Blanche allowed herself to close her eyes for a few seconds and just ignored everything around her except for Theodore.
They would go out and visit the forest where they could be alone in the midst of nature. It might not be as beautiful as the coast in Ibela, but the area of the royal estate was a pretty sight as well. Still, the couple had never truly been there unless it had been for the hunting festival, so it would be a new experience to spend time there without the huge crowd of chatting nobles.
That made the concubine excited enough to wonder whether their original goal of relaxing would be fulfilled at all. When she opened her eyes again, she was more than ecstatic. “Are you ready to leave?”
The emperor's grin widened. “You sound like you can barely wait. That's good. I feel like going out too. The guards should already be waiting for us by the entrance. We can leave immediately. It looks like you're already dressed up too.”
Blanche nodded happily as she pulled away from his embrace to twirl around so that her skirt fluttered around her legs before grabbing his hand. “Do you recognize it?”
“Of course. This is the first outing dress that I gave you. It was about two months after we met, which only proves how rarely we go out.”
The concubine grinned as she slowly pulled her lover towards their destination. “I'm glad that you still remember that too. I always thought that it was weird for me to know exactly what gifts you gave me first. I connect a wonderful memory with everything you ever gifted me, but the first ones I received make me nostalgic whenever I see them.”
Theodore allowed her to guide him through the hallways and let her gush over his presents for a moment before speaking up himself. “Of course, you remember them all. I do too. But there is no need to be nostalgic when our life is still as beautiful as back then. I'm happy that you like my gifts this much though. That just gives me ideas for something else I could get for you.”
Blanche rolled her eyes as they climbed down the staircase to the first floor. “You know that you don't have to buy anything for me. I'm happy as long as you stay with me. That's all I need.”
Her lover gently stroked his thumb over her hand without caring for any of the countless servants that ran around the entrance hall and gawked at them while they passed by. “I'll gladly provide that. I promised you countless times, and I don't intend to break that promise. It's not like I could live without you anyway, so don't worry. I'll still buy you many gifts though.” When she turned to him to refute, he just shushed her. “You can't forbid the emperor from using his own money, can you?”
The concubine let out an exaggerated sigh, but a smile was already tugging at her lips. She still had qualms about possibly being seen as materialistic by her lover, but hiding her joy about the things he brought her was impossible too. As long as she didn't ask for anything herself, it should be fine.
Hopefully.
The couple reached the entrance door and left the palace. In front of the building, about two dozen knights and six servants were waiting and greeted the emperor by bowing. When they slowly rose their heads again, they stared at the two people in front of them like the couple had grown wings. They probably still found it a bit strange that a concubine was standing next to such an important man while they wanted to show him their respect. In the past, it had also seemed like they felt irritated knowing that she had taken the right to act normally around him despite only being a commoner. But by now, their gazes were only filled with curiosity and not hostility.
To Blanche's surprise, Theodore let go of her hand, but he quickly linked their arms, which allowed her to be closer to him, so she was content with that. But seeing the big crowd made her realize something else. She turned her head to her maid. “Stella, you said something about Angelica needing help with her work, didn't you? Enough people are accompanying us, so you might as well stay here if you want to.”
Stella was silent and averted her eyes. She took a moment before speaking. “I wouldn't dare to leave My Lady because of something like that.”
“But Angelica looked like she was really distressed, didn't she? In all honesty, it would worry me to leave her alone. So, I'll just tell you to check on her. Theo will be with me, and all the other servants are here too. It will be fine. You would just sit around anyway.”
Stella still hesitated for a small moment before she nodded. “Alright. I will tell you how she is doing later. Take care of yourself.”
Blanche gave her a bright grin. “I will. You too. I would bet that the kitchen is much more dangerous than the forest. There are so many knives there after all.”
Her maid couldn't help beaming either. “Those are only dangerous to you, My Lady. I'm still praying for your fingers every time you cook.”
The concubine pretended to sulk and waved her hand through the air. “I don't have to listen to such insults. Hurry to the kitchen.”
Stella nodded and ran back into the palace. Seemingly, the maid had been more concerned than she had admitted before. That made Blanche a bit proud. After all, she had successfully made sure that Angelica would get help and that her maid wasn't too distressed.
Theodore pulled her out of your thoughts. “What did she mean by saying that about the knives?”
