That night, Blanche had slept as little as during the previous ones, but she felt energized in the morning anyway. When she awoke after the few hours that she had dozed off for, the sun was already shining into the room and making the white sheets glow. The first thing she did was turn to her lover and admire him.
He looked so peaceful with a relaxed expression and the sunlight illuminating his face. She couldn't help but extend her arm and stroked over his cheek. Theodore was at the perfect spot right next to her. She loved him with every fiber of her being, and now she was finally by his side again. They would have to face the problems that she had caused by meddling with the storyline together, but she wouldn't just give up. If she had already gone this far, turning around now would be useless.
She attempted to touch her lover gently, but apparently, she hadn't been careful enough.
Theodore opened his eyes and smiled at her, which pulled her out of her thoughts. “It seems that you can't keep your hands off me, even though you had enough chances to touch me last night. I can live with that. This means that you won't blame me for being cuddly either.”
Blanche sat up and moved closer to him before continuing to stroke over his face. “Why would I stop myself? You're right here, and no one could take you away from me now. So, I need to use any chance I can get.”
Theodore's expression became serious at that. Before she knew what was happening, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to him. She was lying on top of him now. The movement was sudden, but she wouldn't complain and just rested her head on him. Her lover didn't let her stay like that for long though. He cupped her chin and made her look at him. “No one can take me away from you. No one ever had that power. They don't at the moment, and they won't in the future either. I belong to you. My heart, mind, body and soul are yours, so you don't have to think about anything bad.”
Blanche was about to believe him if things continued like this. He hadn't gotten close to the empress, so he wasn't in love with another woman, and she hadn't done anything despicable that would make him hate her. If they dealt with this issue now, they might really be happy together in the end.
“Since I belong to you in return, this is fine. But I can't help worrying. Not about your devotion but about the people that are trying to hurt you.” Blanche propped herself up on her arms to stop straining her neck by tilting her head up the whole time. Now she was able to look down at her lover properly, which hopefully also underlined her conviction. “Since I am yours, and you are mine, you can't keep secrets from me.” That was a bit hypocritical of her to say since she had a couple of secrets of her own, but she couldn't tell him about them without ruining his faith in her. His trouble with his family was different. “I want to know what you have to deal with. I can't always help, but I want to support you with all I can offer. You only told me that the dowager empress is trying to use that rumor about you to strengthen her own power to put the second prince on the throne. I was in Ibela again a few days ago, and the owner of that restaurant mentioned that the trial about the assassination attempt will be reopened. Is that true?”
Theodore frowned at her and immediately locked onto another problem. “Ibela? Do you know how dangerous it is to go into the city all alone? You could have gotten hurt.”
Blanche averted her eyes for a moment as she replied. “You're right. I wasn't on my own though. The empress asked me to guide her through the haven, and she was accompanied by at least two dozen knights. Owen and Noah were there too, so we didn't have a reason to worry.”
The emperor clenched his jaw as he looked up at her with dismay. “I know that, but I still don't feel good about letting you run around in a city without guards that I trust. From now on, we'll go out together, or I'll give you a group of my knights, alright?”
The concubine happily nodded. Going out with Theodore was way more fun than being without him. She hadn't had any intention to leave the royal estate any time soon due to the uncertain situation anyway, so she wouldn't lose anything if he accompanied her. “Gladly.” Her grin faded as she remembered what their actual topic had been. “But that isn't what I was asking about. Is the trial really going to be declared unsolved? Will they re-investigate?”
Theodore let out a huff of amusement and continued to smile, but his eyes showed that he wasn't pleased at all. “Unfortunately, yes. I don't know where the so-called members of my family managed to dig up some of the old evidence since every piece should be eliminated already. But somehow, that woman, or probably rather my brother, did, and now the judges are doubting that some old proof is real. If I hadn't been so stupid back then, the evidence would have been flawless, but now we have this mess. And it gets even worse.”
Blanche furrowed her brows. What could be worse than that? “Oh no.”
“I thought so too. While they are on trial, they aren't declared guilty yet. That means that they have full authority as members of the royal family as long as they don't interfere with the investigation. As the dowager empress and the second prince, they have the right to live in the palace too. And as you can imagine, they would like to be closer to me to find a gap in my security measures. So, they insist on using that right and moving in with me. I would rather not have the people that wish to overthrow and kill me in my home.” He let out a sigh.
No way. He couldn't let those people come here.
Blanche jumped up onto her knees in panic and almost caused the blanket to fall off the bed in the process. “You didn't agree, did you?”
