“Is she dead now?”
Theodore was silent and didn't move for a while before he continued stroking over her hair again. “I can't hide anything from you, can I? That's why I said that she wasn't a danger anymore.”
Blanche's eyelids began to feel heavy, but she didn't want to fall asleep already. She forced herself to lift her head and keep her eyes open. “Why did Kate do it?”
“It was the same as expected. Greed. She testified that a man was meeting her and offered her a lot of money for putting a few drops of a little vial into your drink. She said that she hadn't known that it would hurt you. But everyone with a clear mind would be cautious if someone gives you money to put an unknown liquid into consumable items. So, I didn't care much for her excuses.”
The concubine knew that already from the novel. That wasn't what she had been referring to. What she truly wanted to know was why she had been the goal instead of Seraphina. After all, killing the empress would be a much more logical approach for enemies of the emperor. “Why me? And not...” She didn't want to voice that name now, or she might cause her lover to misunderstand. It wasn't like she had hoped for the empress to get poisoned, but she had expected it. Slowly, her head sank onto the cushion again, and this time, she didn't have enough energy to keep herself up. “Why was I...” She had wanted to finish, but her tongue became heavy in her mouth.
Theodore shushed her with a gentle kiss. He cupped her face and met her hazy gaze. “I don't know. You shouldn't have been the target of such attacks, but the people seem to understand that you are the one I love. They will try to hurt you no matter what. I made a mistake not considering that option. I won't be so stupid anymore. I'll protect you with everything I have. So, please stay calm and let me protect you. I will take care of you so that we can have our happy future. It's fine for you to sleep now.”
Blanche almost allowed herself to close her eyes. She was tired, so it should be good for her to get rest. But if she had another nightmare, she would only feel worse when she awoke again. Besides, she still didn't know what had happened while she had been asleep. “How long did I stay unco...” Her hazy mind had difficulties letting her form the words she needed. “How long did I sleep?” She forced her eyes open and strained her neck to lift her head as she fought against the overpowering exhaustion.
Theodore gently pushed her back onto the pillow, and she didn't even try to work against him. “A day. You slept overnight. We will have to let you sleep another night though. You're too weak right now. You can close your eyes and get some rest.”
Blanche weakly shook her head. “What about Stella? She knows... Does she know that I'm awake?”
Her lover nodded. “She is right by the door. She worried about you the whole time, but she didn't consume any of the poison, so you don't need to fear for her safety. I will send someone to inform her that you woke up. But she cares about your health more than anything too. So, you have to sleep if you want to make us happy.” He gently stroked his fingers over her face and brushed over her eyelids to close them.
That was as much of an invitation as Blanche needed. She didn't have the strength to open her eyes again and just allowed herself to relax in Theodore's arms. At least he would be right here if she had another nightmare and could console her.
She fell into a deep slumber within seconds.
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The light was hitting Blanche's face again. She whined in frustration and turned around, only to be pulled into a warm embrace. That made her relax, and she pressed her face closer to the person beside her to keep herself from being annoyed by the sun. Maybe she could fall asleep once more if she was lucky.
That wasn't the case though.
With every second that she was awake, she felt less like staying in bed and more like getting up and eating. Just at that moment, her stomach grumbled, which made her open her eyes. She slowly pushed herself up on her elbow and fought against the drowsiness that still held her hostage while trying to orientate herself. She woke up fully and remembered why her bed suddenly felt this hard. She looked next to her and met Theodore's gaze.
He smiled at her with a soft grin. “Good morning. You seem to be hungry. Should I ask someone to bring you breakfast?”
Blanche's response came immediately. “Good morning. I want salmon.” Having a salty meal right now was exactly what she needed.
Theodore just laughed at her and stroked his hand over her cheek. “I don't think that I can fulfill that wish. Your stomach should still be affected, so you need to eat some things that are easier to digest. Bread and vegetables should be fine, but fish is unfitting.”
She looked at him with round eyes. “Just a little piece?”
Her lover tapped her nose with his index finger. “No.”
She felt disappointed at that and lowered herself back onto the bed. The emperor was correct again, but she had no desire to admit that. She felt like a child with her sudden want for something she couldn't have, but she had almost died a day ago. She had the right to complain about anything for as long as she wanted.
Theodore sat up and called out to one of the doctor's assistants, who immediately informed a servant. Along with the man that hurried to listen to the emperor's order, a woman rushed inside.
It was easy to identify her as Stella. The maid plopped down onto the floor next to the bed and cried while her mistress yawned and tried to bring herself to an upright position.
Blanche was awfully weak. She didn't even manage to sit up without help, and her stomach ached when she used her muscles to attempt it one more time. Still, she had to help her friend now and was almost desperate to do it as quickly as possible to finally give Stella some peace of mind. She didn't want to take too long, so she gave up on sitting and just rolled closer to the edge.
