The morning sun hit Blanche's face directly. No matter how much she murmured while being half-asleep or turned around, it always reached her eyes. She heard a movement next to her, and only then, the infuriating light disappeared. She let out a content hum before turning into a pleasant position. A kiss on her forehead woke her up, but she kept her eyes closed until Theodore spoke.

“We will be late for breakfast if you don't leave the bed now.”

Blanche opened her eyes. She only needed one glance at Theodore to want to do nothing but cuddle all day.

Her lover was lying next to her and had lifted his hand to keep the sun from shining into her face. While doing that, he looked at her with so much adoration that her heart felt like it was about to burst.

There was no need to hold back, so Blanche propped herself up on her elbow and kissed him. “Good morning.”

Theodore let out a chuckle at that and kissed her again. “Good morning. If waking you up like this is more efficient than tickling you, I should do it more often.”

She let her head sink onto the pillow and grinned at him. “As long as you are here, I will gladly wake up no matter what.” Every fiber of her being was filled with joy at this moment, so she didn't have any problem looking forward to standing up. The last traces of tiredness vanished quickly as she sat up and smiled down at her lover. She drew small loops into his skin and leaned down to kiss his nose.

Theodore looked like he was as happy as she was right now. He enjoyed her affection for a moment before sitting up too. “Someone is ecstatic today.”

She giggled quietly and pressed her lips against his face a few more times. “Of course. How could I not be when you are right here with me in the morning? It's only you and me.” As she said that, she made direct eye contact with her lover and couldn't help beaming at him.

For a split second, it almost looked like Theodore got a bit more serious as he whispered. “Yes. It's only you. I would never love anyone else. I could never even be without anyone else, my lovely angel. Don't worry about me forgetting that.”

At the moment, Blanche didn't feel like she would forget that anytime soon. She was still full of bliss after Theodore had shown her that he loved her in so many different ways that she couldn't count them. She was sure that she had love marks all over her neck, chest and possibly even down to her hips. Obviously, she was proud of those, much like she adored the ones she had left on Theodore. Her hand wandered to his neck as she gently ran her fingers down the reddish spot there as she felt her lips twitch with the desire to kiss that spot again. Blanche gave in and leaned down.

She was too happy to contain herself at the moment. She had been the one Theodore had picked to spend the vacation with. He had come to her bed. And for that, Blanche hadn't even needed to talk for minutes before finally getting him to enter her room where she had to offer self-brewed tea to make him comfortable, like the heroine originally had. This now was completely different. Theodore had been way more eager to join Blanche, she was sure of that. After all, she had felt how passionate he had been with her and how much love had been in each of his kisses, caresses or words. They had made love in its purest form while all of their feelings were shown as they got as close as possible. There hadn't been any lies here.

That settled it.

Blanche wouldn't give up. She would fight against that damned novel and not let anyone come between Theodore and her. She had been successful until now, so she knew that she had the ability to change the future.

Blanche lifted her head slightly and finally left Theodore's neck alone before she brought her face above his. “I know that you love me and just me. I'll make sure neither of us forgets. I love you.” After every word, she paused to kiss him again, and when she finished, a beam spread across her face. She was too happy to contain these emotions from pouring out and plopped down next to her lover to wrap her arms around him.

Theodore quickly returned the embrace and turned them around so that she was lying on top of him, which gave her the chance to shower him with more kisses. He enjoyed that for a while as he just laid there and smiled up at her softly while blinking a bit. He took a few seconds before he collected himself and his grin returned. When he whispered to her, his voice was low and sent shivers down her spine. “I take that you enjoyed last night then.”

Blanche couldn't reply enthusiastically enough, so she quickly let her mouth trail down his neck until she pressed a big kiss on his collarbone. She looked up at him at that point while a confident smirk showed on her lips. “Clearly. I think you enjoyed it a lot too.”

“If it's you, always. I'm happy that you liked it as well.” Her lover carefully reached up and caressed her cheek, which made her pause her kissing. “If you continue like that, I can guarantee that we won't leave our room until noon though. Can I take this as proof that you don't want to eat breakfast?”

Upon remembering the morning of the prior day, Blanche sat up and shook her head. “I do. I'm hungry. And we won't be too late today again.” Even the memory of yesterday's breakfast wasn't enough to wipe her smile off her face as she jumped out of the bed and searched her dress for the day while twirling around and humming. She picked a light green attire with thin fabric and tulle and came back to get her lover to help her put it on.

