Theodore seemed rather unaffected by Blanche's comments about Duke Duremont since he claimed that this wouldn't endanger him in any way. His argument for that was a bit concerning. “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 got more serious here but didn't seem very intimidated still. “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 observed his face for a while, but there was no sign of sarcasm on his expression. He seriously believed that he was that strong. Theodore was sure that he was among the four best fighters in this nation. “If you say that, I trust you. But I'm a bit worried. Don't demand too much of yourself. You never were the type to fight either, so it surprises me to hear something like that.”
Theodore's expression became a little grimmer. “That's because I'm not the same person as back then.” He let out a nervous chuckle and ran his fingers through his hair. “It's hard to explain. I mean, I'm still me, of course I am. But that... What happened changed me. It reminded me that I have to protect the people I care about. That means that I have to be strong enough to be your shield no matter what. So, fighting isn't nearly as foreign to me as it was in the past. I think you should know what I mean.”
Blanche understood that sort of thinking more than anyone else. Her change had happened because her life and her relationship had been threatened too. In her case, the novel had played a role, but for him, it had that assassination attempt. It wasn't strange for him to wish to be stronger after that so that he could fight back against attackers in the future. Just like she had given her all to be kinder, less arrogant and a better support for her lover. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. “I see. I am more calmed too if I know that you can defend yourself from the most skillful fighters in this nation. Just be careful not to overdo it. You have to get used to physical activity first.” She lifted his hand to her face to press a kiss onto it.
Theodore's smile returned with its original brightness. “Don't worry about that. I need to teach someone how to swim, so I will move around a lot. There is nothing else to do in this estate except for swimming and taking walks. So, I'll move plenty during the vacation. That also means that we can have more cake, doesn't it?”
Blanche grinned at that but shook her head in feigned disappointment. “If we continue like this, we will come back as spoiled brats even though Leon warned us.”
“I wouldn't concern myself with that. I'm the emperor. What is he supposed to do about me enjoying my life to the fullest? If I want cake, I'll eat some. And that is exactly what we will do now.” With that, he pulled her to the dining room.
She had the suspicion that her lover didn't actually like dessert that much since sweets weren't his favorites. He was probably just eating it to give her an excuse to finish it when he suddenly had enough after one bite. The only times at which he devoured a dessert by himself was when they had the ones she made or when she was feeding him. Though, she had to admit that she did the same with things he liked, which she usually gave him during the meals, so it didn't matter much.
For the rest of the morning, Blanche made sure to keep her hair in front of her neck to cover the love marks, even though her lover made a few playful comments about why she was doing that. After breakfast, they didn't lose any time before returning to their room to pack a blanket and some snacks before taking a walk at the beach. They went into the ocean, and Blanche practiced the swimming movements her lover showed her. This time, she managed to hold herself up for a few seconds with his support before he had to use his hands to keep her at the surface.
When they took a break to eat lunch, she almost didn't want to leave since she felt like she was close to getting used to the swimming movements, so they returned to the water in the afternoon. By the end of the day, she was exhausted, which made her collapse on the bed. That didn't keep her from having enough energy to be with her lover, but after that, she fell asleep within seconds.
The following days passed in the same manner. Blanche and Theodore woke up together and got ready to eat breakfast. Seraphina hadn't appeared in the dining room after the last time, so the couple was alone and enjoyed their privacy. Afterward, they often took a stroll around the estate and looked around the different parts, which always ended with them being on top of the hill so that they could use the swing for a bit. After lunch, they practiced swimming, and Blanche was content with the steady progress that she was making. In the evening, they fell asleep in each other's arms, only to awake in the same position the next morning.
A week passed like that without any occurrences until Leon's new letter arrived. While Theodore worked on decoding the information, Blanche was preparing herself to make another cake. She and Stella were on their way to the kitchen to grab the ingredients and chatted happily in the process.
The maid was in the middle of happily describing her favorite traveling destination. “Ibela is a fishing village, so it should be obvious what kind of dishes are the tastiest there. I visited that city during my vacation for a single day, and I regret not eating there until my stomach burst. The chefs there have to be human gods. The fish is so fresh that you can't compare it to the salmon you always get, even if the palace staff might be more professional. So, if we end up going there, even though I doubt it, we have to eat until we can't swallow anymore.” Stella was oddly determined when she explained that and balled her hands into fists. Once again, it became obvious how much she ranted when it was about things she loved. Apparently, food was her biggest weakness, and that was rather adorable.
