Blanche had hoped for a relaxing morning the next day, but she was woken up by a knocking on the door. She groaned and shuffled around a bit before nuzzling her face into her lover's chest. Yet, she didn't manage to block out the sound for long. She was about to yell at that person to come back later when she realized that she was in the emperor's room. When someone was wishing to talk to her, it could usually wait, but her lover wouldn't be able to postpone anything urgent.
And the hurried way that this person knocked on the door made it seem like it was urgent.
The concubine let out a quiet whine before forcing herself to open one eye.
She wasn't even fully awake yet when Theodore already sat up and pulled her with him. He gave her a few seconds so that she could sit comfortably and still lean against him before kissing her forehead. “Good morning.”
She returned the greeting in a much more drowsy manner, which made him chuckle and kiss her again.
Then he turned his head to the door and raised his voice. “What?”
The reply from outside sounded like it was Leon, who was rather distressed despite it not even being ten o'clock. “Your Majesty, I apologize for the disturbance, but a guest is here. His Royal Highness, the second prince wants to see you.”
Theodore was quiet for a moment before lying down again. “No.”
Blanche looked at him with widened eyes as he pulled her down with him and cuddled them into the blankets again.
A short silence followed before Leonard spoke up. “What do you mean by that? You can't just say no. At least give a fake reason why you're busy. I can come up with one for you, but it would be better if you just choose one and tell me.”
The emperor sighed and ran his fingers through his lover's hair. “I said no. I don't want to see him, and I don't have a reason except for not wishing to ruin my day with his disgusting face. Tell him that.”
“Your Majesty.” Leonard's voice had a warning edge now. “As much as I would like to convey those exact words, you know that I can't do that. He said that he wouldn't leave until he is sure that you and Lady Blanche are safe.”
Theodore's grip around his concubine tightened at that, and he began growling in a low voice. “That bastard. Tell him to go to the third floor, and throw him out of the window. Or...” He froze and slowly a grin spread across his face. “No. Tell him that I will come to see him. But since we are deeply scarred by yesterday's incident, we will take a few minutes longer. We still need to see the doctor after all. So, he can sit down in one of the seating rooms and wait for a little while. Give him some poppy-seed cake and coffee. He adored both of those things as a child. Let's see if that is still the case.”
His amusement was audible in his voice so that Leon quickly understood. “I will. Take your time.”
As soon as a few seconds passed and the secretary didn't say anything else, Theodore pulled the blankets up again and kissed his lover. “Close your eyes. We'll sleep again for a bit.”
Blanche didn't know whether she should be shocked because of his solution or laugh. “Is that really fine? I mean, Cedar is a member of the royal family. Letting him wait is a bit... Well, you're the emperor, so it doesn't matter. He will still be angry.”
Theodore grinned at her. “That's why I'm doing this. If I'm lucky, he will get sick of waiting and leave. If not, he will still waste his time here. I should just tell him that a sudden issue requires my immediate attention so that I can only say two sentences to him before returning to my office.”
Blanche gave up on thinking about this. “That sounds good.” She moved her limbs into a cozy position before closing her eyes. “So, we will slowly get up in two hours and then see him?”
“First, we have to eat breakfast. No one should leave their room without having eaten a good meal. Then we will call the doctor just for show and get dressed. After that, I will go downstairs, and you will stay here.”
The concubine lifted her head when she heard that. “Wouldn't it be better if I go with you? We want to show them that I'm on your side after all. So, we will have to appear together in front of them. I would like to make it clear that there is nothing that could separate us.”
Her lover stayed silent to ponder over that for a moment. “Alright. But only under one condition.”
She nodded before he had even continued, but he explained it anyway.
“I'll show him that you are fully on my side. That means that we'll cuddle the whole time and only have eyes for each other. If you are uncomfortable with that, it would be better to wait here. You could also go into the kitchen and bake.”
Of course, Blanche would be uncomfortable when they would meet his brother. Yet, the answer was clear. “I can assure you that being in his presence makes me want to throw up. But I still have to show on which side I am. I will help you take them on, so I have to deal with seeing them a few times. If it's in a safe environment, it will be easier to get used to it. I don't want to openly grimace when I interact with them in public after all.”
Theodore nodded as he slowly guided her head down again. “Then we'll put on a show for him. Trust me. He'll want to gouge out his eyes after. But for now, let us catch up on our sleep.”
The concubine didn't believe that she would sleep again for one second, but surprisingly, she quickly became drowsy and fell unconscious.
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The next time Blanche awoke, it was a few minutes before twelve, and her lover was already planting kisses all over her face. They took their time getting dressed and ate slower than normal before climbing down the stairs.
