As always, Evelyn seemed to be eager to address old matters that just caused trouble. This time, she complained about Blanche knowing a lot about childcare and just had to comment on it again. “But that is just a coincidence, correct? It could not possibly be because of the topic we had at the hunting festival. Did you perhaps not tell the truth on that day, or are you trying to change what you responded with then?”

Blanche only took a moment to remember the embarrassing discussion about her being pregnant. Why was the other woman talking about this matter again? There wasn't anything that would indicate that the concubine was carrying a child. “If you are referring to the sudden question you asked me back then, I can assure you that my response was truthful. And that didn't change until now.”

Seraphina quickly understood what they were talking about as well, and her expression became colder as she gave Evelyn a warning glare. The others at the table appeared to comprehend too, except for Sophia's husband and Madeleine.

A couple of seconds of silence followed, in which one could have heard a pin drop.

Then Madeleine cleared her throat. “So... It's clear that you do not wish to talk about that topic, but I am a bit lost. I heard that you were sharing a table during the hunting festival. What did you discuss that was this...distressing?”

Sophia replied faster than her mother and sister. “Oh, right. You weren't there. Aunt was a bit unrestrained on that day. There were a few rumors about Lady Blanche being pregnant, so she asked her.”

Madeleine choked on her tea and whipped her head around to the concubine. “You are pregnant, Lady Blanche?” She had definitely spoken too loudly just now.

Elaine and Sophia lifted their index fingers to their mouths at the same time while Seraphina spoke up. “Please be quieter so that we don't spread any unnecessary gossip.”

Madeleine lowered her gaze and muttered an “I'm sorry.” She stared at the table for a moment before looking up again and seemed a bit concerned. “So, Lady Blanche is pregnant?”

The concubine's cheeks were already burning up, and she fought the urge to hide her face in her hands. Hopefully, none of the servants had heard this, or the rumors would spiral out of control. “No, I'm not. Like I said. I wasn't back then, and until now, that didn't change. I am a bit confused as to why this subject is addressed constantly.”

Seraphina glanced at her as if she wanted to say something about this, but she kept quiet. At least for a moment before speaking again. “It is disrespectful to ask about such personal matters regularly. I apologize for Lady Lemares, who seems to be awfully curious about Lady Blanche's personal life for some reason.” Those words were dripping with annoyance.

Normally, every sane person would be intimidated by this, but Evelyn seemed to have lost her mind. She replied with a taunting smirk. “Of course, I care. This might shape the future of our nation after all. I mean, we still need a royal heir. If one woman in the palace got pregnant, this might be a good sign for Your Majesty too.”

What? The concubine surely hadn't expected that. Normally, Evelyn should have held back her insults until she had been convicted of her crimes. Why was she starting trouble now?

It was obvious that Seraphina was burning with anger at this, but she kept herself under control. “I would kindly ask you to quit acting like this, Lady Lemares. I may have been lenient in the past, but from now on, I won't make a difference between you and strangers. I do not care that you are my mother's sister when you keep addressing issues that do not concern you. Apologize this instant, or I will have you escorted home.”

Elaine added her part before even allowing Evelyn to reply. “What has gotten into you?” She narrowed her eyes. “To not only treat Lady Blanche this impolitely but to also insult Seraphina, your own niece and a member of the royal family. You are supposed to be a tutor for etiquette. How come you can't even deal with a normal tea party?”

Evelyn leaned back and crossed her fingers as she watched the others with a seemingly indifferent expression. Her eyes were full of hatred that flickered directly under the surface though, which proved that she was truly about to snap. “If I remember correctly, I didn't insult anyone. I only said that Her Majesty hasn't given birth yet. It should be obvious that we need an heir to continue the royal bloodline and who aside from the empress would carry that child? A commoner that was picked up from the streets? Don't make me laugh.” Evelyn let out an unamused laugh before continuing. “His Majesty might be temporarily blinded by someone's appearance, but he isn't stupid. He will throw away his plaything sooner or later, and then we will be without a future ruler. So, Her Majesty will have to take action soon, or she might be too old to have a child. I truly don't understand what His Majesty is thinking right now that would make him keep someone like this here.” She eyed Blanche with obvious disgust.

It was clear that every single person at the table had to say something about that, but just as they began to speak, a person from beside the table raised their voice.

Stella stood directly next to Evelyn and glared at her with fury. She was balling her fists as if she was holding back from pouring tea over the other woman, but she forced herself to speak quietly. “If you are curious about that, how about you ask him yourself?” She extended her arm and pointed toward the staircase.