That scared Theodore, who immediately grabbed her to keep her from falling out of the bed. “Be careful! You're still weak. You can't move around that much.”
Blanche muttered an “I'm sorry” and let him wrap an arm around her waist. Her lover didn't let go even while he was talking to the servant. The concubine gave her best to pretend that her heart wasn't pounding and acted like she had been able to coordinate her movements. If she was honest, she had almost rolled over the edge and was very thankful that her lover had caught her, but she wouldn't admit that.
With him holding her, Blanche could dare to focus on her original goal again. She let her hand hang off the mattress and patted Stella's head.
The maid only cried even more at that and wasn't able to pronounce anything clearly through the tears. As if that wasn't bad enough already, her expression looked so depressed that it sent painful stings to Blanche's heart. She was in a horrible state, and that was somehow a bit too unsettling for her mistress.
Blanche was rather certain that she heard quite a few apologies in between the mumbling, but she didn't comprehend the rest. That was enough to remind her of words she didn't want to hear, so Blanche hurried to stop her. She didn't know what to say, so she just repeated phrases that she hoped were calming in some way. “It's fine. I'm alright now. You didn't mean to let that happen. That wasn't your fault.” It was mostly Blanche's for being fine with Seraphina being poisoned, but she wouldn't say that. Luckily, her voice almost sounded normal again and was just a little bit quieter than usual.
Stella choked out a “My Lady” and bawled while gripping her mistress' hand. “You warned me, you warned me! But I forgot about it.” She sobbed and took a few seconds before continuing. “How could she? I shouldn't have taken anything from her. What if you hadn't noticed? My Lady, I'm sorry...” She returned to crying with no way of pressing out anything else.
Blanche gave her best to console the other woman, but that was hard when she had no idea what to say. The only thing that she could voice was the truth. “It's not your fault. You couldn't have known.” That was true. Stella had never known anything that was happening and had just done what others had told her. Blanche would never blame her for anything.
The concubine, however, scolded herself for not considering that Kate would become a greater threat earlier. If someone betrayed the empress, who had treated them like a friend, after having worked for her for over a year, there was no doubt that they would do anything for money. It should have been clear that Kate would become their enemies' pawn at some point. The concubine shouldn't have believed that only Seraphina would be a target. Blanche should have done something about that in the very beginning.
That was the one good thing about this incident. That maid was gone now, so no one could use her to harm the emperor anymore.
Blanche pushed away those thoughts with a shiver and focused on calming Stella. Seeing her friend's crying face made her want to hug her, but she was too weak for that. She quickly tried to distract her. “It's fine. You need to breathe in and out slowly. I want to drink some tea that helps my digestion. Could you bring me one?”
Stella nodded so strongly that it looked like she would hurt herself. She jumped to her feet with snot still running down her face and stormed out of the room while almost running into Leon in the process. He jumped aside just in time as the maid passed him by without looking up. Maybe it had been a bad idea to ask her to leave now. Hopefully, she wouldn't hurt anyone else or herself while boiling tea with hot water.
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Theodore had just finished instructing the servant and turned to his lover. He carefully wrapped his arms around her torso and moved her into a sitting position while pulling her away from the edge. “Are you alright? You scared me with that sudden motion earlier.”
Blanche weakly slouched against his side and gave him an embarrassed smile. “My muscles don't work like they normally do. I feel like I can't even pick up a glass without dropping it.” She demonstratively lifted her arm and watched how she struggled to even hold it up without shaking. That was odd.
Her lover shuffled around a bit and moved her between his legs so that she could lean her back against his chest and relax. “That's because you didn't eat anything but that plant sludge the doctor made you. You need some nutrients, and that's why we will have a healthy breakfast with things that are easy to digest. I can guarantee you that it will be tasty anyway though.”
Since the royal chefs were the ones making the dishes, she didn't doubt that. It was still unfortunate that she couldn't have salmon. Maybe she would be able to change his mind in the evening when she had proven that she felt a bit better.
Leonard stepped closer to them, and Owen followed behind him. They stopped next to the bed and both bowed.
Blanche greeted them with a nod. “Hello.”
Leon spoke up first. “Good morning, Lady Blanche. I can't express how glad I am that you woke up again. You seem to be fine, but if you have any complaints, don't hesitate to inform the doctor immediately.”
Blanche nodded. “Alright. I don't feel bad though. Just a bit hungry.” And weak. Her body barely listened to her.
The secretary gave her a small smile. “That is good. If you have an appetite, it means that your body calmed down a bit. Just be careful with what you ingest.” He glanced over at the emperor. “But I doubt that this will be a problem. I'm sure that someone is watching over you very closely.”
