Seeing Clark was normally a nice occasion, but last time they had met each other, Blanche had been busy kissing Theodore until she couldn't breathe anymore. Discussing this would definitely be unpleasant.

Blanche gave her best not to let her embarrassment show on her face and forced herself to smile when the servant reached them.

Stella was less reserved than her. “Good morning. We haven't seen each other for a while. How has work in the summer residence been? Do you have more or fewer breaks than in the palace?”

Clark shook his head and pretended to be disappointed, but the smile on his lips betrayed him. “This is the first time we meet, and you ask me about is work, really? Is that the only thing you are interested in? That's unfortunate. But I can calm you by saying that I have more than enough free time. George and I wandered around the beach for a bit to busy ourselves. The girls are currently using all of their time to be together, and it's exhausting to watch them be romantic, so we ran away. It seems like Stella knows that feeling though.” He glanced over at the concubine with a smirk.

Stella let out a chuckle at that. “I certainly do. His Majesty and her are-”

Blanche cut her off by waving her hand around. “I get it. You don't need to repeat yourself.” Then she gestured towards Clark. “And you don't have to pretend that you weren't just as uncomfortable in that situation as me. If I had known that you were there, I obviously would have behaved normally and wouldn't have made you see that.”

Clark made a rejecting gesture with his hand. “I'm just teasing you a bit. I don't mind a couple spending their time together. I definitely don't want to be present while you are busy cuddling, but yesterday, it couldn't be helped. There are other things here that are way more annoying.”

Stella perked up at that. “What do you mean? Is it a specific person?”

Clark shook his head. He looked around for a moment, and when seeing that the only guards in the corridor had some distance to them, he lifted his hand and showed three fingers. “There isn't just one person. Two other people managed to frustrate me already aside from the usual suspect, even though I spent an hour with them at most. As you saw, I was instructed to show Her Majesty around the residence, and I didn't mind that. But back then, I didn't know that her maids were this infuriating. They kept gossiping the whole time and said some extremely unkind things. Their level of impudence reminded me of our favorite colleague, but since one of them already got along with him before, that should have been to be expected.” If Clark was annoyed enough to compare Seraphina's attendants to Harris, they had to have enraged him a lot.

Blanche could imagine whom those maids had spoken about after Theodore's display of their relationship after the arrival here. “I presume they gave you a detailed overview of why I am the vilest criminal in this world.” She didn't care about those women's opinions, but the two servants in front of her were livid.

Stella balled her hands into fists and lifted them as if she was ready to fight while glaring at the people that weren't here at all. “Of course they would do that! I knew it! They just can't shut their mouths even after I won a bet against one of them. What did they say?”

Clark crossed his arms. “I don't remember everything anymore, but Lady Blanche was spot on. They voiced the usual things. That His Majesty was manipulated and how awful he is for treating his perfect wife like this because of another woman. That Lady Blanche is offending Her Majesty with her presence and wants to grasp her power.” A little smile appeared on his lips. “It's also quite amusing that they said that you were bribing the servants with cake.”

The concubine let out a snort at that. “They truly used the same words as you did?”

“Yes, the exact same ones. When I noted I was one of the people that had tasted that cake and that you give it to the staff because there will be too many leftovers otherwise, they became strangely silent.” Clark shook his head. “They're extremely brazen, but as soon as you tell them that they are wrong, their confidence vanishes into thin air.”

Blanche could imagine that. The maids had probably been angry at being scolded for glaring at the emperor's lover and vented their emotions. But if someone actually addressed them to say that they were complaining to the wrong person, they would keep quiet to avoid conflict. Though, she was quite happy about that. “Isn't it better like this? It would be bothersome if they started a fight with you.”

Stella put her finger against her chin and thought about that for a moment. “Well, one of them did start a fight. You both remember that that ended with me making a bet with her. So, it seems like they act differently depending on who speaks to them.” She glanced at Clark. “Are you sure you didn't snap at them? You can be scary when you're angry.”

Clark shook his head. “Her Majesty was present. Do you really think I would yell at her attendants while she is there? I might have done that if I had been alone with those maids, but I had to hold myself back. I definitely sounded annoyed when I told them that rumors aren't the best source of knowledge, but other than that, I was rather calm.” He looked around the hallway for a moment before slowing his pace a bit. “Say, where are we going? I just followed you, but I don't actually know what you are even doing down here.”

Blanche gestured to the door that was only a few steps away from them. “We want to go into the kitchen. I'll bake a cake for Theo. A chocolate cake with cream filling. He needs to work for a while, so I can give this to him as a reward afterward. Since there is a smaller kitchen in the master bedroom, I only need to fetch the ingredients, and then I will return to our chambers and give my best to create a masterpiece.” She gave the servants a confident smile.

