“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.” Theodore had really overdone it here.

Henry lost his composure at that. He jumped up again and slammed his hands onto the table with so much force that his plate fell off and shattered on the floor. “You were the one that needed us! You would have been destroyed by us withdrawing! You needed an empress and our family's backing, or you would have crumbled under your mother's pressure. You still do, so you will regret everything that happened today. Without my backing, you are nothing!”

Theodore let out a snort and showed the other man a taunting grin while gesturing to a servant, who hurried to clean up the plate. “Don't flatter yourself too much. I have plenty of other ways to reign and secure my power. This is merely the easiest one. Or at least it has been until you started making unreasonable demands despite being at fault for insisting on a marriage, even when it was clear that this union would fail. Do you want me to tell you why you did that?” He paused, and his smile was wiped away to leave behind his true emotions at the moment.

He was boiling with anger, and even for his lover, this wasn't a nice view. Blanche felt completely overwhelmed by the argument in front of her and just wanted to disappear. But Theodore sounded so confident. That had to mean that he had an ace up his sleeve, right? Hopefully, it did.

The emperor continued when no one interrupted. “You insisted on the engagement because you thought that Blanche was only a temporary encounter in my life. You didn't believe that we love each other and were convinced that she would leave after a few weeks or maybe months. You never considered that she might stay by my side forever. To you, she was only a temporary inconvenience that I don't really care about. And you treated her like that too. Until now, everyone thought that they could get away with insulting Blanche and looking down on her. Incidents like Duke Vasquez's outbreak and Lady Lemares' comments should be enough proof for that. But you know what? That will change from now on. Because I will personally make sure that Blanche gets the respect she deserves and don't mind beginning a fight with everyone in this entire world because of that. So, I also won't keep quiet anymore when you believe that you could treat her like she doesn't belong here. She won't leave. Get that into your heads.”

Henry began to move toward the emperor and was only stopped by Elaine. She managed to keep him in place for a few seconds before he freed himself from her grip and stomped over to Theodore's chair. “This is it! You can use one of your other ways. I refuse to help you in any way from now on. Deal with your family by yourself!”

Theodore stood up and met the other man's gaze with a cold glare. “Is that supposed to be a threat? Go ahead. If you do decide to stop backing me, there will be three possible outcomes. I could either do everything by myself and become the tyrant emperor that all my enemies believe me to be. Or I could get the backing of other influential people. Duke Lamont would be happy to help me. He is eager to gain a bit of power, and supporting me could easily give his household the title of the most influential dukedom. Both of these ways would only make the Duremont family lose a significant amount of power while I can continue to rule as if nothing had happened. But let's imagine that I wouldn't be able to deal with the pressure and would give in as soon as you stop backing me. I would use my personal funds to buy a nice house for Blanche and me in another country and move there without a warning. What would happen then?” He paused for a moment and stared straight into Henry's eyes.

Slowly but surely, realization crossed the other man's features. Still, Duke Duremont didn't speak up and just stood in front of the emperor.

Theodore waited a few seconds before resuming. “This is a serious question. You do know that my brother would take over then, don't you? I can assure you that you do not wish for him to rule. My brother would not treat my greatest allies kindly, so I doubt that your family would stay a dukedom. And that isn't even the worst. Cedar is less experienced, more power-hungry and a hundred times crueler than I ever was. He will ruin the nation. If he won't, the dowager empress will. You know that. Are you willing to put your personal feelings above the well-being of Artias and the safety of your family? Do you really consider withdrawing your support for me because you disagree with whom I love? I don't think that you're that egoistic. You want the best for the country as much as I do, if not even more. You would also never risk your family being framed as traitors because the dowager empress can't use you. So, I'm pretty sure that all the words you said to me regarding this matter over the course of the past two years were empty threats. You wouldn't truly wish for my brother to take the crown. There is no way that you would like to see how Artias crumbles under his mother's reign as the economy slowly declines and the dowager empress wages war because someone made a small remark that she didn't like. Are you willing to risk that because you dislike me being happy with Blanche?”

The silence hung heavy when he finished saying all of that. Still, there was no reply.

So, Theodore continued again, this time in a calmer tone. “You love your wife. I can see that you do. Then you should understand how horrible it would be for you if others tried to keep you apart. But maybe I didn't judge you properly in the past. Maybe you wouldn't mind seeing the nation burn if it meant that I would fall. Maybe you would take the gamble. If so, then go ahead and stop backing me. That will automatically strengthen my brother's faction. The decision is yours, and I won't discuss this with you now. If you want to have a proper conversation about this without any threats and yelling, you are free to visit soon so that we can talk instead of hurling insults at one another. But in the end, the choice is yours. I won't pressure you into saying anything now. I just want you to remember that you, as the most powerful duke, shape the future of the nation as much as I do. Please think about this before coming to a conclusion. That is all I can ask of you.”

