“Happy anniversary.”

Blanche blinked at that and looked at the gifts before facing her lover again. Slowly, her ability to speak returned. “Theo, this is... It's...” It was too much, but how could she say that when he was so happy about it?

Her lover freed his arm from hers to grab her hand and pulled her further into the room. With every step, she saw even more gifts and could already tell that she would adore most of them. Obviously, she didn't have time to look at everything and couldn't inspect them from afar, but the things that she could identify were absolutely gorgeous.

All kinds of jewelry greeted her, along with items like tiaras, which she couldn't actually wear. The dresses on the racks all looked new to her, so it seemed like she had just gotten a full wardrobe in addition to her already overflowing one. Aside from that, the big number of colorful boxes made her increasingly worried too. In short, the emperor seemed to have done everything in his power to find as many presents as possible.

Blanche just trailed behind him and looked at all the things they passed by without being able to come up with something to say. Her lover had often overdone it in the past, but wasn't this just ridiculous? He had given her the number of gifts she normally got in a year on one day. Surely, he was the emperor, and his funds were basically unlimited, but she couldn't believe that he seemed to have judged what he would buy on that alone.

Theodore guided her to the center of the room and allowed her to stand there and look around. He waited for a while and gave her time to process the things that were greeting her before beginning. “Don't you think about saying that this is too much. I only used my personal funds, as always. I want to indulge you, so that is exactly what I'll do. While I got a lot, I already started preparing a while ago, so you can rest assured that I checked each item carefully. I only brought things that you will adore. You will stay here for so long that you will have enough time to wear everything eventually. So, you don't need to restrain yourself. I know that you will like the things here, so you will keep them. I am a reasonable person, aren't I? You can be sure that I wouldn't overdo it.”

Normally, she would agree with that, but it seemed like her judgment had been wrong. Blanche looked into his eyes and pressed her mouth into a thin line. Once again, her lover was pampering her way too much, and she had no idea what to say about that. She couldn't push him away or refuse to accept the gifts, but agreeing felt wrong too. “Theo... I know that you mean well, and of course, I'm happy to receive gifts from you. But I'm a bit concerned. I mean, you shouldn't feel obliged to get me so many things for your birthday. Last year, you gave me one accessory, and that was fine.”

Theodore cupped her face and leaned forward to bring his face closer to hers. “I don't feel obliged. I do what makes me happy. You shouldn't forget that my birthday is also our anniversary, and this is why I gave you this many gifts. Your birthday will be a bit different.”

She didn't even want to know what he was planning for that. “But, Theo-”

Her lover cut her off by kissing her forehead. He stroked his thumb over her cheek before replying. “You don't need to be concerned about accepting my gifts. Why are you this reluctant to take what I give you? It's been like this for a while now. Before that, you wouldn't question what I chose for you.” Before, he hadn't exaggerated like that either. But he was right about one thing being different.

That was because of her nightmare. Blanche was pretty sure that she wouldn't be thinking about it this much if the dream version of Theodore hadn't told her that she was materialistic and greedy. Those words had hurt much more than she wanted to admit to herself, so she couldn't help but keep them in the back of her mind. But the fact that those dreams meant much more to her than a normal nightmare was something she couldn't reveal. “I'm just worried... This money could be used differently, and I already own enough. I don't want you to feel like I don't value your gifts enough, so getting less might be better.” In the end, she had admitted a part of the truth anyway despite her not wishing to do so.

The emperor immediately perked up at that. He tightened his hold on her face and make sure that she looked into his eyes. “I never felt that way. When I said...” He paused and forced himself to calm down before continuing. “When I give you presents, I always know that you adore them. That's why I give them to you in the first place. If I ever said anything that made you feel differently, I misspoke. Because I know how much you like gorgeous dresses and shiny jewelry and things like that. So, I will provide them for you. There is no issue with that.”

Blanche could just look at him while he spoke and tried to keep her bottom lip from trembling. She couldn't express how much she had longed to hear those words today. After seeing how he had chosen to hand over more and more valuable things, she had been worried about him believing that she needed that to be happy. But she didn't care much about expensive items. She just liked things that were appealing to her. In fact, she was sure that she would adore everything her lover could give her, just because it came from him. And hearing that he knew that and seeing that he was confident about this relived her immensely. She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed herself to bury her face in his chest. “Thank you.” Maybe she should just view it as something she needed for the future too. After all, Blanche would use all of her gifts to appear with them in public, which might help. “If I will be the mother of the royal heir, it can't hurt to represent the royal family a little.”