Blanche whipped her head around, and all of her anger changed into shock upon seeing her lover there.

Theodore wasn't too far away from them and had already reached the bottom of the staircase. He met his concubine's gaze with a bright smile and approached the table.

The atmosphere had changed in an instant. Evelyn was suddenly scared, and all the others seemed to be uncomfortable as well. No one dared to move or utter a single word.

Stella merely stepped away so that she stood a few steps behind her mistress' chair and stopped there to glare at Evelyn.

The emperor came to a halt next to the table with a smile still etched into his face. Still, his eyes were scanning the situation with so much concentration that it seemed like he was able to read everyone's minds. The people at the table rose to their feet and curtsied, with the only man bowing and Seraphina keeping her upright position. Theodore waited a few seconds before speaking up. “Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to meet you here. I did not wish to interrupt the conversation, but I wanted to bring something as well. Congratulations on the birth of a healthy daughter, Lord and Lady Ravillot. May she live a happy and long life with many loving people around her under the gods' protection.”

Sophia, who quickly forgot the tension from before, showed him a bright grin. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Your words are enough to fill us with joy.”

Her husband was a bit tenser as he nodded. “Indeed. It is an honor to receive Your Majesty's blessing. We will be forever grateful.”

Theodore gestured to the servant behind him. “Words aren't all I brought today. This is a little gift from the royal family to you. You need to open it at home though.”

The couple thanked him once more, and especially Sophia was shining like the sun.

Blanche watched while the emperor greeted the other people there. She couldn't help grinning when he eyed Evelyn a bit longer so that the woman cowered in her chair. A part of her was malicious enough to consider voicing what that person had just said, but somehow, it felt like Theodore was already pretty furious. Besides, she didn't doubt that Seraphina had one or two things to tell Evelyn after this too. Blanche could add even more trouble by involving Theodore, and she might end up doing that in a while so that Evelyn would be punished twice. For now, she held back though.

When Theodore was finally done exchanging polite phrases with the others, he turned to his lover. “Please feel free to sit down again. And was the party fun until now?” What was she supposed to say to that? He hadn't even greeted her and made it obvious that they had already met today with this.

So, Blanche would have to try to respond in a way that didn't underline this even more. After everyone had sat back down, she looked up at her lover and gave him a small smile. “It was very amusing. Grace is adorable, so how could a party for her not be perfect?”

The emperor smiled at that and looked at Sophia. “And did your daughter enjoy the gifts? There seem to be quite a few here.”

Sophia nodded happily. “Of course. I am very thankful that everyone gave their best to help make Grace's life as beautiful as possible.” She froze after finishing that sentence and thought about something that made her smile fade. “A couple of them seem to be dangerous though. We noticed just in time thanks to Lady Blanche's help.”

Theodore scanned the mountain of presents. “I see.” He stepped closer to the table and leaned forward to inspect the items more easily. That he used his lover's chair to support himself and looked over her shoulder in the process was definitely done on purpose.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Blanche considered trying to get him to move away, but that might only pull attention to the fact that he was way too close to her. She just focused on banning all thoughts out of her mind to keep herself from blushing, even though disappearing into thin air was her only wish at the moment.

The emperor stayed completely still for a moment before pointing to Evelyn's gifts. “A child doesn't need gems in the first place, but make sure that those are firmly attached and won't fall off. And whoever got those...” He gestured to the pralines. “Clearly wants to give the young parents something to relax. Those are from the most famous confectionery in Esora. If I remember correctly, these should be with wine and champagne and the other ones with honey. But it's strange that the labels aren't there. Maybe they were removed to surprise you with the flavor.” He grinned at the group and left a pause while all of them watched him speechlessly. He had truly been able to figure out what the problematic gifts were within seconds.

Blanche was dumbfounded at that too and turned her head to her lover. That was a mistake since his face was almost directly in front of hers.

He gave her a confident smirk. “Am I right?”

She nodded while observing him with skepticism. She didn't trust him at the moment.

Theodore had a glint in his eyes that betrayed that he intended to do something that would irritate others. When his hand landed on her head, and he patted her, her assumption proved to be true. He stroked over her hair as if it was the most natural thing in the world as he spoke and made it worse. “Of course, you would be clever enough to find that out.”