Blanche chuckled at that. “You saw how I cut cake, didn't you? I'm awful with straight lines. I never manage to do it right. I did improve myself enough to slice off a piece of cake without taking my fingertips off, but whenever vegetables have to be cut, Stella takes them away from me.” She found that little story funny, but her lover just blankly stared at her.
“I should have guessed so. There's no way you would be able to cut things like that.”
She raised an eyebrow at that and would have liked to cross her arms, but she was still linking her arm with Theodore's. “What do you mean by that? I know I'm bad, but-”
“Oh, no. I didn't mean that. I wanted to say that it's obvious that your friends worry about your safety. It's good to hear that.” Theodore gave her a smile before facing their destination again. “Very well then. Shall we leave?”
Blanche nodded and allowed him to lead her down the staircase. The couple passed by the crowd, which was still gathered there, and walked towards the path they would take to reach the forest. The members of the staff didn't need long to position themselves around the couple so that the knights could form a circle around them and protect the others. The concubine was quiet for a moment and just watched the guards that were walking in front of them before turning to her lover and whispering. “You didn't greet them, did you? Normally, you always do that.”
The emperor took a few seconds before replying. “You didn't see me earlier, so you wouldn't know, but I already said hello. I visited them a few minutes before we were meant to leave. I didn't want to give them all instructions in front of you. After all, I spent about half an hour telling them that they have to be alert at all times.”
Blanche almost let out a laugh at that. “You really don't sign many documents anymore, do you? In the past, you used to take at least eight hours a day for that, and now you work for two hours and leave earlier anyway.”
“What can I say? I'm efficient. But let's not talk about work now.” Theodore pulled her a bit closer to him so that she could lean her head against his upper arm. “I want to use our time together by looking at what nature created and relax. The hunting grounds may not bring the best memories to me, but it's the closest part of our estate. We don't have to use a carriage like this.”
The concubine looked around without moving her head and admired their surroundings for a moment. A few trees were lining the path, but the flowers and bushes were more prominent. A few birds chirped, and occasionally, a rustle could be heard from the plants. It was already relaxing to walk to their destination. “I'm happy that we didn't use a coach. It's much more pleasant this way. Although, it's hard to believe that the royal estate is that big. I can't even see the borders of this territory.” While the area by the main entrance was closed off by the walls, the backside of the property didn't end there. Blanche had never truly paid attention to the fact that the garden might be big but rather tiny in comparison to all the land the royal family owned. “Isn't it hard to manage all of this?”
Theodore let out a deep breath. “That's fine. I don't deal with this after all. The steward does, and he is good at it, so I won't touch anything here. But I'm not that impressed by the size anymore. This estate always looked very big to me too, but now that those two are here, I would like to triple our lands and send them to the furthest border.” It didn't take her long to know whom he was talking about.
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She lowered her gaze to the floor and nuzzled against his side. “I keep forgetting that they are here.”
It had just been a murmur, but the emperor had heard her anyway. “It's good if you do. I wish I could do the same. None of them visited me during the last week, but I still can't get over them planning against us while I have to sit by idly. I should have chosen the less friendly approach from the very beginning.” He was giving his best to hide his rage, but the bitterness in his voice was undeniable.
Blanche quickly steered the conversation in another direction as she lifted her head to look at him. “I can imagine. But don't let them ruin your day. We want to relax, remember? So, we can't think about horrible people at all. We're just going to look around in the forest and have a picnic with nothing else on our minds. Apart from enjoying the food and cuddling, of course.”
Theodore gave her a soft smile. “You're right. We left the palace for once, so we should use every second. We'll be there in a minute, and then we can decide on a nice spot and put down our blanket there. And we could already pull out our first desert. I asked the servants to bring macarons.”
That only lifted the concubine's spirits even more. She leaned against him again and hummed a short melody quietly so that only her lover would hear her.
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They arrived at their destination much quicker than she had expected. The area almost didn't seem familiar to her. It looked too different without all the tents, the podium and without the crowds of nobles that were gossiping or boasting with their results from the hunt. The only part of the glade that Blanche recognized was the one where Luciano and Sefare had confronted her, and that didn't evoke any positive memories in her.
