By the gods. What kind of medicine had that doctor given him?


    Cedar had already been happy about not feeling too much of the wound, and then everything had begun spinning around him. He managed to keep himself upright, but he swayed a little. This definitely wasn''t just the blood loss. He thought that he would fall over, which would force someone to help him up.


    Lucille quickly noticed and followed him. “Cedar? Is everything fine?” Not really.


    Cedar could barely coordinate his steps, and by now, his wounds hurt again too. This drug, or whatever the doctor had used, seemed to be too strong and too weak at the same time. “I am slightly dizzy. I need a short moment.” That probably wouldn''t be enough anyway.


    Lucille grabbed his arm with such a lax hold that it wouldn''t do much. “Should I help you?”


    Cedar opened his mouth to refuse, but he immediately scolded himself for that. He could barely walk at the moment. He didn''t want to fall and hurt his head, so he would rather hold Lucille while moving. “Yes, please. I don''t need to cause more trouble for everyone by tripping.”


    Lucille took that as her cue to hold his arm tighter. “Alright. Then we will slowly get you to the carriage. Come on.” She spoke so softly that she might as well be singing a lullaby. Then she took the first step.


    The speed Lucille proposed was a bit too slow for Cedar. He had no trouble walking as long as someone balanced him a bit. But he wouldn''t complain and just enjoyed how close Lucille was to him. They reached the carriage after three minutes or so despite only taking a few steps. Of course, that attracted some attention.


    The first person who spoke was Theodore. “Is everything fine?” He sounded rather concerned.


    Cedar assumed that it was partly because he had to look as miserable as he felt and partly because he couldn''t even walk alone. For a moment, he was a bit embarrassed before he reminded himself of the reason for his injury. He had been hurt during an assassination attempt after saving the emperor''s life. He could allow himself a week of laziness. Apparently, he needed that too. After all, he could barely focus on Theodore without giving in to the urge to close his eyes. Maybe he would be able to forget the traumatizing nightmare he had had with some rest too.


    Lucille noticed that Cedar had forgotten to answer and replied for him. “Cedar is dizzy. He can''t keep his balance well.”


    Cedar nodded as well as he could to confirm that. “I think the doctor drugged me a bit too generously.” He was pretty sure that his voice sounded somewhat normal, which was a surprise in some way. At least he wasn''t unable to speak.


    Another voice chimed in from the side. It seemed like Leon was still here too. “I was the one who gave you those drugs. Do you know how narrowly you avoided death, you moron? If that sword had just cut you at a slightly different angle, you would have bled out or lost your organs. From now on, don''t ever do something that reckless again.”


    Cedar would like to argue that one couldn''t predict battles, but he was too exhausted to fight. “I understand. For now, I should just sit in the carriage though, right? And then I will lie down and rest for a while.” By now, he agreed that this was the best option. He was definitely not in a good condition if he couldn''t even stand. It truly didn''t seem like he could train soon again. Wonderful.


    One of the servants opened the door of the carriage without waiting for instructions. Apparently, it was obvious that the prince wasn''t in a good state, so making him sit had the greatest priority.


    Cedar allowed Lucille to lead him to the coach. Then he stopped and was faced with the footstep, which was a bit too high for his liking. But unfortunately, he had no choice but to climb up there. He could only hope that he would manage to do it without falling. He attempted to do it alone but was stopped.


    Theodore appeared next to him. “What are you doing? We don''t need you to slam your head onto the ground. Let me help you.”


    Cedar was a bit uncertain whether this was a good idea. Enough servants were here, so getting help from one of them would be better. “You''re the emperor. I don''t think you should...” He stopped himself. To be honest, it didn''t matter. He wanted to get back into the palace in peace. He didn''t need to worry about things like that now. It was Theodore''s problem anyway. “You know what? I don''t care. I don''t want to make it worse again. Help me if you must.”


    Theodore did just that. He carefully stabilized Cedar so that they could enter the carriage without tripping and even made sure that his brother sat before he got out again. Then he helped his wife and Lucille inside.


    Cedar quickly noticed that the dizziness wasn''t his greatest issue while he was sitting. Instead, it was probably the exhaustion that seemed to accompany being wounded. He hadn''t noticed it before because he had been euphoric to see his lover again after that disturbing dream, but now he realized that it was pretty bad. Cedar had to fight to keep his eyes open, and lying down to sleep seemed awfully tempting. He was quickly reminded to stay awake though.


