The wonderful and encouraging feeling of euphoria Blanche had felt upon seeing the ocean didn't disappear even when they arrived at the summer residence. From the window, she had seen that the beach was directly next to the estate, so she was eager to rush there. She wanted to feel the sand under her bare feet and smell the salt of the ocean.
When Theodore climbed out of the carriage and offered his hand to her, she almost jumped onto him with a wide grin. One look at the summer residence only served to raise her spirits even more. The mansion was big but not as much as the palace. It looked like the house of a normal noble family. Still, it was on a greater scale since all the servants and knights had to have their own rooms as well.
The members of the staff had already gathered in front of the manor when the carriage had arrived and were now bowing to greet the emperor. The empress seemed to be in one of the other coaches, but Blanche didn't think about searching for her at that moment.
The concubine just grabbed her lover's hand and scanned her environment in awe while taking a few steps towards the residence. The garden of the mansion was as neat as the palace garden, which proved that people were working hard during the whole year just to make sure that the royal family could spend their vacation here. The building itself looked like it was being taken care of as well. None of the countless ornaments of the facade had faded, and all the windows were clean so that she could look into a few of the rooms.
That was enough to make Blanche curious so that she was in a dilemma. Did she want to walk around the residence, or did she want to see the beach first? It was the late afternoon, so she didn't have more than two hours until the sun would set. She didn't have enough time to do both today. Blanche took a short moment before realizing that she wouldn't make that decision on her own anyway. She would stick to Theodore the entire time to be certain that nothing went wrong now that she was on the right path.
In the novel, the emperor had shown Seraphina the residence first, so he would probably offer his wife that he could give her an overview of the manor.
Naturally, Blanche wouldn't leave them alone, so she would have to come along with them. She turned back to her lover, who was watching her excitement with a soft smile. “What are we going to do now? It's late already, isn't it?”
Theodore walked over to her and glanced at the sky to check how low the sun had already sunk. “We do have some time left, but I wouldn't go to the beach today. After all, I want to teach you how to swim, and I can guarantee you that your hair won't dry in the few minutes that we'd have left after getting cozy in the water. So, I propose that we go there tomorrow right after breakfast. For now, I will show you around so that you know where the most important rooms are.”
It would be better for her to be aware of the general layout of the building. In the novel, the villainess had been forced to look around on her own and had encountered problems trying to find her destination. The confusing hallways of the extra wings of the building had ensured that she had actually gotten scared of getting lost completely, and the servants that mostly supported Seraphina hadn't been a great help. That had led to Blanche being too late and thus giving the main characters more time to bond on multiple occasions. Not that it had mattered at that point anymore.
By the time that Theodore had begun to avoid the book's Blanche and only encountered her with shame, it had been decided that he would set her aside to be with Seraphina. And that was exactly what she had to prevent now.
Blanche closed the remaining distance to her lover and hugged his arm while looking up at him with a pleading gaze. “Alright. You have to stay close to me though. I get lost easily, and I don't want to stray around helplessly.”
Theodore cupped her cheek with his free hand. “Don't worry about that. I'll be with you the entire time, so you can't get lost at all. But I'll show you everything anyway. The layout of this residence is a bit confusing if you don't understand it from the very beginning, but it's not that bad.” He led her to the entrance of the house, and the servants opened the door for them to step inside.
Blanche was about to mentally note that the empress wasn't even here yet when she heard footsteps behind them. The couple turned around, and there was Seraphina following them into the foyer.
Noah was standing behind the empress and gave the concubine a bright smile, which she returned.
In contrast to him, the empress' maids looked more than sour. They were glaring at Blanche, who fought the urge to ask her lover for a kiss just to show them that she wouldn't give up that easily.
Unwillingly, Blanche tightened her hold on her lover's arm, which made him stroke his hand over hers.
Theodore was quiet for another moment before greeting the empress. “Good evening. Did the trip go by without any issues?”
Seraphina eyed the way that the concubine clung to the emperor but kept a neutral expression. “It's good to see you, Your Majesty. My carriage ride has been pleasant. I hope that you did not run into any problems either.”
Theodore nodded at the empress. “Nothing unusual happened. We enjoyed the beautiful sight of the sea though. Taking a detour to visit the cliffs was definitely worth it.”