Clark smirked at her from the side. “Then please let Stella cut the cake, or you might ruin everything.”

The concubine glared at him and let out a huff. “I sewed a wonderful handkerchief, you know? I'm not that bad at using my hands.”

Clark scanned her from head to toe and then shrugged. “We'll see about that. But at least you already have a plan for every single birthday from now on. You can simply make a cake or sew something and won't need to come up with another present like I have to right now.”

Blanche paused for a moment and blinked while going through her brain in search of a specific piece of information. She blurted it out before she could think more. “It's that this came up. I never asked about your birthdays. I still need to know.”

Stella remained quiet for a few seconds before replying. “Now that you mention it... We simply never mentioned that topic. But that's not really a problem, is it? Servants don't usually get gifts from their masters. They might receive a small thing as a thank-you from their superiors, but everything else would be exaggerated.”

Clark rolled his eyes. “Whether servants get a present from their master depends on the master. And if you paid attention to Lady Blanche until now, you would realize that she wants to give you something.” He turned to the concubine. “Stella's birthday is in exactly one month. She likes pancakes with maple syrup if you need an idea for something you could offer her.”

Stella got a bit louder at that. “Clark! You can't demand her to give me something. As her attendant, I have no right to ask for anything.” She almost sounded heroic as she explained that, which just made her seem more adorable.

Clark shrugged in response. “You won't get anything because you are a maid either. You will receive a present since you are her friend. It's the same the other way around. Normally, a servant would never dream of preparing a gift for their master since they could never have the resources to buy anything that would impress a noble. Still, I will get something small for Lady Blanche's birthday, even if it's just the thought that matters.”

The concubine watched that exchange and smiled at the two. “Exactly. I really don't need a gift, so I won't be upset if you don't get me anything. But I will definitely choose great presents for you.” She mentally noted to write down Stella's birthday later to find something in time before turning to Clark. “When is your birthday?”

“In winter. It's the eight of-” Clark cut himself off when he stumbled forward. Blanche and Stella instinctively attempted to help him, but he regained his balance quickly and whipped his head around. “Watch where you are going! I almost...” He turned around completely and spoke to the person that appeared to stand behind him. “It's you.” His tone went from annoyance to pure irritation, which could only mean whoever had run into him wasn't someone he liked.

A small “I'm sorry” was muttered by that person before they stepped to the side to pass by the group. Only now, Blanche could see Harris. He physically looked healthier than the last time that she had seen him. His eyes weren't underlined by dark blue rings anymore, and while he was pale, it didn't seem to be as severe as when he had brought her to Theodore's office. But all of that didn't really matter when his expression contradicted any thought of him being in a good mood. Harris stared into the distance as if he hadn't even noticed that someone was standing next to him with a dejected gaze. That certainly didn't make him look like the friendly helpful colleague that he strove to be viewed as nor like the teasing provocateur he often was. He only turned his head to them when someone snapped at him.

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Clark was pretty annoyed already and didn't try to hide it at all. “Are you blind? You can't just move around without looking ahead. Use your eyes.”

Harris scanned the other's face but didn't say anything, which only served to make the other servant even angrier.

“What?” When Clark spoke with such a sharp edge to his voice, it almost sounded like the situation was about to become unpleasant. If Blanche didn't know this man, she would expect a more physical argument soon.

Harris didn't seem to be eager to provoke anyone today though. He didn't put on his usual fake smile and just averted his gaze as he let out a frustrated huff. “Of course, it had to be you.”

Clark narrowed his eyes at the other man. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Harris turned to the side and massaged his temples. “Can we not do this today? I'm not in the mood.” He sounded tired enough to make this believable.

Stella opened her mouth to intervene, but Blanche stopped her with a motion of her hand. Right now, it didn't look like Harris had any bad intentions, and most likely, running into Clark had been a genuine accident. The discussion between the men was already tense enough. So, the other two, who had yet to be noticed by Harris, didn't need to get involved too. Maybe she also wanted to stay out of it because that expression on Harris' face was a bit familiar to her. She would guess that something unpleasant had happened to him, so they didn't need to make it worse.

Though, Clark didn't seem to have any intention to let this go. “You were the one that bumped into me. How did you think I would react? Did you believe that I would tell you to have a nice day and apologize for being in your way?”

Harris closed his eyes and kept his fingers pressed against his forehead while looking like pure annoyance and exhaustion fought for the dominant emotion inside him. “I said that I'm sorry. What else do you want to hear? Besides, it should be obvious that I didn't see you. Otherwise, I would have taken a detour through the whole house to avoid you, as per usual. Are you done now? If so, I would like to go.”

