The next few days made one thing increasingly clearer with each incident. If Theodore wanted to avoid someone, he had a lot of ways to do so.
From simply not allowing the empress inside his office to sending Leonard to give some useless but time-consuming tasks to Seraphina, he used every strategy. In the end, he even refused to leave his room when he suspected that his wife had enough and wanted to confront him. He did all of that without the slightest bit of regret.
To say that the empress was upset was an understatement. Every time that Blanche had seen Seraphina, the heroine had struggled to keep her composure while her maids looked like they wanted to execute the concubine.
To some extent, it was understandable since Theodore liked to show off that his lover was by his side all the time. He naturally took her hand in his whenever they walked somewhere. In the rare case that they met his wife, he stopped to kiss Blanche until the other woman didn't feel like interrupting them anymore and left.
It also had to have been frustrating to the heroine that the concubine was allowed to visit his office whenever she wanted to, which the emperor seemed to emphasize by asking her to pick him up after work each day.
But all of this seemed to raise Theodore's spirits. He grinned almost the whole time. He had made some progress with the investigation and found a way to trouble his family, so it made sense. It also felt like he had some more ulterior reasons for showing his happiness this openly though.
Either he purposefully put on a smile to anger his wife, or he just liked to prove that he was powerful enough to do what he wanted. In the end, even Blanche felt some sympathy for Seraphina, but she certainly wouldn't get involved in that conflict. She felt like it would just be better to stay out of this. Still, she almost cowered under the other woman's glare whenever she passed by.
If she remembered correctly, it was the fifth day in a row that she had brought her lover to the office and passed by the empress, only for him to completely ignore his wife. After a long kiss and a just as long hug, he went inside without gazing at the other end of the corridor. Leon just apologized to Seraphina again before disappearing inside too.
No matter how often Blanche witnessed this scene, it made her uncomfortable each time. Especially since she felt like a hypocrite while curtsying to the other woman after kissing her husband in front of her.
But as always, the empress just greeted her curtly before leaving with a sour expression. Her patience was certainly wavering too.
The concubine met the maids' resentful gazes for a moment before sighing. “I feel like I might get poisoned by another one of her attendants if it continues like this.” She prayed that that wouldn't happen. She didn't want to experience things like that at all, even if the previous poison might not have been deadly.
Stella, who was currently involved in a glaring contest with the maid that seemed to be her nemesis, replied without looking at her mistress. “You should mention that to His Majesty. They conceal their vile intentions when he is there, but as soon as the door is closed, they drop the act. I'm sure he would be happy to punish them for their insolence. How dare they offend the future wife of the emperor?” She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the other woman at the end of the hallway.
Blanche held back a sigh and looked around, only to be relieved to find that no one seemed shocked. So, the staff hadn't listened. “Stella. Please don't say that so loudly, or people will hear you.”
Stella immediately covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, I'm sorry. I always forget about that. So much impudence just makes me lose my mind. They should be dismissed and thrown out immediately.” She focused on making eye contact with the other maid again.
Blanche found her maid's loyalty adorable in some way. It was wonderful that she had been able to be friends with her instead of losing her to Seraphina. But at the same time, Stella might be a bit opinionated and tended to exaggerate. Her hatred felt personal, so to say. It was odd. “Don't be like that. Try to see it from their perspective. To them, it's like I am stealing the husband of a person they care about. Because of that, the empress gets treated rather coldly, so I understand how they would hate me. You would despise her too if Theo ignored me to see her, right? To be more precise, you don't even need that reason. You already glare at the empress without her doing anything bad. If you apply your logic, you would be much more impudent.”
Seraphina and her attendants finally rounded a corner at the end of the hallways so that Stella could avert her eyes and gaze at her mistress. She almost looked like she was pouting. “But she is the one that doesn't control her maids. They are saying some horrible things about you again. The whole kitchen staff hates them because of that. I think one of them complained to her friend in the kitchen and was surprised to hear that this friend is on your side. Your cake certainly seems to be a miracle.”
Blanche doubted that it was more about the sweets than about her presence among the servants. Due to her almost daily visits to the kitchen, she often chatted with the staff and was able to prove that she had changed from her original self. So, it would be natural for them to be a bit more open about her not being that bad. Still, she was pleasantly surprised to hear that they were speaking up for her. To know that some people were on her side made her happy, especially after feeling guilty about Theodore showing his obvious favor for her without a break. “It's kind of them to defend me. It's just unfortunate that those maids have to hate me. I hoped that it would get better after they calmed down for a while, but this situation and the engagement fueled their frustration again. Well, it's not like we can help it.”