Theodore was still looking at her with a soft grin without having moved from the bed.

She dropped the dress onto the mattress next to him before diving into his arms. She allowed herself to relish in the way that Theodore stroked over her head and held her close as if she was his anchor for a few minutes before glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. “We have to get ready soon, or we'll be late.”

He grumbled and buried his face in her neck. “I don't want to.”

Blanche smiled at his complaints and raked her fingers through his hair. “You were the one that woke me up so that we would be there in time. Besides, I won't run away. We have each other for the rest of our vacation.”

“You mean for the rest of our lives. But that doesn't make me want to let go now. Especially since you were so adorable. Last night and this morning.” He pressed a gentle kiss onto her shoulder before lifting his head. They made eye contact for a few seconds in silence before he continued. “You really want to go eat breakfast, don't you?”

She nodded happily. It might have just been the rush of euphoria after being convinced that her happy ending could come true. But right now, she wanted to show the world how much she loved Theodore. Even Seraphina could see how close they were, Blanche didn't care.

In the novel, the main characters had strolled around together too and left the concubine to cry alone after realizing that she had lost her lover's devotion. So, it was only fair if the empress saw that her husband's adoration was reserved for another person. They didn't have to do enough to seriously upset the heroine, which would be awful for the emperor's political bonds and lower Blanche's survival chances. But it didn't matter if Seraphina rolled her eyes.

The concubine put a kiss on the emperor's neck before lifting her head to meet his gaze. “If we don't eat, we won't have enough energy to go swimming later. We took a break yesterday, but that doesn't mean that we can skip lessons every day. I want to be able to swim by the end of our vacation.” A grin tucked at her lips as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “We'll be alone in the sea too, you know. So, we will have a lot of time for ourselves.” She put her lips onto his ear and whispered. “Without anything to cover up.”

Theodore stood up from the bed without a warning, and she yelped as she quickly tightened her hold on his neck to avoid falling. He spun them around before leaning his forehead against hers. “You really don't know what you are doing to me. We'll have to leave now, or I will keep you in this room until the sun sets.” He gently set her down on the bed before taking the clothes that she had put to the side and helping her dress.

Blanche used that time to watch her lover, who looked absolutely gorgeous with the golden sun shining onto his face. She couldn't restrain herself from stroking her fingers over his skin, no matter how often he told her it would be better to stop if she didn't want to miss breakfast. In the end, they still managed to get dressed despite her consistent attempts at showering him in affection. Theodore led her out of the room, and she greeted Stella with a beam. The maid showed her a small grin as well before following the couple.

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Blanche interlocked her fingers with her lover's ones and was happily swinging their hands forward and backward. Her ecstasy had to have been obvious to anyone, but she didn't have any intention to hide it. Why shouldn't the people around them know that they loved each other? Normally, she hated being watched by others, but today, she completely ignored all the people that were staring at them.

Some servants gave them a light smile while they passed, which only underlined Blanche's assumption of her joy being visible. That just made her grin widen, even though the corners of her lips were already hurting. But she wouldn't have been able to stop smiling even if she tried, and she didn't have any desire to attempt that in the first place. So, she would have to endure it.

The couple strode down the stairs, and Blanche was about to walk toward the dining room when Theodore pulled her back. He gave her a knowing smirk before guiding her to the other hallway. She was confused because of that but still followed him without questioning it. They stopped in front of the kitchen, and it quickly became obvious why Theodore had brought her here, even though she was unsure about how he had known that Seraphina would be present.

The empress was currently chatting with Gloria, and both of their faces visibly fell when they saw the couple arrive. Seraphina's attendants averted their eyes, and only Noah greeted the other party with a smile.

But the emperor didn't appear to mind approaching the crowd despite their clear dismay with the situation. “Good morning to all of you. Did you sleep well?”

All the people except for the empress bowed.

Seraphina nodded her head and responded in her usual calm tone. “Good morning, Your Majesty. I cannot complain. You seem to be well too.”

Theodore put on a bright grin that immediately showed that his reply wouldn't be a polite as it should have been. “Then it's good. I was worried that one would be able to see that I didn't sleep very long.” He glanced at his lover with the same playful smile, and Blanche almost choked on the air at that indication. She only managed to hold herself back because she knew that coughing now would emphasize his provocation, so she kept beaming as she had before.

