Blanche followed her lover's gaze and saw that Luciano had arrived now. It was logical that he would come and speak for the household since his father wasn't allowed inside. But that his mother wasn't with him was strange. Just a little though. After all, the duchess had recently given birth, so that might explain why she couldn't run around and would rather take care of her young daughter.

In any way, the concubine was happy that she could address that topic if nothing else came up. She put on the same smile she had shown before and gave her best to greet the new visitor with the same phrases from before but slightly different words without showing how tiring small talk was. “Good evening, Lord Vasquez. It has been a while since we had the chance to talk without any occurrences.” She was rather happy about not having seen him too often, but it wasn't like she could voice that. “How have you and your family been? It's an unusual sight to have you here alone.”

Luciano's face didn't show any trace of his usual wide smirk. He seemed a bit tamer today with a simple smile on his lips. He didn't look like he was trying to be intimidating, but maybe he just didn't seem threatening because she was sitting above him. “I wish you a wonderful evening, Lady Blanche. I would like to congratulate you on your birthday in the name of the Vasquez family. We thank you for your concern. There haven't been many issues. My mother is at home while taking care of my sister, and thus, she could not come. We sincerely apologize for that, but it could not be helped. She did send a gift for you to excuse her absence during these wonderful festivities though. We hope that you will enjoy it.”

Once again, she could respond with the same things as before. “I am sure that it will be a perfect gift. Thank you for your consideration.”

Theodore used a short pause to begin speaking too. “Good evening, Lord Vasquez. It's a pleasure to see you here. I am happy to hear that there weren't any issues too. After all, I thought that there were some rumors about you needing to close some of your stores. Those must be untrue then.”

Luciano's smile faded a little and revealed that he wasn't too happy about this subject. “No, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, they are true. That is why I claimed that there weren't many issues. Some problems did trouble us despite our pleasant time. It seems like a few accidents happened in quick succession, so we will suffer due to those incidents despite not being at fault. Due to the presence of vile people among our vendors, there have been cases of tax evasion and other unforgivable offenses. We will need to re-evaluate our staff in the stores to ensure that the less trustworthy ones will leave. But you can rest assured that our family's stance is still secured.”

Theodore put on a smile that made it seem like it was more of a threat. “Of course. After all, you are the second most influential dukedom in Artias. As long as none of the members of your family make enemies of the wrong people, nothing will happen at all. Even if one did, the rest of the household would have the chance to change their mind on who to support. Surely, there wouldn't be any difficulties.”

He was quite direct today.

Luciano blinked at the emperor once before his smile widened. “Naturally. It should be obvious that the loyalty of the Vasquez family belongs to Your Majesty. So, there is no need to worry about any incidents. I can assure you that no one in my family wishes to become the royal family's enemy. We do have a bit of common sense, even if my father's awful conduct during the last few events did not prove that. Right now, he is seriously sick, and we have to suspect that his strange behavior was because of that. Once he is fully recovered, he will surely be in his right mind again.” All of that was just a fancy way to justify Claude's outbreak that had caused the emperor to threaten him. But it wasn't like it would help anything when Theodore was still fuming.

But Blanche would rather avoid her lover intimidating the guests while everyone else was watching. So, she chose to speak up. “Then we hope that His Grace will recover soon. After all, we cannot risk having another incident of that sort. But let us not dwell on the past today. I am more curious about the present. How is your little sister doing? We have never met her until now.”

Luciano was quick to move on to that topic. “I believe that you will have a chance soon. We will have a party for her in a little over a month if nothing grand happens before that. Naturally, Your Majesty and Lady Blanche will be invited as well. You will certainly see her then. If you decide to attend, of course. For now, I can already say that she is doing well. She is busy being a little baby and playing around. Maybe she cries a bit more often than other children, but she is calm as soon as someone holds her. She is rather clingy, but that is more adorable than anything else.” While he spoke, something like affection was visible in his eyes. Apparently, he truly liked his sister, which wasn't that surprising.

Blanche remembered that she had been skeptical about having siblings at first. But as soon as she had put her head against her mother's baby bump and later held the twins' small hands, she hadn't been able to deny them whatever they desired. She had become their servant within a second and had wanted to do anything she could for them. Of course, that hadn't lasted for an eternity. When her siblings had gotten older and more brazen, there had been some fights too. But in the end, she had loved them as much as her parents. So, she didn't have any issue understanding how Luciano felt. “I can imagine that having a little sister is extremely adorable. The only problem will be that your age difference is quite big. Playing with her will be hard unless you wish to hide and wait for a toddler to find you.”