A smirk spread across Stella's face as she lifted her index finger. “To be honest, there is something we could do. Apart from His Majesty dealing with it, there is one more possibility that is a bit more...indirect. Sir Maillont should just ask them to stop it again.”
Owen chimed into the conversation. “I will gladly do that if Lady Blanche wishes for it.”
The concubine alternated between looking at the two of them. “What do you mean by ‘again’? Did he-” She cut herself off and made eye contact with the knight. “Did you talk to them about glaring at me?” That would certainly surprise her. After all, the head knight was known for not speaking more than he absolutely had to.
Owen paused for a moment before responding. “No. It was about them voicing unpleasant things. Once, we were waiting in front of His Majesty's room while you were inside after he refused to see Her Majesty. They inappropriately vented their frustration, and I merely reminded them of the fact that such behavior is not fitting for a servant of the royal palace. Afterward, they were silent, so I assumed that they understood.”
Stella lifted her hand to wave it around in the air. “They didn't understand anything. They were just terrified. The fact that the leader of the royal guards that is also His Majesty's personal knight pointed out their audacity is fear-inducing. They were scared for their lives, so they shut their mouths. But that won't keep them from showing such behavior for long. As you can see, they are still impertinent.”
The concubine almost smiled as she heard all of this. Even the image of the head knight towering above someone and telling them to stay quiet was intimidating, so that the maids had been silent wasn't a surprise. It was just sweet that Owen had cared enough to do this, even though it hadn't been needed to protect Blanche.
Owen turned to the concubine. “If that is the case, I do not mind addressing the issue again. Please give me on order, and I will carry it out immediately.” That was even sweeter.
Blanche shook her head. “Thank you, but that's not needed. I appreciate the offer, but I don't care enough to start a fight with the empress. She will not be happy if someone else scolds her attendants. That is usually her task, so we should just stay out of it.” She began moving down the corridor while making sure that they took a different staircase than Seraphina had. She had hoped that leaving was enough to signal that this conversation wasn't necessary, but it didn't help.
Stella caught up with her after a few seconds and continued without skipping a beat. “I know, but she isn't doing it properly. So, it's normal for others to jump in. We could just give them a small scolding. Nothing complicated and-”
“No.” The concubine turned her head to meet her maid's gaze. “I don't want you to get in trouble for nothing. There is no way that every single person will like me, and we have to accept that. I'm fine with it too. So, don't think about that too much. I just want to have a relaxing, happy life here. There is no need for conflict that will only enforce any dislike between me and the empress. Just drop it. Please.” She honestly still felt like making Seraphina too angry could lead to her death because of a misunderstanding, and Blanche didn't want to find out whether she had exaggerated here.
That finally made Stella nod, but it was obvious that she wasn't happy about it. “Alright. But if they do anything mean, I won't be quiet.”
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Blanche stopped to turn to her. “I didn't say that you couldn't speak to them. I won't control what you are doing. I just said that we don't have to begin a fight. But if you feel like they are doing something bad, you should obviously tell Theo or someone else. Preferably me too, just in case.”
Her maid was silent for a moment before a bright smile lit up her face. “I didn't think that you would order me around. I know that you would never do that, but I'm thankful that you clarify it anyway. You just always do your best to take others' feelings into consideration. By the way, are we going to the kitchen?”
Blanche was pretty sure that many people didn't think like Stella, but the compliment made her cheerful anyway. A smile was painted onto her face as well, and she replied happily. “No. I would like to go into the garden for once. We barely go out without Theo anymore. That's not much of an issue, but we used to have long conversations while taking a walk. We are doing that in the kitchen too, but it might be good to do it in another place for a change. Leon takes the day off, so he won't give me a lesson today, which means that we have two full hours to enjoy ourselves.”
Stella nodded eagerly at that idea. “That sounds good. It's been a while since His Majesty allowed me to have a conversation with you outside alone. He really takes up all of your time.”
“I'm aware of that. I won't complain though. This is much better than when he barely had any time for me.” Just remembering how her lover had almost been drowning in work made Blanche upset, so she pushed those thoughts away quickly. “That's why I'm really grateful for the situation now. I would like to make the most of our time together too though.”
That was enough to make the maid beam from one ear to the other. “I'm happy too, My Lady. I look forward to it. Let's hurry, so we won't lose any time.” Stella surely was easy to impress. A few words had been enough to awaken the desire to rush down the stairs in her.
