The master bedroom actually consisted out of multiple chambers, like it was usual in the palace. It had a similar size to Theodore's chambers back at home, with the main room, which they had just entered, already being very spacious. Still, it seemed cozy, which might have been the case because of the many plants and bookcases that were spread all across the room. The large windows also allowed the weakening light of the setting sun to illuminate the whole room so that it was bright enough to not need any candles until the sun had completely disappeared.

What truly caught Blanche's eye was the huge round bed that stood on a slightly elevated part of the room though. The blankets and pillows were light blue and looked so fluffy that she wanted to jump onto them and cuddle into the mattress. When the door fell shut behind them, she immediately rushed to the bed, slipped out of her shoes and climbed onto the mattress to let herself fall forward onto the soft blanket. She almost sank into the dozens of pillows that were lying there and let out a pleased sigh. Sleeping here would feel like she was resting on clouds.

Theodore grinned upon seeing her like this and sat down next to her, which made her roll onto her back. He leaned forward and brought his face directly in front of hers. “You like the bed, don't you? If you told me that you love cushions that much, I would have already bought a few for you. Maybe we should take some of these with us when we leave.” He sat up after that and slowly raked his fingers through her hair.

“If we have enough space, I wouldn't complain about that.” Blanche grabbed one of the pillows that were lying next to her. She dug her fingers into it before loosening her hold to see how the cushion returned to its original size within seconds. It was soft enough not to hurt even if you hit someone. A grin grew on her lips, and she lifted the pillow over her head. Her eyes locked onto her lover, and she moved her arm to the side to build up momentum before throwing the pillow at him.

To her surprise, Theodore caught it before it even came close to his face and immediately pounced on her. She barely managed to let out a shriek before he was already above her and began tickling her. Naturally, she wasn't strong enough to push him away, so she had to endure the tingling and laughed until her stomach ached.

Her lover stopped at that point but didn't make a move to get off her. He propped himself up on his elbows and gazed down at her with an affectionate smile that caused her heart to flutter. “I love you.” He told her that without a warning, which made her feel a warm sensation in her chest.

Blanche didn't hesitate a second before throwing her arms around him and kissing him. He instantly returned that while his hand moved to the backside of her head so that she wouldn't even be able to retreat if she wanted to. Her fingers tangled into his hair to hold him down until she couldn't hold her breath anymore. She was panting when he slowly lifted his head.

Theodore began pressing small kisses onto her neck, which made it even harder to breathe. During that whole time, Blanche could only think about two things. About how much she loved him and about how he was here with her and not with Seraphina. Despite her attempts to hold back, Blanche felt how tears formed in her eyes, and she gave her best to blink them away. She couldn't interrupt this wonderful moment by crying and not being able to name a reason.

But as soon as her lover lifted his head and met her gaze, he saw what she was trying to conceal. His hands wandered to her face, and he gently wiped away her tears. That just made her tighten her hold on Theodore so that he didn't get any wrong ideas.

Looking into his eyes made Blanche melt. The hypnotic sea of blue of his irises seemed to make her heart squeal in joy just because he was paying attention to her. She slowly loosened her grip a bit to not hurt him by pulling on his hair but refused to let go nonetheless. “I love you so much that I can't think about anything else. See? I'm even crying out of happiness because you're here. If you're with me, everything is fine. I would accept any catastrophes if that meant that you won't leave my side.” Those words came out of her mouth before she could hold them back. She would annoy him if she continued to bring something like this up over and over again without him understanding her reason for that, so she worried already.

But Theodore didn't look frustrated. He still stroked over her face and scalp without averting his eyes for even one second. “I'm glued to you, and that's exactly why none of those catastrophes will happen. I will prevent all of that and give you the happiest life you can imagine. Don't think that you ever left my mind from the very moment I met you. I will make sure that we can be together and that no one dreams of coming between us. I don't care about what I'll have to do to assure that everything will go smoothly. I'll be wiser this-” He was cut off by a knock. That made him groan and bury his face in her neck. “Would you reply?” His voice sounded hoarse when he whispered to her.

“Yes, of course.” She replied in a whisper before continuing in a louder volume to address the person by the door. “What is it?”

The response came immediately. “Dinner has been prepared in the dining room due to His Majesty's request.”

Blanche glanced at the clock and let out a sigh before stroking over her lover's back. “It's time for dinner. We need to go to the dining room.”