Everyone was quiet. Even Blanche didn't know what to say.

Somehow, Theodore had managed to change the atmosphere from a hostile one to something that resembled an a little calmer one. Henry and Allen were still furious, but none of them dared to speak up. Sophia alternated between looking at her brother, father and Theodore with an expression that revealed that she would like to disappear into thin air, which the concubine understood well. The only one of the women that was enraged was Evelyn, and she was probably upset because of the comment about Duke Duremont loving his wife.

Elaine, on the other hand, was the calmest out of all of them. She slowly rose to her feet and put her arm on her husband's back. “Come on. Let us sit down again. There is no need for us to continue a discussion like this when our children are around.”

Henry allowed his wife to drag him back to his seat and sat down silently.

That everyone was clueless about what to say didn't lighten the mood in the slightest. Even if the anger had disappeared, the atmosphere was oppressing.

Blanche continued to poke around in her food with her fork and avoided looking at the people around her. She didn't know what she should make out of all of this. It didn't seem like Duke Duremont would decide quickly, and it was even likely that he didn't truly have a choice. After all, handing the nation over to the second prince, with the dowager empress in the shadows, was a mistake, and everyone was aware of that. Especially the Duremonts, whom Camille might actually see as a threat. But would this really end the discussion about the emperor's affair? It was unlikely.

The concubine slowly lifted her gaze just a tiny bit and looked around while giving her best to be inconspicuous.

Theodore had sat down again too and calmly ate his cake while the others awkwardly stared at their plates.

To be honest, the most surprising thing about this was how silent Seraphina was the whole time. Shouldn't the empress say more about her family being offended right in front of her? Normally, she always tried to break up fights and de-escalate the situation before arguing with her husband in private. But since she was this quiet the entire time, it probably meant that she was boiling with anger. So, the argument after this meal wouldn't be pleasant at all.

The emperor ordered the servants to bring the last course, and the staff members that came inside seemed to feel tense as soon as they approached the guests. They replaced the empty plates and left the ones with some leftovers while placing a small bowl with pudding in front of everyone.

Blanche was happy to have something else she could chew on without needing to eat her cake even slower. She finished the last bites of the previous course before setting the plate down and grabbing the bowl. She was relieved as she welcomed the food as the only thing keeping her from breaking down. The first spoonful of chocolate pudding filled her mouth, and she hoped that the banquet would finally end after everyone finished their dish. Maybe she could have a bit of peace until the very end.

But unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

Henry slowly processed what the emperor told him, and his anger welled up more with each second. He narrowed his eyes at Theodore before beginning to speak at a lower volume, which wasn't any less intimidating than his loud one. “You probably think that this is funny. To play off the two most powerful men in the nation against each other. Are you even aware that this could split Artias in the middle if it goes wrong? What do you want to gain from this? It should be obvious that you won't gain the position you want so badly, no matter what. His Majesty isn't able to do everything he wants. Even he has limitations, so you will never harm Seraphina.”

Only while he spoke, Blanche realized that he was talking to her. She stiffly set down the bowl and lifted her gaze. She immediately wanted to look away again when she saw with how much hatred Duke Duremont was glaring at her.

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Theodore turned his head to her and spoke up in a soft voice. “You don't have to reply to such baseless accusations. Feel free to ignore it.”

Despite Duke Duremont's irritation at that statement, the concubine almost listened to her lover. Her throat felt dry, and she would have favored staying quiet to avoid attracting any more resentment. But she wanted to respond. These accusations would trouble her and Theodore often in the future if she didn't point it out at some point.

So, Blanche forced herself to open her mouth and talk even when her voice was barely coming out. “I don't want to gain anything. I just want to stay with Theo.”

Henry was the one to slam his hand onto the table this time. It was sudden and made Blanche flinch, so it had probably fulfilled its purpose, but he still wasn't done. His fury was blazing again as he stared at her with a mask of pure wrath. “You think that all of us are stupid, don't you? Ever since you arrived here, you tried to claim power you don't deserve for yourself! Tell me why you're arrogant enough to believe that you could become the empress!” He got louder with every one of his words.

A deep frown appeared on Theodore's face, which made it obvious that this would only end in another fight.

