The emperor stayed silent for longer than necessary before eventually speaking up to address the Vasquez family. “Good afternoon to His and Her Grace. It wasn't too stressful to come here, was it?”
Claude's grin widened as he and his son bowed to the other man while the duchess curtsied. “Of course not. We are honored to be welcomed into the royal palace once again. It is wonderful to see you, Your Majesty. We were already worried about you forgetting us.”
Theodore returned a smile. “How could I? There is no way I would forget one of my most trusted ministers and his wife, who happens to be my aunt.” The sarcasm in his voice was rather obvious, but Duke Vasquez didn't show any indication of being annoyed.
Claude just continued to smirk. “I never meant to doubt you, Your Majesty. I was just a bit concerned since my wife cannot stand for too long.” He gestured to Selena, whose rounded stomach showed that she was heavily pregnant. “And naturally, she wished to speak to Her Majesty, the dowager empress. They haven't seen each other for over six years after all. Before we can sit down, we will have to greet you though. You were spending a lot of time with the Duremont family, so we already feared that that had slipped your mind.” He resumed in a lower volume. “Or that you might have purposefully let us wait.”
Theodore laughed quietly before responding. “Oh, of course not. There is no way that I would take my time with the Duremonts with the intention of making you wait. How could that thought ever cross my mind? I hope I didn't make you miss me for too long. But I'm relieved in that regard. It seems that you weren't that troubled. All of you look like you are very happy. Did something special happen? Let me guess, it is connected to your new member of the family.” He gestured to Selena.
Seraphina spoke up at that point too. “I would have guessed so too. Your Grace seems to have been glowing ever since the pregnancy was announced. We are very delighted that your whole family came despite you having to rest. I hope that the baby is going to grow up to be a healthy and educated young lord or lady. When is the due date?”
Claude glanced at his wife. “Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty. We are very pleased to receive so much care. Our little angel is supposed to be born in about a month.”
Selena put a hand on her stomach and resumed her husband's story with a grin, which became a bit brighter upon talking about this topic. “We will have a party for the baby three months after that, as per usual.” She glanced at Theodore. “Will Your Majesty attend? This child will be your cousin after all.”
Blanche found it quite brazen to invite someone you wanted dead to your child's first party, but she guessed that Selena hadn't had much of a choice here. Not inviting the emperor would only have made their plans more obvious. Still, it was audacious.
Theodore only mirrored the duchess' beaming smile in return. “I would be honored to. I will just have to make sure that I am able to come despite the heightened security measures. Due to the two occurrences this year, there have to be knights everywhere.” He raised his arms and demonstratively looked around. “So, we'll see how the situation develops until then before I can give you my final word. After all, there is a lot that can happen in four months. Wouldn't all of you agree? Only a month ago, no one would have dared to believe that the dowager empress and my brother would be here to join us.”
Claude paused for a moment, but the corners of his lips tugged and proved that his words would be the opposite of pleasing. “That is another reason for us to be so elated, Your Majesty. We are very close to Her Majesty and His Royal Highness. Thus, it naturally satisfies us that justice will prevail.”
Theodore allowed his smile to fade. “I can guarantee that, Your Grace. The court in Artias is independent and will make the right decision. Those who committed crimes will be punished no matter what social rank they might have.”
Duke Vasquez hummed. “But is that really true, Your Majesty?” He put on a concerned expression while continuing. “There are people that worry that there are members of the royal family that are using their status to harm the ones that wish to keep them in check.”
Theodore responded in a completely neutral voice. “How terrible. Whom could you be referring to, Your Grace? I never heard anything similar to that before. Not even during my coronation.”
The irony of his words was rather obvious, but Claude acted like he was being serious. “Are you truly not aware of the ill nature of the rumors that are surrounding you? Some people are claiming that Your Majesty is a tyrant that reigns the nation with terror.”
Blanche bit her tongue not to let out a snarky comment about her lover being the only one in the Estien family who would rule the country with any care for the citizens at all.
In contrast to her, Theodore kept a neutral expression, seemingly without any difficulties. “They are? Why? As far as I remember, I always put the country first and gave my best to be fair.”
“Well, the way that you are treating your family appears to prove otherwise. People are gossiping and claiming that you killed the esteemed previous emperor. Then you got rid of Her Majesty, the dowager empress and His Royal Highness so that they couldn't trouble your reign. They are your own mother and brother, whom you put into confinement in a prison. Such a plan would be quite cruel. Of course, that isn't my opinion. I was merely repeating what others said.” Claude showed them a wide grin, even though he had just openly accused the emperor of murdering his father.
