“There are enough servants in the royal palace to take care of a sick person, correct? You, as the emperor, need to put your duties, in this case, as the person leading the investigation, above-”

The emperor's hand slammed onto the table before anyone could see what he was doing. The impact made the dishware clink, and a loud sound echoed through the room so that all the others flinched.

Theodore had a cold gaze in his eyes, which, along with his fake smile, made him have a threatening aura that no one here wanted to experience for any longer. “Your Grace. Say your wife was sick. So sick that she was crying because she was in pain because someone tried to kill her. So sick that she keeps calling your name because she is scared on her own. So sick that you fear that she might not wake up again. And then I call you to the palace to a meeting. As a minister, you need to put your duties, in your case doing the best for Artias, above anything else. Imagine that I would pressure you into coming here. What would you say? Be honest.”

Blanche was a bit touched by those words. Her lover had been by her side the whole time, and he wouldn't accept anyone telling him that that had been a mistake. She was glad that he had been there. After all, she had been a picture of misery when she had woken up after her dream about her family. The dream had also been about Cedar, but she refused to think about that part.

Henry stared at the emperor for a while. His expression made clear that he realized that his argument was ridiculous when he imagined being in the same situation. But he still didn't want to admit that he would judge emotionally when it came to his wife too. “Your Majesty, that isn't the same-”

However, Theodore didn't have any intention of letting this go. “What would you say?”

Duke Duremont kept quiet again before he eventually noticed that he would have to respond. “I would tell you that I wouldn't come in a rather final tone.”

The emperor finally took his fist off the table. “See? That is exactly why I'm not too pleased with your comments. You should try to think about what situation the other person is in before voicing advice. Believe me, it was good for you that I didn't read your letters when they arrived but when I was calmer again.”

After that, everyone was silent again.

Theodore watched the group until he was sure that his words had been understood before turning to one of the servants. “Bring the next course.”

Blanche scanned the plates of everyone and realized that they had already finished. She had only a piece of bacon left, but that quickly disappeared in her mouth. No one said anything until the servants entered with a new set of plates and exchanged them with the old ones. To Blanche's satisfaction, she was greeted by a wonderful piece of salmon filet. She had only gotten small consolation portions during her recovery, so this was the first time that she got a whole filet again, and she would savor every bite of it. She gazed at her meal with shining eyes and waited eagerly for her lover to begin eating so that she could start too.

Luckily, a pleading look was enough to make Theodore understand. He picked up his fork and pierced a potato piece before eating it, which enabled all the others to enjoy their dish too.

Blanche didn't hesitate to cut off a big slice of the salmon and devour it. She almost began sighing in bliss and happily chewed on her food. Even if the conversation was stressful, she was glad as long as she wasn't involved. Right now, she hoped for them to finish the last three courses and then leave without any further discussions. The beginning had been bad enough, so maybe this was it.

Currently, the anger from the seating issue was overshadowed by the new discussions, so Blanche might be able to get away without being accused of anything again. She shouldn't care about Henry's opinion, but to be honest, being told that she was the one manipulating Theodore because she wanted to claim Seraphina's position made her angry. She had changed so much to show anyone that this wasn't her goal, and now she was being seen as insolent because of her lover's confusing plots? That was unfair.

A part of the concubine feared eventually exploding if such comments were thrown at her over and over again, but in reality, she was too shy for that. Being addressed by Duke Duremont always made her feel helpless, so she would probably just grit her teeth and cry if he was seriously mad. Obviously, she would like to avoid that.

Blanche hoped that the emperor was kind enough to let them leave without any further provocations though.

She quickly realized that he wasn't.

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When everyone finished their last main dish, Theodore called for the penultimate course, which consisted of a small piece of tart. The meal arrived, and he took a bite to allow the others to eat before setting down his fork. The others were still chatting, but Blanche already felt like something unpleasant would happen.

Then her lover put his hand onto her lap, which proved her suspicion to be true. She moved her hand onto his, and he interlocked their fingers while gently stroking his thumb over her skin. To her, this seemed more like a non-verbal apology than anything else. So, whatever he planned now would be extremely uncomfortable for any participant of the banquet. Theodore definitely wouldn't gain any friends with this, and even though she was on his side, she was scared.

Because in the end, she would be the one being blamed for many things. Whether she had done something or not. Attracting Henry's anger wouldn't be pleasant.

The concubine suspected that they would have to leave the banquet earlier again, this time because of the emperor. But what was even more awful than his plan was that he didn't begin immediately. Why was he drawing out the inevitable? Was he unsure how to begin or pondered whether to let it be?