Earlier, Blanche had been very vocal about wanting to help her lover and not caring about anything else, but now she was getting a bit nervous. She despised Cedar, so why had she believed that this was a good idea? She considered asking Theodore whether she could still change her mind but didn't do it in the end. Since she had promised to be by his side, she wouldn't go against that.
She would have to face his enemies at some point, and it was better if her lover was with her the whole time. His presence made her feel safe. Still, her heart was beating rapidly when they approached the door, and she clung to the emperor's arms before he could even say anything.
Theodore smiled at her and ruffled through her hair. “I'm here. Stay with me the whole time and don't worry about being disrespectful. He won't drop his friendly facade no matter what. I would still ask you to be on guard.”
Blanche nodded and grabbed him a bit tighter before taking a deep breath. She expected her lover to knock, but he opened the door without any warning and did it quite loudly too.
Cedar was sitting on one of the sofas and jolted at the sudden noise. Instinctively, he looked at them with a much too attentive gaze, which seemed extremely out of place on his face, while he reached for something. But it only took one second for him to recognize the others. His smile became much wider again as he lowered his hands and waited for his brother to speak up first.
That was enough to make Blanche's disgust come back immediately. Seeing that person's face made her want to throw up even though he hadn't said anything yet. And still, that reaction made her stomach churn. If the prince reacted to surprises like this, he probably hadn't had too many pleasant ones.
Theodore didn't seem to have any desire to allow his brother to speak. He stepped inside without a word and led his concubine to the couch on the other side of the small table before plopping down and pulling her onto his lap.
After that, all of them were quiet. The longer the silence went on, the more uncomfortable it got, but Cedar's grin didn't falter once. He didn't try to begin either and just patiently waited.
After some time had passed, the emperor eventually spoke up. “You're awfully quiet today. Didn't you ask me to meet you? You could at least greet me.”
The prince chuckled quietly. “Good day, Theodore. I would never dare to address the ruler of our nation first. It is an honor that you allow me to call you by something else than your title, so I insist on some formalities. But I have to say that I'm truly thankful that you are welcoming me here. I was already worried that I came too early, but after that horrible incident yesterday, I couldn't wait any longer. I had to confirm whether you and Lady Blanche were alright.” He turned to the concubine. “Mother and I were so worried that we could barely sleep last night. So, I hope that you will excuse my sudden appearance. I wish you a wonderful day, Lady Blanche.” His mother had probably fumed because the emperor wasn't dead instead of being worried, but saying that didn't seem like a good response.
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Blanche thought about not answering at all, but that seemed a bit too insolent to her too. She despised that man, but he was still the second prince, so she couldn't overdo it. “I hope that the same holds true for you. We appreciate your visit, but you should come later in the future. We were still sleeping when you arrived, so we didn't even notice.”
Theodore rested his chin on her shoulder and hummed in affirmation. “We took our time and ate breakfast and visited the doctor first. Only then, a servant told us that you were here. If I had known that earlier, we would have been here way quicker. Please overlook it this time. I asked the staff to bring you some snacks because I felt bad, but it seems like you aren't hungry. You haven't eaten any of it.”
Cedar continued to beam as he folded his hands. “I apologize for that. I did not mean to be impolite, but I did not wish to begin without you. That would have been very disrespectful after. I already ate a little in the mansion with Mother, but if you wish to join me, I would be more than happy to take a few bites anyway. After seeing that you were fine, I might finally be able to swallow something.”
The prince surely knew his way with words. Those sugary phrases were so fake that they almost made Blanche consider imitating gagging noises, but she held back.
Theodore replied as his lover just leaned against him and relaxed as much as she could with the prince here. “Oh, that's a shame. We just ate too. I'll ask a servant to pack those things so that you can eat them at home.”
Cedar responded with a wide grin. “That would be very kind of you. I will take the poppy-seed cake, but the coffee would be hard to transport.” He leaned forward and took the cup off the table.
Theodore's expression fell when he saw that. “Cedar, you don't have to-”
Cedar drank a few sips while completely ignoring his brother. He took his time drinking half of the coffee before he put it back. “It's as delicious as expected of the royal palace. Thank you for your hospitality.” For a moment, it was silent, and Cedar just kept beaming at the couple. Then his smile faded too slowly to seem realistic, and he put on an expression of concern. “I would like to avoid reminding you of that, but I cannot help it. What exactly happened yesterday? The message that the emperor had been attacked reached us in the late evening, and I almost departed to visit you immediately. I didn't want to bother you after such a horrifying day though. So, I hoped that you would have had enough time to calm down a little bit by now. Were you able to identify the perpetrators?”
Theodore still seemed to be a bit taken aback by what had happened a moment ago, but he quickly caught himself. He rubbed his cheek against Blanche's, and she gave him a kiss in return. He waited for a few seconds before speaking up. “Unfortunately not. I believe that two of the attackers were brothers with brown hair, but that is all I remember. I did not wish to kill them, but after a long fight, both of them were, sadly, wounded and died after a few minutes. Without Blanche, I wouldn't have been able to calm down after that. She consoled me the whole time even though she had almost been hit with an arrow.”