Seraphina's chest sank slightly as if she was breathing out in frustration, but she maintained her composed expression. “As it is our vacation, that should not be a big problem. To not endanger your health, I would recommend you to make up for that lost sleep. Missing out on such a wonderful day because of exhaustion would be a shame. Wouldn't it, Lady Blanche?”

The concubine was a bit taken aback by the empress addressing her with a longer question. Usually, Seraphina only greeted her with a very short phrase that didn't ask her to answer with more than a couple of words. But this time, Blanche was inclined to respond in one or more full sentences as a part of the conversation instead of as a bystander. “Of course, Your Majesty. I wish a good morning to you as well. Have you planned anything for a day with such beautiful weather?”

The empress gazed at Gloria for a moment while speaking. “I intended to have a picnic outside and was just inquiring whether that would be possible. There is a hill with a stunning view of the Ocean of Eswen within the estate. You might have seen it already. The one with the huge tree. The last time that I took a walk there, I did not have an opportunity to look around much, unfortunately. I was hoping to change that today.”

Blanche let out a nervous chuckle as she contemplated apologizing. In the end, she refrained from doing that to avoid directing attention to the fact that she and Theodore had been kissing at that spot while the empress passed by. “I see. I assume that there will not be anything that would prevent Your Majesty from going there today. I hope that you will enjoy the view to the fullest.”

Seraphina gave her a polite smile that had been perfected by years of acting in front of arrogant nobles. “I will make sure to do so. If I may ask, what led you to the kitchen this early in the morning?”

The emperor chimed in at that. “I was going to ask the staff to make some black tea for me. As I previously stated, I didn't sleep long, so I am a bit tired. But after some tea, that will pass.”

Blanche scanned his face with skepticism. Her lover didn't look like he was tired in the slightest. He hadn't said that he was tired before either, so she assumed that he was lying just to remind the empress of his previous provocation. She really didn't understand why he was so keen on frustrating Seraphina, but she didn't intend to intervene either. She lifted her free hand with a barely audible sigh and twirled one of her locks around her finger before pushing the strand behind her ear. It had just been an unconscious gesture, but as soon as she did that, the people in front of her reacted as if she had done something horrible.

Two of the empress' maids glared at her despite the emperor's presence while the third one, Kate, and Noah averted their eyes in a hurry. Gloria veiled her emotions a bit more, but the slight narrowing of her eyes had still been visible.

The empress was the one that kept faking a smile so much that it was obvious that she was struggling to keep up the facade of being indifferent. “I see. If that is the case, I'm sure that the kitchen staff will gladly take care of that.” She turned to the head maid next to her. “Gloria, you said it would be possible to have a picnic now, correct? Please tell the servants to prepare a basket for me.”

Theodore observed that for a moment before turning to his lover and gently grabbing her shoulder to position her so that he could look at her from the front. Within a second, he let out an “Oh”, and a smirk lit up his face. “It's a good thing that you have long hair.” With those words, he took the strand of her hair that Blanche had tucked behind her ear and moved it back into its original position. She gave him an irritated look, but he ignored that and just smiled at her before addressing the head maid. “Gloria, if you are already inside, please tell them about the black tea as well.”

Gloria nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will inform them of both requests.” She disappeared into the kitchen, which made the emperor turn to Seraphina.

“So, you will have a picnic for breakfast? Enjoy your meal. We will go ahead to the dining room then.”

The empress' smile seemed a bit less forced now, so she appeared to have calmed down. Maybe she was just relieved about not having to eat with the couple too. “Please enjoy your meal as well. I still have to prepare to go out, so I would like to take my leave now.”

Theodore nodded, and the empress immediately turned around to disappear down the corridor.

Noah stayed at his spot for another moment and made eye contact with Blanche. He looked a bit embarrassed with his flushed cheeks when he gestured to the side of his neck a few times before spinning around and following the empress.

The concubine frowned and lifted her hand to touch her skin at the spot he had shown her but didn't feel anything special. She pondered a few seconds and met Stella's gaze. Upon seeing her maid's grin, she was reminded of the scene in front of her lover's office, and what this could mean dawned upon her. She faced Theodore, who was still smirking at her, and shook her head before pulling him towards the dining hall. She stopped when they passed by a mirror and quickly looked around to make sure that no one except for her lover and her maid were there before lifting her hair.