Blanche followed her while being a bit worried about the other woman, but thankfully, it was fine. They arrived downstairs without any issues and quickly left the palace.
The air outside was wonderful. It was warm but not as hot as it had been at the beginning of summer. It had rained a week ago, so the plants were nourished, and the women could enjoy their sunshine anyway. In short, it was perfect for a walk.
The concubine steered toward the terrace without thinking much as they began chatting. They had barely begun the conversation when it was cut short. When the group passed by the pavilion, Blanche heard two people talking. It wasn't special that servants were chatting during their work, but that it came from the pavilion was odd.
No one ever went there except for Theodore and her.
Even though it wasn't forbidden for others to go there, there wasn't much to do inside, and the high hedges covered the whole building. Not many people knew about that pavilion at all. So, she couldn't help but pause and listen to the people. Both were men, and it took her a while to identify both of them.
One was Harris, which wasn't an issue. He worked here and could move freely within the royal estate.
But the other voice made Blanche stiffen and filled her mind with murderous thoughts. Why was Cedar here? In the place that belonged to her and Theodore nonetheless? She didn't take long to turn to her maid. “Go get Theodore. Tell him that Cedar is here without permission again.”
Stella nodded and sped off with hatred in her eyes. That meant that Theodore would show up in a moment too.
Blanche knew that staying at a distance until then would be the better option, but she couldn't help approaching the pavilion. She told herself that it was to find out why Harris was talking to the prince since it might help her understand her nightmares about them better, which was certainly a part of her reason. But in reality, she also wanted to throw Cedar out of her sacred space. This was the place that had been the scene of her first meeting with her lover, her first kiss and her proposal. There was no way that she could allow that person to dirty it with his presence. Her rational part made sure that she focused on approaching slowly, but her heart was telling her to stomp there and yell at that prince. Even if he couldn't know what this place meant to her, he had entered the royal estate without an invitation, so she was allowed to demand an explanation.
Especially since all of this was odd. Why was Cedar talking to a servant like Harris? Blanche unwillingly thought back to that one nightmare she had had half a year ago. It was foolish to wish to connect this to that scene, but she couldn't help it. She knew that this could be important, so she had to find out more.
Blanche began following the path that led to the pavilion as slowly as possible to avoid making noise and listened to the conversation.
Cedar's voice made her grimace. He sounded like he was beaming like always. “In any case, I just couldn't help but notice that the weather is beautiful. Don't you think so?” He didn't receive a response, so he waited for a moment before continuing. “Going out now is supposed to be relaxing. Maybe you should stop glaring at me, and your mood would get better automatically. I heard that smiling makes you happy. You should try it.”
Once again, the other man didn't say anything.
That made the prince sigh. “You know, having a conversation is hard when one keeps ignoring the other.”
At this point, Harris finally spoke up. “Since I never showed any interest in having a conversation with you, I do not care about that. Am I allowed to leave now?”
Blanche still had a few steps in front of her, but the voices were slowly getting louder so that she could eavesdrop more easily. She only needed to hear Harris' voice for a moment and could immediately feel his annoyance. It was obvious that he didn't like the prince very much. That alone made him much more sympathetic. Though, that didn't explain why her nightmares had shown a scene of Harris mentioning that Cedar might help the villainess out of prison. It was possible that this part had just been a confusing dream fueled by her imagination, but she was still unsure. Maybe finding out more about the relationship between those too was good. After all, it was odd that a prince even talked to a specific servant at such a place. Blanche frowned a bit while inching forward.
Cedar refused to let the other's tone bother him and replied with the overly sweet voice that she had come to despise. “My, my. Someone is upset today. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Or did you perhaps wake up in your bed alone, and that is why you are so grumpy? If you act like that, it's understandable that you-know-who refuses to see you. You could try to-”
Harris interrupted him at that point. “Don't you have anything better to do? If you keep annoying a servant, you won't gain much from this. You should either go greet His Majesty or leave. The second option would be better.”
The prince just laughed. “You really are in a bad mood. Don't tell me it's because I showed up. Don't be like that. I was only joking. Have you lost your sense of humor along with your beloved?”
A pause followed. When Harris spoke up again, he sounded much more upset than before. “If you do not have anything important to say, I shall take my leave.” But obviously, it wasn't this easy.
“You can't run away when a guest of the palace needs to be attended to. You need to wait for orders or bring me tea, you know?”
