Right now, the concubine felt exhausted, even though not even the first hour of the ball was over. She sighed quietly, but it was loud enough for her lover to hear.

“Are you sure that you are fine?”

“Yes. I would like a glass of water now though.”

Theodore immediately waved a servant toward him and ordered what she had asked for before turning to her. “You don't have to be so tense, you know? I'm right here with you. The worst part of the evening is already over. I will be with you the whole time, so it's fine. I won't let anyone attack you.”

Blanche gave him a weak smile and had to hold back from running her fingers over his cheek. “I know. Thank you. But I'm still not used to so much pressure. I can't believe that you needed to do something like this from your childhood on. I would have collapsed. Even now, I feel like this is too much for me, so I would have been sobbing when I was younger.”

Theodore scanned her with a concerned gaze and only showed her a soft smile when he was sure that she was alright. “You can't compare that. I was raised in the palace with the expectation of me being the center of attention all the time. I needed to be here from the very beginning. But of course, I started slowly too and only had to accompany my father, so I had years to get used to the fact that I would be here alone at some point. But I am very glad that you are here.”

Blanche let out a quiet laugh and let her gaze roam across the ballroom before quickly turning back to her lover. “I feel like I am doing more harm than good, but I'm glad if I can help you in some way. I will give my best not to disturb the conversation again.”

Theodore frowned at that. “You didn't interrupt anything. In fact, you are silent the whole time, which you don't actually have to do. You can talk as much as you want to. I know that small talk is very boring, but it's better than just sitting there and listening.”

She considered bringing up that the others wouldn't like to hear her voice, but she didn't say that. The emperor would only react sensitive to such a statement, so she chose to phrase it a bit differently. “Well, the people that were here are the last ones I wish to speak to. The most exhausting ones are gone though, so I can be calmer now. I'm still a bit restless, but it will be fine. For how long will this go on again?”

They should still have a little over six hours left, so getting impatient now wouldn't do her any good. She would have to manage somehow even if she was already tired.

Theodore's face slowly lit up, and he smiled at her. “I have some good news for you in this regard.”

“Really?”

Her lover seemed to be even more content at that. “Yes. We will leave an hour before midnight. There is still something I need to do today without anyone disturbing us, so we will take the liberty of disappearing earlier.”

Blanche knew that this was a bad idea. What kind of host would simply leave their guests alone during an event? Many people would be discontent with that. Still, she couldn't help but mirror his smile. An hour less of pure stress was like a god-sent gift for her. “Thank you. Just find a good explanation.”

Theodore nodded happily. “I already have one. We'll leave with the intention of coming back in a few minutes, but something urgent suddenly required my attention. Don't worry. I already left in the middle of a ball a couple of times. I did that when we first met too.”

That was true. Back then, no one had questioned why he had disappeared either. Of course, no single person present would have suspected that he would be taking care of a young woman that had suddenly appeared in the pavilion while he passed by either.

Blanche couldn't help but grin while she remembered their first meeting but quickly became more dejected again when she thought about the circumstances of her arrival in the palace. Sefare was nothing but a lackey that didn't play much of a role in the novel or her current situation, but he knew everything about her past. A few words of his would be enough to destroy everything. She fought against the urge to search for the marquess and turned to her lover instead. “Then I will be happy to leave with you. I'm already fed up speaking to those two, and at the end of the ball, they would have a chance to approach us again. We should avoid that if possible.” She slowly let her eyes roam around the table with the gifts to estimate how many people they would still have to greet before being able to stand up.

There were a lot of households that would have to be addressed first. Hopefully, they wouldn't chat with the royal couple for too long.

The concubine froze for a moment when she saw the boxes that the dowager empress and the second prince had presented and remembered the previous conversations. That only made her mood deteriorate even more. She intended to stay calm at first, but thinking about that sword made her boil, so she didn't hold back. “I'm still baffled by the fact that your enemies seem to be so brazen in public though. Cedar actually dared to give you a gift with such a hidden meaning. It's unbelievable.”

Theodore opened his mouth to respond but closed it again when the servant approached. He took the glass of water before sending the other man away and handed it over to Blanche. He gave her a few seconds to drink before speaking up. “Well, I'm glad that his mother isn't as petty as him. She could have gifted me something strange too. Her behavior was bad enough to ruin my day, so I don't need anything else souring my mood.” His expression darkened as he glanced at the guests. “That she actually dared to offend you in my presence only proves that she is still as self-centered as before. Not only that, but she also tried to threaten you while everyone else was listening right after she fought with me. She has nerves. And that bastard too. I hate it when he looks at you, and him saying your name feels like a sacrilege.”

