Blanche was rather surprised to see that there weren't any light blue gems, which might crumble after a few days, inside the empress' gift box. Instead, there were two pairs of bracelets.
The first of the accessories was made from massive gold, which made it seem like it was stiff. The bracelet formed an elongated spiral one would be able to put around one's forearm, which would let the accessory reach from the elbow to the hand. There was a second exemplar there as well along with another pair in silver. This was a rather unusual kind of jewelry, but the concubine had to admit that she was intrigued despite the unusual form. She gently let her fingers brush over the gold to confirm whether it was truly stiff, only to be in awe at how beautifully this item had been crafted.
Rather quickly, her concern turned to satisfaction.
Blanche was truly content with this gift and was happy to accept it. She looked up and showed the other woman a bright smile. “These are gorgeous. I have never seen jewelry like this. Thank you, Your Majesty. I am very grateful and honored to receive such a wonderful gift from you. I will make sure to treasure it.” At least she intended to do that if Theodore didn't distrust his wife enough to take the gifts away. Blanche personally felt like the bracelets were a quite nice gift, so she would like to keep them.
Seraphina showed her a smile as well, one that didn't even seem fake. “I am pleased to hear that you like them. Recently, I spoke to someone who mentioned that this kind of jewelry was famous in Batra. I was curious and asked a vendor to send me an example. I believed that they might be to your liking, and it seems that I was correct.”
Ah, it seemed like she had truly no desire to end this conversation badly. She had already decided to step aside and give away her position, so it made sense for her to avoid any useless quarrels that might have mattered to her before. Why would she care about Theodore's disrespect when she could just leave and stop needing to endure it?
Blanche should have guessed that, even when it was hard for her to believe that the heroine of “To Be Empress” gave up on a rank that had once been so important to her. She was both taken aback and relieved at that. This would make everything in the future much easier after all. For now, Blanche just decided to end the conversation though and once again returned as much politeness as she could. “You were indeed right, Your Majesty. I have never seen such ornaments before and am intrigued by this kind of design. I would like to thank you once again. I hope that the rest of the evening will be enjoyable to you so that it can serve as some kind of compensation.”
Seraphina nodded. “I am sure that this will be the case. For now, I wish you a wonderful evening, but I am certain that we will see each other again in a short while.”
Theodore replied before Blanche could. “That is inevitable within this modest ballroom, is it not?” One could have pointed out that nothing about this room was modest and that he was just being extremely mean to his wife in public, but naturally, no one did. “In any case, we wish you an enjoyable evening as well. The rest of the guests are in a rather good mood except for a few exceptions as always. Hopefully, it will be the same for you.” Whether he wished her entertainment or frustration was unclear, but it didn't matter much.
Seraphina just ignored all those hidden insults as if nothing had happened. “Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. May you enjoy your time here as well. Goodbye.” With that, she turned around and walked away after nodding toward her sister to mingle with the guests. It was surprising that she didn't immediately leave. She had done her duty and could disappear out of the room without another word as she had done it last year. In fact, it was strange for her not to do that. Even if she wished to speak to her family, talking to them today would only trouble her.
After all, there would be enough people gossiping about the fact that the emperor had planned such a lavish party for his lover. Along with the matter of the throne, the attire in the royal colors and the huge tiara on Blanche's head, it would be hard to deny that all of this was an issue. The empress might not care personally, but she would be forced to hear people whispering about this for the whole evening. Maybe she stayed exactly because of that though, to show that she didn't care. Since she could spend time with her family too, she probably just decided to put that above the stress public appearances right now might bring her.
But even now, the empress wasn't lucky. She approached her family without taking any detours, but she was still stopped after just a few steps.
The one who had addressed Seraphina without any hesitation was Camille.
For a moment, the heroine's face fell before she forced herself to seem as neutral as possible and had a short conversation with the other woman. It was easy to imagine what the dowager empress would say now and how she would offer the empress her help. At the same time, it was easy to guess how Seraphina would reply judging by the annoyance hidden behind her polite facade. Camille was probably the only thing that could have made her evening worse, so it was clear that the heroine wouldn't be eager to join forces.
Blanche was relieved to see that it was unlikely that their enemy would gain such a strong supporter. She was also pleased to have ended the discussion quickly and without any issues. Seemingly, the empress didn't care enough to complain about any of this, so they didn't have to expect any arguments later. Thus, dealing with Seraphina concluded the last remaining draining part of the evening for now. After all, none of the guests seemed to mind either, and the empress had publicly shown that she didn't care. This meant that no one would trouble the concubine because of this anymore. Since the worst part was over, she allowed herself to relax a little and let out a deep breath.