She remembered doing that too. She had been eight years older than her siblings, and yet, it had worked out somehow. While they had wanted to be heroes, she had still been a child that was eager to play pretend too. So, she had enjoyed being with them a lot, and even while she had gotten older, playing with her siblings had been one of her favorite activities. Without knowing it, a soft smile appeared on her lips.

Luciano chuckled at her words. “I guess I will have to crawl into the bushes then. My mother would have trouble dirtying her dress, and my father won't do it. So, I will sacrifice myself for the greater good.” Somehow, it was odd to hear such sweet words from such a horrible person. Luciano was as kind as his father, which meant that he was intimidating and manipulative, but still, he would become a loving brother to his sister.

It shouldn't have been surprising that their enemies were more than just vile people, but for some reason, that thought made everything seem much grimmer. Why did they have to oppose Theodore and try to revolt against the emperor by trying to kill him? That would only bring destruction and pain to most people here. It could be much easier if they just accepted that the rightful ruler was sitting on the throne. They could even try to support Cedar in legal ways if they deemed him to be the better emperor. Why did they have to resort to such ugly methods?

Blanche's smile was wiped away as quickly as it had come, and she was forced to fake it again. “I see. It sounds like you will be a great brother. Take care of your sister. Babies can get hurt because of everything.” Just saying that reminded her of the twins, who had been able to run into any imaginable danger despite their parents' great efforts to protect them. Thankfully, without ever experiencing lasting damages. For Grace, things hadn't gone that smoothly. Before Blanche could stop herself, she began speaking. “Truly, you should be careful with babies at all times. You can't leave them up somewhere high, or they will roll down. You also cannot leave small items anywhere near them, or they might swallow them. It's also crucial to pay attention to what they eat when they get old enough. There is a lot of food that they should not consume before they get older.” She only stopped herself at the end and forced herself to keep upright her smile to hide her embarrassment. Talking about how to raise children with one of their enemies wasn't something she had expected to do, but if it proved that she was friendly toward them, it could only help.

Thankfully, Luciano didn't make fun of that. “We will be as careful as possible. You do not have to worry. My mother read about a hundred books about babies by now. She pulled them out of the attic, where they were stored ever since I grew up. If she does something wrong, it's pampering her children too much. I fear that my sister may become a brat if she's always around us two.” Two? Weren't there three family members around his younger sister? It might not have been too noticeable, but the fact that he didn't include his father in his words could only mean one of two things. Either he didn't expect Claude to be a part of the baby's life, or he hoped to avoid a stressful topic, which was more likely.

Judging by Theodore's reaction before, that had been a good idea. The emperor was still smiling but somehow managed to be intimidating at the same time. “It is quite normal for people to enjoy indulging whom they love. It's like an instinct. Similarly to how you would like to harm the people that tried to hurt the ones you care about. Some people don't have those urges though, and I worry a lot about them.” Once again, he had only warned the other man without having been given a reason.

Blanche watched the two for a moment. She considered letting Luciano reply, but she felt like that might only worsen the mood. Her lover kept on threatening the other party while the duke's son just looked unwell. Luciano didn't deserve her help, but she didn't want a fight of some sort during her party. She could already imagine how Camille would twist the truth and insist that Theodore had been harassing his cousin. In that case, it might be better to cut the conversation short. One more short topic should be enough to allow them to keep up appearances.

She cleared her throat and chimed in before any of the men could speak. “Lord Vasquez. Is there anything-” She interrupted herself when she remembered the dinner in the dowager empress' mansion and the poison on the table. Thus, a better question appeared in her mind. “Would you mind telling me about your vacation? This summer, we were in the north by the sea. It was beautiful, and we would like to visit again. At the same time, we want to get to know new places. So, we wanted to ask about your vacation. I heard that you went to Travuan.”

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Luciano seemed a bit cautious of her suddenly changing the topic, but when he heard what it was about, he relaxed a bit, and his smile widened again. “Yes, we did. We visited the northern coast. It was breathtaking. The view of the ocean from the high cliffs was wonderful. Aside from that, the landscape there is beautiful in general with so many special places. There are some smaller mountains as well as cities with completely different architecture in comparison to Artias. The culture there just seems to be from another world, which is fascinating as well. But of course, nature is still the most gorgeous thing. There are huge swamps with a lot of different plants near the ocean, and there are small intertwining rivers everywhere. We don't even have most of those plants here, which made it a very special experience.” It seemed like they could confirm that the Vasquez family had been able to acquire that ‘Midnight Sleep’ poison with this. After all, the fact that they had been in Travuan said enough.

Blanche glanced at her lover for a moment to check whether he had noticed too.