The concubine lifted her head from his arm and stared at him with widened eyes. She had believed that they would pass by the cliffs anyway, but he had just chosen that route so that they could see the ocean. Theodore had truly made such an exception for her.
Her lover grinned down at her and gently ran his fingers over her skin, which proved her assumption true.
Luckily, Seraphina didn't seem to be angry because of their displays of affection. She was only a bit annoyed, which most people wouldn't have picked up on at all. She maintained a polite attitude. “I have to agree that the view was wonderful.” Her eyes wandered to the concubine, and it was obvious that was arguing with herself about something. A few seconds passed in silence before she spoke up. “Lady Blanche, are you doing well too?”
The concubine quickly took that chance to show that she was still respectful even though she was clinging to Theodore right now. “Good evening, Your Majesty. It's good to hear that the trip was not especially stressful for you. Luckily, I cannot complain about anything either.”
Hopefully, that was enough to pacify the empress so that she wouldn't be too mad about Blanche hugging the emperor the whole time. The concubine knew that she should let go to avoid conflict, but she couldn't bring herself to do that when it would be equal to making way for Seraphina to get closer to Theodore. Blanche wouldn't challenge the heroine in any way and wouldn't cause trouble, but she also wouldn't step aside from her lover, not now that she was right in front of her goal. If she wanted to stay with him, she would have to take her place at his side whenever she could. The only exceptions that remained would be public events, but at any other point in time, she would cling to Theodore to make sure that the empress didn't get any ideas about coming between Blanche and her lover.
The concubine didn't want to admit it, but grabbing Theodore's arm in front of his wife while he didn't push her away made her extremely happy. It helped to calm her raging jealousy of the other woman. Right now, the emperor didn't favor Seraphina but Blanche, and she would make sure that this wouldn't change during the vacation.
The empress gave the other woman a polite smile that wasn't any warmer than it had to be. “In that case, we can be thankful that the journey has been so uneventful. May I ask Your Majesty what the plan for today is?”
Theodore looked down at his lover to signal that he was talking about her and himself. “We wanted to take a look around before setting up our room.” He turned back to Seraphina and continued. “I suspect that you do not want to walk around with us. I can send a servant to guide you, or if you don't want that, you can try to orientate yourself alone.” The latter was clearly not a valid option in this confusing house, and the fact that he refused to even introduce the empress to the servants here, who had never seen Seraphina before, was a huge insult in itself.
The empress' maids seemed to be so shocked that their mouths fell open.
But their mistress, the empress, appeared to be rather calm. “Thank you for your offer, Your Majesty. I would like to request a servant's help.”
Seraphina's response only served to make her maids look even more bedazzled, but that quickly faded and left behind expressions of barely contained rage.
The emperor didn't pay any attention to that and just waved toward one of the men standing in the corner of the room.
The servant came over to them, and to Blanche's surprise, she recognized Clark. He nodded at her with a slight smile before bowing to Theodore, who quickly gave him some instructions.
“You will guide the empress through the mansion. Show her the most important rooms, like the dining room, the kitchen, her and her maid's bedrooms and anything else that might be relevant to her. Answer her questions if any should arise. That should be all.”
Clark replied curtly. “Of course, Your Majesty.” Then he moved over to the empress and bowed again.
Theodore glanced at the servants that were currently carrying all the baggage inside the foyer before turning to his lover. “Then that issue should be resolved. I'll need to instruct the members of the staff about where they should bring some of the suitcases, and we can look around after that.” Blanche nodded at him, which made him give her another bright smile before he faced the empress again. “We won't hinder you any longer. Hopefully, the mansion is to your liking, and if anything is upsetting, all servants will naturally be happy to help.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. We will take our leave then.” Seraphina nodded towards Clark, who began leading her and her maids to the door that led out of the entrance hall.
Just when they were about to exit the room, Theodore addressed them one last time though. “Ah, I almost forgot something. I cannot make that decision for you, but I would recommend not letting your maids accompany you when the ruler of another nation visits. I'm sure they mean well, but it would still be unfavorable.”
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Seraphina and her attendants turned around and stared at him with obvious irritation. The empress showed it less than the other women, but a small frown was etched into her forehead as well. “If I may ask, what do you mean by that?”