Theodore didn't take long to put his arms around her as he pulled her against him. “That is true too. But I'm not doing that because of this. I want to see you smile, so it's a bit selfish of me too. Just allow me to do this small thing for the two of us. You have all the time in the world to look at all the things here. You can do it as soon as you want to, or you can take a few items each day. That is up to you. I'll always be here to see your reaction though.”

They remained in their embrace for a while until Blanche forced herself to let go. If they stayed like this any longer, she would get too sentimental. Since she hadn't cried today, she would put in a great effort not to do so any time soon. She took a step back and wiped her eyes once before showing her lover a bright smile. “Then I will happily accept your gifts while viewing them as your presents and also necessary goods I will need when being presented as the mother of your children. But I won't just look at them at once. I want to cherish each piece and take my time, so we won't finish today.”

Theodore rewarded her with a soft smile. “I know. We won't have enough time to do much more now either. I only want you to look at my favorites. Because we still need to leave to reach your surprise in time.”

She had almost forgotten about that. This room had been enough of a surprise, so getting something else too was a bit much. “Ah. Alright. What do I need to examine then?”

Her lover turned to the window front and gestured to the part of the room that was hidden behind a paravent. “I got you another dress, but it's special in some regard. Well, actually, there are two. I couldn't decide. I would like you to wear one of them along with something else now. You'll know when you see it.” This time, he didn't lead her there but allowed her to start moving and pulling him along first.

Blanche slowly stepped forward while doing her best not to be too fast. “I'm curious. I already got a pretty special dress today, so I would be interested in how different these are.” She glanced at her lover, but the only response she got with a smile that wasn't helpful.

“I already gave you a hint a few days ago. You need to figure it out yourself or just take a peek around the corner. I won't spoil the surprise.”

Blanche was horrible at guessing, so she had no choice but to let the gift speak for itself. She guided Theodore to the paravent and slowly moved around the object. Her eyes fell onto the dresses, which were currently being presented on a mannequin each, and immediately had her response. Her lover had promised her something that would match her butterfly ornament, and here it was.

Both dresses were purple, much like the clasp, and the butterfly aspects were obvious as well. But apart from that, they were completely different and exhibited differing auras as well.

The right one was the more mature gown. It was colored in a dark purple with black accessories. There weren't any sleeves, and the heart-shaped cleavage was connected to black tulle that reached up to the neck. The long, round skirt was ornamented by a black underskirt and an outer layer of tulle in a slightly darker purple shape that was wrapped around the waist. The most striking parts were the little butterflies in different shades of purple that were sitting on top of the skirt as well.

In comparison to this, the left dress was much less complicated. It was in a lighter shade of purple than the right one and seemed a bit more casual too. But the missing accessories didn't make it any less elegant. The lower layer of the fabric was covered with half see-through tulle that flowed over the whole gown so that it looked like it was weightless. The sleeves of this dress were very long so that they would flutter around when one was wearing it and moving around.

Both were so gorgeous that Blanche admired them for a moment before turning to her lover. “They're beautiful.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Theodore chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her against his side. “I knew you would like them. You can choose which one you want to wear now and put on the other one tomorrow during the tea party.”

She nodded to herself before remembering what she needed to do tomorrow. If everything went wrong, she might have to jump into the fountain to save Grace. She would have to wear a simple dress that didn't obstruct her movements and wouldn't be hard to clean up in the future. So, she couldn't put on either of the ones in front of her. “That is... I think I need to be a bit more discrete with what I wear tomorrow. Today, I had such a flashy dress that I should hold back a bit next time. Especially since it would get dirty if I come too close to the fountain. And I want to sit there at some point. Because it's always relaxing, you know?” Her excuse sounded way too obvious to her, but her lover nodded after his initial surprise.

“I see. Then you can just go in another dress, and if you do get dirty by the fountain, you can change into one of these. Have you decided which one you will wear now?”

Blanche was tempted to try on both, so she had to use some kind of logic to pick her favorite when her options were just as satisfying. She scanned the dresses one more time before nodding to herself. She pointed to the left one. “Today is our anniversary, so I feel like a more light and simple dress would be the better fit. I won't miss out on a chance to wear the other one soon though.”