Theodore met her gaze. He put on his smile a second too late. “It seems like we might have another destination we could visit then. A month there should be enough to sate our curiosity, and the rest of the summer vacation can be spent in our residence by the coast.”

She nodded at that, even if she didn't necessarily believe that the emperor could simply leave the nation like this. “That sounds good. We need to plan a lot first though. After all, we want to see as much as possible.” She only realized that she was pulling attention to the fact that she and Theodore were planning their vacation without the empress too late. But since it seemed like Seraphina might not be here much longer, that should not be too much of an issue. The concubine turned to the guest again. “Thank you for your narration. We will be sure to learn more about the area you described. The northern coast sounds interesting.”

Luciano showed her a bright smile. “You will not regret it. My whole family was enamored with the landscape and the buildings there. Everyone should have seen this at least once. If you wish for it, we could send a letter with the exact spots we visited.”

The couple would never rely on the Vasquez family for hints on where to go. That would probably kill them rather sooner than later. Still, Blanche responded as politely as she could. “If we require help, we will gladly accept your support. Thank you for your offer.” And now she could finally end the conversation. “But for now, we shall not disturb you longer. We want you to enjoy the evening after all.” She gestured to the servants and received the present a moment later. This box was rather heavy in comparison to the others. It was small too, which only made this more strange. Blanche carefully opened it and pulled out a vase.

Of course, a vase wasn't anything special, but this one actually looked gorgeous. It was white on the inside while the outer part was dark blue with golden applications. The patterns formed a flower-like structure on the outer layer and showed a beautiful image. Something like this certainly would belong in the emperor's room along with the countless other treasures in the royal colors. It would look perfect on top of the fireplace. It was just a shame that she wouldn't keep it. The concubine had already promised herself that she wouldn't take anything from their enemies. This might be worth making a replica of though.

“Thank you, Lord Vasquez. It has been a while since I saw such a beautiful vase. The artist seems to be extremely skilled.”

Luciano bowed his head. “I am glad that it is to your liking.” He looked at her with a smile while staring right into her eyes. “The artist is truly skilled, but I fear that he may be a little particular. If he happened to be careless, please do tell me as soon as possible, and I will make sure that it gets replaced by an item of higher quality.” It sounded odd that he would give her a present first without checking whether it was broken.

Blanche assumed that it was merely a phrase to appear more considerate, so she replied as politely as always. “I thank you for that offer, but that will not be necessary. It looks wonderful. I will find a nice place for it somewhere. You can rest assured that it will decorate one of our favorite spots in the near future. I would like to thank you for attending my party once again too. Please do enjoy yourself and relax while your sister isn't here and maybe have a drink. At home, you will need to go back to being the older brother at all times.”

Luciano's expression remained unmoved for a single second before he focused on his smile. “I don't mind holding back for her. But I will also not lose this opportunity. I will make sure to take some time to catch up with old acquaintances. May the rest of this event be as wonderful as the first half. Of course, I wish you a lot of luck and happiness for the next year as well.”

“Thank you. Your wishes mean a lot to me. Goodbye, Lord Vasquez.” Blanche was more than relieved to hear that the conversation was over now. She only wanted a little break before the next guests would come. Her face hurt from smiling the whole time, and continuing to please others with small talk was slowly getting frustrating, even though this had only been the third conversation.

Theodore didn't look like he was exhausted though. He kept on his straight face as if he was completely relaxed and bid farewell to the other man with a little smile. “Goodbye, Lord Vasquez. Take care of your family, especially your father. You should spend some time with him for now. I wish you a nice evening. Enjoy yourself.” He somehow managed to sound ominous while saying nice things.

Luciano nodded at him without being able to hide how uncertain that comment had made him. “I will. Goodbye, Your Majesty. Please enjoy the evening too.” With that, he left and returned to the midst of the other guests.

Blanche let out a little sigh before turning to her lover. “It's exhausting. Being the host is horrible. I mean, I had to do this too last time, but then I could stay quiet after saying hello. Small talk is a lot more tiring than it should be due to the little intellectual skill it requires.”

Theodore gave her a little smile. “Actually, it's rather hard to come up with lighthearted topics. And saying the same things over and over again with other words isn't easy either. I can fully understand how exhausting this is for you. Even though I have been doing this ever since I was born, I am still not happy about it. You only started doing it now and are already amazing. You really are a natural. Do you perhaps want to drink something in between to ease your throat?” When she nodded, he began searching the area around them for a servant and gestured to them.

The maid was with them in an instant and rushed away to get water just as fast.