Theodore responded with an “Of course” and pressed a kiss onto his lover's shoulder.
Blanche would have liked to kiss him too, but she didn't trust that her body had enough energy to turn around to him. She just tilted her head back to rest it against his chest and interlocked their fingers. She watched the men by the bed for a moment before speaking up. “Did something special happen while I slept?”
Owen replied. “There was some sort of uproar regarding-”
Leonard cut him off. “That's not important right now. Give her a break for at least a day.” He turned to the concubine and resumed in a softer voice. “Nothing bad happened. I took care of some governing business while Theodore was here with you. Fortunately, this wasn't much of an issue since the ministers did most of the work. The Duke of Lamont is doing his job well, so I didn't even have to waste time instructing him for unnecessarily long. During the rest of the day, I took care of the investigation regarding the matter of the attack in the forest and this poisoning.”
Blanche nodded while bargaining whether her curiosity would win and make her ask about what Owen had wanted to say. But then again, she was as limp as a doll right now. She felt drained already, so getting bad news would not be pleasant at this moment. It didn't seem to be urgent, so she might as well wait for a few hours. Still, she would like to ask the knight about what he had done during the day, and more than that, she wanted to apologize. “I see. It's good if nothing awful happened. Then, Owen, I still need to apologize for...you know. Asking you to do something like that.”
Owen shook his head. “No, in fact, it was important that you understood what was happening quickly enough to react in time. If more of the poison had stayed in your system, you would not have been able to get up now. It was only thanks to your fast thinking that you will be able to recover within a few days. Otherwise, it might have taken months.”
Blanche was still taken aback by that and didn't know how to react, but Owen already continued.
“That being said, the one that has to apologize is me.” He put his hand onto the spot on his chest where his heart was and bowed to her. “I sincerely apologize for harming you, Lady Blanche. It was necessary for me to act quickly, but it was not my intention to hurt you, and I still dared to do the opposite of what I am here for. The pressure on your stomach and triggering your gag reflex while you were unconscious should not have left any issues with your health, but it was unacceptable of me to act that way. I will accept any punishment you deem appropriate.”
The concubine blinked at him a few times before replying. “Sometimes, you're a bit strange, Owen. You just said that it was necessary. And aside from that, it was my request. You could also see this as you following an order and saving my life at the same time. Why would I punish you? Please raise your head.”
Slowly, the knight complied, but he didn't say anything. He probably still felt bad, which was somewhat understandable. After all, he had hit her in the stomach. Or had he just put pressure on it? She wasn't sure. It had been quite harsh though.
Upon being reminded of that, Blanche carefully reached for her torso under the blanket and gently pressed against her skin. To her relief, it didn't hurt, so she assumed that there wasn't a huge blue bruise waiting for her. Seemingly, Owen had even managed to hold back enough not to harm her seriously, so him apologizing made even less sense. But she would like to explain that to him later when she was feeling better and could show him that she wasn't hurt. For now, she would avoid this topic, partly because of him and partly because she was a bit embarrassed about this matter now. “Well, then. What did you do during the time I slept?”
Owen met her gaze and spoke with the same emotionless voice as always. “I was waiting in front of the door. I was originally there to make sure that no unwanted visitors entered. But while I waited, countless staff members asked me to tell you that they hope for your quick recovery. I did not recognize many of them and forgot the names after over a dozen people came, but it seems that many servants and knights are fond of you.”
Actually, Blanche hadn't expected that. She knew that most of the people in the palace tolerated her now that she didn't cause trouble anymore. Some even smiled at her, but she hadn't believed that they would care enough to approach someone like Owen, whom many deemed to be scary, just to voice their wishes for her recovery. It had been obvious that they would chat about her and gossip about what had happened, but so much consideration surprised her.
She felt a warm sensation in her heart while hearing this and smiled at the knight. “Thank you for telling me. I may not be able to thank them personally for their words, but I am grateful for anyone that cares. You may say this if anyone ever mentions this topic.”
Owen nodded. “I will.”
Leonard spoke up when the other man was finished. “Then I feel like we should leave for now.” He turned to Theodore. “I have to go through a few documents now, and I will bring some here later for you to read. We will leave you alone for a while.” He faced the concubine again. “You should focus on resting and refraining from wasting energy. You should stay in bed for at least two days and let others do everything for you. I can assure you that we will take care of anything necessary. I would only ask you to talk to your maid a bit. She has been brokenhearted ever since you fainted.”
Blanche had intended to do that anyway, and his words only enforced her conviction. She felt bad about Stella being so affected by this incident when the maid hadn't been at fault at all. “I will talk to her until she is sick of my voice. Thank you for your hard work, Leon.” She gave him a smile, which he mirrored.
