The night sky was as beautiful as ever. The see-through clouds from before had disappeared and left behind a clear view of the twinkling stars in a sea of ink. It was wonderful and only seemed to match how perfect this evening would be. Blanche enjoyed the wind raking through her hair and listened to the rustling of the leaves and the dim chatter of the nobles on the balcony. Something about this scene filled her with indescribable bliss. It was a strange emotion and made her feel like she was somewhere extremely special. She had no idea how this could get any better, but she didn't doubt that her lover would find a way.

As if he had waited for his cue, Theodore began speaking. “You can't turn around yet, alright?”

She replied with a nod and a bright smile, even though he couldn't see her face. “Of course. Please enlighten me of what my dearest could be planning.”

Theodore paused for a moment, and she could only imagine what grin was adorning his face. He took his time before beginning to speak in a soft voice. “I remember it like it was yesterday. I was attending my birthday party like every year. It wasn't anything special, nor did it fill me with joy. I just endured it because I knew that it had to be like this. I was always striving to be the perfect emperor and worked hard to accomplish what my father had dreamed about. No matter what happened, I never failed to meet the expectations people had for me and appeared strong in front of the nation. I managed to improve Artias' economy and our relationship with other countries. The nobles were starting to support me. They praised me, and it seemed like everything was perfect. So, I should have been happy. But I wasn't. I was hollow. Because all I ever did was becoming the heir my father wanted. But I wasn't a person that could be happy about their personal life.”

Oh. He was beginning a quite romantic description. The corners of Blanche's lips tugged as she listened, even though the start sounded quite depressed. After all, she knew what he would tell her now.

Her lover paused again and moved something around so that a small rustling was heard. “By the time I noticed that, I was just tired of everything. I tended to run away when another wave of exhaustion hit me and did so fairly often. It wasn't special when I sneaked out during the ball again, even on my birthday. I only wanted to enjoy some fresh air in peace for a minute before returning. So, I gave my crown to Leon and disappeared. I went to the one place that no one ever visited because it was overgrown with plants. I never expected anyone to be here. But then I heard someone crying.”

It was quite obvious where this story would lead. Blanche knew how their meeting had transpired too well, but she would always listen to it again. She smiled at the stars and waited for her lover to resume.

“I was sure that one of the guests was hiding here to vent their frustration alone, so I intended to leave. But for some reason, I couldn't. I had to check on that person and make sure that they were fine. So, I went inside. That was the best decision I made that day. When I arrived at the center and caught a glimpse of you for the first time, my world froze. It was like time had stopped. There was a young woman I had never seen before sitting there all alone with tears rolling down her cheeks. It shouldn't have been something that would shake my core, but when you looked up and our eyes met for the first time, my heart skipped a beat. And then it started pounding. For the first time in ages, there was something I wanted. Not something I needed to gain for the nation or something my father had hoped or that the nobles demanded. I wanted to console you. Not as the emperor but as myself.”

The concubine leaned against the railing and felt tears forming in her eyes. She quickly blinked to wipe them away though. She wouldn't ruin such a beautiful moment now by crying again. She wanted to hear what her lover had to say until the very end.

“So, I approached you. Our first conversation only consisted of us staring at each other and me telling you that everything was fine. You seemed to be as taken aback by all of that as I was. You looked at me with round eyes, and I couldn't help but wipe away your tears. I was a complete stranger to you back then. In a logical sense, I shouldn't have done that, but there was no way that I could hold back. It was already hard enough not to pull you into my arms, so I did alright. And then you told me that you couldn't go back to your home because you didn't remember. I didn't hesitate for a second to offer you to stay. I knew that I would have to argue with countless people because of that. The emperor can't just take in people he never met before. But I didn't care. And so, you lived with me. It's a cliché, I know. But suddenly, the black and white world around me was colorful.”

Blanche had to press her lips together to keep herself from replying by now. She could remember everything her beloved had said upon meeting him. She remembered looking at him and freezing as her heart bubbled with unknown emotions. She remembered him stroking over her cheek and her not moving away even though he was a stranger.

And she remembered lying to him to keep her past hidden.

