncle was greedy enough to try that. Unfortunately, Claude Vasquez was quite powerful and rich. Theodore had started to trouble him a lot after that suspicious argument Claude had had with Lady Blanche, but it wasn't enough. If they wanted to protect their nation here, they needed to get rid of that man entirely. That was why Cedar shared his thoughts in the first place.

It wasn't clear whether Theodore understood. Most certainly, he didn't. After all, he was still convinced that his brother was making up most of the things he said. Cedar didn't argue back either. He was far too tired for that. So, he just bid his brother farewell and retreated for the day. Though, he knew that he couldn't just rely on Theodore trusting him. Cedar would personally take care of that matter soon to ensure that nothing went wrong. First, he needed time to prepare everything though.

Cedar had told the person that should work the hardest to protect Artias, so his duty was done for the day. After he excused himself, he took a short detour to stroll through the garden, where he applied another few layers of powder, just to make sure that his cheek didn't look too bad. Then he returned to the side gate, where his mother's carriage was waiting. He wasn't sure if he had given her enough time to calm down, but he decided to check. As he gently knocked on the door, he waited for the response.

Camille let him wait for longer than necessary, which was another signal that betrayed her anger. When she finally replied, her tone was cold. “Come in.” She at least didn't want him to stay away anymore. That was a good sign.

Cedar carefully opened the door and glanced at her expression to prepare for how she might react now. As expected, his mother shot him an icy glare, but it was better than expected. Cedar beamed at her as he slowly climbed in and shut the door as silently as possible. Then he sat down on the opposite bench from his mother and just waited for her to either ignore him or speak up.

It wasn't like Camille was in a good mood. In fact, it was quite obvious that she was boiling and that she wouldn't forget the events of this day any time soon. But at least she did speak to her son instead of acting like he didn't exist. “Do you know what you did wrong?” She looked at him like he was the bane of her existence, further revealing that the humiliation of today would lead to her doing thoughtless things in the near future.

Cedar should probably prepare to do a lot of damage control in the next few weeks. The thought alone made him exhausted, but he couldn't admit that. He just focused on mending his relationship with his mother. “Yes, Mother. I reflected on myself and will be better from now on. I sincerely apologize for doing something so foolish. It was meant to help us, but I clearly made the wrong judgment and ended up demanding something outrageous. I swear to make up for it so that I can try to fix the problems my error caused. Allow me to pay back this humiliation in your name.” Not even a single true thing had left his mouth right now. Cedar was well aware that he hadn't made a mistake. Camille had provoked the emperor, so apologizing had been the only way. He had saved his mother from a night in a cell with that. But since she would never admit that, he would rather take the blame. If Cedar claimed that he would get revenge, maybe he could get his mother to keep her feet still with that too. After all, he didn't doubt that she would bring Theodore to the end of his patience if she still didn't listen now.

Camille glared at him for another moment as she thought about what he had said, seemingly trying to read what he was thinking off his expression. As usual, she only found his bright smile. She took that as a sign of his obedience. “If you do well in that, I will forgive you for humiliating me in front of our enemies. But you must do well. This was a huge insult I cannot allow in the minds of anyone.” She had embarrassed herself countless times, especially in front of the servants. But Camille seemed to believe that she was a calm and dignified noble lady anyway.

Cedar didn't wish to ruin her delusion. He just smiled at her and calmed her down further, trying to ensure that she would not cause any more problems soon while he could fix everything. “I shall take care of that. Influencing the rumors in the capital is not a big problem, so leave it to me. I will ensure that today will not dirty your honor because of my careless mistake.” Not that Camille, who was known as a woman who had tried to kill her son, had any honor left. Cedar would still try his best to pick up the shards to form some kind of result. After he found out who had poisoned Sefare at least.

His words seemed to have been right once again. They calmed Camille down a tiny bit. While she still seemed disdainful, her hatred might have shifted to Theodore once again. She wasn't screaming at her son to murder the emperor though, which meant that she was composed enough to think clearly for now. Cedar almost hoped that she would allow him to speak about his concerns regarding Sefare now, but he should have known that she didn't care about her puppets very much. What mattered to her was something entirely different. Apparently, she remembered that too while scanning his cheek. Without another hint, she lifted her arms and spoke in a much softer voice. “Come here, Cedar.”

He didn't want to.

Cedar was quite used to his mother randomly demanding hugs, especially after arguments. Usually, he didn't mind giving those, but when Camille had lost her temper this much before calling him useless, he wasn't too happy about her sudden mood shifts. But then again, this was better than having her blow up. Cedar was a bit relieved to see that she had forgotten her anger that quickly, so he made use of that to distract her even further. As he slowly stood up and sat down on Camille's bench, he was already pulled into her arms.

Camille's hold on him was tight and warm as she pushed his head onto her shoulder. That position had worked out quite well when he had sat on her lap as a small child, but by now, Cedar was taller than her and had to bend his back quite a bit to allow this. Camille gently stroked over the back of his head, brushing her fingertips over his scalp carefully as she whispered into his ear. “You know that I love you, don't you?”

Cedar closed his eyes and forced himself to relax in that position. He would probably stay here for a while, so he should get used to needing to twist his back a little. “Of course, I do.”

The very fingers that had just scratched his cheek now softly rested on his head while Camille just pulled him closer. “Good. But I worry, Cedar.” She slowly brought a hand to his cheek and made him tilt his head up to glance at her. “You make me upset when you talk like your brother. You know how much that horrible murderer made me feel when he left me. I fear that you'll do the same when you act like him.” When he dared to talk back. That was what she meant. But when she looked at her son with so much concern and furrowed her brows, he could never say that.

Cedar instead found himself beaming at her as he gave her a firm response. “I will never be like Theodore. There is no need for you to worry, Mother.”

The corners of Camille's lips tugged a bit as she began smiling as well right before she pulled him into a tighter hug. “Of course. You could never be like that disgusting traitor. You are my sweet little son. You will always be with your mother. After all, I love you more than anyone else ever could.” Love was a strange word when Camille used it. When it came out of her mouth, the meaning usually differed depending on the situation they were in.

She certainly loved her son. And yet, she hadn't mentioned the glaringly obvious hand-print she had left on his face. She hadn't even hinted at an apology either.

But at least Camille had hugged her son while indirectly trying to help him calm down. That was how she showed her care. It wasn't an obvious sign, but it was certainly there.

Cedar had learned to be content with this. He would never dream of receiving an apology anyway. He just replied softly with the exact words his mother wanted to hear. “I am aware. I love you too, Mother.”