Blanche's face scrunched up at that thought. She finished her water, and immediately, Stella was by her side to take the empty glass away. She didn't even have time to thank the maid before the other woman was already gone, so she focused on her lover again. “I hate it much more than you do, believe me. I want to throw up every time I see him. This evening already made me nauseous, so I really thought I might lose it when he spoke to me. What does he think such arrogant actions will gain him? I don't get why they believe that they have any chance to influence me either. I told him that I love you a hundred times and that nothing could ever change this, but they won't give up.”

Theodore's eyes narrowed as he looked at something in the distance before he turned to her again and showed her a grim expression. “They don't see you as a human being with the capability to make your own decisions. They only know that they can use you to hurt me the most and will do anything to attack this weak point of mine. In addition, none of them have ever felt true love, so how would they understand what it means? If my brother wasn't such a horrible person, I would have developed some sympathy for him. I doubt that the dowager empress ever raised him with something else in mind than to make him surpass me.” Theodore stopped himself and opened his mouth without saying anything. When he began again, he sounded more dejected than angry. “Sometimes, I feel like Cedar doesn't even see himself as a human but more as a tool for his mother. It must have been a bleak childhood for him. It would have been better if Althea had raised him. I'm sure that Cedar would be different now if that had been the case. But there is nothing I can do about that. I can only try to defeat him without using too harsh ways, but I won't hesitate to be more direct if he becomes a threat to you. For now, it looks like I might be able to rely on legal instruments to fight back. I managed to imprison the most infuriating followers of theirs after all.”

Blanche watched him while he spoke and felt her stomach drop when she heard him talk like this. Even now, he felt bad about having been raised by a wonderful person while his brother was being manipulated by his mother. It wasn't his fault, and he wouldn't admit it, but his tone was enough to reveal that he was blaming himself for it to some extent. Before she could think about it, she lifted her hand and put it onto his, which was lying on the armrest. “It will be fine. No matter what you do, I am on your side. Just focus on the positive things for now. As you said, you got rid of the Vasquez family. For now, at least.”

Theodore gave her a sad smile. He turned his hand so that her palm was resting on his before replying. “Unfortunately, yes. They aren't gone. The trial will be held in a while, but I will be forced to release them in a few days. Obviously, I will try to link them to every crime they committed and with the poisoning, but we cannot be certain that this will succeed. Either way, their reputation will suffer, and they will lose a lot of money due to their stores being closed down, but they will still keep a good fraction of their power.”

Blanche truly wasn't surprised. Duke Vasquez's rank could do a lot for him. She lowered her eyes and pondered about this for a moment before looking up again. “What crimes did they commit? I'm sure that poisoning someone within the royal palace is the worst they did, but it was merely their servant whom we located. They will claim not to be connected to his decisions. Is there anything else that can hurt them with proof?”

Theodore didn't seem very confident here. “There is proof. I could show you all the documents if we went to my office. Their stores are usually selling luxury goods, which means that they have to pay some hefty taxes. They did not always do that. They also ignored some laws that I made to avoid cartelization by owning all stores in some districts in the capital. To cover that up, they used some other people's names and basically treated those merchants as personal marionettes. Though, they will just accuse their own workers of being responsible for that.” He leaned his head to the side and sighed quietly. “If we are really lucky, we can connect them to a trading ring that gives weapons to Northern Ocrea. That nation will become our ally, but until now, handing them weapons is still technically treason.”

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It took Blanche some effort not to jolt at that mention. She unwillingly thought back to the reason for her father's execution but quickly pushed that thought away. She really didn't need bad memories now, especially when she knew that Claude wouldn't end up like that so easily. “But...even then, the duke could just claim that his people wanted to enrich themselves. To prove that he personally worked with those trading rings, we'd need some specific documents with his handwriting, and he would be a fool to keep something like that neatly prepared for us.” Theodore weakly nodded in affirmation, which made Blanche sigh as well. “I see. You must have been gathering evidence for a long time then, and even then, it's difficult. How did you even find out?”

She didn't miss the fact that Theodore averted his eyes as he replied and also not that he seemed a bit uncertain while speaking. “I...honestly searched where I wanted to find something. That's usually what I do first in such situations. Then I just...send people to infiltrate the places that are important, but that takes a lot of time. We can assume that we need a few more months before we can move on to the accusations of treason with proof.”

Blanche felt like there was something more to this. Did Theodore not want her to know which tricks he used to get his information? Maybe they were dirty. Though, Blanche didn't care much here as long as it brought results and didn't endanger her lover. She still worried. “So, this trial now will make them furious without damaging their influence?” She breathed out in relief when her lover shook his head with certainty.

“No, everything has a purpose. This will definitely give them a harder time if they wish to do anything in the future. They will be branded as criminals or ones that worked together with criminals, no matter how the trial ends. I expect them to be declared guilty at least in some cases too. When it comes to legal matters, they might have to pay a fine, and the public's opinion will be influenced for sure, which will enrage them a lot. But that is actually a part of the reason why I chose to deal with it now. If they are upset, especially Duke Vasquez, they will be more prone to messing up after they acted rashly. Then I can find their faults and use them against the whole faction. I hope that this works out, but it should. We already saw how the duke reacted to being criticized, so this will make him boil.”