“I am honored to hear that. Take care of yourself.” Leon's grin faded when he looked at the emperor. “You too. If you want to do everything for her, you need to be in a good state.”
Theodore let out a chuckle. “Don't worry about me. Now that my angel's awake, I'm alright.” He gently pressed his lips against the backside of her head. “I will never be too weak to take care of her again.”
Blanche reached behind herself to brush her fingers over his hair. “But you need to rest too. Did you sleep while I was unconscious? You didn't, did you?”
His silence was enough of an answer. Just as she had expected, he hadn't been able to close his eyes while he hadn't known that she was well again.
Her lover caught her hand and moved it to his mouth to kiss her fingertips. “Don't worry about me. I can take a few days without much rest. I used to do that almost every day, you know? So, it's fine. Concentrate on worrying about your health. We need you to recover as quickly as possible. We'll eat breakfast now, and then you have to take a bit more medicine. I'll cuddle you the whole day, so all you have to do is stay in bed.”
Blanche didn't intend on walking around, but there was no way that the emperor would have allowed that anyway, so she didn't argue. She nodded in response and waited for him to finish instructing the other men.
“Owen, you will guard the door again and only let in the people that I told you about. Anyone else will be announced to me first. Leon, you continue with your plans like you had intended to. But when you bring me the documents in the afternoon, also get me a pen and paper to write a letter. I need to confirm something.”
The men nodded and left the room without saying anything. Leonard smiled at the concubine once more before stepping out and closing the door behind him.
Blanche allowed herself to relax completely now. She barely had the motivation to keep her head up, so she slouched against her lover again. “I'm thirsty.”
Theodore immediately grabbed the glass from the nightstand but was careful not to move her around too much. “Here you go.”
She happily opened her mouth and drank the cool liquid until about half of the glass was empty. Then her lover pulled it away and waited for her to swallow before giving her the rest of the water. When she finished, he put the glass away and moved his arm around her waist again.
They were silent for a bit until the concubine spoke up. “I'm sorry for making you do everything for me. I'm pretty useless in my current state.”
Her lover immediately refuted. “Don't say that. You're perfect in each and every way imaginable. If you are sick, it's only normal for me to nurse you until you are better. Just like you did after my shoulder got cut.”
“The only difference is that you never complained and already did everything by yourself after waking up for the first time.”
Theodore pressed a soft kiss onto her shoulder. He was quiet for a moment before responding. “You can't compare that. I only reacted like that because...I'm...used to it. Besides, I wasn't poisoned. I only had one wound that was sewn shut and didn't hurt much. In your case, your whole body was affected. This made you weak, and not eating for the last two days also didn't give you much strength. It would be strange for you to be running around again now. I'm happy that you are able to sit with some help.” He paused for a few seconds and continued in a quieter voice. “You don't know how scared I was.”
Blanche could imagine it though. She knew exactly how she would feel when he drank poison. She put her arms on top of his that were still wrapped around her waist and gave her best to console him. “I'm fine though. I didn't have too much of that stuff, and most of it got lost when I...you know. I got rid of it.”
“I thank the gods that you remembered in time.” Theodore's hold on her tightened. “If you hadn't done that...” He didn't finish the sentence but planted three more kisses onto the backside of her neck.
Blanche felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought of what that might indicate. “So, I would have-” It was hard to say that out loud. “Died?”
Her lover tensed and shook his head. “No, never. I won't let anyone hurt you. I was lenient, and because of that, you got injured. I...I... Please forgive me. I won't ever disappoint you again.”
She felt her heart skip a beat when she heard the pain in his voice. “That's not your fault, Theo. That maid was the one who did it. So, she is the one to blame. You couldn't have known.” She herself should have been prepared for this alternative, but her lover couldn't foresee the future. Naturally, there was no way for him to be aware of the fact that the one of empress' attendants wasn't loyal at all. So, he couldn't know who was behind this either.
In the novel, the Vasquez family had hired Kate to get rid of Seraphina. Blanche wasn't sure whether this was still true since she had been the goal now and not the empress. Maybe her uncomfortable fight with Claude had caused them to use such drastic measures. But whether this was actually the case was uncertain. She could just assume that the Vasquez dukedom was at fault, but she had no evidence for that and no way to justify her reasoning. So, she couldn't tell Theodore much.
Unless she used the argument with the duke as the core of her thought process.
After all, Claude was the only extremely influential noble Blanche had upset this much with enough money to offer such a hefty sum to Kate. Even if her reasoning had no backing, she wouldn't make the mistake of not voicing her suspicion again. The last time, keeping quiet had caused her to get poisoned.
“Theo, do you have a suspect already?”
The response came immediately. “Claude Vasquez.” He knew. That was surprising.