“Somehow, I knew that you would choose that.” Theodore smiled at her before turning his head to glance at the clock. “Then we should get you changed. We don't have too much time left before midnight.” He took off his crown and just put it on top of a dresser before getting rid of his cape the same way.

Blanche watched that with raised eyebrows and checked whether the crown was too close to the edge three times. “I'm not sure whether an emperor should just place his crown at random spots.”

Her lover shrugged. “It's better than giving it to someone. When we met, I just pressed it into Leon's hands and asked him to wait for me on the balcony. I think that made him just as upset as the fact that I returned with a person he didn't know and told him that you would move in with me. I still remember his dumbfounded expression when I explained how you just showed up here. Well, those are good memories, but they have nothing to do with what I was talking about. I meant to say that this thing is pretty heavy if you need to wear it for hours at a time, so it gets annoying. There is a reason why tiaras were implemented as an alternative sign for power.”

Blanche inspected the crown again. “Calling the most important heirloom that has crowned the heads of the last emperors for centuries ‘that thing’ isn't a wise decision. But I understand that it's frustrating. I can't really guess how heavy it is, but it looks very sturdy. You have some lighter ones too, why-”

While she had spoken, her lover had turned to the dresser again and picked up the crown to bring it to her. She cut herself off when he lifted it and slowly placed it on her head. Her knees almost gave in when he did that, and she just stared at Theodore in pure shock.

In the meantime, he didn't seem to be concerned about his actions. “See? It's heavy. Do you understand why I hate that thing now? Putting it on is fine, but leaving it there for six hours is torture. My father should have changed something about it when he could. I guess I will ask for a jeweler to make the lightest crown he can and will greatly reward anyone that manages to create a crown that weighs half as much.”

Blanche's mouth hung open while her lover just happily chatted as if he hadn't just put the symbol of ultimate power on top of her head. If anyone saw that, there would be a much bigger problem than her just being insolent. This bordered on a lèse-majesté. “Theo! You can't just-”

The emperor finally paid attention to her worry, but he just smiled at her. “Why? It's my crown. I can do whatever I want with it. It fits you. I already knew that gold and navy are perfect for you, but this exceeds my imagination. But it is heavy, isn't it?” Did he want her to say that before he would take it away?

Blanche didn't even dare to move in fear of making the accessory fall to the ground despite him still stabilizing it with his hands. “Yes, it's heavy! You're right, now take it off!”

Theodore finally lifted the crown at that. He unceremoniously placed it on the dresser again before coming back to her. “Now then. We need to get changed, or we won't make it in time. Come on.” He took her hand and pulled her to the dresses while she could still just gaze at him with disbelief.

How oblivious could a person be? Why didn't he understand that no one but the emperor could wear that crown? He didn't seem to understand how it was an issue for him to just put it on her head. And since the fact that he should, considering that this was so obvious, she didn't even know how to explain it to him. So, she kept quiet.

Blanche just allowed him to help her change and chose to forget about that incident. As long as he didn't do it again and didn't think anything of it, she didn't have to ponder about this. She refused to. She would focus on his surprise instead.

As soon they were finished, Theodore led her out of the room and down the stairs. They stopped at her room, where she retrieved her butterfly ornament and let him put it in her hair. As always, the purple created a perfect contrast to her light alabaster-colored hair, which was already enough to fill Blanche with memories of how she had received it first. She was once again more than happy that her beloved accessory hadn't broken and ended up kissing her lover again. After that, the couple left. Theodore brought her out of the palace through a side entrance and paid attention to keeping his distance to the terrace, from which one could look at the guests that were still in the ballroom.

The air was cooler now, but since it was always rather mild in Artias except for during some rare days, it was still pleasant. As Blanche had expected, the fabric of her dress truly was as light as a butterfly, so it felt like she was flying when the soft breeze of the evening brushed over her skin. She closed her eyes while her lover brought her to a location that she could already identify just from the path they took.

How could she not notice that they were approaching the pavilion? She should have known that they would go there at some point. Last year, he had given her the butterfly clasp here, and the year before that, they had met at this place. It was an unwritten rule that they would return this year.

When they reached the beginning of the tiled path that was leading to their destination, Stella and Owen stayed behind to give them some privacy. So, Blanche could only assume that Theodore had instructed them before. She showed the two a smile before letting her lover lead her through the hedges.