Blanche didn't need to think hard to remind herself of the fight with Claude a few weeks ago. She was still a bit scared when she remembered how angry he had been, so her lover's guess wasn't too far off. “I see. That is a good idea. Just be careful about those people using rumors against you. They might come up with a random reason and accuse you of imprisoning that family for your own gain.”

“I am almost completely certain that they will try that, but there is nothing I can do. I already stated the crimes they are being suspected of committing out loud. I can't do much more than that.” Theodore let out a huff of air and allowed his frustration to show for a moment before he returned to a small smile. “Well, at least I was able to do something. That's good too. Maybe I shouldn't demand so much so early. Just because I witnessed what will happen when I act in a specific way, that doesn't mean that I am able to predict what may occur if I'm different.” He left a small pause before turning to his lover and looked at her with so much love in his gaze that she almost wanted to lean over to kiss him. He didn't even let her ask about what he had meant specifically. “I'm happy that you're comfortable holding my hand in public now.”

Blanche froze at that remark. Her gaze snapped to their hands, and she immediately withdrew hers which earned her a chuckle from her lover. She glared at him as she felt the blood rise to her cheeks. “You should have reminded me of that. I got carried away.” She dared to glance at the guests and instantly focused on Theodore again. “All of them saw. I...” She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hand.

“You don't have to be embarrassed, you know? Everybody here has a very clear image of our relationship. So, don't be afraid to touch me.” The emperor grabbed her hand and moved it away from her head to make eye contact with her. “You shouldn't worry about anything today. Remember our promise?”

Blanche gave up with a sigh. She lowered her hand and gave him a little smile. “How could I forget when you keep reminding me every few seconds?”

“That's good. Because you can't forget it under any circumstances. Understand?”

The concubine nodded at him, and a movement from the corner of her eyes caught her attention. She glanced to the side and saw that the Lamonts were approaching them. She immediately tensed at that.

The most problematic interactions might be over, but that didn't mean that she could simply sit back and relax. There were still many others that wished to greet the emperor. So, she would have to keep an upright posture for much longer and do her best to look dignified.

Theodore noticed her stiffness easily though. “I just said that you can relax, didn't I? Everything is fine. Lean back and enjoy the others trying to gain your favor. I'm by your side.”

Blanche raised an eyebrow at the comment about others wishing to get along with her, which certainly wasn't true, but she didn't speak about that. Instead, she just replied to the other part. “I'll try. If you're here, it should be fine.” After that, she mirrored her lover's encouraging smile and turned to the guests.

This would be a long evening.

----------------------------------------

It was exhausting to greet all the different nobles, that was undeniable. But apart from the dowager empress and the second prince, everyone seemed to be oddly tame. No one made any ambiguous comments or directed insulting words at the concubine. No one took note of the fact that the emperor was offending his wife by putting another woman without a noble background next to him.

That was the most surprising thing about the entire evening, and with each person that was kind to them, Blanche became even more uncertain. Was this all just the calm before the storm, or had Theodore been right about no one daring to question him? The whole situation only served to make her more uncomfortable with each passing conversation without any issues.

It had begun with the Lamonts. The duke, who had recently been appointed as a new minister and was still overjoyed and eager to please the emperor, naturally didn't say anything contemptuous. He just happily greeted everyone, even the concubine, with kind words and handed over some very expensive-looking gifts. Fiona surprisingly didn't try anything either. She didn't flutter her eyelashes or attempt to make herself look better to gain Theodore's favor. That was a bit irritating since the emperor's birthday should have been the day on which she was trying her hardest to improve her family's standing. Instead, she was just polite and even chatted with the empress for a moment before having a short exchange with Blanche. Everything stayed polite.

Blanche didn't miss the fact that Fiona had put a rose, the flower of the Lamont family into her hair though. To her, that seemed a bit like Fiona wanted to present herself as the next heir to her family's name. That was something that would make sense for an ambitious woman like her, much like it would explain why she felt like she didn't need Theodore anymore. If Fiona could become duchess herself, all her wishes would be fulfilled. Blanche was quite content with that solution anyway.

The Bellfaux family came next. The marquess was respectful as always, and his daughters also didn't do anything special. Madeleine hid her slight annoyance at Theodore's treatment of her dear Seraphina halfheartedly, but since her friend was being ignored by the emperor right now, her feelings were understandable. But she didn't speak about the issue and even maintained a friendly chat with the concubine. Briana was visibly confused, but the whole conversation just seemed to bore her aside from that. She always glanced into the distance as if she was searching for someone, who was probably Allen.