Theodore just took that as a sign to order another glass of water for her before he began stroking over her hand. “See? It wasn't that bad.” That nothing had escalated didn't mean that the interaction hadn't been a disaster.
Blanche raised her eyebrows at her lover and tapped his hand with her fingers. “You should be more polite to her. I'm pretty sure everyone just noticed that you couldn't wait to be rid of her.”
“They are supposed to. After all, the divorce shouldn't come as a surprise. I'll make sure the rumors spiral by the time the supreme judge finally confirmed our document's validity. Besides, I didn't say anything wrong, did I?”
Blanche didn't have the time or energy to argue with that. She just looked at him for a moment before returning her attention to Sophia and her husband. “I apologize for the short wait, Lord and Lady Ravillot. Where were we?”
It was surprisingly easy to return to the conversation with such kind people. The only stressful thing about this interaction was the Ravillots kept promising that they would pay Blanche back no matter how often she rejected it. That became a little exhausting, but since the couple was too sweet, the concubine couldn't be annoyed.
The same didn't hold true for anyone after them.
The rest of the nobles felt like they were even more dependent on the emperor's favor than the more powerful ones. Blanche received many compliments, of which some were the most obvious empty words imaginable, and countless valuable gifts, which only served to show off someone's wealth. Still, she sat through that until the very end.
The last family to come to greet them was the one of Raymond Valerian. The viscount had the same cold aura as before while Lucille just seemed focused on not making a mistake. The father did his best to flatter the concubine and gifted her a rather extravagant set of jewelry. Blanche just reacted to all of that with her fake smile before trying to calm the nervous Lucille a bit. It hadn't worked out well, but at least the conversation hadn't gone on for too long.
After this interaction, the first part of the ball was finally over. It was time for the hosts to stand up and move around. Blanche was rather eager to do that. Stretching her legs now sounded like a good idea, and the fact that they could stop at the buffet for a moment was even better.
But she even didn't get to rise before a knight approached Theodore.
After listening to the guard for a moment, the emperor's expression darkened. “I see. Keep an eye on him and prepare to strike immediately.” He waited for the knight to leave before turning to his lover. “Apparently, another carriage arrived. It can only be Sefare since everyone else is present. It should be obvious that no one would come at nine o'clock when the event began four hours ago. So, there has to be something else that is happening in the background.”
The concubine didn't like how that sounded. “Does that mean that they planned something? But what would he obtain by arriving late and storming in?”
“We can't know that. But I assume that it might be connected to the fact that the dowager empress placed herself in the center of the room already.”
Indeed, the dowager empress was standing only a few steps away from the carpet that led to the platform on which the thrones were placed. It seemed like she was waiting for something or someone.
Blanche looked around for a moment before whispering. “Cedar isn't here anymore. I can't see him anywhere in this room. Does that mean that he went out to greet Sefare?”
Theodore let out an unamused huff. “Surely. But this kind of greeting probably isn't too kind. After all, I unveiled some rather interesting crimes of the house Sefare, so no one will be happy to see him. He would never show up if he was in his right mind. He was forced to come here, and I am pretty sure that our favorite relatives are behind this. They will probably condemn him in front of everyone to prove that they aren't affiliated with him.”
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Blanche let her eyes roam across the venue again and still didn't find the prince. Cedar had truly gone outside to do something, and that couldn't mean anything good. “But what will that gain them? Everyone knows that Sefare is a close friend of the Vasquez family, who backs the dowager empress. There is no reason to act now when the truth is known to any person in this room.”
The emperor narrowed his eyes at the crowd. “That won't keep them from trying to clear their name. This doesn't have anything to do with any legal decisions either. It's just about making themselves look better. They probably hope that it will make some people forget. Being acquainted with a criminal will stain their reputation, so they want to pretend that they were involved in uncovering his crimes. Thus, naive people will think that they are good and might trust them. This has happened a few times. The dowager empress only supports the ones that haven't been caught committing crimes. The Besseta family was in her faction too. Then something about embezzlement got revealed, and more investigations were held. Later, even human trafficking seemed to be part of the count's crimes. Naturally, the dowager empress immediately needed to get rid of them. So, she chose to blame the assassination attempt on the count. She will gladly act like that again. This evening won't end well for Sefare. It's not like I pity him, but I would have favored it if this didn't happen today.” Theodore turned to his lover and gave her a weak smile. “I'm sorry for the interruption that will follow now. I wish I could prevent it, but that is impossible to do so without making a scene after they start. That this has to happen on your birthday is horrible.”
Blanche mirrored his smile and reached over to squeeze his hand. “It's alright. I will be able to ignore it. This isn't your fault either, so don't feel guilty. It won't be bad. We just have to watch how they list some of his crimes and act like they are innocent, right? Then they will drag him away, and everything can continue normally.”