Blanche smiled at her. “I normally love to talk about salmon, and we can gladly do that again after collecting our ingredients. But right now, I have to think about sweet flavors. What kind of cake should I make for Theo? It has to be sweet but not too sugary since he doesn't like that. I want to try something new, but I don't want to risk baking something that will come out badly. If I make a gift for him, it should be presentable and delicious. Once we figured out that, I can long for some salmon dishes too while you tell me more.”
Stella made a rejecting gesture. “By now, you should have realized that you're good at baking. Nothing you make will be inedible. The uneven cuts with a knife should be your greatest worry. But even that is not a problem. You could give His Majesty a lump of coal, and he would treasure it. He adores you, so he will be happy with everything you bake for him. Don't be so on edge and just put trust in his love. He's been very keen on showing you his devotion during the past few days and nights, hasn't he?” She gave her mistress a smirk before backing away while laughing when Blanche pretended to glare at her.
Just as the concubine was about to joke about her being awfully observant when it came to that matter, they rounded a corner. She had to stop abruptly to avoid running into the people in front of her. When she looked at the group, she would have liked to back away before they could say anything, but that was impossible since the empress stood in front of her. Blanche quickly made a curtsy as she lowered her head for a moment while trying to cover up her shock at that meeting.
Hopefully, the group hadn't heard Stella's words just now. As soon as she looked up, that hope died down immediately though.
The empress' attendants were beyond furious. One of them was trembling with anger while the other gazed at Blanche as if she was some sort of parasitic insect. Kate just covered her mouth and stood a few steps behind them along with Noah, who had already turned away from that scene.
Seraphina didn't look as angry. She seemed just a tiny bit irritated, but the knowledge that she was good at hiding most of her emotions didn't make that assumption seem very likely.
Blanche felt a cold shiver down her spine as she waited for the empress to address her. It felt like her body wasn't sure whether to pump the blood into her head to make her blush or to weaken its flow so that she would pale. In any case, her heart was thumping loudly in her chest as she cursed this situation. Why did she have to coincidentally run into the empress directly after Stella had said something like this? The concubine just wanted to vanish into thin air.
One of Seraphina's maids, the one that had made the bet with Stella, looked like she was seconds away from snapping at the two women.
The empress lifted her hand for a moment, which made the attendant calm down at least a little. Then Seraphina looked up at the people in front of her. “Good day, Lady Blanche.” The greeting was as cold as always, which could only indicate how sour her mood truly was.
Blanche hurried to reply to avoid infuriating the other side even more. “Good day, Your Majesty.” She truly didn't know what else she could say. Any remark about it being nice to see Seraphina would be viewed as provoking, considering that it wasn't pleasant that they had met at all.
After that, silence followed.
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Blanche gave her best not to fiddle her hands or play with her hair since the tension felt so thick that it was suffocating. But no matter how little she moved, when the empress was watching, she felt like she was doing something wrong. Since she had been addressed already, she was free to speak, but she couldn't come up with anything that would calm the situation. Maybe she should just ask for permission to leave? That might be best in this scenario. She tried to speak up, but she couldn't bring herself to do so out of fear that she would stutter or somehow make this even worse.
Only after a few more seconds of nauseating silence, Seraphina spoke up. But instead of making it better, that just caused the conversation to be more awful than Blanche could have imagined. “There is something I would like to tell you.”
If the empress went out of her way to address the concubine, the topic wouldn't be very pleasant. A quite likely subject was the way that Theodore and Blanche had appeared in front of her ever since the beginning of the vacation.
There hadn't been a day on which the couple had walked around separately except for the last time that the concubine had baked a cake. Blanche didn't know how often exactly, but they had met the empress on a few occasions, and the emperor had never stopped to do anything in his power to make their affair as obvious as possible.
Blanche tried her best to maintain a neutral expression, but she was sure that she failed miserably. It should be obvious that Seraphina would be angry about that since her reputation might suffer if Theodore kept this up. The only thing that was left for the concubine to do now was to pray and to be as respectful as possible to not evoke the empress' anger even further. “Yes, Your Majesty? Is it something you would rather discuss in private?”