Clark's expression only darkened at that. “Please do. If I have to see you any longer, my eyes might-” While talking, he had leaned forward, only to abruptly stop. His tone was much different now. “You smell like alcohol.”

“No, I don't.” Harris' response came almost too quickly to seem genuine since it made it sound like he had expected the question. He hadn't been believable enough in general either, not with how unsteady his stance looked. Blanche was sure that he had indeed drunk something, which surprised her. Why would the model servant risk getting in trouble because he had consumed so much alcohol that it influenced his work?

Clark seemed just as taken aback, but he quickly got angry again. He narrowed his eyes at the other servant. “Do you think I'm stupid? I'm old enough to know that smell.”

Harris opened his eyes again and looked up at the other man with an annoyed expression. “Fine. Want me to call you a genius and give you a cookie as a reward? This doesn't concern you.”

A deep frown was etched into Clark's features while he replied. “You're right, it doesn't. But you never drink.”

“It was necessary this week.” Harris closed his eyes and swayed a bit before opening them again, which only made it clearer that he was still in an unpleasant state because of what he had drunk a bit ago.

Clark's expression made it easy to guess that he understood that too as he watched Harris with narrowed eyes. “You can't stand alcohol. You hate the taste, and you have a low tolerance for it. What was so bad that you drank enough to have a hangover at work?”

Harris obviously didn't give the response, even though that seemed like an important thing to talk about. Instead, he groaned and threw his arms up. “You're so annoying. Why do you care? Are you going to tell Gloria?” He paused at that and let out a small “Ah” before meeting the other man's gaze again. “That would be an easy way to get rid of me, wouldn't it? Drinking alcohol before work won't make our superiors happy. Go on, tell them.” If he had said this with a smile, it would have seemed like a challenge, but right now, he almost looked serious.

Clark was visibly irritated by that as he took another step forward. “That wasn't-” They were interrupted right there.

“Harris!” A maid announced herself loudly, which made Harris sigh. The young woman ran down the hallways so that her heels clicked on the floor and almost flung herself at Harris when she reached him. “I need your help, please. We need to take care of the herbs for the steak in the furnace, but I also have to clean the guest rooms and instruct the new servants. There is a fight in the kitchen too, and no one can get them to break it up. Can you take care of that? Pretty please?”

Harris didn't even argue. He hummed in a dejected tone as an affirmation and followed the maid, who was already running off in the other direction with a grin. He turned his head to the side while walking and only seemed to have noticed Blanche and Stella now. He bowed slightly before stiffly straightening his posture and hurrying down the hallway as if he couldn't bring himself to glance at anyone for any longer.

The three remaining people looked after him. Stella was the first one to speak up. “What's wrong with him? I get that he has a hangover, but is he blind too? Either he was completely lost in thoughts, or he bumped into you purposefully. We should really inform Gloria about this. If she knows that he drinks while working, he might get a punishment, right?”

Blanche should agree here since this simply was the perfect chance. Yet, she found herself shaking her head as she quickly denied that. “It didn't seem like he was drinking during the day. These are most likely the repercussions from yesterday evening. I'm pretty sure that it's not good for him to work like that, but as long as Harris finishes his duties, no one will care. In addition, I don't feel like it's necessary to trouble him. The last time we saw him, he looked awful, and today, he still wasn't in a good state, so we should leave him alone. He doesn't cause problems right now either, right?” Maybe she was a bit too kind here, but she couldn't help herself.

Clark still stared at the end of the corridor, where Harris had vanished. He turned around after a short moment of silence before responding. “He didn't do anything ever since the fight we had in the kitchen and his disappearance after that. If his personal problems keep him from bothering us, then it's good that he had them.” He stepped to the side to grab the handle of the door to the kitchen when Stella stopped him.

“Wait. Your uniform is dirty.” The maid tapped against the part of his back directly under his right shoulder.

That made Clark a bit uncertain as he strained his neck in an attempt to look. “Really? Will that wash off? I already needed two spare uniforms this year, I can't ask for another one.” He reached to his back and wiped his fingers over the spot before lifting his hand to his face. “White...powder?” He stared at his fingers for a moment before showing them to the women. “Isn't that similar to the powder you gave me for my nose? I used it to cover up my injury.”

Stella inspected the powder while putting her arms on her hips. “It looks like the one we always use. How did that touch your back without you noticing?”