Blanche hurried to reply before her lover could. “I might have been insolent in the past, but I swear that I don't want anything but stay here quietly. That is also what I told Her Grace at the last ball, and she believed me. I don't want any arguments, I hate them. It should be clear that I don't know how to deal with them. Why would I attempt to demand something so ridiculous while knowing that everything will go wrong if I just made a small unfitting remark? I really gave my best not to cause any problems during the last months.”

Henry's fury only grew at that. He looked like he wanted to jump up again, and only his wife's grip kept him on his chair. “You are the most brazen person I ever met. Lying to my face when you're nothing but a power-hungry-”

Theodore cut him off in a voice that sounded calm, but his expression had already darkened again. “For your own advantage, I would suggest that you don't finish that sentence. I warned you, didn't I? Keep your mouth shut unless you want to make me seriously mad. I can assure you that you would hate that. So, refrain from voicing such accusations about her. What about this banquet made you think that she would be the one responsible for my decisions? Didn't you see how uncomfortable she looked the whole time? If she was anything like the horrible person you believe her to be, she would have already made sure that I will have you thrown out and would have laughed at your bedazzled faces. But instead, she kept quiet while you ranted about us and just accepted your impudence.”

Duke Duremont's face reddened even more. He might truly end up exploding if this went on like this. “Of course, she manipulated you! You're just too blind to see it anymore! If you were in your right mind, you would never consider throwing us out of the palace. You also wouldn't plan on making the child of a baroness the next emperor.”

Theodore drank his wine while the man spoke and set down his glass. He waited for a few seconds before responding. “Ah. That's the issue here? That I would throw you out if you behave insolently should be logical. So, I won't explain anything else about that topic. But your second statement interests me. Her rank is the problem? Well then, which one would be fine?”

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze at that. For the first time in an eternity, Seraphina spoke up. “What do you mean by that?” Only a small amount of panic was hidden in her voice, but it was still audible.

The emperor, however, answered while being seemingly unaffected by the question. “Your father said that the issue was Blanche being a baroness. I can change that. What rank do I need to give her to make you stop complaining? Is viscountess enough or would countess be better? To avoid any future problems, we could also say marchioness. That would make sure that no one will mind, correct?”

Blanche felt the color drain from her face. What was he talking about? There was no way to make a commoner noble. One could give them the title of a baron or baroness but nothing more than that, except for when they were adopted.

She was about to remind him of that when Elaine already chimed in to prevent her husband from losing his composure. “Please, forgive our slight irritation about that, Your Majesty. There is no way to create a new noble household like this. Even for you, it would be impossible to increase Lady Blanche's rank.”

Theodore leaned his cheek onto his palm as he poked around in his pudding with his spoon. “Officially, it would be impossible. But when I take care of it behind closed doors, things are a little different. I only need a few documents, and suddenly, there is a prosperous noble house, whose members have been lost for a few decades. But now the last remaining relative of the family's head appeared. We were able to find them with the help of detailed family trees and birth certificates. So, this makes Blanche, the only living descendant of that person, the sole heir. I only need to rewrite three or four documents for this, and it's done.” Was he proposing fraud? There is no way that he could simply do that.

Blanche couldn't hold herself back at that as she whirled around to face her lover. “You can't do that! That's illegal!”

Her lover gave her a small smile that was dripping with confidence. “Not when I do it. I'm allowed to ignore the law if it's for the nation's well-being. Since us having an heir that is accepted by all the nobles is crucial, this would apply in this case. Meaning, that I am free to act on this plan if I want to. I already did something similar once, and there were no problems. No one even questioned it, so it will be fine. Which title sounds best to you?”

This time, Henry didn't stay in his seat. “You're insane! You can't really intend to break the law just to give her power. That is ridiculous!” His eyes wandered across the people at the table, and he looked like he was taken aback by the reactions he saw. “Why are all of you so calm? Our family name is dragged through the mud, and His Majesty openly admits to disregarding everything our society stands for! Why aren't you complaining in the slightest?”

Elaine was the one responding first. “Darling, please sit down. You will not be able to convince His Majesty of anything while yelling the whole time. The reason that all of us are silent is that we are doing our best to hold back our emotions to not cause any more problems. Besides, I cannot speak for the others, but I already expected that the announcement regarding the heir would come soon.”

Henry whipped his head around to his wife. “What? They already told you, and you didn't feel the need to inform me?”

