Cedar's greeting was as perfect as always. Luckily, he had finished so that the conversation didn't have to be delayed any further. It was still frustrating that he pretended to be so sweet.

Blanche struggled to keep her smile upright, so she hurried to respond before she could show her annoyance. “Thank you, Your Royal Highness. It means a lot to hear such kind words. Naturally, I am aware that the royal estate is the safest place in this nation. You should still be careful at all times though. I could not help but worry after hearing about the missing coach from last time. It would have been a shame if you could not have come, which is why I am so glad to hear that nothing occurred on your way here. I am very thankful for your presence. Are you doing well?” She considered mentioning that his mother didn't look too happy, but a glance at the dowager empress was enough to prove a point.

Cedar followed her gaze but kept on smiling despite the indication. “I feel honored by your consideration. Both Mother and I are in good spirits. We were a bit lost on what present you would enjoy, which is why she may be a bit hesitant. But in the end, we found something anyway. But that will have to wait a little while longer.”

Theodore chimed in at that. “Indeed. We have just begun the conversation. It has been a while since we last met. Were there any occurrences after the incident two weeks ago?”

The prince looked like he considered mentioning that all of their servants had been arrested, but he refrained from doing that. “Nothing special happened. We just had a calm week for ourselves. That is why I fear that we can't tell you much about our lives in the mansion. I'm sure that the palace is much more interesting. Now that Crown Prince Linden has left, it may be a little calmer though. I am still regretful about not being able to bid him farewell, but there isn't much I can do about that. Maybe we will see him again sometime. You did hint at that if I remember correctly.”

The emperor's grin widened. “Yes. We will see him very soon. I assume that he will come to pick up something by the end of this year if not before. You can speak with him then. At least if you can make some time, of course. But I'm glad that nothing happened at your house. I was a bit worried upon seeing the dowager empress' expression, so I almost feared that something bad had occurred.”

Camille didn't even ignore that obvious provocation. “How could I not be upset when I have to see how you are personally destroying the reputation of the Estien bloodline? It seems like you truly did get manipulated by someone, whose name I will not mention. Putting her on the empress' seat is an insult to Her Majesty and the entire royal family. Are you too blinded to see that, or do you just not care?”

Theodore let out a chuckle. “It's the second option. I do not care much for your personal opinion at all. I am the emperor and the head of the Estien family. And now you are telling me that I can't let a person sit on a chair, even if I chose it for them? That is strange. Besides, I am worried about how often you mention how me being manipulated. If you feel like it's that easy to control me, you seem to be lacking some trust in my competence. Just to calm you, I will say this. I'm fully aware that I am enamored with Blanche. When I do something for her, I'm not blinded. I do it while being certain that it is the best way to deal with the situation while also making her happy. Now that I am giving her a specific position, your words don't matter much.” He gestured to the throne. That was enough to cover up that he had obviously been talking about something more important than just the seat.

Blanche didn't even bother correcting him.

Camille opened her mouth, but when Cedar tapped her arm, she closed it again. She glared at the emperor for a while before speaking up. “We will see if your judgment is correct. There may be more than the eye can see. You should not trust anyone with a pretty face. Sometimes, there is more to their past than you can imagine.” She turned her gaze to the concubine and looked right into her eyes.

Blanche felt a rush of relief surge through her body as she let out an amused huff. Just weeks ago, she would have panicked at that indication, but now there was no need for her to be scared. Because her lover knew about her past. It was satisfying to be able to meet the other's woman gaze with a triumphant grin. “I agree, Your Majesty. It is important to know whom to trust. I can assure you that Theo is rather good at making that differentiation. The people supporting him have much more than some pretty faces. So, you can rest assured that he would never let anyone with ill intentions close to him. Everyone within the palace is completely loyal to him.”

Cedar patted his mother's arms again before speaking up. “That is good to hear. That the servants are willing to give their all to support the emperor is crucial. We are certainly calmed if you are sure that is the case. I would like to point out that we, too, are full of trust for our dear servants, but please ensure that there aren't any traitors among them. When we were children, there were a few unpleasant situations. I would like to prevent that from happening again. Please investigate at least once every few months.”

Theodore showed him a bright smile. “Oh, I already did. Just two weeks ago. Don't you remember? But I can promise you that it is much safer in the palace now. Father was a bit lenient when it came to the security, and I increased the measures taken to protect us. Since we survived back then, we will only live way more comfortably now.”