Theodore replied without looking up. “Going out now is a bad idea. Ask them to bring the food here, please.” It might be better like that. After all, the both of them wouldn't look very neat with their hair being completely disheveled due to their passionate kiss.

The concubine also didn't want anyone to see that, so it would be unfavorable to step outside now. She turned her head to the side to not yell into her lover's ear while instructing the servant. “Would you please tell the kitchen staff to bring it here?”

“I will do so immediately.” The person outside said that and was quiet afterward, which made it seem like they had disappeared.

Theodore still didn't lift his head but rather cuddled himself even more against his lover. Blanche began running her fingers through his hair and planted a few kisses onto the side of his scalp until he used his arms to push himself up at some point. He remained in that position above her for a few seconds and scanned her expression before leaning down to put his lips upon hers. The kiss was sweet this time and didn't take long, but it filled them both with bliss.

When she opened her eyes again, Theodore was smiling at her before slowly sitting up and pulling her with him. “We didn't look out of the window yet. I promised you a great view, so you have to check whether I'm right.” He moved over to the wall, and she followed after him. “From here, you can see the beach behind the estate, which we will visit tomorrow.”

Blanche waited for him to open the window before sitting down directly next to him and staring outside. Her lover hadn't exaggerated when he had said that the view from the master bedroom was wonderful. The manor was circled by a stone wall and meadows with some trees. But at some point, the grass became sparse and was replaced with sand that was so light that it almost appeared white.

The truly breathtaking thing about the beach was the sea though. As far as the eye could reach, the blue mass softly swayed back and forth. Every wave hit the sand and washed onto the land before retreating into the ocean. Seconds later, a new wave arrived, and it always looked a bit different.

Blanche rested her elbows on the window sill and admired the sea in silence. It was incredible how much water was visible from her position, and it had to reach much farther than what she could even see. In comparison to the entirety of reality, her world that consisted out of the palace and the capital was so insignificantly small. That made it hard to believe that all of this was a novel, something that a singular person had come up with. And even though that unknown author had written everything in a way that they imagined the world, their words weren't final. They had described Blanche's personality falsely a couple of times when mentioning that she was pretending to cry for attention or claiming that she hadn't been affected by her family's death. Maybe those little inaccuracies were what gave her the chance to change her fate now.

Blanche reached for her lover's hand, and he immediately intertwined their fingers. When she turned to him, it became clear that he wasn't looking at the view at all but just observed her the whole time. The soft beam on his lips made her want to kiss him again, but she held herself back and just smiled back at him. “You were right. It's beautiful. And we'll look at it from up close too.”

Theodore let his eyes roam across the ocean before directing his gaze to her again. He stroked his thumb over the backside of her hand as he explained. “We will do that tomorrow. I promise you that nothing will keep us from going out together. We'll take a stroll on that beach and then follow its course until we reach the cliff by the other end of the estate. Then we can bathe in the sea. The area here is remote, so no outsiders are close. If we send away our servants, we are hidden from any spectator's eyes and can take our time to swim there.” That sounded very good. The concubine would be uncomfortable with anyone else watching her first attempts to move around in the water and swim.

Blanche looked out the window while her lover spoke and scanned their surroundings. It truly didn't seem like anyone else was anywhere close to the estate. There weren't any visible people, houses or streets apart from the single road they had used to get here. That would certainly make it easier to spot any possible threats from afar. There weren't any movements around them aside from the wind that rustled through the bushes and trees. Even in the dim light of the setting sun, which was beginning to color the sea red, one could tell that much. So, their trip should be secured, which meant that they would go no matter what.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Still, Blanche wanted to tease her lover a bit and came up with an issue she didn't even believe in. “What if it rains? You can't guarantee that it won't, and then you wouldn't be able to keep your promise.”

Theodore gave her a confident smirk. “It won't rain.”

Blanche turned her whole body to him and put her arms around his neck before leaning forward until she was only held upright by him. “How are you so sure about that?”

His grin only widened at that. “I just know it. Tomorrow there will be perfect weather to bathe. It will be warm, and the sun will shine, not enough to sting, but it will make sure that the temperature is pleasant. My guess about the weather the last week was correct too, wasn't it? Trust me.”

Her reply to that was obvious. “I will always do that. No matter what.”