Cedar was silent for longer than normal before he replied. “That is awful. You're lucky that nothing bad happened. Are there any injured knights?”
“No. Our men are prepared for emergencies. They don't have any trouble getting rid of insects.” Theodore purposefully voiced this with so much disgust in his voice that it was obvious that the insult was directed at his brother too.
But instead of being offended, Cedar began beaming again. “Thank the gods. If I know that my family is being protected by so competent people, I can't help being calmed. But the issue that someone from outside managed to break into the royal estate worries me greatly. Catching the responsible ones is the first priority now. We need to make sure that the citizens of Artias understand that attacking the emperor will not do them any good. It's obvious that we stand united behind you, but I would also like to emphasize that we will do anything in our power to find the guilty ones and put them on trial. We could never forgive someone for attempting to harm the royal family. For this reason, we would like to offer our aid in the investigation. We do not have many people, but there are some very intelligent ones among them. So, please consider involving them. I can vouch for their loyalty.” Which meant that they were definitely not on the emperor's side.
Theodore replied before Blanche could voice a snarky comment. “No, but thank you for the offer. I already put together the investigation team, and I can assure you that they don't need any help. So, you can be calmed. We might not find the perpetrators yet, but we will definitely fight until they are brought to justice.”
Cedar picked up his cup and grinned. “That is good to hear. I will look forward to that.” He drank a sip of the liquid and set it back down on the table without letting his smile fade. “Since you seem to have everything under control, I won't get involved anymore. The only thing that still concerns me is that you had to go through such awful things. I can see that you are able to withstand that, but I worry about Lady Blanche.” He looked at her and gave her a fake smile of sympathy. “I can only imagine a small part of the fear you must feel now. But don't worry. The royal family is here to protect you. No one here would let you get hurt. So, you can rely on us even when Theodore might not always be there.”
Theodore, who still narrowed his eyes at the fact that his brother kept sipping the coffee, chimed in before Blanche could respond. “Oh, I don't have the slightest intention of leaving her side. We'll be together forever, no matter what happens. No one, and by that I mean absolutely no one, will ever get between us. Do you understand? I will crush anyone that would even dare to think about that.”
Blanche saw that he faked a grin as well while he said this, but the warning undertone in his voice made it obvious that he was voicing a threat. She took it on herself to add something to that as well. “Exactly. And we'll protect each under until the very last second. Loyalty matters most to us.”
Cedar's smile widened, and it looked so genuine that it was irritating. “The both of you are adorable together, if I may say so. I never thought that my brother was very interested in romance, but apparently, he can't think about anything else anymore. It seems that he took after Father in this regard. But that's understandable since he has such an enchanting woman by his side as well.”
Normally, compliments were supposed to make a person happy. When others praised Blanche, she was embarrassed but content nonetheless. Now she just felt her stomach churn though. She would have liked to move even closer to her lover, but that was impossible. So, she just wrapped her arms around his that kept her in place. “Thank you. But I'm not really anything special.”
Cedar laughed. “You must be joking. Haven't you heard?” He crossed his legs and propped his elbow on the backrest of the sofa to lean his head against his hand. “Everyone in the capital, no, in Artias is talking about you. The love story between the emperor and an unknown girl that suddenly appeared out of nowhere is fascinating to the whole nation. They are all hoping for a happy ending, especially the commoners that seem to adore hearing about you. Of course, people also want to find out where that mysterious woman that melted the emperor's heart came from though.” Cedar returned to his original sitting position again and leaned forward. “You hinted that at the last party and said that there was a reason that you couldn't use your last name and weren't able to explain how you entered the palace. I'm very curious. You promised that you would tell me in private. We're not truly alone, but this works too. Where does the famous Lady Blanche come from?”
The concubine bit the inside of her cheek as she held back a few less kind comments. She didn't want to tell that man. Especially since he was probably, no, definitely aware of the truth. She would just lie to Theodore again while everyone else in the room knew very well that she didn't have amnesia. But she didn't have anything that she could use as a reason not to tell the prince, and she was aware that he wouldn't let this go so easily.
Blanche had no choice. Still, the words were bitter in her mouth. “Unfortunately, I do not have any memories from before meeting Theo. I only know that I woke up in the pavilion and didn't have a clue where I was or who I am. I only remembered my first name. But that didn't help me find out how to get to a home that I didn't have any recollection of. I got scared and cried. Then Theodore found me and consoled me. He allowed me to stay here as long as I wanted. And since we fell in love after the first second of eye contact, I'm still here.”