The dowager empress seemed to hate that Theodore criticized the previous emperor. She got even louder. “How dare you-”

Cedar cut her off just in time. “You are certainly right. If you are confident, I am convinced. How about we bring Lady Blanche her gift now? I feel like she is curious, so keeping her waiting would be cruel.” It was painfully obvious that this was an attempt to keep his mother from provoking the emperor again. He was really the only thing holding Camille's faction together, wasn't he?

Still, Blanche chose to give him a chance to calm down Camille. She didn't want to see the other woman cause a scene either. “You do not need to hurry if you still wish to talk about something else. But if you want to present your gift now to let your mother rest earlier, I will happily accept it.” At least she would pretend to do that. In reality, she would throw the gift away as soon as possible.

Cedar quickly nodded. “We are honored by your consideration. I would love to speak with you more, but I fear that Mother is not feeling too well. That is why we will need to sit down soon. I apologize for the short meeting. We can have another conversation later.” Hopefully not.

Blanche faked a smile. “I do not mind. Her Majesty's health is the most important thing after all. We will have a chance to catch up later.” She wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible too, so they were on the same page for once. Blanche gestured to the servants that were standing next to the table with the gifts and immediately froze in her movement. She hadn't looked at the table yet and regretted that now.

Apparently, the nobles had believed that the lavish celebration was directly connected to the number of presents they had to bring. If they had used the emperor's mass of gifts as an indication and chose to get a little less, it would explain why there were so many things there. Blanche hurried to look away again and desperately tried to keep her shock from appearing on her face. A baroness wouldn't receive so many gifts, so it seemed like all of their guests had understood that Blanche might as well belong to the royal family already. Didn't that mean that she have to act even more dignified then? She should definitely not ruin it when this ball was so important for her. That put a lot of pressure on her.

But of course, she couldn't show that and forced herself to keep smiling to the best of her ability while glancing at her lover.

Theodore seemed way too content with her reaction. He had probably known that such a grand party with many guests would lead to her getting more gifts too. That should have been logical, but for some reason, she still felt overwhelmed. Especially when the servants arrived with two big boxes for her.

Blanche couldn't swallow all of her reluctance when she took the first box in her hands. It seemed like this was the dowager empress' gift. It probably wasn't anything special nor something horrible. Camille hadn't been petty for Theodore's birthday, so this present would be normal too, right? The concubine looked up to face the guests again. “Thank you for your generosity. It is an honor to receive gifts from both of you.”

The dowager empress still refused to talk and glared at the other woman's forehead, which was probably connected to the tiara Blanche was wearing. It was a bit impressive that Camille had only noticed now. Maybe she had been so upset about the throne that she hadn't paid attention to anything else.

Cedar was the one that responded instead. “No, it is an honor for us to be able to gift something to you. Even though it is nothing special, we sincerely hope that you will enjoy it.”

Blanche forced herself to smile. “I'm sure that I will. After all, just receiving something from you is enough to make me happy.” Saying that pained her, so she hurried to lower her gaze. She carefully opened the box to find a mix of multiple items, and a pleasant scent filled the air. There were multiple candles in different colors as well as small vials with some liquids that looked like oil. Aside from that, there was another box with a necklace and earrings with emeralds inside. Of course, it was a package with the most typical items a woman could receive.

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If anyone else had gifted this to the concubine, she might have been happy about it too. She would have worn the accessories and tried the rest of the products. After all, the jewelry was beautiful, and the oils and creams smelled nice. But naturally, she wouldn't do that now. She would smile at the gift now and throw it into the bin as soon as they left the ballroom.

When it was Camille's gift, Blanche almost expected poison to be inside, so she couldn't take any risks.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I knew that you would find such a thoughtful gift. I thank you for your consideration. I will make sure to use it well.”

Camille didn't even bother to reply. She just narrowed her eyes at the concubine until her son patted her arm. Then she forced herself to speak up. “I am happy to hear that you like it. If you enjoy these products, I will inform you of the store's address.” While her words were polite, she didn't even try to cover the anger on her face.

Blanche was fine with that. After all, open hostility was less exhausting than pretended kindness. The prince's gift would follow now, and she was much more concerned about this one. Cedar certainly was petty enough to give her something strange, so she was already tense when the servant handed her the box. He would probably gift her something with a double meaning, so she didn't even want to open the container to look. But obviously, she didn't have much of a choice.

Blanche put on a little smile as she spoke up once more. “I thank you for your effort as well. Receiving a present from you is a great pleasure. I'm sure that it will be wonderful as well.”