No, it seemed like he was waiting for something. It soon became clear what that was.

Evelyn was currently speaking to Henry and blinking her eyes at him while trying to appear as dignified and sweet as possible. Her giggle was so shrill and fake that it hurt to hear and should be revolting to any sane person. But no one within the Duremont family seemed to notice.

Blanche would bet that Seraphina was annoyed, but she couldn't see the empress's face to confirm that.

Just when Evelyn let out another of these shrill laughs, Theodore spoke up. “Now that I think about it, I just remembered something.” He put on a fake smile and turned to the woman. “I would like to ask you something, Lady Lemares.”

Evelyn seemed to be startled by that, but she quickly returned to her sickeningly sweet grin. “Please go ahead, Your Majesty. I would be honored to answer all of your questions.”

The emperor's smile widened as he rested his hand on his palm. “I'm not really sure since I didn't hear anything like that during the banquet. But I assumed that you would do it at some point, and still, no such words left your mouth. So, I just have to ask. When did you intend on apologizing to Blanche?”

Immediately, the atmosphere at the table changed. Evelyn's smile was wiped off her face, and she looked completely bedazzled. “Pardon me. What are you referring to? I did nothing that would require me to apologize to Lady Blanche, or anyone else for that matter.”

“Oh, did you forget about the party already?” Theodore averted his eyes and stopped faking his smile, which left behind an expression of indifference. “The one for Lady Ravillot's daughter. You said some extraordinarily awful things to Blanche. I believe that an apology would be in order for that.”

Realization flickered across Evelyn's face at that moment. It was obvious that she had just understood that she messed up.

But the concubine also felt like her airways were constricting. After all, repeating those words now would make Henry so furious that she would be blamed too. She really didn't want to stay to listen to this conversation.

Evelyn tried her best to hide her panic and gave the emperor a nervous smile. “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. But I do not remember such an occurrence. We all know that Lady Blanche likes to over-exaggerate things, so you should not pay too much attention to her words. I apologize if she got upset because of a misunderstanding, but I did nothing wrong.”

Theodore turned to his lover at that. “Did her remarks seem like they could be misinterpreted to you?”

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Blanche would have liked to deny that anything had happened at all, but that would be a lie. Evelyn deserved to be scolded for her impudence, but it would be better to do this at another moment. However, the concubine wouldn't lie to make her lover seem like he exaggerated either. “No. They were fairly unambiguous. But talking about this right now is...”

The emperor didn't pay attention to her last statement though and just faced Lady Lemares again. “See? What makes you believe that I would trust a stranger more than Blanche? If she says that you told her those things, I fully believe her. Aside from that, what benefit would she have from lying when every present woman here was there during the party and can affirm whether she is right?”

Evelyn's face paled as she attempted to come up with a good response. “Your Majesty, I didn't-”

Theodore's behavior changed at that. He slammed his hand onto the table again, but this time, Blanche had expected it and didn't jump like the others. Pure rage came upon his features as he spoke. “You are quite insolent for someone that should teach others about etiquette. Lying to the emperor's face is a dangerous matter. I hope that you are aware of that. Especially since you should be happy that I even let you inside the palace. After all, this is the second time that you felt like you were able to insult Blanche without consequences. I should not have been lenient the first time.”

Evelyn lifted her hands to wave them around in the air in an attempt to show how ridiculous these words were. “Your Majesty, I would never dare! That first time was a misunderstanding. You came inside at the wrong moment, and just because Lady Blanche was upset, it looked like I did something bad, but that isn't true!”

Theodore narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you think I'm stupid? I refuse to repeat the insult you called her, but there is no way to misunderstand that. But if you refuse to accept that, let me ask the others about the second incident. Did or did Lady Lemares not state that Blanche is my ‘my plaything’, which I would throw away in the future?” He turned to Seraphina, and that was enough to show what his intention was.

The empress kept quiet for a few seconds before responding in a quiet voice. “This is truly not the right moment to discuss something like this. We should postpone this conversation until later.”

Theodore let out a laugh before returning to his cold expression. “No way. There is something I would like to say to everyone here about this. Answer my question.”

The empress's unwillingness was audible in her voice when she replied. “Your Majesty, this is...” She paused before resuming normally again. “She did say that. However, dealing with this now is-”

That was all the emperor needed before turning to Evelyn again. “So, there you go. Everyone heard that. Now I want to hear an apology.”