The empress shook her head. “It will not take long, and I do not mind anyone here hearing it.”
Depending on what it was, Blanche might mind it though. But of course, she didn't voice that. “If you are of that belief, then I shall trust your judgment.”
Seraphina gazed at her with a cold gaze that made her sink in herself. “Good. I wished to address something that I have noticed for a while now.” Hopefully, she wouldn't scold the concubine for Theodore's behavior.
In that case, Blanche wouldn't know how to react. She couldn't apologize for the emperor both because of his rank and because she was an independent person. She also didn't want to say that she was sorry about spending time with her lover since that was definitely a lie. She kept her mouth closed as her mind went through all the little things that could be brought up and braced herself for the worst result.
Luckily, the empress didn't wait too long before continuing. She scanned the other woman with a slightly irritated expression. “Lady Blanche. You have been in the palace for how long now?”
The concubine didn't have any trouble naming the exact time frame that she had been with Theodore. Even though the question had confused her, she answered immediately. “Twenty months, Your Majesty.”
Seraphina seemed a bit taken aback at the fast response but resumed quickly. “Yes. During these months, we had more than enough disagreements. That should have made one fact clear. You do not need to be scared of me.”
Blanche had expected many things, but that wasn't one of them. She had been sure that the empress would bring up the stories about their conflicts to remind her of how she needed to be careful with her actions. So, hearing this completely threw her off her balance. “Pardon?”
“You heard me.” The empress remained completely calm as she folded her hands and met the other woman's gaze. “There has been a time in which your presence was unbearable and you caused unnecessary issues at every opportunity that you had. Even then, I never took any action against you except for telling you to pull yourself together. Every punishment that I might have wished to voice would have been taken back by His Majesty, which means that I would be unable to do anything to you even if I wanted to dwell on the past. During the last months, you did not attempt to purposefully trouble me or anyone else in the palace. So, it does not make sense for you to believe that I would suddenly confront you now. As long as you do not attempt to harm those I love or me, I do not see the need to interfere in your life. Do you understand that?”
That explanation only served to confuse Blanche even more. Had the empress really just told her that they weren't enemies? That they could live without disturbing each other? If Seraphina was being serious right now, that would mean that half of the concubine's worries would just disappear. If the heroine wasn't upset with her for just existing, she wouldn't be in the constant danger of becoming the villainess and being treated as an obstacle by the novel. Wouldn't this mean that she only had to deal with distancing herself from Sefare in the future? That she could stop worrying about suffering just because the empress was angry?
Yes and no.
Even though this was a wonderful thought, it was unlikely that the empress would be fine leaving the concubine alone. If that was the case, this whole conflict wouldn't exist. Had Blanche really acted innocently enough to keep Seraphina from wanting her death? That sounded like it was far too good to be true.
All of that formed a whirlwind in Blanche's mind, and she couldn't come up with a coherent sentence as she just stared at the other woman.
Fortunately, Seraphina didn't wait for a reply. She merely kept a blank expression before she nodded to underline her words. “It strikes me as odd that you seem to doubt my words. I can guarantee that I am not the type of person that would wish trouble on those that do not bother me. As long as you stay content with your current position and do not strive for more or attempt to disturb any of the people on my side, we aren't enemies. I sincerely hope that this isn't too hard to believe.” That didn't sound like a question, but when she stared right into the other's eyes, it almost seemed like she wanted confirmation.
Blanche's mouth went dry as she struggled to come up with something to say. There wasn't any choice of what her answer would be, but she somehow still feared that she might mess up even if she tried her best. “I...don't believe that.” She quickly realized that this had been the wrong wording and corrected herself frantically. “I mean, I don't believe that you would feel the need to trouble anyone you don't see as a threat. Naturally, I do not plan on being one, so...” She had never truly planned that before either, but her whole situation didn't make it seem like her intention was the only thing that was needed to save her.