She did her best to hide the uncertainty that was rising inside her when Cedar just grinned in response. He had definitely brought something that would be awful. If she hid it by holding up the cover and thanked him without skipping a beat, it should be fine, right? She just had to make sure that the guests didn't see it, and her reaction was the only thing that mattered. She could only hope that there wasn't anything worrisome inside, or she might be unable to hide her disgust. Before her mind was able to come up with even worse situations, she just hurried to unfasten the clasp and opened the box.

It was a necklace. It certainly was a very expensive one with countless diamonds and a lot of silver. The accessory was so big that it would cover one's whole collar, so it seemed like this had cost a fortune.

But that wasn't what made Blanche freeze.

What truly worried her was that there wasn't anything strange about it. She had been so sure that it would be an awful gift that she was completely taken aback by it being something relatively normal, if one could call such an extravagant necklace normal.

Blanche glanced up at the prince, only to be greeted by the same infuriating grin as before. She looked back at the box again and did her best to hide her uncertainty. Maybe Cedar had chosen it because of just this. She was so skeptical that she couldn't even believe that she would receive something so beautiful from him, which irritated her completely. It wasn't like she intended to keep it anyway, but she was even reluctant to touch that necklace. So, she avoided putting her hands anywhere near it and spoke up. “Thank you, Your Royal Highness. This is a breathtaking gift. I will treasure it dearly.” It seemed like she would be telling many lies this evening.

Cedar bowed his head to respond. “Then I am calmed. I was already worried that I would not find anything matching your elegance in time. If you like it, I am honored. Do let me see you wear it sometime in return.” She definitely would not put that around her neck, and he knew that well. He just chose to mock her for it.

Blanche veiled her reluctance with a smile and replied. “We will see. In any case, I am extremely grateful for your appearance at the party and your gifts. To have you attend my birthday party is like a dream come true.” Even if it was more of a nightmare. “I hope that you will enjoy the rest of the festivities and use the time to catch up with some of your acquaintances. Please pay attention to Her Majesty's health though. I would be heartbroken if anything happened during my party.” In that case, she would be forced to apologize to the other woman, and she didn't have any intention of doing so.

Cedar nodded at her. “Of course. Your consideration is touching, Lady Blanche. We will make sure that Mother rests enough, so you do not have to worry about her. May you and Theodore enjoy this evening to the fullest as well.”

Theodore mirrored his smile. “That should be natural. After all, it's Blanche's birthday. How could we not celebrate while being full of joy? Please have a nice evening as well.”

Camille watched the concubine with half-lidded eyes during the whole exchange. She only spoke up when everyone else had finished their goodbyes. “I wish that you will have a wonderful party. Enjoy yourselves before it ends.” With that, she prepared to leave and pulled her son along with her.

Blanche already relaxed upon seeing that the worst interaction for this evening was over, but she was disappointed. She should have expected that the prince would ruin her mood with yet another one of his antics like calling her by her name during the last ball.

Still, she was taken aback when Cedar didn't leave immediately. Instead, he opened his mouth one more time. “Ah. I almost forgot.” He stopped in his tracks and turned around to show her a smile that sent shivers down her spine. “We still have a little surprise for you later. You will have to be patient a bit longer though. I can promise that it will be worth the wait.” Another gift? One Cedar looked forward to?

Wasn't that more of a threat?

That sounded so ominous that the concubine could barely keep her smile upright. “Ah, I see. That was not necessary, but I will look forward to it.”

Cedar chuckled quietly. “Of course, it was necessary. It is your one and only birthday. We need to direct all attention to the main character of the party during the final minutes. Rest assured that everything will be fine though. After all, we took care of it. If you wish to delay this though, do point that out. We will gladly comply.” He turned around with these words, which were even more of a threat than a statement.

This sounded horrible. Blanche let her back fall against the backrest of the throne and barely refrained from massaging her head. “Your family is as wonderful as always.”

Theodore next to her reached over to put his hand on top of hers. “I noticed. They are heavenly, aren't they? I'm just glad that they don't live here, or we would see them daily. Then my beloved brother might give you gifts like this every day. I mean, it would be good for charity but not for my heart.”

The concubine could imagine that her blood pressure would rise too much if she saw the prince too often as well. “Now that you are talking about it, will you sell the presents here too? That might be better than throwing them away.”

“I did intend to give the sales to some donation organization again, yes. If you like any of the gifts, I can also buy a replica, but I won't let you wear the original.”