Theodore appeared to have been right about the Vasquez family being more daring now. Blanche was getting extremely infuriated by now, so it was surprising that her lover didn't shut them down but just tilted his head and kept a blank expression. “That is weird. I remember it differently. Using only rumors as your source of information is a bit thoughtless, if I may say. So, maybe Your Grace should gather evidence before repeating what clueless people voiced. What would I gain from harming my dear family?”
Duke Vasquez was a little taken aback by the emperor's calm response but quickly covered his expression up with a smile. “The rumors are saying that Your Majesty feared that His Royal Highness might be a more suitable heir for the throne. They claim that the esteemed previous emperor wished to name his second son the future ruler and that you were discontent with that.”
Theodore let out a sigh. “If my father had done that, I would not be forced to deal with all the documents on my desk every day. I don't regret his decision though. After all, I have been able to increase Artias' wealth and improve the whole nation in the past six years. I would say that I've been doing well. If my brother were to reign...” He grimaced and sucked in air through his teeth. “There could be a few...hiccups due to his inexperience. Father never taught him since he always knew that I would be his successor. Everyone was aware of that decision, and as the firstborn son, I deserve this position. So, it would have been hard for my brother to find enough arguments to justify him being the heir to the throne. And given that those are the facts...” The emperor paused for a moment before continuing. “Why would I risk killing my father, who was severely ill at that time, only to leave evidence that would take away my right to rule? Why would I dirty my hands instead of simply waiting for two more years?” A taunting smirk appeared on his lips. “If you can't argue back against this reasoning, it might be better to think about gossip before thoughtlessly copying what uneducated people say. Isn't that right, Your Grace?”
Claude was gritting his teeth at that. He probably hadn't expected the emperor to reply this calmly. When he spoke, his voice was trembling with anger. “No, you're right, Your Majesty. Please forgive me for my careless words.”
Theodore sighed again. “It is alright, Your Grace. I'm used to your emotional comments during the meetings with the other ministers. Still, I'm a bit worried now. It would be bad if people thought about me like that.” He turned to his lover. “Say, Blanche. Do you think that I'm a tyrant?”
The concubine's mouth fell open. Why was he asking her that? “No, of course not. You're the best ruler Artias ever had.” Not that she could make much of a comparison.
Immediately, a bright smile appeared on Theodore's lips. “Thank you. That relieves me.” He faced Claude again. “See, Your Grace? The person that knows me best here says that I'm not a tyrant. I trust Blanche fully, so I can be sure that she is telling the truth.”
The whole Vasquez family was visibly irritated by this strange behavior, but they hid it behind fake smiles again. Claude cleared his throat as he turned to the concubine with a mocking grin. “It's good to hear that Your Majesty trusts someone that much. You should be careful with that, Your Majesty. You never know who might betray you.” It was obvious that he was hinting at her connection to Sefare.
A cold shiver ran through Blanche's veins and left behind a strangely hot feeling of anger. She balled her fists and opened her mouth without thinking and barely closed it in time before any careless remarks might slip out. She hadn't been addressed by the others yet, so she had no right to talk to them. Aside from that, she would have voiced some very nasty things, so she was glad that she had managed to stop herself.
Theodore looked at her and gave her a soothing smile before speaking up. “I am aware of that. Ever since the assassination attempt on me after my coronation, I have been overly careful with whom I trust. There are only three people that I tell everything, and that is it. Does that seem careful enough?” He made a small paused and immediately continued when Claude attempted to answer. “Anyway, I am aware of the dangers around me and chose the person by my side with great caution. The way that my beloved family treated me only proved that this is a good idea, so do not worry.” He turned to his lover again. “We've been talking about you without allowing you to join in. That's disrespectful, isn't it? How about you greet the Vasquez family too?”
Blanche froze at that. A baroness couldn't simply go ahead and address a duke and his family. That would be more than impudent, and she definitely would get in trouble for that. Unless...it was the emperor's order. She glanced over at the Vasquez household and mentally noted that their shocked expressions were very amusing. She could embarrass them by acting like she had the right to greet them first, so this might be fitting revenge for Claude's comments. She had behaved worse while refusing to bow to the dowager empress. So, nothing could truly happen with Theodore at her side.