Only a moment after that, he had offered her to stay and changed her world with that. No one had expected him to act so suddenly, not even Sefare, but it was the best thing that could have happened to her. After all, that was the reason why they were here together now.

“With every day that you stayed in the palace, I fell in love with you more. I must have told you about this countless times by now, but I was so scared that you would leave. So scared that my world would return to the dim version I had known before meeting you. But you didn't show any intention of leaving. I thanked the gods for that every day. And I prayed for you not to grow fearful of me when you really grasped what my rank meant in this world. But instead of distancing yourself, you came closer to me with every conversation. You called me by a nickname all of a sudden, and I thought that I might die of happiness at that moment. I had never known that I would long for something like love, but after meeting you, it became clearer with each day. Of course, I never wanted to pressure you into doing anything just because I was the one giving you a place to live. So, I was too cowardly to try anything. It took two weeks of constant tension until I kissed you for the first time and a much longer time until I finally asked you whether you wanted to stay with me forever.”

She remembered how shocked he had seemed after kissing her during a nighttime walk right here in the pavilion. But then he had stared at her and kissed her again. That day had been one of the most wonderful ones in her memory, and she still held it dear to her heart.

“You know what happened after that. You stayed with me, and with each day, we became closer. And still, my heart beats out of turn when you give me your wonderful smile. When you say my name, I feel happier than you can imagine. Every little interaction with you is a god-sent, and I do not want to miss any of it. That you love me too is like a wonder, and I have no intention of giving up on that. You can turn around now.”

The longer he had spoken, the more curious Blanche had become. Now that she finally spun around to face him, she didn't know what to expect.

Her lover didn't seem to be any different. He just stood there with his hands behind his back and waited for her to approach him. She reached him with a few steps and stopped there.

Theodore showed her a soft smile full of love and resumed. “You know that there is no way that I could live without you. I love you, and I don't want to hide that. That is why I want to show it to everyone. I want all of them to know that I am taken by the one I truly adore. They should understand that I am devoted to you and that there is no other way. Our children will be my only heirs, and one of them will take over the throne later. That is just one of the many things that are the foundation for our happy future, but there is so much more. I won't change my mind about this nor will I ever regret openly showing that I am with you. No one will ridicule our love, and even if they don't believe that a wonderful relationship like ours exists, I don't care.”

Blanche's heartbeat began to quicken as she listened to him. Her mind was blank apart from his words. She only listened to him and stared into his eyes, which showed nothing but honesty, as if the world around them didn't exist.

Would he...

No. He surely wouldn't.

Right?

For a moment, Theodore's expression darkened, and the tone of his voice changed as well. “Marriage in noble society is a joke. A worthless scrap of paper that is used to secure power and wealth and led countless people into an unhappy life. I don't believe that this is something that should prevail in our world. Society has to change, or we will always stay the same and hurt people that could have been happy but were held back because of some norms that stem from those that have been dead for centuries. I won't hesitate to show that this is my opinion even if many may criticize me. I'm the emperor, and my power isn't as fragile as people believe it to be. If I don't use that to become happy, how would anyone else be able to reach a happy ending?” With every word he spoke, he sounded like he was more confident. When Theodore finished, he paused for a moment.

Blanche's heart stopped. Was he truly...

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A slight cling was audible from behind Theodore's back, and he began smiling at her again. “That realization made me understand that there was never a choice. The one I love is you. It's always been you. In the future, it will always be you too. So, the one that is by my side should be you as well. That is why I want to ask you the question that both of us waited for ever since the day we shared our first kiss. I need to remind you of your promise before saying it. Think about us. Think about what you and I want and not about what others think.”

Blanche felt like time froze.

With those words, Theodore sank to one knee and pulled out the item from behind his back. It was a small box, which he held towards her. He slowly opened it, and a pair of golden rings with sapphires came into view. “I'm finally ready. I am asking you here, at the place where we met each other after fate brought us together. Blanche, will you marry me?”

It had been obvious where his words would lead. For the last minute, she had already known what he would say but believed that he had phrased his sentences unfavorably. Even now she couldn't trust her ears.