At this time of the year, the bushes were extremely dense, so it felt like they went into their own small world while following the pathway. Only the faint background noise from the ballroom and the balcony reminded her that other people were closer than it seemed to be the case. It was just like during their first meeting.

A wide smile formed on Blanche's lips at that thought. With every step, it felt like they were further away from anything around them so that only they mattered in this place.

Theodore's grip on her hand slowly but surely became a little tighter, and she was happy to squeeze his hand too. When they reached the pavilion, he slowed his movements and let her take in the scene in front of her.

This place had always been magical, like it came out of a fairy tale. But now that countless candles and rose petals adorned the pavilion, it was even more beautiful.

Blanche couldn't help but stare at the scenery in front of her in awe. “It's perfect.” No other words could properly describe how she was feeling about this. She just wanted to burn this image into her mind so that she would always be able to remember it. But more than that, she wanted to praise her lover. She turned to him with a radiant beam. “You always find the most wonderful ways to make me happy, don't you? Thank you so much. For this and for everything else too.”

Theodore kept his gaze firmly on the pavilion for another moment before slowly turning to her. “I'm glad. I was worried about the candles being here alone for a few minutes, so...” His voice trailed off, and he looked at the image in front of them again.

He gave her a while to admire the beautiful scenery of the illuminated pavilion standing all alone in the darkness with a sea of stars above them. It was too gorgeous to put into words, so they both stayed silent until they were done gazing at this masterpiece.

Her lover was the one that eventually spoke up. “Let's go inside. To the place where we met.” He lifted their hands slightly and led her toward the pavilion.

It wasn't any less beautiful from the inside. Looking out from the glowing space to the dark area and the bushes outside made her feel like they were in their little world that no one else could enter.

Blanche sighed quietly when she saw all of that and leaned her head against the emperor's arm. “It gets more wonderful each year, doesn't it? I'm worried that we won't have much more room to make our visit any better.”

Theodore watched her expression with a faint smile on his lips. “I might have an idea. I'm not done yet. But you have to be a bit patient. I can't start right away. To give away my ace this early would be a waste.”

The concubine let out a little chuckle. “How long are you going to make me wait?”

“Not too long. I'm impatient as well. I can barely keep my hands from shaking.”

She turned and stepped in front of her lover. “Let me see.” Blanche took his hands in hers and lifted them to her face. She looked at them for a few seconds before softly placing her lips on his fingertips. She took her time to kiss each finger before gazing up at him. “Is it better now?”

Theodore nodded at her and put his hand to her face as soon as she let go of him. “With you, everything is better, my miracle.” He moved his hand to the back of her head and rested it there while he stroked over her cheek with his other hand. Slowly, he tilted her head backward and moved his face to hers. “I'm so happy that you are here. There is no way for me to show you how happy I am. I feel like my heart might give in if it continues like this. Whenever you smile at me, my chest feels warm, and I couldn't care less about anything else. As long as you are here, I will fight. I will protect you and our happy ending.”

Blanche got lost in his eyes while he spoke to her. There was nothing but sincerity in his gaze, and her heart was already reacting to his kind words. “I feel the same. I might not be able to fight as much as you do, but I'll do anything in my power. I'm with you for the duration of the battle, no matter how long it will take. I just want to be with you and see you happy. Your love is the best thing that ever happened to me. And just so you know it, my heart flutters every time you do something sweet too.” She rose to her tiptoes in an attempt to kiss him, but he stopped her.

“Not yet. There is still something I need to do first. But I have to prepare it. Will you turn around for a moment?”

Blanche didn't know what to make of that. Surely, he wasn't planning on giving her something else, right? Of course, she would comply and do what he requested, but she was curious. In any case, she didn't want to let go without her kiss, so she opted for pressing her lips onto the tip of his nose. “Alright. Don't make me wait too long. I get lonely without you.” She took a step backward but took his hand and kept holding onto it.

Theodore showed her a soft smile and kept her in his grip too. “I won't allow you to be lonely. I will cling to you until it becomes clear that I'm yours forever. That is what I will prove over and over again...and this is what this is about too.”

“You are making me more curious with every word.” Slowly, she moved back and turned around while releasing his hand. She walked the two steps to the railing and crossed her arms in front of her chest while looking up.