Seraphina's expression still didn't budge as she finished the concubine's sentence. “So, you do not have to expect me to act in a manner that causes you harm. There is no need to tremble in front of me because our eyes meet. I find that display to be unsettling as it makes me believe that I seem like a person that would target those that do not wish to harm anyone. I would prefer it if I wasn't known as such an empress. But keep in mind that I will not tolerate any threats toward the Estien household and the Duremont family.”
Blanche knew that very well. She had experienced the result of that in a far too painful way. She hurriedly nodded. “Of course, Your Majesty. I understood.”
“Good. If you do not forget that, there is no need to discuss further. May you have a nice vacation. Goodbye, Lady Blanche.” That was all Seraphina said before she turned around with far more grace than anyone else could have and walked away. Her maids glared at the concubine once more before they hurried after her while Noah waved for a split second before following.
Blanche was left behind and could only blink and absentmindedly wave back as the group disappeared at the end of the corridor. Immediately, she could hear how the empress' maids began to speak to their mistress, but she didn't listen to them. She just turned her head to the side to get some sort of advice from her own servant.
Stella didn't seem like she would be useful though. She was beaming and jumped in front of the concubine before raising a fist in victory. “See? Even Her Majesty noticed that she can't keep troubling you for no reason. She knows that His Majesty loves you too much to allow her to blame you for anything and that he will always take your side. She'll have to stop acting so disrespectful towards you.”
Blanche didn't voice that Seraphina never really disrespected her and that if she had done so in specific situations, it was more than justified considering how the concubine had acted in the past. She just watched as her maid danced around as if something long overdue had just happened. Even though she should be rational about this and question why the empress, who despised her, had suddenly said this, she couldn't help but smile as well. Blanche wanted to trust Stella in this case. After months of fearing Seraphina, who could single-handedly bring her downfall again, she really had a chance to hope.
She desperately wanted the empress' words to be true. If she was safe from that woman's fury simply by being passive, she would have much bigger chances to reach her happy end. That realization only served to raise her spirits. Blanche had been ecstatic about her lover being with her the whole time, and now the odds of getting the wonderful future that she had dreamed about only rose. How could she not be overjoyed because of that? Yes, she shouldn't worry about how quickly Seraphina could change her mind. She should simply do her best to avoid seeming like a threat anyway. Then it should work as long as Theodore was on her side.
Blanche motivated herself like that, and her heart beat faster. Her raised mood didn't disappear for the rest of the day so that she was beaming even more than she had already done before. While presenting her cake to Theodore, she even grinned so much that he pointed out that she was glowing. They spent the whole evening cuddling until they fell asleep, which only served to make her even happier.
The hero of the novel was right by her side, and the heroine wouldn't want to erase her. If it was like this, she had a chance.
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The days after that passed with the same schedule as the previous ones and filled Blanche with so much euphoria that her heart was about to burst. Her lover was with her the entire time, and she was finally ready to let him as close to her as humanely possible. She learned to swim without any distractions, let her lover push her on the swing and took walks with him. The rest of the day was filled with them showering each other in affection, and they never got sick of that, even though everyone else had to have been about to lose their mind. Every time that the couple became intimate, she was only reminded of how much she had changed the novel.
Theodore was with her every night and not with the heroine, so Blanche could be sure that she had made significant progress. If the main characters didn't have any romantic interest in each other and didn't share their first time, they wouldn't get any closer to one another from now on either. This meant that Blanche was successful in preventing everything she had feared so much.
She had prevented the original end.
She wouldn't be executed after her lover abandoned her for Seraphina. Instead, she would be able to stay with him. She was sure that the intended storyline wouldn't come true anymore, so she only had to stay away from Sefare and his intrigues. Then she would have her happy ending without any problems and could be with Theodore until they grew old.
At least that was what she thought as their vacation progressed. She didn't think about any problems that the novel might not have warned her about directly, even if she should have done so.
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Blanche hadn't known it back then, but around the same time, a letter reached the supreme judge. Even a man that usually trusted the emperor couldn't ignore the influential sender of said letter. Inside, he found a list of inconsistencies that had been found among the evidence of a trial, which had happened seven years ago while being talked about in the whole nation, as well as a request to redo said trial. The judge went through the letter numerous times and compared it to the old documents with great care. A week later, he confirmed the request and sent back a letter affirming the second repetition of the trial. That envelope reached the south palace just a few days after.