A few seconds passed until the concubine managed to choke down her uncertainty and talk with a fake smile. “I see. Then I will comply with your wish. Good afternoon, Your Graces.” She nodded towards the duke and the duchess, whose expression had changed from surprise to anger. Maybe she could infuriate them a bit more by just continuing though. “It is a pleasure to welcome you here into the palace. Has anything bad occurred on your way here? I sincerely hope that that wasn't the case. After all, we were all praying for your safe arrival.” She forced herself to sound as upbeat as possible, and apparently, her efforts paid off.
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Claude's face was completely scrunched up, and his wife was frowning deeply too. Luciano was the only one that didn't seem mad since he was watching his father with a hint of concern as if he expected to have to stop him, but he still wasn't allowed to speak since the emperor hadn't addressed him. It seemed like Theodore was purposefully not giving the son a chance to talk, which might be his way of getting revenge for their insults. Unfortunately, this ensured that no one from the Vasquez family began speaking.
An awkward silence followed since the duke and the duchess didn't wish to reply to the baroness' greeting as that would mean that they agreed with the suggested order of ranks.
Blanche was very sure that no response would follow even if they waited, and she was tempted to provokingly ask her lover whether she had done something wrong.
But before she could consider whether she truly wanted to upset the Vasquez family that much, Seraphina broke the silence. “It appears that the carriage ride was so unpleasant that they do not wish to talk about it, Lady Blanche. I shall give you all some wine as compensation for the trouble you experienced on your way here.” She raised her hand, and immediately, a servant appeared next to her. “Bring us wine from Travuan in six glasses. White and red, three of each.”
The maid rushed away before anyone could blink.
Selena finally opened her mouth again, and the mood was much different now. She seemed rather nervous and even began stammering a bit. “I, uhm... I do not wish to be disrespectful, but...”
The empress didn't let her finish. “You needn't worry. The wine is from the west near the mountains. The plants are grown with fresh water from the headwaters on top of the highest mountain there, which gives the grapes a specific flavor. I heard that you visited the northern coast of Travuan a while ago and that you spent a lot of time there. You should know how wonderful nature can be after your vacation. I am very fond of that wine, and since I have some experience with the finest drinks, I can assure you that it will be heavenly. A little glass of wine is perfect after a stressful journey, so please do accept my hospitality.”
The duchess looked at her husband for a moment and swallowed. It was very disrespectful to refuse the hosts' offer to drink with them. Especially since the empress had insisted. So, Selena was currently struggling to argue back. “Your Majesty, I would be honored to drink with the royal family. But I fear that I cannot consume alcohol due to my pregnancy. I would simply ask for another drink and join you then.”
Seraphina paused for a moment. “Oh, my. I forgot that. My apologies. But are you sure that you do not wish to try a sip? After all, alcohol would be calming after your carriage ride.” What was she saying? There was no way that a pregnant woman should make such exceptions. As someone who could have been pregnant by now, she should know that.
Selena began to panic a little. “No, I sincerely apologize, but I cannot risk anything harming my baby. The ride wasn't that stressful. In fact, nothing happened, so I do not need to calm down.”
The empress lifted her chin slightly, and her expression became a bit colder. “Oh? There weren't any occurrences?” She waited until the duchess hurriedly nodded before continuing. “I see. So, what was the reason you ignored Lady Blanche earlier?” Selena and Claude froze, but the empress resumed without batting an eye. “I assumed that you were unwilling to talk about your way here since it was too unpleasant. After all, you stayed quiet when she asked about it. If it wasn't the journey, there must be something else that concerned you, correct? Otherwise, you would not have ignored a polite greeting for no reason. Especially since His Majesty was the one to ask her to join the conversation.”
Theodore chimed in at that. “Those were my thoughts too. I was a bit taken aback by your boldness, so I was speechless. I guessed that your way here was stressful too. That would explain why Your Grace voiced so many insolent things today. If you were simply having a bad day, I would let it slide, but... Weren't there too many occurrences in these past months? About your stores? I remember there being something about tax evasion and identity theft as well as smuggling of illegal goods from Northern-”
Immediately, Claude's attitude changed. His eyes widened as if he realized that the emperor was talking about specific things and hurried to speak up. “We sincerely apologize for creating that impression. Of course, we did not mean to disrespect Your Majesty or Lady Blanche. We never broke any laws of the nation nor even considered doing so. I have to be honest. Our journey here, as well as the past weeks, were accompanied by a few accidents that we do not wish to mention. We fear that we might evoke a new problem. Still, these things have been on my mind, so I was careless. Please forgive my impudence, Your Majesty. A glass of wine, which the royal family praises nonetheless, would surely be nice.” He turned to his wife. “A little sip will not cause many problems. Even though you are pregnant, you should still have fun. Make an exception today. After all, your sister and nephew are here, and we'll see them soon.”