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Once again, the emperor had been right with his assumption. The next day proved to be perfect since the early morning.

Blanche had slept without any issues while lying in her lover's arms and being engulfed in soft pillows. She woke up slowly when the sun fell onto her face. Theodore already had been awake and had spent his time watching her rolling around to turn away from the sun rays. Before sitting up, they cuddled for a bit until a servant informed them that breakfast had been prepared. Theodore told his lover that he was too lazy to go to the dining room, and so, they ate in the bedroom again. They fed each other while sitting on the soft bed and giggling when the other party's face was covered with pudding before cleaning it. As soon as they finished, they prepared to depart, and Theodore asked the kitchen staff to prepare a picnic for them at noon so that they wouldn't have to return to the mansion to eat.

The sandy path to the beach was already pretty enough with the flowers growing around them. That made Blanche's eyes glow in awe before they even reached their destination.

But when they climbed up the last dune and stood on top of the hill, Blanche froze in place. Even though she had seen the ocean from afar a few times, it was different to be directly in front of it. “This is...” She couldn't even finish the sentence and just stared at the display of nature's beauty. A mild breeze made her hair flutter in the wind, and she breathed in deeply. This was unmistakably the smell of salt that accompanied the sea. It was just like before but much nicer. She opened her eyes with a beam and turned to her lover, who was observing her again. “Theo, this is wonderful! It's so unfair that we didn't go here last year already.”

Theodore gave her a soft smile that made her knees feel weak. “In return, we can have our vacation here every year from now on. We could also go to the south and look at the mountains though. I will show you whatever you want to see.”

“In that case, I want to see you every single day of my life.”

Theodore grabbed her hand and put a kiss on it. “Your wish is my command. But you should stop being so sweet, or I might get too distracted from our original goal. You wanted to learn how to swim, right? The goal was not to make me want to pull you back into our room.” He had lowered his voice so that Owen and Stella, who were following them with a small distance, couldn't hear him.

Blanche showed him a playful grin before turning back to the ocean. The waves were so small that she should be able to take the first steps to get used to the water without being tipped over by the force of the tide. She felt excitement bubbling up in her stomach and quickly pulled her lover down the dune.

When they reached the beach, she immediately took off her shoes and let her feet sink into the sand. Even this trivial feeling made her beam as she moved around to relish in the new sensation.

Theodore picked up her shoes and gave them to Stella before scanning the area around them. “There will only be one problem now. Owen, what do I need to do to convince you to stay at this exact spot while we go over there?” He gestured towards the other end of the beach, which was far enough away so that one would have to walk for five minutes or so to reach it.

Owen's reply was obvious. “Your Majesty, I can stay a few steps away from you, but that is too far. In case of an emergency, I would not be able to intervene and protect you or Lady Blanche. It was already a risky decision to only let me accompany you, so we do not need to heighten the risk even more. From over there, I don't even have an overview of the area so that I can't warn you if someone was approaching us.”

Theodore shrugged. “That's exactly why you are supposed to be a bit further away. I don't want you to look. We're inside the fenced-in estate, so nothing will happen. If it calms you though, you could go up there.” He pointed at the highest part of the dunes. “You would still keep some distance to us and overlook the whole area, but you won't be close enough to see more than our silhouettes. Alright?”

Despite Owen's unmoving face, it was clear that he wasn't happy with that. His voice was full of uncertainty when he spoke. “Your Majesty, are you sure? I cannot disobey your orders, but I fear that-”

Theodore interrupted him with a movement of his hand. “It will be fine. The biggest danger here is running into some people in an awful mood in the mansion. We'll go to find a nice spot for our blanket now, and you two can go to the dune.” He didn't accept any further objections as he took the basket and the blanket from Owen's hands and walked over to the beach.

Blanche waved to Stella before spinning around and following her lover. She stopped occasionally to pick up some seashells, which were sparkling in the sun, and hurried to catch up to Theodore. She quickly realized that he was waiting for her with a beam on his face each time.

When they found a spot that was close to a singular tree, which provided shade to the area around it, the emperor set down the basket and spread out the blanket. “The tree is directly between us and the dune, so it might shield us from unwanted spectators.” He told her that before placing the basket in the center of the blanket and pulling out some towels.