So, she chose the other side of the glade, where they sat down under a tree that shielded them from the sun without blocking the warmth completely. The servants hurriedly spread out a blanket and put down the two baskets with the food before leaving to take a seat with some distance to them. Some knights searched the forest for unknown inhabitants or intruders while the rest of them stayed by the glade and circled the couple. Still, they left enough space so that the emperor and his lover could talk without them hearing anything.
The concubine didn't need to think about what to do first when Theodore presented her the macarons, so they began eating. The small tarts were gone after a few minutes. Still, Blanche was content with this and lay down on the blanket to rest her head on her lover's lap. She stared up at the treetops that were slowly swaying in the gentle breeze and the blue sky while enjoying the massage her scalp was given. She only stopped her lover when her eyelids began to get heavy. “If you continue like this, I will fall asleep.” Blanche sat up with a sudden surge of energy and immediately had to lean against the emperor again as the world was spinning around her.
Theodore chuckled at that and put his arms around her. “Don't sit up that fast. You were lying for a long time, so you need to go slow.”
Blanche reached up to comb her fingers through his hair. “I noticed that already. How about telling me earlier next time?”
“Why would I when not saying anything will make you come back to cuddle with me?”
The concubine shuffled closer to her lover so that she could rest her back against his chest and glanced over her shoulder. “I would have done that anyway. I'm not going to run away.”
Theodore pressed a kiss onto her forehead, which she gladly accepted. “I know you won't. You've always been right by my side. My sweet angel would never leave me behind ”
“Of course I won't. I-” Just as she was about to voice another overly romantic promises, which would definitely make Leon gag, she spotted something colorful from the corner of her eyes. She whipped her head to the side, and immediately, a wide smile lit up her face. She crawled to the edge of the blanket and inspected the sea of flowers that was covering a good portion of the glade.
There were many different kinds, and most of them had long stalks, which would make them perfect for what she had in mind. A simple memory from her childhood was enough to excite her enough to try it out, even though she hadn't done anything like this in years.
Blanche jumped to her feet and began picking flowers while giving her best to only take ones from the area where a lot of other ones were. She didn't want to ruin the wonderful imagery after all. When she was sure that she had enough, she returned to the blanket and sat down to face her lover, who was watching her with a soft smile. “Look. I'll make you something pretty in return for all the gifts you get me. This will be much more beautiful than everything you've seen in the last months.”
The corners of Theodore's lips tugged, which already made her guess what he would say before he even spoke up. “I don't think that anything can compare to you.”
Blanche raised an eyebrow at him, which was more to hide how her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Even after all the time with him, his compliments still took away her breath, so she had to stay quiet for a moment while her brain struggled to come up with something she could voice in return. “That you, as the most handsome man in this entire nation, say that is encouraging.”
Her lover raised his hand to stroke over the side of her face, and she tilted her head to lean into him. “I'm glad that you feel like that. You're the only one for me, so you can proudly state that all of me belongs to you.”
If anyone heard her say that, she would be accused of being more than just a little impudent. Voicing something that sounded like anyone had any right to claim the emperor would definitely cause an uproar, even more so if he didn't complain.
“You're supposed to be the most powerful man in Artias. You can't just say that you belong to another person.”
The corners of Theodore's lips lifted. “Of course I can. And I will over and over again. Not in public though. For now, you seem to be too uncomfortable for that.” Even his jokes were going a bit far, but as long as he didn't voice something like this in front of the empress or other nobles, she didn't particularly mind. Either way, she wouldn't discuss it with him. She knew how stubborn her lover was, so she had no chance of convincing him anyway.
Instead of trying something impossible, Blanche would rather focus on the task she had to fulfill. She took his hand in hers and pressed a kiss onto it before letting go. “You're right. So, don't say it in front of others at all. I still adore hearing it, but it's better if it's just the two of us. As compensation, I will create a small gift for you. You have to be patient though. I need to figure out how to do it again.”
Theodore pouted at that. “How unfair. Do you know how hard being ignored by you is? How will I be able to stand such a long time without cuddling with you?”
She didn't bother to point out that they had been forced to be apart for much longer countless times already. “I'll make it worth your while, I promise. I just need a few minutes.” At least if she managed to do it after such a long time.
Blanche lowered her gaze to the blanket and stared at the flowers. How was she supposed to start again? She gave her best to remember what her mother had told her, but she struggled to come up with the first steps. Surely, Theodore wouldn't know how to do it either, and she didn't want his help for something that she wanted to give him. It was just a small gift, and in reality, it would be completely useless and wither in a couple of days, but she would like to do it herself anyway.