Selena paled at her husband's pathetic attempt of avoiding a conflict about the alcohol. “Darling... This isn't-”
Claude cut her off. “Just drink a sip of the wine. Her Majesty will be displeased otherwise, and we do not wish for that.” His voice had an underlying edge of finality as if he didn't intend on accepting a ‘no’. Would he truly endanger his own child's safety just to avoid Seraphina possibly being upset? That only made his priorities painfully clear.
Even though Blanche hated that family, the despair on Selena's expression made her pity the duchess. It only got worse when Luciano stepped closer to his father and looked like he intended to argue, only to be shut down with the wave of a hand.
At that moment, the maid arrived with a tray and six glasses, with each having red or yellowish liquid inside.
Theodore immediately took two drinks and handed his lover one. Everyone else also took a glass, except for Selena, who was still pleadingly looking at her husband, who evaded her gaze.
Blanche gritted her teeth at that and tugged at her lover's sleeve. She definitely wouldn't make a pregnant woman drink alcohol, even if there might not be any consequences at all. She was too uncertain about how severe the result could be, even though she knew that she was exaggerating when she already feared seeing someone lose their child again. As soon as the emperor looked down at her, she gestured to the remaining glass on the tray. “Can I have that one too? I didn't drink any wine for a while, so I would like to try both flavors.”
“Sure.” Theodore didn't even ask whether it would be fine for her to take the glass that had originally been for someone else. He just grabbed it and held it for her.
Selena's shoulders sank in relief as she realized that she wouldn't have to drink anything, and her eyes met the concubine's for a moment.
Blanche turned away immediately. She had no interest in the other woman believing that she was on her side. In fact, it was rather audacious for a baroness to take the drink of a duchess, so this could also be seen as an insult. She didn't care much. She still despised the whole family and didn't doubt that the younger child would be as frustrating as the older one, but an unborn baby couldn't be blamed for their relatives' personality. She had always felt that way in each scenario, and she wouldn't change her mind here.
Theodore lifted his glass. “Let us drink a toast to Artias. May the nation continue to flourish and develop in a wonderful direction so that all citizens can live here peacefully.”
The others mimicked his movement and agreed before taking a sip of the wine.
Blanche gulped down half of her glass and eyed the liquid. It was pretty good like Seraphina had said. There was a slight sweetness in the rich flavor of the wine, so this truly seemed to be of high quality. Still, she favored tea, so she usually didn't drink too much alcohol. Thus, she would have liked to avoid having to drink two glasses, but it couldn't be helped. As long as the other flavor was as tasty as this one, she would be fine.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
The white wine had a similar touch in its flavor, but it wasn't sweet at all and only bitter. It took all of her self-control not to gag and grimace, so she didn't even notice that she had wordlessly held the glass towards her lover. It was normal for them to exchange their food with one another in private so that she was used to handing him all the bitter things. When she noticed that doing this in public might not be such a good idea, she attempted to pull it back to her.
Unfortunately, Theodore had already put his hand around the glass and took it from her without paying attention to her staring at him. He lifted the glass to his mouth as if it was normal for him to simply drink the rest that she had left behind. “It really is a little bitter.” He gave her a soft smile before finishing the glass and putting the two empty containers back onto the tray while she watched in disbelief. “Ah, it was refreshing to drink together again. It's been a while, hasn't it?” He let his eyes roam across the people that were present and stopped at Luciano. He put on a surprised expression. “Now that I am thinking about it, I did not acknowledge you yet, Lord Vasquez. Good afternoon. The late greeting was not intentional. Please do not take it to heart.”
Luciano showed him a smile, and for some reason, it only seemed half as bright as usual. “I would not dare to misunderstand Your Majesty's intentions. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am glad to see that you are well despite the stressful occurrences of the past days.”