Theodore looked up at her with another sad smile. “I didn't have much of a chance. I'm already known as a person that framed their own mother and brother to steal their power. The only good thing about this is that the definition of the palace is...not specified. It just has to be the royal estate. I put them into a small mansion at the other end of the property. You know, the area that no one visits because it's so far off. They shouldn't be able to see much of us from there, especially since we mostly use the side of the palace that is facing away for our daily lives. I asked you to enter the palace from this side too, just to make sure that they wouldn't notice before I do. But all in all, they shouldn't be able to harm us too much now. I sent them servants that I put my full trust in to give me information from the attendants that those two brought with them from the palace they were confined in.”
Blanche felt anger rushing through her veins. It was ridiculous that those people could try to kill the emperor and still have the right to stay in the palace just because of their bloodline. “That's ridiculous. How can anyone be on their side? It's obvious that they are guilty and simply hide that fact. With the power of a member of the royal family, it's easy to manipulate a trial and hire assassins. Everyone should be aware of something as basic as this.” She was shaking with rage while speaking and dug her fingers into the sheet.
Theodore reached up and gently cupped her face before giving her a soothing smile. “Don't get upset about that. I already felt enough wrath for both of us during the first trial. I wish I could just throw the dowager empress into a cell to rot, but if I don't want to harden that troublesome rumor about me, I have to refrain from doing that. She has too many allies that I need to find through her at the moment. I can't change anything about this for now, so I can't pacify you by putting them in an even more run-down building. I can tell you everything you want to know though. Before, I was a bit sensitive about that topic and didn't want to risk you knowing too much while you were on your own. Now that I'm here to protect you, I will inform you about everything you wish to know.” He paused for a moment before adding the rest. “As long as it's in my power to do so at the current time.”
Blanche forced herself to stop gritting her teeth and leaned down to her lover again. She lay down next to him and pressed a small kiss onto his forehead. “Thank you. I don't mean to pry, but I am uneasy when you are on your own. I'm only in the palace for you, so it would be better if I can actually support you by sharing your burden, even if it's just a little help. I will give my best to ease your worries.” Blanche stopped as she went through the things he had said. “Wait. ‘An even more run-down building’? Did I hear that correctly? Where did you send them?”
Immediately, a wide smirk appeared on Theodore's face. “Well, there are three smaller mansions on the royal property. You don't see them from the main palace since they are at the outer edges of the land that belongs to the royal family. They are outside the walls, so you might never have noticed them.” In fact, she hadn't. Those buildings hadn't been mentioned in the novel either, so they didn't seem to be that important. Her lover rolled onto the side to make eye contact with her. “I never really went there, and my father didn't either. Some distant cousins slept in two of the houses occasionally, so the buildings were taken care of to keep them in a good condition. But the third one is a bit...smaller and less interesting to relatives of the Estien family. It's not as much of a ruin as I would like it to be, but there should be spiderwebs and dust everywhere. It's the furthest one away to the palace, and I thought that my dear brother and the dowager empress would enjoy the peacefulness of the nature around them. So, I put them there when they didn't stop complaining about wanting to move back here.” His grin was contagious.
Blanche could easily tell that the dowager empress and the prince wouldn't be pleased upon being greeted by dirt and small rooms when they were used to luxury. “So, you chose a building that matched their personality.”
Theodore chuckled for a moment before his smile faded. “They won't really suffer there though. They still have too many servants and fancy rooms, but well. At least it annoys them. They arrived four days ago, and my brother immediately came to greet me while pretending to be a loving family member. He claimed that the dowager empress, sadly, is allergic to some of the dirt that seems to have gathered there. So, he asked me to move them into the main palace or at least one of the other buildings. Since I didn't comply until now, they will complain to the nobles on their side and try to threaten me to agree with them. I hope to be able to ignore that while I make their lives horrible. In two weeks, we will have a banquet, and I want them to be as exhausted and stressed as possible by then.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Blanche's face scrunched up. “So, they are free to appear in public as they like it?”
“Yes. I mean, I could simply not invite them, but that would only fuel the rumors about me not wanting the truth to spread. Right now, it would be best to pretend to be apologetic. When their guilt is finally proven, I can pretend to break down because I wanted to trust my only living family so badly while they used me. Then I'll get rid of all rumors regarding this situation, but until then, I'm forced to hold still unless I want to be known as...that again. I'm too resentful to keep quiet though. I'm doing my best to ruin their day every time we meet.”
The concubine stroked her hand over his upper arm in an attempt to show her support in some way. She would have to address the rumor he kept mentioning without naming it at some point though. “I know that you already said that you don't care, but I want to remind you of something. You don't have to feel bad about doing whatever is necessary to save Artias from their greedy claws. Even if people say awful things, it's because they have no idea what truly happened. As long as we are aware of the truth, it will be fine. You know, I've overheard something a few times now. About that rumor that you mentioned occasionally.”