The emperor gave her a bright smile. “Some sovereigns consider people glaring at them and their partners a lèse-majesté. So, I would advise your maids to keep their emotions to themselves.” With that, he turned around to lead his lover to the entrance door and left the women behind.
Blanche had just caught one glimpse of the maids' expression, and that had been enough to see the utter shock. She felt similarly about her lover's statement. Yet, she wasn't sure whether her heart had skipped a beat because she feared that this would anger the empress or whether she was ecstatic to be called his partner. In any case, it made her nuzzle her check against the emperor's arm for a moment before she quietly spoke up. “So, you did notice that they always glare at me.”
Theodore stopped his movements and let her step in front of him so that he could stroke his knuckles across her cheek. “Of course. I thought about reminding them of their position in a less friendly way, but that would have created difficulties with the empress, and I assume that you wouldn't want that. I can't promise that I will stay so lenient if they continue like this though. If they play any foul games, I won't let them resume.” He turned his head to the side so that the concubine couldn't see his expression before looking back at her with a smile. “But don't worry. I know how to deal with impudent people, so I don't mind that. I just thought that starting our vacation with them would be unfavorable. Anyway, let's finish why we are still here and wander around the house after that.”
Blanche was still a bit surprised by any of this, but she didn't say it. Despite quietly worrying about the empress, she didn't turn to check on Seraphina and told herself that it was logical to criticize servants for glaring at a guest. Surely, the empress would be able to view this objectively enough to see it that way, right? But then again, Seraphina had never been objective when it came to the concubine. Blanche shivered at the thought and quickly clung to her lover's arm again.
Theodore looked at her for a moment before walking over to the head maid, who was currently checking off things on a list. “Good evening, Gloria. You seem to have organized everything wonderfully once again. Did everything go according to plan so far?”
Gloria looked up from her book and bowed to the emperor before replying. “Good evening, Your Majesty. All the listed pieces of luggage appear to be here, so there is no need to worry. Shall I ask the servants to bring them to the same rooms as usual, or are there any changes this year?”
Theodore glanced at the stack of suitcases before extending his arm to the head maid, who handed the notebook over to him. He skimmed over the list before returning it to Gloria. “It's good that everything is in order. But it's rather obvious that there will have to be a small difference this year. There are two new people here. The empress will use the biggest guest bedroom on the second floor. There are multiple smaller ones directly next to it, so her maids can sleep there.” Even though it should have been obvious that he wouldn't want to share his room with Seraphina due to their distant relationship, it was extremely calming to hear it from his mouth. Especially since the guest rooms shouldn't be directly next to the master bedroom.
Gloria wasn't surprised either. She nodded at that and scribbled something down on her list. “Of course, Your Majesty. Then I assume that their baggage should be brought there?”
“Yes, after you went through it to confirm whether everything is in order. Don't unpack it without her supervision though. You know how the rest of the things should be stored, but you definitely need her to instruct the servants in her room.” That would take a long time, so servants usually did that themselves, but since Seraphina was here the first time, that might be normal. Theodore didn't even think about that much as he already turned to his lover. “It would be fine if your clothes are already put into the dressing rooms though, right?”
Blanche nodded before processing what he had said. “Wait, dressing rooms? Is the mansion that big? Normally, the guest rooms don't have a separate chamber to store clothes, or they just have one. They shouldn't have multiple dressing rooms.” At least not in summer residences, which were typically smaller than the main houses.
Theodore let out a chuckle. “They don't have that in this manor either. But what made you think that you would sleep in a guest room? You're obviously going to share the master bedroom with me.”
A small crack sounded from Gloria's pen, which made it seem like she had pressed it down with too much force. She slowly looked up from her book and stared at the emperor.
Theodore, however, was completely focused on his lover's shock. “Shouldn't that have been clear from the start? You said that you want to be with me during the whole vacation, and naturally, I share that sentiment. You already slept in my room in the palace so often that you could basically move there. There is no reason not to directly bring your baggage into the master bedroom. Otherwise, your maid would have to run around to get your clothes every evening. That would only force her to work for longer than she would actually have to.”