Blanche stepped to the side to see the head knight and Stella in the distance and grinned at that while setting down her seashells on a pile. “They are so far away that they won't even attempt to watch us. They never do that even though they always follow us around. So, I wouldn't worry too much.”

Theodore gave her a taunting grin. “Normally, we aren't naked in front of them either, but we certainly won't go into the sea with our clothes.”

She put her arms onto her hips at that. “So, you didn't take any clothes that we could wear to swim with you? That raises the suspicion that you did that on purpose.”

“Maybe.” Theodore stepped closer to her and put his arms around her. “We've already seen every part of each other's body, so covering up now would be useless. Besides, bathing clothes are rather uncomfortable. When they get wet, they are heavy and make swimming even harder. For you, as a beginner, wearing that would be a horrible idea.”

A smirk crept onto Blanche's lips as she let her fingertips wander over his neck. “You're right. But are you sure that you didn't have any ulterior motives?”

“Of course not. I'm an honorable man.” The amusement was basically dripping out of Theodore's voice when he said that.

She lowered her arms and stepped away from him. “I see. Then I don't have to worry about anything but learning how to swim, right?”

Theodore nodded. “Yes. Though, I would recommend that you just walk around for a bit before doing anything else. The water isn't too high near the shore, so you will be able to stand. I will stay directly next to you to make sure that you don't trip anyway. I don't want to let go of your hand for even a second after we go in.” It might be better like that.

Blanche glanced at the sea again, and now that she was about to swim for the first time, she became a bit nervous. As long as her lover was there, she was safe. But she still didn't want to lose her footing and be unable to find the surface, which had happened to some people in stories that she had heard.

Theodore came closer to her and took her hand in his. “You don't have to worry. I'll be there the whole time. We will just put in our feet first. We can go as slow as you want too.” He took off his shoes and put them next to the blanket before leading her to the water. He rolled up his trousers a bit, which she took as her cue to lift the hem of her dress.

They took one more step, and the cool liquid engulfed her feet, which almost made Blanche pull her foot back. After a few seconds, she had gotten used to the temperature though and went forward a little bit so that the water reached her ankles. This felt completely different from the hot baths she took in the palace. The gently swaying water and the loose sand below her toes, along with the knowledge that she was touching such a little part of the giant ocean, created a completely different sensation than stepping into a bathtub. If that already filled her with such excitement, she wanted to experience how swimming in the sea would feel like.

That curiosity was enough to make Blanche pull her lover away from the sea. “I want to go inside now!”

Theodore softly smiled at her and let her guide him back to the blanket. “I knew you would like it.”

“How could I not? It's a bit cold at first, but after a while, you don't notice that anymore. It feels so strange in comparison to the water I bathe with. Even now my feet are still a bit sticky. Is that the salt?”

Her lover nodded. “And the algae. They aren't very visible in this part of the sea, so the water looks blue, but other regions have coasts with green water because of different plants. You might even step on some seaweed when we go in now. So, don't be scared when you touch something slimy.” Blanche shook herself at that thought, which made Theodore chuckle. “Well then. We should get ready, shouldn't we?”

She nodded and turned around to show him her back. “You need to help me undress. The frilly dresses, as you called them, are rather impractical when you don't have your maid with you since she has been exiled onto a dune.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw her lover grinning at her.

“It can't be helped. This honorable man wants you for himself after all. So, how could I refuse your request?” Theodore stepped closer to her and pressed a kiss onto her shoulder before undoing a button. His lips wandered to another part of her neck before he took care of the next one and continued to do that until the dress slipped off her shoulders.

This required more time than doing it without the kissing, but the concubine wouldn't complain. Instead, she let out a quiet hum and enjoyed her lover's affection while thinking about how she could repay him. After the dress and her corset had landed on the blanket, Blanche turned around to him. “I assume that the honorable man needs some help too?”

“Of course. I am in dire need of assistance. Would you be willing to sacrifice yourself, Young Lady?” Theodore's smirk made it impossible for her to even consider not helping him.

She got rid of his shirt in the same way as he had done it with her dress and took her time planting kisses onto his chest and collarbone. She relished in the way that his cheeks began to turn slightly red, even though the warmth of her face betrayed that her skin had to be flushed by now too. She didn't let that stop her and interrupted her work only to give him a kiss on his lips.

Now it seemed like they would be ready to go into the sea, and Blanche couldn't keep herself from getting even more excited.