Leon was the next one to approach the thrones. Obviously, the interaction with him was the most relaxing one of all the ones of the evening. He took his time greeting everyone before handing over the gifts. He gave Blanche a bright smile before leaving to mix into the crowd. Theodore explained that this was to make sure that the marquess would be able to eavesdrop on their enemies, even if it was unlikely that a good deal of crucial information would be revealed like this.

After this calm discussion, a rather uncomfortable one occurred. Evelyn was the only member of the Lemares family in the capital since her relatives lived in the south. After all, the only reason for her to have moved here was that Henry was at home near the royal palace. Since the emperor, the empress and the concubine all despised that woman, the whole interaction was icy. Luckily, Evelyn was still a bit more reserved after what had happened at the banquet and didn't dare to provoke anyone. She gave her best to stick to the required etiquette and didn't stray away from that even once. She greeted Blanche properly too, even if she did it with a glint of anger in her eyes.

The concubine didn't care about that though and glared back as much as she could without making it too obvious. In the meantime, she just remembered that Evelyn would attempt to do something horrible tomorrow during the tea party and that she would prevent that. But she wasn't able to think about how to protect Grace without seeming like an insane person for long. Evelyn quickly left, and the tensest conversation followed.

Marquess Sefare stepped forward with a grin plastered on his face. He was careful not to show too much of his joy about the emperor offending the empress with all of this and gave his best to only treat Blanche with as much courtesy as necessary. He was probably scared of someone realizing that they knew each other and just wanted to make sure that no one would be able to guess this from their short conversation. Still, the concubine was stiff the whole time and avoided looking at him.

Unfortunately, her lover noticed this rather quickly and interrupted the chat to ask a servant to bring another cup of water. After that, Theodore even offered to hold her hand, which she declined with a red face. She could only hope that the empress hadn't heard this, but it was questionable.

But for some reason, the emperor managed to end the conversation rather soon. He asked Sefare about some random things, and seconds later, the marquess seemed to be eager to leave, which Theodore allowed.

This was followed by another nice meeting. Sophia and her husband came to greet the royal couple next. The count was as silent as always, but the countess happily blabbered the whole time and was able to lighten the atmosphere a bit with that. She addressed all the present people with a radiant beam and began talking about her daughter, who was sleeping in a cradle in a guest room with some maids watching over her. Hopefully, her presence and actions would calm Seraphina down a bit, but Blanche couldn't relax now.

This conversation only reminded the concubine that Evelyn would try to kill Grace tomorrow and that she had to intervene under any circumstances once. During the tea party, she would have to stay by the baby's side no matter what. Otherwise, the infant might not live for more than the next twenty-four hours.

That thought made Blanche tenser by the end of the chat than she had been before. She would risk being viewed as a maniac if that would allow her to save Grace, but she would like to avoid that. In any case, she would still need to let Evelyn make an attempt to hurt the little girl, no matter how cruel that sounded. That event had been the only reason the woman's vile side had been revealed and if no one found out, Evelyn would have countless chances to hurt those around her differently. So, Blanche would have to make sure that everyone saw what was happening and catch the baby, or have someone else catch it, before it fell into the fountain. The emperor could help her, so she would manage somehow.

After that, countless noble families with less influence and those from outside the capital approached the royal couple. The concubine wasn't able to identify most of them, so it was good that she could always listen to her lover's greeting first. She had expected at least a few of them to point out that a baroness sitting with the royal family was wrong, but no one did. Even the ones that met her for the first time were overly kind, which was a bit unsettling.

Normally, people who had only heard rumors about the emperor's affair should be more enraged about this situation. But they seemed to be fairly calm, which left Blanche behind with confusion each time.

The last important conversation of the evening was the one with the Valerians. The viscount greeted the royal couple in a perfect manner with an elegant bow and no stuttering or mistakes in his speech. Still, he seemed to be somewhat cold. That might be because of his expression that remained stoic the whole time or the way that he glared at his daughter when she tripped over her words once. That was enough to make the concubine dislike that man. She felt bad about witnessing that scene without being able to step in even when she knew that something was wrong. After all, no young girl should tremble just because her father was slightly annoyed.

Lucille seemed to be terrified and not just a bit shy. The girl hurried to hide her shaking, but her uncertainty was still audible in her voice. Blanche could barely stand to listen to her while remembering the hunting festival. Lucille had been so impudent back then despite being so uncertain and shy in public. Why did she act like that? But naturally, the concubine didn't receive an answer even when she pondered about this for a moment. The Valerians left quickly, and thus, all the guests had finished introducing themselves.

That meant that half of the ball was over and that the royal couple would be free to walk around now. Blanche was rather unsure how her lover hoped to deal with this while she was there too, but she was relieved nonetheless.