Theodore reached over to twirl one of her hair strands around his finger while giving her a dejected smile. “Duke Vasquez's son told you, right?”
Blanche froze. Luciano had been the one to inform her of the rumor about the alleged tyrant emperor first, but she had been alone with him and Sefare during that time. Afterward, she had spoken about it at the empress' table and with Owen. Her lover had never been present during that. “How...how did you know that?”
Theodore kept looking directly into her widened eyes. “You don't really think that I would leave you behind without protection, right? During the hunting festival, a knight was watching you the entire time. He didn't get very close to you while Lord Sefare and Lord Vasquez bothered you, but he kept an eye on you the whole time. He was ready to intervene at any moment if they had touched you even once more. He said that he was seconds away from slicing the latter one's hand off at one point. When you went to the empress' table later, the knight sat closer and listened to your conversation. He told me what you said about the meeting with those unpleasant nobles afterward.”
Blanche felt how dread began to creep through her veins. Breathing became harder as her chest was constricted. She barely managed to speak up. “Did…did he...hear what Sefare and Lord Vasquez said?” If that knight had recounted what Sefare and Luciano spoke about, it would be obvious that she had been working with them before. There was no way that Theodore would forgive her for that. “Did he...?”
Her lover grabbed her hand and led it to his mouth while planting a kiss on it. “I wish. Then I would have been able to do something about it on that very day. Unfortunately, the knight had to stay away to prevent them from seeing him. In the midst of the crowd at the venue, that was simple, but at the edge of the forest, every person is easy to spot, so he had to keep his distance.”
All of Blanche's muscles that had previously tensed relaxed again. Theodore didn't know. So, he wouldn't lose all of his trust in her. She loosened his grasp on her hand to intertwine her fingers with his.
Her lover was silent for a moment before speaking up. “But I can still imagine what the conversation was about.” She tensed, but before the panic was able to get a hold of her, he resumed. “Lord Vasquez said that I was a tyrant, didn't he? He wanted to make you lose your trust in me. It makes sense for a member of that family to wish to ruin the one good thing about my life. Believe me, I won't let them do that.”
Blanche tightened her grip around his hand. “I won't either. I don't care about anything they said. He named you being harsher with the servants as one of the reasons for his claim that you were a tyrant, but I know that you did that to protect yourself and others from corrupt people. I'm...” She closed her mouth for a few seconds before averting her eyes. “I'm sorry for asking the empress' mother about that. I didn't believe in that rumor, but I wanted to know where it came from.”
Theodore gave her a soft smile. “I understand that. She told you about how that rumor was used by the dowager empress after my father's death, right? That rumor is the only thing that could ever justify my brother becoming the emperor, so the dowager empress and her followers, including the Vasquez family, desperately cling to it. I thought that it had died down, but the dowager empress is trying to remind the people of that. Making everyone believe in that rumor wouldn't be enough to overthrow me, but it would certainly lower the odds of people protesting if someone took over the position of the emperor by force. In fact, the worse I seem, the more people would fully embrace my brother as the ruler after my death. I...don't plan on making way for him now though.”
Blanche clenched her jaw at his words. This didn't sound good at all. Until now, she had only thought about secret ways the second prince could gain power with. She hadn't considered that their enemies might try it while everyone was watching. “That sounds like you are expecting that they might attack and remove you from the picture even though every single person would be aware of it. Like... A revolt?” The very word made her shiver. She could almost see her dear lover lying wounded on the floor after a lost duel in front of her inner eye. She tensed. “Armed people that storm the palace and...”
Theodore stroked over the side of her face. “Let's just say that this would be their last resort. Of course, the dowager empress would like to do this in a way that doesn't make the new emperor seem like a murderer that killed his own brother. But if they have no other choice... When people feel cornered, they get ugly. And to them, reigning with terror is better than not reigning at all. That's why we have to be more careful with every accomplishment. I've known these people all my life. The dowager empress won't give up unless she is crushed by her defeat. She either has to lose all of her pawns or her life. Otherwise, she will just cause trouble in five years again and endanger innocent lives and the well-being of our nation in the process. This might sound harsh, but I'm willing to do everything to prevent that from happening. I'd favor keeping her alive to make her suffer when she realizes that I am living happily and slowly carving out all supporters of hers while she rots away, but I don't mind speeding it up if she becomes too much of a threat.”
Blanche moved his hand, which she was still holding, to her chest and covered it with both of her hands. “I'm on your side no matter what. I don't have any sympathy for people that wanted to kill you. If they cared about family or compassion, we wouldn't be in this situation. So, I will stand right beside you even when everyone else judges your actions.”
There was a short pause after that in which the both of them just stared at each other. Slowly, Theodore's lips formed a smile, but his eyes were full of sadness. “I don't deserve you.”