    Lucille sat down next to him and moved as close as she could without touching his bandages. She was frowning at him while she scanned his whole body. “Is it fine for you to sit? If we have to stop suddenly, your back will press against the bench. And then your shoulder might hurt again.”


    His shoulder hurt already. Cedar knew that it could get much worse, but he wasn''t that scared of that. Whatever Leon had given him would deal with most of the pain, and he could ignore the rest. “I''d rather endure it now than stay here in the forest overnight. I will be happy once we arrive in the palace and can get comfortable there.” He said that but still turned so that his left shoulder was a bit closer to the backrest. He would rather cushion the small movements with his unhurt shoulder instead of with the one that was still burning slightly. That damned arrow had really done its bidding, hadn''t it?


    A few seconds passed before Leonard climbed inside too. He instructed the coachmen, and the carriage began moving a moment after that.


    Everyone''s eyes wandered to Cedar. Maybe they expected him to be nauseous after all that had happened. Thankfully, Cedar didn''t feel bad nor did he want to throw up. He was just tired like before. Surely, it would be nice if he didn''t have to sit here while worrying about what a bump in the road could feel like, but no one could change this. So, he just focused on cuddling with Lucille.


    A minute went by in silence. To be honest, that minute was rather exhausting since everyone kept staring at the prince as if they expected his wounds to open again because of some random vibrations.


    At first, no one said anything, but then Blanche spoke up. “Is it really fine? Please tell us if something hurts.”


    Cedar''s wounds did hurt. However, this had nothing to do with the carriage but with the sword and the arrow that had pierced his skin. “Do not worry. I am much too drowsy to feel much of it. Besides, I had a worse carriage ride already. Right after the revolt, my head still felt like I had been run over. This isn''t anywhere close to that.” He still remembered that carriage ride well. He had been about to lose his mind because his head had hurt so much. Not that this here was much more pleasant.


    Apparently, this only got him sympathy from the royal couple and Lucille. Leon just had to add a snarky comment. “You were the one who insisted on leaving. I''m pretty sure we offered you that you could stay longer multiple times. I alone asked you to delay the ride at least-”


    Cedar didn''t need to hear that, so he cut the other man off. “I didn''t mean to accuse you of anything. I don''t regret leaving that day.” Maybe he did a little, but that didn''t matter. “That isn''t important anyway.” He locked eyes with Theodore. “We have more crucial things to discuss. For example, that assassination attempt a few hours ago. Was anyone but me injured?”


    Theodore, the actual target of the attackers, didn''t seem to be too hurt, so one could assume that the rest of the group was fine as well. Apparently, the prince''s efforts had paid off to some extent. The emperor didn''t act like he had to hide any causalities and just replied honestly. “The knights had few injuries. Only some small scratches since the attackers were much too unskilled to do more harm. Luckily, we got the archers too. There were a few more than you saw, and those only came out when you fainted, but we had no trouble dealing with them.” As expected of the golden emperor. He had already dealt with everything, and now he would crush the perpetrator.


    This wouldn''t end well for Camille. She deserved it, but it was still a bit pitiful if one pointed out whom she was up against. She had never had a real chance. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    And now she would be executed.


    Cedar tried not to think about that and focused on the positive matters. The knights were fine. He hadn''t let himself be hit by an arrow for nothing, and Theodore was safe. This meant that he had done enough good for a while, right? Then he could probably recover without traumatizing nightmares during the next weeks. Cedar pushed that thought away too and searched for something that could distract him. When he saw the sleeping baby in Blanche''s arms, he had found his topic. “And is your daughter fine?”


    Blanche showed him a faint smile before she nodded down to her baby. “Aurora was a bit...upset because we were stressed, but now she is fine again. She is as exhausted as all of us, so she needs to sleep though. We should let her nap for as long as she wants to.” She lifted her head and smiled at Theodore when he reached over to stroke over his daughter''s cheek.


    Cedar struggled to even look at them. He didn''t want to show it, but he could barely sit upright at the moment. He would have liked to lie down and sleep for a few hours, but multiple things kept him from doing that. First of all, he needed to ask a bit more about the attack so that he had a general idea of what was going on. He technically also needed to ask about his mother to confirm in which cell Theodore had thrown her. Another important thing to do now was to comfort Lucille, who had been rather upset about him getting hurt.


