Blanche put up with almost all the nobles waiting for her to speak. But after even Duke Lamont had let her talk first, she eventually voiced her complaints. “Theo, why does everyone keep waiting for me to greet them? Last time, I was the host, so it was fine. But this time, I'm a normal guest. We should follow the rank system.”

Theodore gave her a little smile and made a small gesture to the guests. “Nobles may act like they are stupid most of the time, but even the idiots among them can think. I put you on the empress' throne and gave you a tiara while continuing to bring you to events as my partner. I believe that some rumors about us may have spread already. Especially because of this.” He lifted her hand up and gently stroked over her ring. “Surely, we will still have a big reveal, but I fear that most already realized that you will become my wife. I would also assume that Duke Vasquez might have spread some rumors by now. He will just say that some other guest must have overheard and try to avoid my anger through that.”

Blanche let out a small “Oh” as she gazed to the side. It did feel like people might have found out by now and treated her differently because of that. “I thought so. Then it wasn't good for me to brag about being your fiancée. I'm sorry. You wanted to reveal it in a more romantic way, and I ruined it.”

The emperor brought his hand to her cheek and caressed her skin. “Don't worry about something like that. It was way too amusing to wipe that smile off his face when we had the chance. Besides, I only delayed announcing our engagement because you favored waiting until the situation has calmed down. Otherwise, I would have already yelled out the truth from the top of my lungs. I can still do that now though. No one can take our official announcement away from us. We can just choose which day we want it to be. We could either ruin this party here or the dowager empress' birthday in a month. Both seem like good choices.” He paused for a moment before a wide grin appeared on his lips. “How about we coincidentally have a party on her birthday and make her believe that it's for her when it's actually for us?”

That sounded like it would upset Camille tremendously. Ruining someone's birthday wasn't nice. Unfortunately for the dowager empress, Blanche still had the right to get revenge for her own party. “She tried to ruin my special day, so we can also destroy hers. That would make a good day out of a bad one. It's a good idea. We could try it if you prepare everything in time.” In a month, the divorce of the royal couple would probably have been made public too, which certainly made the announcement a bit less problematic.

Theodore beamed at her and pressed a kiss onto the back of her hand. “Your wish shall be my command. I will take care of it. Everything will be wonderful. We will have a perfect day while ruining our enemies' mood.”

Blanche grinned at him and looked around for a moment. “Now that we are talking about them, where are they? I think I caught a glimpse of Cedar talking to some marquess from his faction earlier. But they didn't see us, apparently.”

Her lover's expression became a bit more serious at that. “It really is strange that neither my brother nor the dowager empress approached us until now. I've seen them a few times, and they never looked at us. It's almost like they are waiting for something to happen and don't want anything to do with that. And I might have noticed what they are waiting for too.” He glanced over his shoulder before narrowing his eyes. “That Besseta girl has been following us for a while now. I assume that she only waits for me to leave for one second. She has a bottle of wine and glasses in her hand, so she probably wants to offer that to you.” He gritted his teeth while giving his best to maintain a neutral expression. “That damned household is going to be the death of me. Despite them working together with the dowager empress, I felt so bad about them suffering because they were framed for treason. That's why I pardoned them and only punished the count for his disgusting crimes. And now they pay it back to me like this.”

The concubine found that strange too, but in some way, she understood why this had developed. “Well, that girl thinks that you killed her father for no reason and caused her household to fall into ruin. It's clear that she would dislike you. But to try to harm someone like you is still awfully stupid, even if she is just a young girl. Yet, we shouldn't be too harsh with her. She looks like she might be around eighteen. She isn't even an adult, so don't overdo it with the punishment.”

Her lover was quiet for a moment too long. “I will keep that in mind. But the least I will do is exile her and her family after she testifies in a trial. I won't risk that family being used against me in the future.”

“That's understandable too. But before you can arrest her, she needs to actually do something.” Blanche gave him a smile, which she hoped to be encouraging. “So, you will have to leave for a little while and let her approach me. Remember the plan?”