“You didn't give me any orders. Ever since you have come here, you just kept saying stupid things, and it's been a while. Do you need something from here or not? If not, I will go back.”
Blanche reached the last corner before the view of the pavilion would be unobstructed. She chose to go against her raging anger and trusted her mind instead. She needed to get as much information as possible from this, so she leaned out from the hedge while being careful not to let them see her. Harris had turned his back to her while Cedar sat on the bench that usually belonged to her and Theodore. She pushed her wrath upon having them here away and listened to the men.
The prince grinned at the servant and made a rejecting gesture. “If you wanted to have something to do, you should have said it earlier. Bring me some tea. We can discuss the details after. That should be fine, right?”
Harris immediately spun around and rushed towards the palace, but he was stopped after a second.
“You are planning on coming back though. Right? I think I would be a tiny bit frustrated if you ran away and used an excuse to leave me here alone. I have the sneaking suspicion that you actually want to tell my brother that I'm here and make him throw me out. That would be awfully rude of you. So, I would ask you to do your job properly. The tea should be tasty, or I, as a member of the royal family, might be displeased.”
Harris' face scrunched up, but he didn't reveal it too openly. When the other man finished, he put on his fake, but way too perfect, smile to face the prince again. “Of course, I would never want that to happen, Your Royal Highness. His Majesty might even dismiss me if you ask kindly. That would be horrible. I could not live with such a decision. I will get your tea then. Or maybe a coffee would be better, yes?” With that, he turned around, and his face fell to reveal bottomless fury. But he still couldn't leave.
“No, I must insist on tea. I just slightly favor it, that is all. But you will surely not mind getting me what I asked you to, right?” Cedar's tone was still lighthearted, but there was an underlying sense of a threat when he spoke like this. If Blanche remembered correctly, Cedar didn't like coffee at all. Theodore had asked the servants to offer it to the prince whenever possible, and that seemed to fulfill its goal. Cedar wasn't as kind as before anymore even if his smile never faded. “I don't want to trouble you. Of course, I don't. But if you purposefully ignore my orders, that would upset me a bit. Surely, you could risk that. I have not ordered you to do much, and your tasks are easy to fulfill. Still, you could refuse. But are you sure that offending me could not have some worse consequences? For example, it might coincidentally influence the person you hold so dear.”
Harris's expression was overtaken by utter shock before wrath came onto his features. He spun around to raise his voice at the prince. “You arrogant-” He cut himself off and gritted his teeth while seemingly using all of his self-restraint to keep himself from lashing out at the other man.
Cedar just found that amusing. He smirked at the servant in a way that revealed that he was mocking him. “Oh. I'm sorry. You are very sensitive to that topic, aren't you?”
Harris didn't even try to lower the volume of his voice now. “You would be too if you cared for anyone aside from yourself!”
And once again, the prince didn't miss replying with a wide grin. “Maybe you shouldn't provoke me then. You know what will happen otherwise. Until now, I was nice to some extent. I protected you from my mother multiple times. But it seems like the servants of the palace don't respect me. That won't do. They'll have to get used to me at some point. I am going to be here very often in the future. Just to visit my brother, of course. You might say that I will move in here at some point too.” And just like that, his attention moved to someone else.
Maybe Blanche had leaned forward too much, or maybe he had already known for a while, but she wasn't sure. She only knew that Cedar's eyes snapped to her and that he shut his mouth to grin at her.
Now there wasn't a reason to hide anymore.
Blanche gave her best to keep a straight face and hide her embarrassment upon being caught eavesdropping. But that wouldn't be too hard as long as she could use her anger to drown out all other emotions. She walked to the pavilion with a straight posture and tried to look as confident as possible. She would just resort to what Theodore had told her. Since she lived in the palace, she could be seen as a host and was allowed to speak first. Unfortunately, she had forgotten about that the last time, but she fully intended to use that rule to her advantage.
She narrowed her eyes at the prince as she stopped in front of him. She waited until he opened his mouth and spoke up at the same moment. “I do not remember you receiving an invitation. Neither from Theo, Her Majesty nor me. Did the emperor not use unambiguous words last time?” She had hoped to upset Cedar a bit more with her impudence.
But the prince wasn't even momentarily taken aback. As always, Cedar stuck to his infuriating grin. “I'm pleased to see you too, Lady Blanche. It seems that you missed me as much as I missed you. Are you feeling well on this wonderful day?” His response made her way angrier than she had managed to make him.