    And even if Cedar refused to acknowledge it, the stupid dream didn''t make him want to sleep again anytime soon either. So, maybe it would be best if he delayed sleeping a little until he had found out about everything he needed to know.


    Cedar stayed silent for a moment before he spoke again. “And were any of the guests injured? Was there a-”


    Theodore interrupted him there. “Don''t worry about that. Everything went well. You are by far the person who got hurt the worst. There aren''t any causalities on our side, so you can relax. Our enemies were taken care of or arrested, which means that there isn''t anything dangerous here anymore. The biggest threat will be your unwillingness to give yourself a break. So, we will have to make sure that you get enough rest. I can see that you are tired.” He could? That wasn''t good.


    Cedar smiled at him and tried to seem a little less drained, but he couldn''t even keep his head upright without using way too much energy. Sitting shouldn''t be this exhausting, right? “I''m alright. That''s just because of the medicine.”


    Blanche replied without giving him a chance to continue. “You''re certainly not alright. You lost a lot of blood and were poisoned today after being injured severely twice. You don''t have to keep yourself awake. It''s fine if you go to sleep for a bit.”


    Leonard added something before the prince could reply. “And even if it''s just the medicine that makes you tired, why does that matter? You will have to sleep as much as possible now.” Did he expect the other man to close his eyes here and now because of that?


    Cedar definitely wouldn''t fall asleep in the middle of a carriage ride. He smiled at the group and vaguely noticed that his facial muscles didn''t obey him as much as they normally did. “But I just slept a minute ago and made everyone worry with that, right? I can''t fall asleep already. At least not now. When we''re home, I may try to lie down a bit.”


    Lucille lifted her head to make eye contact with him and nodded. “Please do. You are much too tired after all that happened. You have to rest, Cedar. You can''t just expect your wounds to heal without giving them time to recover.” He knew that.


    Cedar was well aware of how long wounds took to heal from experience. He knew that resting would allow him to recover more quickly. But to be honest, he had never truly given himself the full time to get better. He had always started to train again much too soon. If needed, he had used his suppressed anger and bitterness to motivate himself despite the pain. He was pretty sure that he hadn''t ever rested for as long as the royal doctor had asked him to. He had the sneaking suspicion that he wouldn''t be allowed to do that this time though.


    One glance at Lucille and the royal couple proved that they would force him to stay in bed for the next couple of weeks. And they actually seemed like they would ask him to go to sleep immediately after they arrived at the palace too.


    The only problem was that Cedar didn''t want to sleep. He hated to admit it, but he was scared of having another nightmare that was similar to what he had dreamed about last night. So, he would have to stall for time. “It''s really fine. I would like to eat and drink a little before resting in the evening. I should stay awake for a bit before lying down again, don''t you think? I can''t stay in bed the whole time.” He needed to use his muscles at least a little, or he would get weaker after a month of no training. Surely, this wasn''t what he should think about now, but at the moment, he still didn''t trust his mother. He would rather be prepared.


    Lucille was the first one to refute his words. “What are you saying? You have to rest. It''s normal for injured people to sleep a lot. As soon as we are back in the palace, you will lie down and close your eyes.” She sounded unusually authoritarian while she said that.


    Cedar couldn''t argue against that. He barely had any strength left, so he should allow himself a week of rest before considering when to move around again. “If you say so. I can compromise as long as you stay with me.”


    Lucille nodded with a serious expression on her face. “I will be right beside you, so you don''t have to worry about anything. I will take care of you.” She raised her hand and gently stroked over her lover''s hair.


    Cedar had to fight against himself now. He wanted to close his eyes so badly, but that would only make him more tired. That was the one thing he didn''t need. But after a few seconds of her massage, he had to admit defeat. He leaned his head onto Lucille''s shoulder and allowed himself to close his eyes just for a few seconds.


    That had been a mistake. He fully blamed it on the medicine Leon had given him, but he nodded off much too quickly.


    <hr>


    When Cedar opened his eyes again, it was dark. He barely managed to look around in the room he was in, but the silhouette of the furniture gave him a hint. He was currently in the doctor''s office and was lying in bed. He didn''t even want to know who had carried him here, even if he had a bad premonition. It seemed like he had run into a preventable unpleasant situation because he had given in to one moment of weakness.