Lady Lemares looked at Henry in an attempt to get help, but while the duke looked enraged, he didn't speak up. After all, he couldn't oppose Theodore when Evelyn was obviously the one having made a mistake. She balled her hands into fists and tried to cover up her humiliation by showing a fake expression of regret that wouldn't fool anyone. “I deeply apologize from the bottom of my heart. Lady Blanche, it was not my intention to hurt your feelings. I merely had an awful day back then, and there were some things you said to Her Majesty that irked me a bit. So, I overreacted. I sincerely apologize.”

Blanche wanted to hold back for a moment, but she couldn't do it. “You were the one that insulted Her Majesty. I'm sure everyone here remembers that well, so don't try to twist the story now.”

Theodore chimed in at that. “Ah, right. Now that we mentioned that, how about you repeat that topic too? There is an important misunderstanding on your part, so I need to clear that up today.”

Evelyn's fury showed on her face for a little moment before she neutralized it to the best of her ability. She probably hated to admit that she had offended Seraphina because Henry would be infuriated, but there was no other way for her. She could only try to change the story by giving her version. “As I previously said, I had a horrible day. So, my words might have been a lot harsher than I intended them to be. I merely pointed about that there is no royal heir yet and that I, as a citizen of this nation and Her Majesty's aunt, cannot help but worry about that. I might have sounded impudent, but that was not my intention. I already repeatedly apologized to Her Majesty, so I believed that this issue was resolved.”

“Not really.” Theodore glanced at Evelyn as he picked up his glass. He began tilting it and watched as the liquid inside twirled around.

This was the moment that Blanche realized what he was attempting to do. She almost buried her face in her hands and ran away. She only managed to sit still with all of her self-control.

Her lover, on the other hand, was full of confidence and didn't seem to mind speaking about that topic at all, even though it could ruin the nation's political stability and endanger his reign. “I am the emperor, and because of that, the public has a special interest in me. But at the same time, I can't help but wish to protect some of my privacy. That is understandable, isn't it? I felt like it's not necessary for me to justify anything or to speak about that topic, but it seems to be important. So, I will talk about it. First of all, it is interesting to hear that you, Lady Lemares, disagree with our plans for the future. I do not wish to be disrespectful, but there is something I have to point out. Since you yourself never married or had a relationship that I know of, I feel like it's unreasonable for you to tell us when to have children. Blanche and I are very young, so we have plenty of time left. It would be nice not to be pressured by people who should not concern themselves with others' lives.”

There he had said it. Now it was only a matter of time until the others would understand what he had been referring to with this.

Evelyn was fuming by now. After all, her greatest weak point was her never having been with the man she liked, and being reminded of that brought her to the edge of sanity. But she still managed to hold herself together, even if it was just barely.

Henry, however, had already understood what these words hinted at. He glared at the emperor with pure wrath on his face and looked like he would jump up to settle this discussion physically soon. But he was still trying to stay calm and pressed out his reply. This seemed like it was his last attempt to be friendly. “Your Majesty, you appear to be tired. You are saying strange things. People could misunderstand if you are so careless. After all, you need to have children with Her Majesty. That is more crucial than anything else. Only then, we will have a royal heir.”

Theodore put down the glass and leaned against the backrest of his chair. “In fact, you seem to be misunderstanding something. Can only the empress give birth to the heir? That's not true. No line in the constitution would propose something even remotely similar to that. The heir is the child of the emperor that he named the future ruler. If there isn't a child, then the closest living relatives of the royal family will be considered the next in line for the succession. But as long as I have children, I can make the choice of who will be the heir to the throne freely. And by now, it should be obvious that there is only one way that this will happen. I thought that everyone would already have noticed that there is no discussion about any of this. There is only one woman with whom I will have children, and I will grant all of Blanche's children the title of a royal prince or princess. The eldest one of them will be the heir and thus the future ruler of Artias. That isn't too hard to understand, right?”

It felt like he had opened the gates to a flood with those words. Right now, everyone was too shocked to say anything, but no one here would be pleased. So, their complaints would get really loud in just a few seconds.

Blanche gave up at that point. She would be blamed and insulted now anyway, so she might as well enjoy the last good thing of the evening before everything became horrible. She grabbed the plate from the table and began eating her cake. Her calculations had been correct. Seconds after she did that, a turmoil began.