Cedar gave her a fake expression of sympathy that made her want to turn away. “I see. That is dejecting. There might be a family searching for you somewhere, and you wouldn't know. You see, there are doctors with us that my brother never consulted. You could have them take a look at you if you desire. They might be able to help. It would not change anything about your life here, but you might reunite with your family.”
Blanche put on a grin that only hid her boiling anger. That man knew exactly that her parents and siblings were dead and still dared to say something like that. “No, thank you.” She almost spat out these words. “I am very happy with the current situation, so you don't have to be worried. My instinct tells me that I will be better off staying here with no memories.”
“That is unfortunate. Just know that my offer is still in effect. Whenever you need any help with anything, you can come to me or Mother. We will gladly assist you in your endeavors.”
Theodore chimed in, which was rather fitting since the concubine might have grabbed a cup and thrown it at that infuriating mockery of a genuine smile across from her otherwise. “Oh, how kind you are. I don't think that your mother would be very happy about that though. You know how she is with strangers, especially women. She can get defensive easily. Whom she considered a stranger is based on a very vague description too. So, don't risk getting into a fight with her. Leave taking care of Blanche to me. She is my lover after all.”
Cedar made a dismissive motion with his hand. “Mother would never push away a lovely young lady like Blanche. She would be glad to help her reach her full potential. But I understand what you worry about. She is quite will-strong at some points. But you do not need to worry. I won't force anything on you. After all, Lady Blanche must be allowed to make her own decisions. Who would I be to talk for her? And everyone is aware of the fact that you two are madly in love. You didn't really intend on hiding it, did you? It almost makes me feel bad for Her Majesty, who has to watch her husband devoting his life to another woman. But of course, love is more important than anything else, right? I think that you are a wonderful couple, and I don't doubt that you will give your best to protect Lady Blanche.”
The words were too kind. That already gave away that something else would follow.
The prince's smile widened a bit, and there was a glint in his eyes that sent shivers down the concubine's spine. “But situations can change. So, I thought that it was important for her to know that we are on her side as well. After all, you are only human as well and might be unable to stay with her the whole time. If something like that ever happens, I will be glad to keep her company until you return. So, you don't have to worry, Theodore. A family is supposed to help each other.” He was good at faking a friendly personality, but this sounded like a threat too, just because it was coming from him.
Theodore let out a laugh and pressed a kiss on Blanche's cheek. “I don't intend on leaving any time soon. So, you can sit back for now. Your concern is touching nonetheless. I will be sure to repay it when the moment arises.” He paused for a few seconds before glancing at the clock. “Oh, how quickly the time passes. We would like to stay here a bit longer, but sadly, there is an important matter that I need to tend to.”
Cedar's grin looked like he was full of amusement when he replied. “I would never dare to keep you from working. You can come back later to join Lady Blanche and me when you are finished. While you are busy, she can surely take care of your guest.”
Blanche wanted to yell that that wouldn't happen in a million years, but thankfully, Theodore spoke before she did. “I might not have been specific enough. Obviously, she is involved in that same matter too. So, you cannot stay any longer. Letting you roam across the hallways the whole time would just be cruel, wouldn't it?”
Cedar let out a deep breath and observed the couple for a second before opening his mouth. “That is unfortunate. But don't worry, I will just visit you soon again, Theodore.” Those words sounded like they were laced in sweet poison.
The emperor stood up and lifted his lover with him. Blanche prepared to set her feet on the ground, but while he moved, he put an arm under her legs and stabilized her back with the other. He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and gave his brother a wide grin. “Feel free to come whenever you are free. I can't guarantee that we will have enough time to greet you though. I am a very busy person, and Blanche can't spare a lot of time either. But I'm sure that we'll see each other again anyway. Much sooner than we would expect. Goodbye.”
Cedar waved to them without rising to his feet. “Of course, we will. I hope that the rest of your day will be as enjoyable as our meeting. Goodbye, Theodore. Goodbye, Lady Blanche.”
Theodore didn't say anything but spun around and brought his lover to the door. The concubine glanced over his shoulder for a moment and regretted it immediately.
The prince's eyes were trained onto them, and he gave her a smile that was a little fainter than normal. That was enough to make it seem disturbing.
She averted her eyes and tightened her hold on the emperor's neck. Her whole body except for her legs, which were covered by her dress, and her shoulders should be hidden behind her lover. Still, she felt as if Cedar's gaze was piercing through her. As if he could pick up each of her weaknesses and easily use them against her. She shivered.
She had hoped that she would eventually get used to that man so that she wouldn't be intimidated just by being in his presence, but that was impossible. Even the thought of that person made her uncomfortable. He was worse than anyone else she had met, and she didn't know why. Maybe because a part of her brain told her that he probably wouldn't be a bad person if this whole conflict for the crown didn't exist. Still, the rest of her brain warned her. So, she would listen to her instinct nevertheless.