Blanche could only stand there and stare at him with wide eyes.

The wind was rustling through the trees around them, and the chatter from the balcony had never died down, but she couldn't hear any of that. To her, just the world in this pavilion existed, but that didn't mean that her response would not influence much more than this small space.

“Theo...” Tears were already rolling down her cheeks as she looked at him and the despair slowly set in.

She couldn't.

No matter how much the two of them wanted it, they could never be bound in marriage. How could they when he was the heir of the royal bloodline and she was a commoner? How could anyone in a noble society accept this without seeing it as an insult to their ancestors? How cruel was it to ask this question when the answer was all too obvious?

“Theo, I...”

Her lover didn't even grant her release now. He stayed on his knee and looked up at her with so much devotion that it hurt. “Don't think about all of that. Think about me and you and how happy we are together. I don't want the response of the nobles. I want your response. We can't allow anyone to take away our happiness because of their twisted views. So, please reply with your own words, not someone else's. Do you want to marry me?” He never stopped looking into her eyes while he spoke.

She couldn't help it.

His gaze was piercing her and freeing all the forbidden desires that she had hidden deep inside her because they could never come true. How selfish it was to ignore all of their society's circumstances to fulfill your own desires. But how could it be wrong when everything her heart had ever desired was Theodore?

She couldn't say yes, not if she stopped to think about it for even one second. But just as she had known about his question before he had voiced it, her response had been clear at that very moment as well. To say no to something she had longed for during the past two years when her lover wanted the exact same thing, that was something she couldn't do.

Even if the whole world demanded it of her. Even if her mind was telling her that this could never go well.

Just as Theodore had said, there never was a choice.

“I do.”

Just like that, all of her tears freed themselves, and a sob escaped her throat. She was condemning them to destroy the political balance in Artias with this union. They were risking handing Cedar the throne wrapped in a bow.

And still, she was smiling.

She was beaming at her lover, who looked at her with the same expression as he slowly took her hand in his and slipped the ring onto her finger.

Their issues would have to wait because she had no intention of allowing those to ruin this moment for her. It wasn't intelligent to do this at all, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would burst when Theodore stood up.

He kept her hand in his and stroked his thumb over her skin while smiling at her. He held the box towards her. “Will you do me the honor?”

By now, she was already sobbing and couldn't reply with anything but nodding. She reached to the box with her shaking hand and pulled out the ring. She was so scared that she would accidentally drop it, but she managed to move it to her lover's hand and carefully put it on his finger.

They had already done this once, but now it was different, wasn't it? Theodore really wanted to marry her, not just pretend to be her husband in a small village by the coast. Right? But wasn't this too rash? There was no way that they could actually marry when he was the emperor and already had an empress that would never accept him having a second wife. Aside from Seraphina, all the other nobles would also demonstrate. They would never agree with a commoner marrying into the royal family. Theodore knew that.

So, maybe this was just a mock proposal. Just so they could pretend that they were marrying when both of them were aware that a small fake wedding wouldn't make them husband and wife. That thought appeared in her mind, and before she could help it, that fear grew bigger and bigger and wiped her smile away. She couldn't continue with that uncertainty even if asking felt like it would rip her heart apart.

“Theo, is this...” She could barely finish it. “Is this serious? Or is it-” She couldn't press the word ‘fake’. Her response came in the form of a tight hug.

Theodore kept her close to his chest and allowed her to wrap her arms around him to keep herself anchored. “I would never ask something like this if I wasn't sincere. I would never hurt you like that. I want to marry you. And you said yes, so we will marry. You will become my wife.” He stroked over her hair before pressing a kiss onto her head.

That only made her cry more. She wanted to be his wife, she did. With all of her heart, she had hoped for this, even if she had known that it was impossible. Now the wall she had built of logical arguments to keep her desires hidden was demolished, and there was no way that she could ever go back. She needed this more than she had ever admitted to herself.

Blanche wanted to speak and tell her lover so much but only managed to bring out one word. “Promise?”