Theodore's face scrunched up at that. “I do. But I'm still reluctant.” He gently stroked over her hands and held onto her tightly. “I have my sword right here, and I know that I can easily defeat most people, especially when Leon and Owen are here. But what if I make a mistake and you get hurt? I would never be able to forgive myself.”

Her heart ached at seeing his dejected expression, but she gave her best to seem somewhat confident. She reached up to her lover's face and cupped his cheeks. “I won't get hurt. I will not be unconscious, you know? And those people expect me to be feverish, so they will be surprised if I can think clearly. In the worst case, I will just run away. Remember, you can arrest Duke Vasquez for this to get some space for an investigation. Then you will get rid of the Bessetas, who seem to help our enemies, by sending them into exile. It will be perfect, don't worry. You always are one step ahead of our opponents, and I fully trust that you will come up with something that will save me no matter what.”

The emperor gazed at her with concern written on his features. “But nothing like this ever happened before. I have no idea how to deal with this. Sending you into danger while knowing that something bad could happen is more horrifying than most things I did for the past months.”

Blanche showed him a smile and patted his cheek. “I will be fine because you are here. I will help you by leading on our enemies. Let's see what happens. I will pretend to want to see Rebecca now. I will sit with those ladies over there while you can talk to some other nobles.”

Her lover nodded. “I will use this chance to annoy them by saying how much I miss you. But I won't take my eyes off you for even a second.” He slowly took a step backward and placed a kiss on her hand before letting go of her.

The concubine waved to him and blew him a kiss while he walked away. She stood there for a moment before steering towards the seating area, where Selena still was. In all honesty, this plan wasn't too intelligent. Anyone who paid a little attention would know that this was a plot. The emperor would never leave his lover alone during a party at their enemies' house without sending Leon and Owen to guard her, and even then, he wouldn't let her go to a spot from which he couldn't see her. That he was purposefully distancing himself from her was so obvious that it was almost painful.

But their enemy didn't seem to understand that, so it was fine. Blanche had only taken a few steps when a voice called out to her.

“Uhm... Excuse me...”

Slowly, the concubine turned around.

In front of her, the girl with the pigtails and the orange dress from Theodore's birthday party stood. That person had followed her and Theodore for a while now. It only had been a few seconds since the emperor had left, and Marguerite had already appeared. This girl wasn't only naive for letting others use her, she was also impatient. That would only make it easier to reveal this plot though.

Blanche put on a little smile and gazed at the girl. “Yes?”

Marguerite was way too nervous. It was almost like she didn't even try to hide her worry about being caught. She was fidgeting her fingers, and her face was slightly reddened. She made a small and somewhat clumsy curtsy. “I apologize for disturbing you, Lady Blanche. We haven't met yet.” Her voice was trembling slightly while she spoke, and it sounded like she recited something that she had learned by heart. “My name is Marguerite Besseta. I am very pleased to be able to become acquainted with you.”

It probably would have been easy to make her panic by just staying quiet, but Blanche wasn't that mean. Even if she felt a pang of annoyance regarding the girl's naïveté. Attacking the emperor's lover was basically suicide, and even a child should know that as long as they had been raised in a noble household. This was the case here. Marguerite knew how dangerous this was and still accepted getting involved in such a plot despite her poor acting skills. To do that, one required a certain level of confidence, which didn't say anything good about her mental capacity.

The concubine inwardly scolded herself for being so mean but just focused on replying. “Indeed. I believe that we have never had the honor of speaking to each other. As you seem to have known already, my name is Blanche Laister, and I am residing in the royal palace. It is nice to meet you, Lady Besseta.” She almost felt like her tone was a bit too sweet to sound genuine, but she couldn't help it.

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Marguerite hurriedly nodded. “Thank you, I am happy to meet you too. I...uhm...” It seemed like she struggled to come up with something to talk about. “I...heard about what happened on your birthday. That was really unfortunate. Sefare's demise is truly...tragic. You must be horrified because something like that happened during your party.”