Despite her husband's rage, Elaine stayed composed. “No, they didn't tell me anything. As I said, I merely expected it after viewing His Majesty's actions in public for the last weeks. Will you please sit down now? The banquet is almost over, and we need to maintain some kind of dignity.” Her expression stay stoic, but her voice revealed that she was angry internally. She just hid it since her husband was already upset enough for the two of them.

Duke Duremont finally listened to his wife but just turned to glare at his children. “Did you know about this too? Am I the only one that didn't hear about this?”

For a few seconds, everyone was silent before Sophia hesitantly spoke up. “Well, it was always obvious that it might happen. After all, His Majesty and Lady Blanche love each other very much, so it wouldn't be strange if they had children at some point. And since Seraphina doesn't...isn't...” She paused as she struggled to find the right words. “I feel like it will come out wrongly if I say this, so I'll stop here.”

She didn't need to continue since Allen resumed for her. “Her Majesty told us that it was only a matter of time until this happened.”

Duke Duremont was as surprised as Blanche was about this. “What? Why didn't you inform me?” He alternated between looking at his children in disbelief. “You should have told me. Then I would have prevented this sort of humiliation.” He gazed at Seraphina, whose expression the concubine still couldn't see.

Allen was silent for a moment but replied when his siblings kept quiet. “Seraphina said that it was fine, so I don't think that it's much of an issue. I was merely upset about the way that His Majesty decided to convey this information to you.”

Theodore gave him a slight grin but didn't interrupt the family's conversation.

By now, Duke Duremont's fury had completely turned into disbelief. He turned to the empress and stared at her for a moment. “Why would you agree with that?” A few seconds passed, but before a response came, his anger already flared up again. “They threatened you, didn't they? That woman did something to make you give in.”

The emperor leaned back in his seat and shook his head. “Blanche didn't do anything. Maybe your daughter is as uncomfortable with the idea of having a child with a stranger as any normal person would be. Did you think about how she feels even once?”

This silenced Henry. He just stared at the empress while waiting for a reply that was supposed to clear up his confusion.

The silence was deafening.

Thankfully, Seraphina decided to finally speak up. “I believe that it is highly inappropriate to discuss such matters over a dinner that was supposed to be a soothing event. So, Father, I would like to speak to you about this in private later. I would also like to apologize for the fact that this banquet ended up being rather tense due to His Majesty's unexplainable need to bring up political topics while eating. He seems to be a bit troubled at this current time, so please overlook it this once. I-”

The emperor interrupted her. “Do not speak for me.” His tone was unnecessarily harsh while he said that. “I'm perfectly fine, and I'm not going to apologize either. The only reason that I had to ruin this dinner was that some people refused to acknowledge Blanche's place at my side until now. I felt the need to clarify that they won't be able to disrespect her in the future. That's understandable, isn't it?”

The empress responded in a tone that proved that she was forcing herself to speak slowly and quietly instead of venting her frustration. “However, that does not justify you seeing the need to do this without a warning. I would have liked to do this more civilly. For example, you could have told me about your plans, and I would have told my family privately. I can assure you their reactions would have been kinder that way.”

Theodore replied in a cool voice without any emotion. “Not really. After all, they, or rather your father, just assumed that someone threatened you into voicing what he didn't want to hear. He wouldn't have believed you in private either. In addition, I needed to scold your aunt and father for thinking that they could insult Blanche without any consequences. The only reason I had for doing it this surprisingly was that I wanted to make sure all of you understood. Even if any person that isn't blind should have expected this already. I did succeed in making myself clear, didn't I?”

“You surely did, Your Majesty.” Seraphina's voice sounded bitter, which made the concubine's stomach churn.

Blanche felt bad about the whole situation, and she had done so from the beginning. But hearing and imagining how the empress had to be feeling at the moment made it even worse. After all, Theodore had just revealed to everyone that his lover would be the only one he would have children with. That the empress wasn't the mother of the future emperor was something that had never happened, at least to Blanche's knowledge. Obviously, that would cause all kinds of rumors that would make people start to gossip about Seraphina and whether she could be infertile. Logically speaking, it should not be an issue, but something like that would hurt the empress and her family's reputation for sure. Some nobles were cruel with their words.

It was easy to understand why this scenario was horrible for the Duremonts. That's why Allen's statement about his sister not caring shocked the concubine so much. Though, asking now wouldn't work either.

Blanche saw that Theodore was continuing to eat his pudding and did the same. She only wanted this banquet to end.

Thankfully, it seemed like most of the others did too. Everyone hurried to eat their last dessert except for Henry, who was too upset to consume anything, so Sophia finished it for him.