Theodore took half a step back to look into her face and cupped her cheeks with his hands. “I swear on my life, my family's name and on Artias that I will marry you. Originally, I wanted to wait a bit until all of this calmed down so that we could have the wedding after our enemies are defeated. I want everything to be perfect for the two of us after all. But if you want to, we will do it as soon as possible. We can also marry now and delay the party, I don't mind. We waited for this way too long already, so I understand how you could wish to do it immediately. I'm impatient too. Do you know how for how long I wanted to call you my wife and say that your name is Blanche Estien?”

That sounded so wonderful that it brought another wave of tears to her eyes. Blanche could only look at her lover, whose expression she could barely make out through the blur of her tears. “I love you, I love you so much...”

Theodore kissed her before she could react. He made her melt into the kiss and caused her to feel like she was barely able to stand. Just when her knees really threatened to give in, he wrapped his arms around her and caught her in an embrace. He leaned his forehead against hers and took a deep breath.

For a moment, both of them were silent before Theodore spoke up. “I promised you that I would finally do it. I could barely hold myself back after the vacation. Calling you my wife in front of others and being able to show everyone that we love each other was...wonderful. When I put that ring on you back then, I knew that I would give you a real proposal this year. Before I left the summer residence, I told you that. I asked you to wait for me. And you did. Here it is. We will finally be each other's in every single way.”

Blanche still couldn't believe any of this. She remembered all of that, but she could have never imagined that he had already been planning this ever since then. Her head was spinning. Her emotions ranged from divine bliss to dreadful despair whenever she thought about this logically. She had her doubts, even if this union made her happier than anything else. Just because they loved each other, the nobles wouldn't be any more accepting. She didn't want to say any of that, but she had to. If Theodore gave her a promise he couldn't keep now, she would break down. So, she needed to be sure.

Even though speaking was hard, Blanche forced herself to do it. “But...how? They won't let us.”

Despite all of her worries, her lover was perfectly calm and spoke in a determined voice. “There is no way for them to object. The law allows you to marry as long as you sign a contract and have a priest do the ceremony in a temple. And when that is done, you can only divorce by having another contract written by one of the marriage partners. As soon as we are married, no one can do anything about it. I already told you that you don't need to worry about anything anymore. The only thing that others can do is voice their dismay, and that won't change anything. I don't care about my family for obvious reasons, so they could do whatever they want. They and the Vasquez family will be against us no matter what anyway. Duke Lamont will always support me to avoid trouble, and Duke Duremont can't risk accidentally helping my brother. Every influential follower of those ducal houses will share their opinion, and the powerless nobles will be too scared to say anything. So, we are safe. Only our enemies will try to intervene, but they can't.” Theodore stroked over her cheek and smiled at her as she leaned into him. “We will fulfill our dream, and no one will bother us. We'll sign the contract for our engagement first thing in the morning. No, how about we do that now? So that you can be absolutely sure that I'm serious?”

Blanche stared at him with wide eyes. He had already prepared something like that? If they signed a contract, then it was almost official.

Engagements among noble society weren't just scraps of papers but fixed arrangements. When they were broken, both partners and their families had to agree, or the one ending the bond would have to pay a compensation fee, which could be a very high sum depending on their ranks.

An engagement with a member of the royal family was the same, but it meant even more than that. It would make the partner royalty and allow them to claim more rights than others could dream of having. Normally, such unions were decided when the concerned people were extremely young, so the parents dealt with the contract. But when the couple was older, they could also choose an engagement themselves. Thus, even if an engagement was extremely important, two adults didn't need anyone's consent if one regarded it from the standpoint of the law. But in reality, it was rare that people ignored their family's wishes. She didn't doubt that Theodore would disregard what the dowager empress told him though.

Did this mean that they could really marry as long as they found a priest that was willing to unite them in marriage?

Blanche felt how her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly processed that realization. Ever since gaining the novel's memories and thus paying more attention to the aristocratic norms and rules, she had never believed that she could actually become her lover's wife. She was the villainess, so how could she be blessed like that? She would be a member of the royal family if that happened, which wasn't something an antagonist was rewarded with.

But more importantly, Theodore would be her husband. She still couldn't believe it no matter how long she thought about it, but at this point, she didn't ever want to let go of this hope anymore.