Approaching another person and talking about their bad experiences was the most unfitting thing you could do if you wanted a pleasant conversation. Additionally, speaking about a recent demise during someone else's baby party was also highly inappropriate. A saying in Artias expressed that one shouldn't invite death to a celebration of life after all. But since Sefare hadn't actually died, it should be fine. Hopefully.

Blanche gave her best to hide her slight irritation at that and just replied honestly. “It is surprising to hear that those unpleasant rumors spread so fast. But it appears that only half of the facts may have reached you. While I do regret that such a disturbing incident happened in front of everyone, I need to admit that I personally do not care much for the man that threatened me ever since my family's death. In some way, his suffering was like a birthday present. Maybe the gods pitied me and wished to punish those who plan to hurt me.”

Almost instantly, Marguerite became paler. She let out a nervous laugh and was quiet afterward. It seemed like this girl was truly hopeless when it came to keeping a conversation going.

The concubine held back a sigh. She didn't want to talk to that girl for too long, or she might end up asking her why she was helping those who were responsible for Count Besseta's death. So, she wished to end the conversation as soon as possible. She only needed to drink some wine, and Marguerite would leave her alone, right? Then she would just speed up things a bit.

Blanche titled her head and gazed at the wine flask in the girl's hand. She ignored that it was obviously strange for a noble to bring drinks instead of a servant and spoke up with a smile. “I see that you have brought something interesting. Did you bring the wine along to look at it, or did you wish to offer me some? Is this perhaps some sort of birthday gift because you were not present during my party?”

Marguerite's face lit up in an instant. “Yes, exactly! My family has connections to this merchant from Southern Ocrea. And this is their newest product. I believed that I could offer it to you as a gift. Would you like to try it?”

The concubine focused on keeping her grin upright. “Gladly. I would feel honored to taste it with you. It seems like you already brought the glasses too. How considerate of you.”

The girl froze at that. She took a moment before her cheeks became a little redder, and she averted her eyes. “Thank you. I hope that you will like it. Well...” She stammered a bit before continuing. “Should we go to one of the tables to drink there?”

“That is a good idea. Please do lead the way.” Blanche kept her eyes trained on the girl's back while following her.

Marguerite's grasp on the top of the flask was too cramped to seem relaxed.

The concubine almost expected the glass to crack, but thankfully, that didn't happen. She glanced at Owen for a moment, and the knight nodded at her. He had understood too, which wasn't a surprise thanks to that girl's unveiled intentions.

They reached the table, and Marguerite placed the glasses in front of them after staring at them for a bit too long. Then she opened the flask and poured wine for each of them. Apparently, the medicine had been inside the glasses, and she had wanted to prove that the wine was untouched by bringing an unopened flask. The idea itself was good, but she had done it in a much too obvious way. The girl carefully took one glass into her hands and pushed the second one to the concubine while making sure that she didn't mix them up. Then she raised her glass. “Let us toast to Artias.” Her hand was trembling so much that it wouldn't have been strange for her to spill something.

Blanche would have liked to groan, but she held back. She accepted the glass and lifted it too. “May Artias prosper during our emperor's reign so that each of our loyal citizens will live a splendid life.” She took a deep breath and stared at the wine for a moment while Marguerite watched her.

It seemed like she would willingly drink poison now instead of being accused of poisoning someone else. Her life certainly held some surprises. The concubine forced herself to stop thinking about that though and just brought the glass to her lips despite the girl's obvious observation.

Blanche had to admit that she was a bit petty now, but she wanted to do something that would worry the other party at least a little. So, she titled the glass and looked right into Marguerite's eyes while drinking the wine. She emptied the glass in one sip and set it back down while putting on a smile that might have seemed a bit arrogant. “You were right. It does have a special taste. How odd. Say, these aren't your glasses, right? Did the hosts lend them to you? I feel like they were a bit sticky.”