Blanche watched after the woman for a moment and worried about her tripping, but she quickly focused her attention on her lover again. “I wouldn't say that I'm good at this. I wouldn't be so exhausted if I was. Half of my words consist of being nice to people I hate or don't care about. That's a little frustrating. And now we only have to go through another dozen of those conversations. Great. But at least we are done with the worst people. Unless your brother still has his surprise for me.”

Theodore's eyes wandered across the ballroom as his expression darkened. “If he tries something that might harm you, I will make sure that he learns how he made me feel by doing that. I can promise you that no one here in this nation can defy you without suffering from the consequences.”

“That is a bit excessive. You know that I'm a baroness right now?” She lowered her voice to whisper to him. “Being your wife later doesn't make me a member of the royal family for now. You will have to be patient for a bit longer.”

Her lover put the hand on his hand on her armrest and showed his palm to her. He didn't need to wait long before she put her hand on his despite her still worrying about whether this was fine. Theodore showed her a small smile and only turned away to take the glass from the maid, who had returned by now. He offered it to Blanche, and she used her free hand to take it.

Theodore waited for her to take a sip before responding. “Being patient is painful. I wanted to see you standing at the altar so badly that I had to fight the urge to plan the wedding a day after you said yes. I still need to hold back, or I would yell out that you are my fiancée to everyone here. The only reason I am forcing myself is that I want everything to be perfect. I will make sure that our wedding is like our meeting. It will be like a fairy tale, with our love being the only thing that matters. To ensure that, some insects have to disappear first.” The way his tone changed when he reached the last sentence was drastic. A glimpse of hatred showed on his face, and it was obvious that he would be able to make a grown man cower with that look.

It was no wonder that everyone said that he could be terrifying if he wanted to. Hopefully, none of the guests had seen that just now.

Blanche squeezed his hand to distract him a bit. “It's fine to wait if it will be better in the end. We will take it slow and move forward side by side until we reach our happy end. Today's evening is another step. We need to endure this for a little while longer. The next guests will come soon, and when we greeted everyone, we can go to the buffet.”

Theodore immediately changed back to the gentle person he always was around her. He smiled at that and gently ran his finger over her hand. “Of course. I will get you your macarons and some cake. Don't worry. There are some portions reserved just for you. And then we will leave a bit earlier again, and I'll give you another kind of present. I will shower you with even more affection than you can imagine to make up for this stressful meeting here. That doesn't sound too bad, right?” How could it when her lover offered to take care of her for the rest of the day?

Blanche gave him a bright smile in response. “It might be fine then. But you have to do your best. I need to be consoled after meeting such awful people.”

“I promise that I will compensate you with everything I have.” She didn't need to think twice about whether she believed him. As long as he was here, she would be able to go through the evening. Even if he theoretically was the one at fault for her even needing to be here.

The next conversations were a bit more relaxed.

Naturally, the Lamont family was next in line. Both the duke and Fiona were as polite and calm as always. They brought a headdress made of pearls, and Blanche was sure that she would use it at some point since it was gorgeous. It was also calming that Fiona seemed to have given up on the emperor and focused on something else entirely. Apparently, the duke's daughter put her attention on learning how to lead the household now. Surely, she would need to find a husband, but she claimed that she would like to manage some things on her own. Her father's horrified expression proved that he was worried about her voicing such thoughts in front of the emperor, but when Theodore said that it was a good idea, the Lamonts' mood quickly raised. Thus, the interaction ended with all the people being rather content. The concubine especially was pleased to hear that her lover was ready to support women that wished to slowly change society. She also had to admit that seeing Fiona beaming so much as she officially received permission to try her best to take over the family was a bit sweet.

The next guests they met were the members of the Bellfaux family. As always, the marquess was polite and calm. Madeleine was slightly irritated since Blanche was sitting on her best friend's throne, but she didn't seem to be too upset. That was a little surprising and might be connected to Seraphina saying a few things about keeping her feelings hidden before all of this. Briana, on the other hand, looked like she had just had the best day of her life. She was beaming the whole time, which might or might not be connected to the little vial she was carrying around now. Apparently, Allen had managed to save his fiancée's mood after some tips from others. That was enough to lift the concubine's spirits.

The next interaction was also pleasing, so she actually felt like this evening might not be too bad. Leon was the person that approached the thrones next after all. As expected, the conversation was more than relaxed. Blanche wasn't too surprised when she found out that he had bought her the exact kind of earrings that she adored. Leon had an unfair advantage and knew what she loved, so he had also added a small plate with macarons to his present. That automatically made him the best person among the guests. So, the concubine was in a good mood when the conversation was about to end.

But of course, something had to come up to worry her again. A specific guest had been missing, and naturally, that meant that bad news would arrive at some point.