Blanche felt how her cheeks were getting warm again. Not only that. Her whole body became hot as she struggled not to give in to the urge of standing up and running away. What was her lover thinking? “Theo...” She pressed that out between her teeth in an attempt to make him understand that he had to stop.

But he just gave her a questioning gaze. “What's wrong? Did something happen?” He was the one that was currently making her lose her mind.

The concubine would have liked to be more secretive with it, but she had no choice but to grab his hand with hers and move it away. She thought that it would be over with that, but he didn't care for her efforts.

Theodore's hand was back at its original place seconds later.

Blanche tensed and tilted her head back to glare up at him. “Theo. What are you doing?” She gave her best to be quiet, but that was hard when her lover was just grinning at her almost having a mental breakdown. She forced his hand away, this time with more resolution, but it didn't help.

He put his palm on top of her again and looked down at her. For a second, there was a strange emotion in his eyes, but he covered it up with a grin. “Do you want to forbid the emperor from doing something?”

Blanche felt like crying at that. She didn't even turn to see the others' reactions. “Theo, please. What are you doing?”

His grin widened. “I came here to hand over my gift to Lord and Lady Ravillot. You saw that, right? And now I want to tell you about the good news.” For some reason, that phrase scared her.

Hopefully, it was really something that Blanche would call good. “And this has to be done now? Not in a few hours when there aren't any guests here?”

“No. They should know too. You remember what we talked about last week? Ocrea's prince wrote back that he is willing to visit the capital for political discussions to make Northern Ocrea our ally. He didn't name a specific date, but he will come here.”

Blanche immediately forgot her worries. Her heart skipped a beat as she leaned forward in her seat to turn around to her lover fully. “So, we won't go to war, and that's final?” In the novel, it would have been about time for the first military conflict to begin. That wouldn't happen?

Theodore happily nodded. “No war. But that's not all. We even want to trade and improve our relationship in general.”

A beam lit up the concubine's face. This change had been one of the best ones they had ever accomplished. This was perfect. There would be no destroyed villages by the border with countless dead people lining the streets. Both nations wouldn't suffer, and there would be so much more time for the emperor to focus on the issues within Artias. And they wouldn't have to go to war. A vague image of a battlefield flashed in front of Blanche's inner eye, and she almost cried out in joy when she realized that Theodore wouldn't have to go through that. “That's amazing!”

At that moment, the people at the table began voicing their happiness about this too, which made Blanche remember that they weren't alone. This reminder was needed since she might have hugged her lover out of joy otherwise.

Seraphina was the first person to speak. “Congratulations. Such a diplomatic connection would have been unthinkable months ago. This is a great accomplishment for Artias.”

Theodore nodded with a grin on his face. “Exactly. That's why we need to prepare everything when the time is ready. We have to impress the crown prince after all. Of course, we need to heighten the security around his path to us then too, but doing this now would be too early. We will keep an eye on the letters, and everything will be fine.”

Everyone else voiced similar things to the empress, which calmed Blanche a bit. It was still obvious that the situation was awfully uncomfortable, but there was nothing she could do about that. She could only hope that her lover would finish this announcement and then leave. Maybe she could justify his behavior by saying that he was too excited because of the news and that he hadn't been able to think clearly.

But Theodore seemed to have different intentions. He grinned at his concubine after receiving everyone's congratulations. “So, this means that we need to celebrate tonight. What do you want to eat? Let me guess... Salmon again.”

Blanche gave up at that point, but her face was probably still red. Of course, he had to admit that they were eating together while he proved that he knew what her favorite food was. She replied with a weak “Yes” before pretending to rub her eyes and using this to hide her face.

Theodore patted her head one last time before finally moving his hand away. “I knew it. Then we'll...” He paused. “No. When is this party over? I'll pick you up then.”

It took every bit of the concubine's self-control to keep herself from letting her face fall onto the table. She didn't know when the party would originally have ended, but she was sure that it wouldn't take much longer. After all, the emperor had successfully ruined the mood. Everyone, except Sophia, Grace and possibly Lord Ravillot, would be furious with her now. It was a miracle that no one had spoken up until now, but as soon as Theodore was gone, they would be free to pour down their anger at her.

Blanche made one last attempt to keep him from making everything awful. “I can walk alone, so you don't have to come here.”

Her lover responded and crushed her hopes immediately. “Sure. Theoretically, you could also climb up the stairs by yourself, but who is the one always-”

She moved her hands away from her face and whipped her head around to interrupt him. “Alright, alright. You can do what you want, I get it.”