“I hope so.” Theodore massaged his temples with his free hand before gesturing to Leonard, who stood at the other end of the ballroom. “If not, I will get upset. They won't like what happens then.”
As if they had waited for this comment, the guests turned toward the opened doors that led to the balcony. Cedar came in through that way with the same typical grin as always on his face. One could have believed that nothing was wrong if he wasn't surrounded by a different atmosphere than usual. He was annoyed, Blanche was sure of it even though she had no idea why she could determine this.
The prince was followed by three men, of whom two accompanied the third one. It was obvious that those two weren't nobles but rather mercenaries or warriors of some sort. The way they guided the other man between them proved that they were actually just threatening him too.
It didn't look good for that man. Sefare seemed to know that too and kept his gaze glued to the floor.
Cedar joined the dowager empress in the center of the ballroom, and the men followed him while all the other guests made way. He whispered something to his mother before standing by her side and waiting for the response. Camille whispered back, which just caused Cedar to speak even more until she silenced him with a wave of her hand. That couldn't mean anything good.
The dowager empress had ignored Cedar's advice, and that usually led to unpleasant situations.
Camille waited for the four men to reach her side before speaking to Sefare. If she hadn't been so loud, one might have believed that she only wanted a private conversation with him. “I had not expected that you would dare to attend this ball. Have the recent events not been enough to make you feel shame? How insolent.”
Theodore signed and leaned his elbow on his armrest to place his chin on his palm while he whispered to his lover. “Great. Now she will begin her little show. This can take a while if she is in the mood to cause a scene. Or she might ask us to join the conversation at some point. Either way, I have no desire to watch. Do you want to drink some wine?” As soon as his lover nodded, he gestured to a servant and ordered two glasses of red wine, which they would drink while the show in the center went on. From the thrones, one had the perfect view of all events, so it was clear that this was intentionally shown to the couple as well. And still, they couldn't intervene just yet.
Blanche had to admit that she didn't mind this part that much yet either. After all, she could watch how the man that had played her like a puppet suffered a bit.
Sefare clearly wasn't happy. He didn't respond to the dowager empress' comments. He just stared at the floor with a scrunched-up face and looked like he was holding back the words he wanted to say. Sefare was probably only here because he had been forced, so asking him how he could be shameful enough to attend was ridiculous. His body language showed that the only thing he wanted to do was to run away. It was a bit funny that he tried to flee now after all he had done.
Camille wouldn't let him. She watched him with narrowed eyes before resuming in a booming voice. “So, you have not only forgotten what morality means but also lost your manners? Daring to ignore me can only speak for your recklessness. If you wish to antagonize the royal family, there is no easier way to do so. Will you be silent for the rest of the evening or respond to me at least once?”
No reply came.
The dowager empress only saw that as a reason to continue. “It seems that you are choosing to let go of every bit of honor that you might have possessed once. You are not only affiliated with criminals but also wish to make an enemy of the royal family. That does not make me believe that you are in your right mind. Or are you so full of shame that you cannot speak?”
Sefare merely clenched his fists and gritted his teeth but still didn't say anything.
Camille didn't hesitate to resume though. “If so, this will not save you. When I first heard of the investigation, I was shocked and could barely believe that one of our acquaintances would commit such horrible deeds. Now that the truth has been revealed, everyone deserves to know.” Camille turned to the guests and continued without skipping a beat. “This man not only hid most of his wealth to avoid paying the necessary tax to our nation and thus stole funds that would have been able to help our starving citizens. He also used some of his shops to launder money for other criminals and traded with them. Among the illegal items he exchanged, there were weapons and other goods that could possibly risk destroying the power balance within Artias if the wrong people possessed them. In addition to that, he got involved with juristic decisions and bribed judges and witnesses to free some criminals, which he wished to use for his own selfish interests. All of these are without a doubt shameful and destructive actions that are deserving of being called filthy. But if that was all, I would not have seen the need to reveal it today. There is also something else, something far more awful than all of us could have imagined.” Camille gazed at the throne. “This matter is connected to His Majesty himself, which is why it is of utmost importance. Would you give me permission to unveil all of his heinous deeds right now?”
She surely was confident. What a witch.
Theodore lifted his head from his hand but kept the same indifferent expression on his face. “You already started without asking me though. Asking now is rather unnecessary, but there is something else I would like to address. May I ask you a question?”
Camille paused for a moment before responding. “Of course. I will be happy to tell you anything about this matter.”
The emperor showed her a little smile that barely hid his hatred before speaking up in a sweet tone. “Is there any need to do this today explicitly?”