Blanche randomly picked up three flowers and held them together while moving them around until a motion looked like it could fit. She took two attempts before managing to tie them together. She muttered a “Yes” under her breath and focused on adding another flower to the string. The concubine had no clue about how the knots were supposed to look, but her hand just moved automatically, and within a few minutes, she had a long chain of flowers.
She rose to her knees with a triumphant grin to hold it against Theodore's head. It was almost like she had had his measurements in mind while making her creation, so she would only have to tie the ends together now. This took a bit longer, but after a moment, she finally held the finished flower crown in her hand and proudly presented it to her lover. “I knew it! I didn't forget how to do this.” With a smirk, she bowed her head and held it towards him. “Would the emperor be kind enough to accept the crown that grants him the title of being the king of my heart?”
When she looked up again, her lover was still smiling at her like he had done the whole time while she had been busy making the flower crown. Theodore moved towards her and brought his face so close to hers that she expected a kiss. But he just stared into her eyes for a moment before lowering his head. “I shall gladly receive such an honorable title. Please grant me one wish though.”
Blanche grinned at the fact that her lover was acting way too well in comparison to her. She couldn't even hold back a wide smirk, and he was smiling so gracefully as if he was truly getting crowned. “Naturally. What is it that you desire?”
The emperor lifted his gaze to her, and within a second, his soft expression was wiped away and replaced with a mischievous smirk. “You.” She almost choked on the air when he voiced that without a second of hesitation. But in contrast to her, he wasn't speechless at all. He rose to one knee and supported his weight with his foot and bowed to her. “If you are the one to put this crown onto my head, you will have to take responsibility for it. Are you prepared for that?”
Blanche felt her heart pounding as she tried to push away the thoughts of this almost looking like a proposal. She shook her head to herself before hurrying to put the flower crown on top of his hair. “I am. I will take full responsibility for letting you steal my heart.”
“Good.” Theodore lifted his head and took her hand to lead it to his mouth. “After all, you'll have to be my queen now.” He planted a gentle kiss onto the backside of her hand, which made her question her sanity.
Blanche was definitely too excited because of such a small gesture. But it wasn't like she could do anything when her throat was dry and her heart pounded so quickly that it felt like it might jump out of her chest. “I will. The flower king needs a queen after all.”
Her lover gave her another smile that made her melt. “Not just any queen. You.”
Blanche leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. He was way too good at filling her with bliss until she couldn't stay away from him anymore. So, she grasped the backside of his shirt to not accidentally destroy his crown and allowed herself to fall forward.
He seemed to have expected that though and caught her with no effort. He wrapped his arms around her and took over the kiss that she had begun until she felt like wax in his hands. When he eventually decided to release her, she struggled to catch her breath while he rested his forehead against hers.
Theodore watched her the whole time until she managed to calm down a bit again before whispering into her ear. “I love you. We'll stay together for eternity.”
The concubine still couldn't talk, so she nodded as strongly as she could with him cupping her face. It was almost scary how speechless he left her whenever they were together. That she was this affected by him despite almost being with him for two years was odd. To others, the couple had to seem very strange in general. They were always touching each other and had no problem doing this if others were there too except for when nobles were present.
That thought made Blanche's heart jump for another reason. She had completely forgotten that they weren't alone here. She whipped her head to the side and almost grimaced at all the people that were staring at them. Most didn't even try to hide it, which was very odd to her, but at the same time, their gazes weren't as bad as in the past. Right now, it didn't seem like many observed them with anger or disgust. Most were curious, some were embarrassed and some even grinned and chatted like they found the couple adorable.
The concubine's cheeks tinted red at that, and she quickly covered her lover's hands on her cheeks with her own. By now, her whole face was probably flushed, and she didn't want to show that to the staff. Why weren't those people busying themselves with something? Wasn't it boring to watch two people cuddle all day? At some point, their curiosity had to be sated, and that the emperor had a concubine wasn't a new story.
Theodore didn't even look around to check on the members of the staff at all though. He just continued to grin at her before leaning forward to steal another kiss. Of course, she accepted this one too. Luckily, he let her go earlier this time so that she was still able to breathe when they finished.