The emperor laughed at that and stroked over her hair again. “Well, that was easy.” He lifted his head to address the other people there. “So, when is this party over?”

This made the concubine turn to them as well even though she almost didn't dare to do so.

Sophia and her husband as well Madeleine looked like they wanted to disappear. At the same time, Evelyn looked like she was torn between being scared and grinning at Seraphina's predicament. Elaine and the empress were displeased with the situation, to say the least. The duchess' expression was a bit colder than normal, but she was relatively composed. Blanche had expected to find the heroine boiling with anger, however, Seraphina was in a similar state as her mother.

The empress was more annoyed than enraged, which was unexpected. She spoke up with a cool voice, but at least she didn't sound like she wanted to kill anyone. “It might be better for us to end the party now. After all, it has gotten quite late, and I was about to send one of the people here home anyway. I will bring the guests to the gate. You do not have to join us.”

Blanche was about to insist that she wanted to bring the guests to the entrance but remembered that this was a bad idea just in time.

Firstly, the heroine was upset, even if she didn't show it. Testing her patience was a horrible decision. Secondly, Seraphina still had to scold Evelyn for her offending words. Obviously, this would be better to do when the emperor wasn't present. And thirdly, Theodore's grin made the concubine want to bring him away from the group as soon as possible.

So, Blanche forced herself to smile. “I understand. Then I will retreat now. I, once again, would like to thank you for inviting me.” She looked at Sophia. “It was a very pleasant event, and I was happy to meet your daughter.”

Sophia mirrored her expression. “I was glad that you attended. It would be nice if we were able to do something like this more often. You can see Grace regularly if you want to. She seems to be fond of you.”

“It would be an honor.” Blanche turned to the empress and curtsied. “I want to thank you for allowing me to attend as well. I hope that you have a delightful evening, Your Majesty.”

Seraphina nodded toward her. “It was a joyful event, so I am glad that you decided to join. May you have a wonderful evening too. Goodbye.”

The concubine took that as a hint that she should finally leave. She quickly voiced a curt “Goodbye” to each of the other participants before standing up and getting ready to leave. But before she managed to take a step, Sophia already called out to her.

Sophia rose to her feet as well and approached the other woman before pulling her into a long hug, which she used to whisper to the other woman. “Thank you for telling me about the gifts. I will never forget that.”

Blanche patted Sophia's back while trying her best not to show how odd this situation was. Sophia was embracing her sister's worst rival after all. “I was glad to be able to help. Be more careful from now on. Question everything before giving it to your child.” She lowered the volume of her voice before continuing. “Especially if it's from Lady Lemares. Remember what I told you.”

Sophia slowly let go of her while nodding with a dejected expression. “I understand. Until soon, Lady Blanche.”

The concubine's worry eased a bit at that. Apparently, the other woman had finally understood that this aunt of hers wasn't kind. She wanted to say something else, but Theodore's hand brushing against hers made her step aside. He didn't really intend to hold her hand now, right? She glared at him, which earned her a wide grin. “We can leave.” She hadn't meant to sound so frustrated, but now it was too late.

“Of course. Someone is impatient.” The emperor's words made her roll her eyes, but at least he allowed her to climb up the staircase without touching her.

As soon as they had reached the balcony and stepped inside the ballroom, Blanche turned around and checked whether the others could still see them. When she was completely sure that this wasn't the case, she took a deep breath of relief. She spun around to her lover and put her hands on her hips. “What was that supposed to be? Do you know how-” She cut herself off when she looked into his eyes.

Theodore's smile from earlier had completely disappeared, and instead, he showed her a serious expression. He was pressing his mouth into a thin line and watched her with an undefinable emotion in his gaze. It was obvious that this wasn't a good one though.

“Theo?”

Before she could say anything else, he pulled her into a crushing hug.

She quickly put her arms around his back and panically tried to understand what happened. “Is this about Ocrea? Did something go wrong? The investigation? Did those two do something bad?”

Theodore shook his head twice before nodding and tightening his hold on her.

She felt like he was restricting her air now, but she wouldn't ask him to loosen his hold. Instead, she allowed him to grip onto her until he was ready to tell her everything.

He remained motionless for a moment and held his breath, which made her worry about him needing a doctor until he finally opened his mouth. “I love you. Please never forget that. More than anything else.”

That didn't help her much when it came to figuring out what was wrong. Blanche's mind jumped toward the worst topics as she prayed that this wasn't it.