Blanche let go of his hand to move over to him and put her arms around him. “Don't say that. The one that doesn't deserve you is me. You are a wonderful person. Strong, intelligent, you care more about the country than about anything else. You gave me so much. And all that I can return is my loyalty and undying love. So, that is the very least I can offer you is my whole heart.”
“That's not true. I'm not that selfless.” He put his forehead against hers. “I can't say that I care about the nation more than about anything else. Not when you are in my life. I would gladly set fire to the world if that meant that I can protect you. You being here again is more than I can ask for. So, don't ever think that you aren't enough. You are all I need and more than I deserve.” He didn't give her a chance to argue and sealed her lips with a kiss.
She didn't attempt to fight back and just attempted to mirror all of her emotions by kissing him with as much passion as she could.
A knock on the door forced them to pause though.
That made Blanche sigh. “It's early in the morning... Why are they knocking?”
Theodore glanced at the clock and shrugged. “That must be Leon then. Either the empress is already annoying him because she wants to know what happened, which I doubt, or my dear brother is complaining about something again because the dowager empress sent him.”
Blanche narrowed her eyes at that. “They have nerves. How can they dare to utter a single complaint when they would already have been executed if they weren't royalty? They should be thankful that they are still alive and that you put them in a nice palace instead of a sewer. It's a shame that you can't just take their title away and throw them onto the street. I bet that they wouldn't survive for longer than a week. They are dependent on your goodwill and still they act like you owe them something.”
The emperor slowly sat up and pulled her with him so that she was sitting on his lap. “Actually, that is what they are portraying as the truth. They claim that I falsely accused them of the assassination attempt. So, they want compensation for the damage that their reputation took and the humiliation that they had to go through. I have to say that, out of the two of them, I favor the dowager empress' approach this time, even though I hate her far more. She is open about disliking me and acts like me trying to harm them is the reason for that. On the other hand, my so-called brother pretends to be understanding and claims that I had just been scared and made a mistake because I feared for my life. I know that this is far less because of him than because of his mother, but his pretense of caring for me makes me want to throw up. I've never had to hold back from hitting someone with so much self-control. Duke Duremont and Duke Vasquez came close, and the only two people I resent more-”
Another knock sounded. It was louder this time.
Theodore pulled his lover's back against his chest and wrapped the both of them with a blanket while whispering into her ear. “Give me a moment. We don't want him to see your bare skin after all.”
Blanche leaned her head against him and smiled. “Exactly. That is only to be seen by you.”
The emperor pressed a kiss onto her shoulder before raising his voice. “Leon?”
A muffled voice from the door replied. “Yes, Your Majesty. May I enter?”
Theodore waited for a few seconds and used that time to kiss his lover's head again. “Yes, you may. But immediately close the door behind you.”
Leonard did as he was told and turned around to greet the two of them. When he saw them cuddling with only the blanket hiding their bodies, his face scrunched up. “Are you serious? You had the whole night for yourselves.”
The emperor chuckled. “We didn't see each other for a month. Do you think a night would be enough to make up for that?”
“For you, of course not.” Leon glared at them for a moment before walking over to the table and plopping down onto a chair.
Blanche used the short moment of silence to greet him with a radiant beam. “Good morning, Leon. It's been a while. How have you been for the past two months?”
Leonard turned to meet her and gave her a smile back. “Good morning, Lady Blanche. It seems like you didn't forget your etiquette lessons. Theodore didn't ask about me at all since he returned. It was always just about the nation. Maybe you should help him improve his manners a bit. Even though letting him stick his tongue into your mouth in front of a crowd isn't really courteous either.”
The concubine felt how blood rushed to her cheeks as she remembered the scene from yesterday. A lot of people had seen them, hadn't they? The servants might not have noticed how deep the kiss had been, but they surely had been aware of the fact that the couple was kissing and hugging each other. “Ahh... I'm sorry. That... I just missed Theo so much.” She didn't even have a better excuse.
Theodore hummed in affirmation and rested his chin on top of her head.
Leonard let out a groan at that and shook his head, but a slight smile remained on his lips. “I'm just glad you waited for the empress to leave.”
The emperor replied without any indication of amusement in his voice. “Did she? Good. I didn't pay attention to that at all, but she might have caused trouble again if she had seen that. Did she complain about not being told anything yet?”
Blanche and the secretary both frowned at that. Had Theodore truly not listened to the conversation at all? It was worse enough that he hadn't checked whether his wife was gone before kissing his concubine. But apparently, he hadn't listened to Seraphina either. That certainly was a big difference from how much he had trusted her every word in the novel. Blanche knew that this change could cause huge troubles in the future, but she couldn't help but be relieved upon hearing this.