Blanche was aware that she should probably refuse since sharing a room would be like an official statement acknowledging their affair. But then again, no one in the residence didn't already know about them. She wouldn't take away something from the empress either since Seraphina wouldn't have slept in the same room as Theodore anyway. Spending the nights with him just gave Blanche more time with her lover and allowed her to keep an eye on him so that the novel's events wouldn't be repeated. So, there were no disadvantages but only benefits.
Quickly, Blanche was filled with happiness about her lover's desire to be close to her at all times and grinned up at him. “You're right. I don't mind if they unpack my things already. As long as they don't break anything and just store it properly, they can begin.” She finished when something else came to her mind. “Ah, but I'll open the smaller suitcase that was in the carriage with us myself. There is a fragile accessory in there, and I don't trust anyone with touching that.”
Theodore nodded and turned to Gloria. “You heard her. Please tell the servants to be careful with everything while they bring the baggage there and to leave the small suitcase on one of the chairs.”
Gloria clenched her jaw at that but otherwise maintained a seemingly unaffected expression. “Your Majesty, I do not have a fraction of the authority that would be required to question your decision. But I still would like to voice my doubts. Is it really a wise choice to be so open about Lady Blanche staying in your room with you? Naturally, the members of the staff will not be surprised, but if gossip spreads after this vacation, it may damage your reputation.”
Theodore rolled his eyes so that only his lover could see it before responding. “You mean, the empress' reputation. That's what you're really worried about. Even though I gave you some information about that topic already.” Gloria opened her mouth to object, but he didn't pause to let her talk. “That doesn't matter much though. Tell me, how can rumors damage someone's reputation when they are true? Wouldn't that just cause people to know more about someone else's private life? If so, it shouldn't be troublesome for them to find out that the empress and I don't share a room. That should have been obvious from the very beginning since we aren't close at all. No one would sleep in the same bed as a stranger they don't get along with. Besides, there shouldn't be any rumors in the first place. I surely hope that none of the servants are so communicative that they have to babble about what happened during our vacation to outsiders. Is there anything else?”
Gloria was quiet for a short moment before shaking her head. “No, Your Majesty. I will make sure that the servants follow your orders and prepare everything for when you return. Do you wish to eat all meals in the dining room at the usual time?”
Theodore's smile widened at that. “Good. For now, we will eat in the dining room. I would ask you to instruct the staff so that even the new people know where everything is inside the residence. I don't want anyone to wander around aimlessly. Ah, and put the baggage of Blanche's maid into the room that is closest to the master bedroom so that she can attend her mistress.”
Gloria just nodded and waited for further requests, but the emperor was done.
Theodore thanked the head maid once more before he gently pulled his lover to the corridor that bordered on the entrance hall. He waited for a moment before he began speaking in a lowered volume. “You should ignore everything Gloria ever tells you regarding the empress. For some reason, she idolizes that woman, so she will be biased in her judgment in that matter.” When the concubine nodded, he gave her a bright smile and focused his attention on telling her about the manor. “Then let us begin with the tour of the summer residence. This is the main part of the building, which is the one that has an easy layout. The east and west wing are completely different but look similar at first glance, which can be very confusing.” And like that, they began to walk around.
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At first, Theodore's guidance made it seem like it was easy to orientate yourself in the mansion so that Blanche wondered why her original counterpart had been too stupid to find the rooms.
But as soon as they entered the east and the west wings of the residence, which had the same general style as the main building so that the change wasn't visible at first sight, the layout didn't make any sense anymore. Some corridors led around in a circle while others were similar to spirals. There were multiple doors to some rooms, and Blanche could swear that some walls had so few doors that it appeared like there were inaccessible rooms behind them. It only became a bit simpler to get a basic overview of the layout when her lover showed her that some of her confusion was based on a misunderstanding of where in the building they were. Still, she doubted that a sane person had built this house. She had remembered that it was bad, but upon standing here, she was only reminded of how nauseous these corridors made her.
Blanche held back for a while before she commented on it. “You know, I don't want to offend the architect or you for choosing this manor as a summer residence. But I would like to get an explanation of what they thought while creating this.” She extended her arms and gestured to the hallway around them. “This is a nightmare for anyone to orient in.”
Theodore let out a chuckle at that. “It was their intention to confuse.”
“Why? Shouldn't a house be designed to be convenient to use? To reach some of the rooms, you have to circle around a couple of corridors because the door is on the other side. Some chambers aren't even accessible from the hallways, and you need to pass through five other rooms first. Why would anyone want to live in a manor that is this strange?”