Blanche squeezed his hand and eyed the gifts that were currently being carried away from the corner of her eyes. “I didn't intend to wear them or use those creams. I don't even want them anywhere close to me. I think I can go without a replica too. Thanks to my dear lover, I already have enough jewelry. And even if I did get something else, I would rather have my beloved choose the items.”

The emperor gave her a bright smile. “Good. Then we are on the same page. I will accept you taking everyone else's presents but not theirs. And the ones from the Vasquez family shouldn't stay here either. And Sefare's ones won't-”

She shushed him by patting his hand. “Obviously. I don't want anything from them either. I just have to accept them happily in public, and then my job will be done. The worst conversation is already over, even if I am a little worried about that surprise Cedar mentioned. I feel like he just said that to upset me, but what if they really planned something bad?” Or what if he had wanted to warn her? He should have no reason to do that, but by telling her that they should delay this, wasn't he hinting at the fact that she should avoid this ‘gift’? But maybe that was just her imagination.

Theodore rubbed small circles into her skin as his gaze followed his family. A small frown formed on his face. “If they are brazen enough to trouble us in public, they will be the ones losing. This is why I can't imagine them trying anything too bad. Even if they would, I am on your side. The worst they could plan is condemning Sefare in public, like I mentioned before. If they do that, it will be annoying, but it wouldn't matter much. So, nothing can happen at all. This is our palace, and if anyone annoys us, we can throw them out. I proved that I was serious about banning people that offended you, so they can't say anything.”

Blanche tried to ignore that her lover had called it their palace and moved on with the conversation. “I don't think you can just throw out the dowager empress though. Even if I have to admit that I don't understand how she still has that status. That woman is a horrible actress. How did she get anyone to believe that she is a good person, especially after the trial? Based on how cold she acts around you, no one should have trouble believing that she tried to kill you.”

“She can act if she feels like it is necessary, which is rather rare. She won't put on a facade if she talks to people below her rank, which she can use as she sees fit. She acted in front of the empress and during the trial as well as whenever my father was there, but aside from that, she has always been freezing or hysteric and nothing in between. That woman sees no need in pretending to be kind to people she has deemed unworthy of being her pawns, so she is rather honest when it comes to that. I presume her strong family relations and her impressive connections to some sketchy people kept people from criticizing her, so her aggressive fits were never corrected. She never showed her anger this openly before she entered confinement though. She has some personal grudges regarding us, so it makes sense. I ruined all of her plans by putting her on trial after fooling her with sweet words for a while. She is probably still embarrassed about that. There is no way that she would be able to forgive me. And you are a thorn in her flesh just because you're my lover. I think she compares you to Althea, which might be why she is so sensitive when it comes to you.”

Blanche could understand why she would be compared to another concubine, of whom Camille had always been jealous. But that Theodore had insisted on a trial and used tricks to corner the people that tried to kill him was logical. That anyone, especially one of the people behind that assassination attempt, could be upset about that was ridiculous.

Blanche reached for her lover's hand and then interlocked their fingers. “I see. It doesn't matter much though. They are gone for now, and even if they will annoy us later again, we have some free time now. We only have to wait for the next guests to come and do everything again. Fake smiles and greetings, and then I need to open the gifts and thank them. There shouldn't be any issue.” Even if the next people in line were the Duremonts, who wouldn't be happy to see the concubine taking the empress' throne. She looked up and froze upon seeing that the concerned family was already approaching them. “It seems like we won't have any chance to rest then.”

Theodore ignored her attempt to pull her hand away and kept her caged with his fingers. “They won't be able to do anything. Believe me. They won't risk ruining their reputation by causing a scene now. Besides, it's your birthday, so you should obviously be the main character.” If that was his only reason for doing it, she would be much calmer. But from what she had heard, it sounded like he was a bit more ambitious than that.

Blanche forced herself to smile and turned to the group coming toward them.

Elaine was definitely the calmest one of all of them. The duchess had a slight frown on her face, but she was probably the only one keeping the men calm. Her iron-like grip on her husband's arm proved that much.

Allen was upset and not very good at hiding it. He was balling his fists and scanning the concubine with visible dismay.

But as expected, Henry was the person here that was absolutely terrifying. Right now, it still looked like he had barely grasped what was going on, but his expression was already full of rage. Even while the men bowed and Elaine curtsied, he didn't stop glaring, which wasn't very pleasant.

Blanche could just hope that he still remembered how she had saved Grace.