The emperor returned the smile and glanced at his lover. “Yes, the last days were very stressful. Thank you for worrying about that.”
In fact, the days ever since Blanche's arrival had been a bit unsettling because the couple had been waiting for the day that they would face their greatest enemy. At the same time, they hadn't done anything but cuddling though, so it wasn't that traumatic. The month without each other had been worse.
Theodore looked around the room for a moment. “Ah, it seems like the other guests are getting restless. We should visit them before they die of hunger. Maybe I should simply open the buffet now.” Seemingly, he didn't wish for Luciano to greet Blanche. She could live with that, but the other party couldn't.
Luciano hurried to add another greeting before they could withdraw. “I see. Then I will not bother you for long. I just want to wish Lady Blanche a nice evening. It is a pleasure to meet you here.”
The concubine forced herself to smile, even though she didn't enjoy the presence of anyone but Theodore here. “The pleasure is all mine. Good afternoon, Lord Vasquez.” She didn't intend on saying anything else but almost expected that Luciano would demand more of a conversation. After all, she usually had to deal with his upsetting comments quite often.
That made it rather surprising that Luciano kept his mouth shut completely. In fact, that wasn't the only thing that was odd about him today. Normally, Luciano always seemed rather smug and confident in what he was doing, but he didn't quite have that aura now. Instead, he more so seemed like he just went through this event like anyone else that wasn't happy about being here.
That confused Blanche a little. Claude was exhilarated to have his greatest allies back, which was the only logical reaction for the Vasquez family. Yet, Selena seemed a bit tired, which might be the case due to her pregnancy, and Luciano acted out of character. As the heir of the dukedom that would gain most from Cedar's reign, shouldn't Luciano be pleased by this? Why did he look far from happy instead?
Blanche found that odd, but she would rather bite her tongue than say anything. She felt like this was connected to how Luciano kept glancing past the others as if he was waiting for something. Was he impatient and wished to see the dowager empress and the prince quickly? Possibly. Blanche would also claim that she found some traces of worry on his face, but she didn't allow herself to question it when she knew that Luciano would never have sympathy for Theodore.
The following silence was a bit unpleasant, which quickly encouraged Theodore to speak up. “Then we...” He sounded like he wanted to announce their leave but stopped himself. “Now that I am thinking about it, I didn't ask you this yet.” He gave his usual fake smile again while staring right at Luciano. “Have you had the chance to interact with Cedar and the dowager empress in private already?”
Luciano was quick to respond without questioning why he had been asked specifically. “Of course. Mother couldn't help wishing to see her sister quickly. We did meet a few times ever since they returned to the capital. We were glad to see them in good health.” As he said that, his eyes wandered to the side again. He surely looked at the dowager empress and Cedar but quickly focused on the people in front of him again, his smile even weaker than before.
For a split second, Theodore's smile died down. “Well, I'm not sure whether I would call it that. They both changed, and I can easily tell that one of them is rather different from before. Not in a good way. I'm sure you would notice that too, Lord Vasquez.” He forced himself to act nicer again after that. “But it is good to hear that you didn't forget your family connections and value them deeply.” That was all he wanted to say, and he didn't force them to stay any longer. Theodore looked around to search for the Lamont family and let out a drawn-out “Ahh” when he found them. “There they are. I would like to excuse us for now. We need to entertain the other guests.”
In her mind, Blanche raised her fist in victory. With this, the most uncomfortable conversations would be finally over. The Lamonts would be calmer during such a time, so she had finished the hard part of the event.
The emperor bid the Vasquez family goodbye and left before allowing them to respond. Blanche imitated him, and it seemed like Seraphina did the same. While they left, she looked back once, only to find Claude showing a grimace of rage as his wife and son tried to calm him down. Luciano lifted his head in between and stared at the other end of the room, at his cousin and aunt. It didn't make the family seem as happy as they should be.
Blanche turned away and followed her lover to the next family. Still, it felt like there were eyes on her the whole time. She felt a shiver run down her spine and glanced back again with the expectation of finding Claude or Luciano staring at her. To her confusion, that wasn't the case. Luciano was fully focused on pacifying his father right now, and the duke was busy fuming.
Blanche had a bad premonition of who might be the ones watching them instead. She quickened her steps to catch up with her lover, which wasn't necessary since he was waiting for her anyway. Still, she rushed to his side and stayed there for the rest of the evening.