Her lover opened one of the doors and showed her a small square room that had one door on each wall, which made Blanche grimace. “To be honest, the east and west wings aren't actually supposed to be used by anyone but the servants that have to clean them. We'll stay in the main building for the most part too since everything important is there. The reason that these wings exist is...”
He led her to the chimney in the corner of the small chamber while speaking and began knocking against the backside of the chimney, which caused a hollow echo. He pushed against the wall there more forcefully, and it gave in with a squeak. This revealed a ladder leading down into the darkness.
Then Theodore continued. “To make sure that outsiders won't find any rooms. The building was created for people who had to fear being attacked. They lived normally in the main building, and if it seemed like they were in danger, they came here. The west and east wing are full of secret passages, which allows you to flee from any intruder without them even noticing you. The irritating layout would naturally slow down the movements of outsiders so that the owners of this mansion would have no problem leaving through one of the backdoors. There are also a lot of hiding spots like this one.” He pointed into the pitch-black shaft and then closed the hatch so that the wall looked like it held no secret again.
Blanche stared at the wallpaper, which was colored in a pattern that perfectly covered up the small door, in awe before gazing at her lover with widened eyes. “That's amazing. No one would expect something like that to be here. That architect must have been a genius. A little bit odd too, but they were definitely clever.”
Theodore nodded and pulled out a handkerchief to clean his hands of the soot from the chimney. “This is exactly why the emperors of Artias have come here for their vacation for a few generations already. I believe my great-grandfather's friends sold this place to him. The security measures obviously can't be as developed as the ones at home. The walls aren't as high and thick here, and the estate is also quite small in comparison to the palace. We also don't have as many guards since many had to stay behind to protect the royal estate. Still, this building is perfect if an emergency arises. We could hide somewhere until help arrives, flee through underground tunnels or simply hide the knights so that they can ambush any possible attackers. Thus, the senseless layout makes sense. Of course, we won't be here often. We'll stay in the main building where our bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room, the servants' rooms and the storage areas are.”
Blanche was relieved to hear that. Even though she might be able to find a way out of the building by putting her hand against one of the walls and following it like in a labyrinth, regularly going here to find a specific room would be exhausting. She intertwined her fingers with her lover's as they stepped back into the corridor. “I'm really thankful that you showed me this. Still, I don't remember most of the layout, so I'm not going to come here alone. I think I might get lost in here and die of thirst without anyone to guide me.”
Theodore led her down one of the circular staircases, which she could have sworn hadn't been there before, while speaking. “That's why I won't leave you alone for even one second. If you feel like I step away too much from you, you just have to grab my hand. But I doubt that that will be necessary. You will probably have to push me away so that I don't suffocate you.”
A smile grew on Blanche's face. “That sounds like a nice death. It wouldn't be so bad if my last memory was lying in your arms and looking at you.”
Her lover wasn't as amused about that as she was. He abruptly stopped, which made her collide with his back. Luckily, he didn't fall forwards because of that but turned around and pulled her into a hug. “Don't joke about that. If something bad ever happened to you, I would follow after you seconds later.” His tone was suddenly a bit too serious.
Blanche didn't like hearing him say that with so much conviction but didn't know how she should react to that. So, she lifted herself up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss onto her lover's nose. “I didn't mean to upset you. It was just a joke. I won't speak about that again if you don't do it either.”
Theodore quickly nodded at that but still insisted on cuddling her for another minute before departing.
They reached the entrance hall again, from which he brought her to the second floor, where the master bedroom was located. Being in the main part of the building was relaxing since the layout finally appeared to be normal again. The concubine could easily remember the route she would have to take to get to their chambers, which satisfied her a lot when her mind had been worried about getting lost in the corridors while being unable to find the dining room.
When they arrived in front of the door, it was closed, which made it seem like the servants were finished unpacking the suitcases already.
Theodore ignored the guards that were postured by the door and opened it slowly as if he wanted to make his lover more excited. “This is our room. I can guarantee you that you will love it. Especially the view from the bed.”
They stepped inside slowly, and it immediately became clear that the emperor had been right about her liking the room a lot. Blanche just saw it for the first time, and she already loved it.