    Cedar cursed himself for falling asleep. Hopefully, no one would mention this in the future. He let out a low sigh before making himself comfortable in the bed. He noticed two things almost immediately. The first thing was that his wounds definitely hurt more now, which meant that the medicine didn''t have as much of an effect as before.


    The second, and more important, thing was that Lucille was directly next to him. His lover was snoring quietly while she lay there. Before falling asleep, she had interlocked her fingers with his, and their hands were still in the same position. Maybe she had done that to touch him when she couldn''t hug him in fear of hurting him.


    Cedar couldn''t help but smile at that. A moment later, the aching of his wounds made his grin fade again though. He considered calling the doctor to ask for some more medicine but quickly pushed that thought away. He didn''t want to wake up Lucille or the doctor for this. He would simply sleep now and ask for more tomorrow. As long as he didn''t lie on his wounds, it should be fine. It wasn''t that bad anyway. He told himself that while closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep again with Lucille curled up in his arms.


    Thankfully, he didn''t have a nightmare this time.


    <hr>


    The following days were a mix of pure bliss and raw frustration.


    Cedar adored it when his lover took care of him. Of course, having her with him at all times and being able to cuddle was nice. But at the same time, she acted as if he was made of glass. Even if Cedar tried to tell her that he was capable of walking to the bathroom alone, she insisted on accompanying him. Surely, having Lucille hold his arm wasn''t bad, but Cedar didn''t like feeling this useless. The fact that he could probably deal with most of this alone made it even worse, especially since no one here let him do anything.


    Lucille was always by his side and ran around to get him whatever he mentioned despite his request to stop that.


    Theodore and Blanche came daily while repeating the same things about him needing to rest over and over again. The emperor actually forbade his brother from working for the next two months and threatened to increase that time frame even more if Cedar didn''t recover. He also refused to tell his brother anything about the trial at this point in time and only occasionally gave vague hints to avoid ‘distracting’ the prince, as he phrased it. The empress said that Cedar couldn''t train for the next two months either and promised that she would confirm whether he had listened to her order.


    Leon voiced quite a few comments about Cedar needing to take the medicine he was given without accepting any criticism.


    The doctor was probably the most annoying person though. He had already complained when Cedar had asked when he could train again. Ever since then, he had repeatedly given speeches about how humans could show that they were in pain and that it was fine to let others help him if he was sick.


    All in all, everyone seemed to expect the prince to overdo it soon.


    Cedar had to admit that those people weren''t in the wrong. He would have tried to move around much sooner again if they hadn''t stopped him. But since a week of rest wasn''t too much, he would compromise for now. As long as he didn''t train, his wounds would heal quicker, and then he could return to his usual schedule soon.


    So, Cedar went along with what everyone said. He took the pills and the disgusting plant mixtures he was given, drank herb tea and ate nutritional food. He stayed in bed and only moved around when it was absolutely necessary. All of that was rather annoying. It ensured that Cedar had little to do. The only reason he managed to ignore this boredom was because of Lucille.


    His lover was by his side twenty-four hours a day. She woke up with him, mostly a little after him but he didn''t tell her that, to help him eat breakfast. Then she left for five minutes to find something to busy him with. She either brought guests, like Aurora and her parents, showed him board games or revealed some books she could read to him. After they spent some time with that, they ate lunch, busied themselves again and then had dinner before going to sleep. In between, the doctor and his assistants showed up to check on Cedar and examined his wounds.


    Apparently, the prince was fine if one ignored the wounds that would still need to heal. The doctor asked whether those hurt and received the same response each time. Cedar''s wounds didn''t hurt too much when he had taken his medicine. Surely, it still felt like his flesh was burning while being dowsed in acid, but the fireplace incident had left him in a much less stable condition, so he didn''t dare to complain, especially not because no one here was at fault.


    The person responsible was Camille, his own mother.


    Knowing that was a bit disappointing. Cedar had lived for his mother for twenty years, and this was what he received in return? He hadn''t expected anything else, but he was still a bit upset to know that she would happily send someone to aim a poisoned arrow at him.


    Even so, he wasn''t quite happy about letting her die because of that.


    Cedar wouldn''t admit that out loud though. He only showed the people who visited him a smile and thanked them for their concern while saying that it wasn''t necessary. He was still alive, so he shouldn''t complain about his wounds or the fact that his chest constantly felt restricted. His lover was with him, and that was all he needed at the moment.