As expected, Blanche's neck was covered in little red marks. The memory of how these had been created made her knees weak, but she held back her grin to give the emperor a glare. “You knew that already, right? If I had to guess, I would say that you left that on my neck on purpose.” She pointed at her reddened skin and tried to calm herself so that her cheeks wouldn't take on the same color.

Theodore didn't reply for a moment and just grinned at her before leaning forwards to press a small kiss against the spot that she had shown him.

Despite pretending to be mad, Blanche let him do that before putting her hands on her hips. “Well?”

Her lover chuckled quietly. “Don't be angry. It's a sign of my love. My adoration for you is too big to hold it back.”

Blanche already felt the corners of her lips twitch but still gave her best to appear strict. “I don't mind having them. I would just like a warning so that I don't necessarily show it to the empress and her followers. This is only for you and me, isn't it?” In reality, she didn't mind other people seeing it, even though it made her embarrassed. She couldn't deny her satisfaction about seeing that others were aware of how close her lover and she were. That didn't cause her to refrain from blushing when someone paid attention to that or hinted at it, but she was still happy.

Theodore seemed to know exactly how she felt, even though he didn't show much empathy for her embarrassment. “You're all red. Does others knowing about us bother you this much?” He grinned before leaning to her to capture her lips in a kiss. She didn't think about pushing him back for one second and just allowed herself to melt for a short moment. When he released her a few seconds later, his smile was less playful and much softer. “I can't help wanting to show everyone just how much we love each other. Their reactions are priceless sometimes.” He chuckled as he thought back to something. “Do you remember the day when you came out of my office with one of these proofs of love as well?”

She definitely hadn't been able to forget how Seraphina and her maids had glared at her for that. “I do.”

Theodore's grin widened again. “The day after that wasn't very pleasant with me being attacked by mercenaries. But I enjoyed the thing that happened at the beginning of the carriage ride. Do you know that the empress came into my office after you left? Well, she misunderstood what had happened and was even stiffer than normal during that conversation. She didn't admit what she believed at that point. She only voiced that after we sat down in the coach and were on the way to Duke Lamont but still didn't want to name it directly. So, she just said that she would like us to be a little more discrete in front of her since she really didn't want to know what we do. When I didn't understand what she meant, she became more and more upset before dropping the subject. Shortly after that, it dawned upon me, and I began laughing without being able to hold back. You should have seen her face. It made me consider finding out how Duke Duremont would react.”

Blanche didn't want to know that under any circumstances. Seraphina was keen on remaining polite in all scenarios, so she wouldn't directly address a topic like that. But Henry probably wouldn't care about saying that he didn't condone that the emperor flaunted his affair. “He would attempt to kill you.”

Theodore shrugged. “I doubt that he has the abilities to do that. The last person that beat me in a sword fight only won because I-” He cut himself off, and his face fell as he stared into the distance. “In any case, I didn't fight seriously. But I truly improved my skills with the sword, so my enemies will have quite a few problems if they attack me.” He shook his head to himself, and his smile returned again. “So, an elderly duke doesn't have any chance to defeat me.”

“He's not that old.” If Blanche was correct, Seraphina's parents had had children at a very young age. Henry should be around his mid-forties, which was definitely younger than Duke Lamont, whose hair was already gray.

“But he isn't a fighter, so the only thing he can do is threaten me.” Theodore raised his chin and met her gaze with confidence. “I can assure you that there is no noble who would be able to win a fair duel with me at this point. The only people who could trouble me are Owen and Leon, and they are on our side. The man I got rid of during the hunt might have caused problems too, but I took care of him already. So, I only have to brace for an attack of multiple weaker people at the same time. I'm used to that more than to an uninterrupted duel anyway, so it should be fine. Your enemies get ugly when you corner them, but the same holds true for me.” He finished those words, which weren't cheerful at all, with a smile. He only got a bit more serious in the end. “There is merely one person among our enemies that is... so good that it's unsettling. He spent all his life training, so it would be hard to fight him. But I think I can keep up with him. We'll see.”

Blanche didn't trust that all that much. She felt like any person that was compared to Owen in skill was a serious threat, but she didn't say that.