Henry jumped up from his chair and yelled. “What? Are you insane? A commoner's child becoming the emperor? There is no way that I will allow you to disrespect Seraphina like that! I tolerated your offending affair and that parasite for long enough. I refuse to-”

“Shut your mouth.” Theodore hadn't raised his voice at all, but his tone was cold enough to make Duke Duremont freeze. At the same time, he silenced everyone within the room, and all previous complaints died down. “Sit down this instant.”

Henry opened his mouth to complain again but was given no chance.

The emperor met his gaze with an expression that could only be described as a warning. “Sit down.”

The duke complied this time and didn't try to speak. Instead, he let Theodore begin.

Blanche felt like she was in the middle of the battlefield here with these two men opposing each other. So, she continued to eat her cake, which was probably the only thing keeping her from crying. This would go so horribly wrong. There was no way that Duke Duremont would forget this incident. He wouldn't back the emperor after this anymore. Why had her lover believed that this was a good idea?

Theodore's voice was dripping with fury, which only made sure that no one dared to disobey. “If you insult Blanche one more time, I swear to the gods that I will make you regret it. You have known me long enough to know that I don't voice empty threats. Think before you speak. And then the next issue. It seems like your head has become muddled with age. How can this be an affair when I never loved anyone but Blanche? If you'd count the marriage, which doesn't make any sense since this is nothing but a union of the power of both of our families, then the empress would be the affair. Don't you remember? Blanche came here on my birthday two years ago. She was here at least five but rather six months before the wedding. I've been with her longer than this marriage in name only has gone on. And do you know what those dates also mean?”

He paused for a moment, but still, no one dared to utter a single word.

The emperor kept quiet for a bit longer before continuing. “It means that you have effectively forfeited every right to complain about my relationship with Blanche. The rumors about me and her surfaced quickly. About a month after she appeared, everyone knew about it. At that point, your daughter came to visit to check whether it was true. She not only realized that the rumors were very much accurate, but she also got into a fight with Blanche. But not because my angel did anything wrong but because your daughter looked down on my lover by claiming that I would dirty my honor upon being with her. And Blanche didn't stay quiet about that, which, apparently, is something that your family can't stand.”

All the guests tensed at that. The women seemed a bit more taken aback and the men angrier, but they didn't interrupt.

So, Theodore continued without a pause. “No one that lived outside our noble society would accept our customs because they are mostly baseless. Aristocrats are just a bunch of people trying to be better than others and use that to belittle those of lesser status. I can't really complain since I am a part of this sort of society, but I would like to remind you how arrogant and useless our rules seem to others. So, it should be obvious that suddenly being treated like a lesser human because of your background isn't something that you would accept immediately. But when Blanche protested, you saw her as insolent and justified insulting her with that. Which meant that you knew that I was in a relationship and that the empress and my lover wouldn't get along at that point. So, the most logical thing to do would have been to break off the engagement. Did you do that?” He let out a laugh without any amusement. “No, you didn't. You had the choice, so why are you complaining?”

Seraphina was the first one to speak up, with her voice being drenched in anger, which was extremely uncharacteristic for her. “Your Majesty, this is enough. We will end this discussion now.”

But of course, Theodore wouldn't stop there. “No. I'm curious about your reasoning. Why did you pull through with the marriage, only to feel entitled to have me end my happy relationship because of that?”

This time, Henry spoke before his daughter could. He pressed out the words between his gritted teeth and barely managed to keep himself from yelling. “How could anyone break off an engagement with the emperor? There is no way that that would have been possible!”

Blanche felt like she couldn't breathe anymore. This was horrible. That was all she could think about. What was her lover thinking? She cowered in her chair and stared straight ahead without making eye contact with anyone while putting another piece of cake in her mouth. Maybe it would be better if she just imagined that she was somewhere else, but she doubted it.

Theodore crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the other man. “It would be possible. It's obvious how much you dote on your daughter. One word from her would have been enough to end everything. You could have used me waiting for over five years until having the wedding or the fact that I have a lover without a noble background. That would have been enough to justify your decision to break off the engagement. And you know what?” He got a bit louder at that. “I would have agreed without a single complaint. How do you think I felt when I married another person while knowing that the woman I love is crying in her room? Your daughter must have felt horrible with this arrangement too. We might have gotten along as political partners, but as spouses, we are like fire and water. It would have been so much easier if that wedding had never taken place, and I am sure that you were aware of that as soon as you met Blanche. But still, you didn't end the engagement. Why? Because you wanted to make your daughter empress under all circumstances? Did she herself want to be empress? I would like to know why.”

That might have been the limit.