The dowager empress' face fell at that. “I am unsure of why you might be asking this. This matter is urgent, so-”
Theodore looked like he was more than bored with this turn of events and waved his hand through the air to cut Camille off. “Today is Blanche's birthday, as all of you know. There is no reason to dampen her spirits on her day just because you were in the mood to convict a criminal here. If you may allow me to speak openly, I find it rather disrespectful to suddenly take care of political matters that have nothing to do with this event right now. I expect you to apologize for this immediately before leaving and taking this person with you. He will be put on trial in the capital, so there is no need to publicly state his crimes when they will be published as soon as he is convicted anyway. That is easy to understand, correct?”
Camille's face darkened with anger. “How can you say something like this, Theodore? This is necessary to secure the safety of our nation. A mere birthday party cannot be more important than this. Even if you do not care about ensuring that criminals are punished accordingly, the rest of the guests here does. That is why we will not interrupt such a crucial uncovering.”
Cedar, who had previously been quiet, spoke up with an ominous smile too. “This is not only about protecting the nation but also about protecting you, Theodore. So, it would be better for you to listen even if this may become uncomfortable for you. The truth will be a bit hard to swallow. But I agree that doing it in private is the better option. We should speak about it soon.”
But before Theodore could reply, Camille already added something. “It would be better to discuss this right here. After all, the matter is connected to Lady Blanche. It does make sense to address it in her presence.” As she spoke, she looked at the concubine with nothing but dismay.
Blanche's stomach churned at that. She had a vague idea of what this might be about. They probably wanted to scare her by hinting at her background. But they wouldn't actually reveal it since that would only hurt them. Besides, Theodore was on her side, so it didn't matter at all. She told herself that, but she was still uneasy. She frowned at the dowager empress and the prince and spoke up when she managed to gather the courage to do so. “I am slightly confused about what you may be referring to. I am rather sure that I am not involved in anything that could endanger Theo or this nation. I would be aware of that.”
The one responding was Camille, whose gaze only became colder. “Unfortunately, there is such a matter. I am convinced that you will remember as soon as we touch on that subject. It is not something that you could have been unaware of, so there is no need to lie. It is necessary to finally inform Theodore of your true identity.”
Just as she finished, Cedar gently reached over to tap onto his mother's arm as he added something. “This is indeed an important topic. Discussing this in private would be advised. Please do give us a chance to explain later, Your Majesty.”
He had said that he wished to delay this, but Camille's words had already made everyone whisper. The peaceful mood of the ball before was long gone as all of the guests seemed to wonder what was happening here.
Blanche felt her insides tingle. She could barely ignore the loud sound of her blood rushing through her head.
Camille wasn't seriously planning on doing it now, right? What would talking about Sefare's connection to Blanche do to help her faction? Nothing. Cedar had said that they would have a conversation later, which would make far more sense if they wished to reveal something they hoped to be painful to Theodore. He wouldn't actually tell the whole capital that she was a commoner that had been supposed to kill the emperor now. After all, this would reveal he and the dowager empress had known about this plot. Even if they were royalty, that would lead to unpleasant rumors. But what if Camille changed her mind, took the risk and let Sefare take the fall? She did seem like she planned on doing that right now.
Blanche glanced at the marquess, who had lifted his gaze just enough to look at her. The expression on Sefare's face was conflicted. He was both angry, fearful and maybe somewhat regretful too. This certainly made sense if he suspected that he would be accused of treason. And in case he was put on trial for trying to murder the emperor, his pawn would also be blamed. Blanche gritted her teeth as she tried to come up with a reason to make them delay this.
But in an instant, she calmed down again when Theodore squeezed her hand. Her lover gave her a soft smile, and that was enough to make her focus again. As long as he was on her side, no one could hurt her. He knew about her past, and he wasn't angry. So, even if their enemies were stupid enough to spill the truth, nothing bad would happen. Her reputation might be ruined, but even then, she was fine as long as her Theodore was with her.
Blanche was still a little scared, but she had calmed down enough to relax. She opened her mouth to explain that nothing could ever prove that she had any vile intentions since she never had any but stopped herself. Wasn't it better if their enemies didn't know that she didn't mind them talking about this?
Maybe they would refrain from addressing it in public if they believed that they could blackmail her with this information. After all, she wouldn't be executed if everything was revealed, but if the nobles thought that she had been ordered to kill the emperor, she would never be able to appear in public again. She would be branded a criminal and be shunned even if Theodore stayed by her side. He might even be called insane, and people could become convinced that he was completely blinded by her manipulation. This could seriously harm his reputation as well. If the aristocrats questioned whether he was thinking clearly, it would not strengthen his position as the ruler of Artias.
That thought was enough to make Blanche cower. She gripped her lover's hand tighter without knowing it as anger welled up inside her. Those people really used anything to hurt her Theo. She wasn't sure how this would play out, but she had to do her best to make it easier for him.