Blanche moved around the servant to scan his whole back. The powder was only spread around one area that had an oval shape. It didn't seem like this could have gotten on his clothes while he squeezed by some object. The shape reminded her of something else. “I don't think you got this while working. Doesn't the spot almost look like a face?”

Stella immediately began grinning. “Oh, did you meet a woman? Don't stay silent about something like this. I'm curious. Tell us more.”

Normally, Clark had no problem laughing about this kind of joke, but this time, his expression darkened. “I didn't meet anyone. I don't know since when he uses powder, but that must be from when Harris ran into me.”

Stella voiced a barely audible “Oh” and was quiet after that, which caused an uncomfortable silence.

Blanche cleared her throat when it began to become unbearable. “In any case. The powder can easily be washed off. So, you don't have to worry about a spare uniform. But would you help us carry my ingredients into the second floor before taking care of that?”

Clark nodded immediately. “Of course. Just tell me what you need, and I'll get it out of the storage rooms. The layout here is a bit different from the one in the palace, so you might have trouble finding everything on your own.”

It was true that the food was stored in separate rooms, but with Clark's help, they quickly gathered the ingredients they needed. Blanche just guessed that bowls and utensils would be in the kitchen upstairs since the purpose of that room had been being independent of the bigger kitchen. So, she didn't take any items except for food, which was practical since the three of them already had trouble carrying everything at the same time. They barely managed to bring the things upstairs without dropping anything, so Clark had to come into the room to place his share in the small kitchen. After that, Blanche thanked him, and he left while being lost in thoughts.

That left the two women alone since Theodore had chosen to work in the little office that belonged to the master bedroom as well. So, they could take their time to chat while preparing the cake.

The concubine insisted on doing most of it since this was supposed to be her gift for her lover, but she let Stella cut the chocolate that would be put on top as decoration. She mixed the dough first and put it in the furnace before taking care of the cream that she stirred with melted chocolate. While waiting for the cake to cool down, she would have liked to check on her lover but didn't want to disturb him, so she just glanced into the room from behind the slightly opened door. When she saw that he was sitting at the desk and stared at the letter in front of him while supporting his head on his palms, she left. Apparently, she wasn't as quiet as she had thought since Theodore looked up and smiled at her. She mirrored that expression before returning to the kitchen.

After waiting for an hour for everything to cool down, Blanche spread the cream onto the different layers of the cake and stacked them on a cake holder. Then she put the rest of the cream on the outer parts and finished everything off by placing the chocolate pieces, which Stella had skillfully cut into little patterns, on top of the creation.

Blanche proudly inspected the cake while putting her hands onto her hips and grinning. “It's perfect. Now it will only have to taste good.” She was a bit irritated by her maid's missing answer, but before she could turn around, a pair of arms was already wrapped around her from behind.

“I'm convinced that it will.” Theodore, who had suddenly appeared behind her, whispered into her ear, which almost made her knees buckle.

Blanche slowly leaned back until her lover was supporting most of her weight and tilted her head back to look up. “One day, you will end up giving me a heart attack with your sudden appearances. See? My legs don't even work anymore.” She pouted at him, which made him chuckle.

“Oh, no. In that case, I have to take responsibility, don't I?” He bowed down and picked her up with suspicious ease, with one arm holding her back and the other one being under her legs. He gave her a chance to wrap her arms around his neck before moving towards the main room. While walking, he glanced over his shoulder at Stella. “Bring the cake here.” Then he carefully maneuvered Blanche through the doorway and brought her to the table. He sat down on a chair and pulled her onto his lap.

The concubine beamed as he buried his nose in her hair and began drawing small symbols onto his collarbone. “It almost seems like someone was desperate for some cake. Were you that hungry? You should have told me. I could have hurried a little.”

Theodore shook his head slightly before pushing away one strand of her hair to look at her. “No, that wasn't it. I just had to see you. It was a coincidence that you were almost finished when I arrived. I enjoyed two minutes or so of watching you beam at your masterpiece.”

Blanche quickly went through her memories of the last two minutes. Had she done anything embarrassing? She didn't remember doing something that was out of the ordinary, but her lover's grin made her doubt that. “What did you see?”

Theodore's smile only widened at that. “Nothing. I have to say that you are adorable though. That holds true no matter what you do, but you humming while you decorate your cake is an astonishing sight.”

She breathed out in relief. That wasn't anything bad. She had done way worse things when she thought that she was alone, but seemingly, Stella's presence had kept her from giving her lover a reason to laugh.

The said maid was currently placing the cake on the table and putting plates in front of them, so Blanche gave her a smile, which Stella mirrored. Then the maid left the room when the emperor dismissed her with a wave of his hand.