Marguerite tensed at that. “Oh, I apologize for that.” Her voice was even shakier than before now. “I did get them from His Grace, so I couldn't have done anything about that. I'm sorry. The servants must have been lenient while polishing it.” She was even careless enough to admit who had ordered her to do this. This made it almost too easy. But at least it also meant that she would spill everything in front of a judge. The girl was now in a hurry to finish her drink and made another curtsy. “Then I thank you for joining me, Lady Blanche. It was an honor. Now I have to-”

Without a doubt, it was mean, but the concubine couldn't hold back. “Wait a moment. I still want to say something.” She waited for a few seconds and watched the trembling girl with a smile. “Don't be so scared. It's only a tip for you. If you want to last in noble society, you should learn to control your expression more. Your face is like an open book.” It was a bit hypocritical to say that when she herself wasn't the best actor, but she had improved a little at least. After all, she was doing well at playing a somewhat intimating lady right now.

Marguerite looked terrified at that. She quickly bowed her head to hide her expression. “Yes, I...thank you. I will keep that in mind.”

Blanche almost felt bad, but her desire to scold the girl outweighed that. She let her smile fade and crossed her arms to look at Marguerite with an expression that was supposed to seem strict. “You also can't listen to what other people tell you without checking the facts for yourself. Maybe you should learn about what really happened in the past before opposing the emperor too. After all, not only your life is on the line but also the ones of your family and servants. Keep that in mind in the future.” She stared at the petrified girl for a moment before turning around and leaving. She had said a bit much.

Hopefully, Marguerite wouldn't inform Duke Vasquez now, but that girl should be too scared to say anything.

The concubine glanced to the side and made eye contact with Theodore for a moment. He looked so serious that she gave him a little smile to calm him. Hopefully, he wouldn't snap and confront Marguerite immediately, or their plan wouldn't work out. For now, Blanche had to join some ladies to chat with them and wait for the poison to set in. She stopped to look around and scanned the guests around her. Maybe she should try to change some parts of her plan for now.

She had the choice between approaching the group around Selena or the one around Seraphina. It was easy to understand why both would be unpleasant. But the empress was kind to her, and Sophia was there too. So, that group was obviously the less stressful one, but just walking over to the empress and wanting to join her after stealing her husband for the whole evening would look strange too. Still, the concubine had no desire to speak to a group made of women that were twice as old as her and with whom she hadn't exchanged more than the required greetings. But just after taking two steps, she was already addressed again.

This time, it was a beautiful lady with captivating green eyes, who was the wife of some lesser-known marquess. The woman showed her a polite smile before beginning to talk. “Lady Blanche, I could not help but notice that you were without a companion. However, the best about such parties would be the social connections one can make. Would you perhaps mind joining us for the time being?”

The concubine had never exchanged more than a few words with that woman, but for some reason, she hated that marchioness. Maybe because she had seen that person with Camille and Cedar a few times. That had to be it. But for some reason, she almost felt like she had a personal grudge and would like to wipe that stupid smile off the other's face. Of course, she couldn't do that though. Even if quite a small voice in the back of her mind warned her about this person being too ambitious and shameless.

Blanche did mind joining that woman a lot, but it was too late now. Seemingly, fate had taken her choice away. She forced herself to smile as well. “Oh, no. It would be an honor to join you, Lady Peril. I would be pleased if we could spend some time together.” Even if she was uncertain why people were trying to talk to her when they had never shown much interest in her. But it only took a moment until she understood. They would try to curry favor with her because of Theodore, wouldn't they?

The marchioness continued to smile without letting her expression fall for a single moment. “I am pleased to hear that. Then would you grant me the honor of accompanying me?”

The concubine gave her best to hide how uninterested she was and stepped closer to the woman's side. “Gladly.” She walked alongside the marchioness until they reached the seating area. One second of having the people there look up at her was enough to create the wish of turning around and searching for her lover in her. But she held back and just showed a little smile while waiting for someone to say something.

They had greeted each other already, so the order of who would begin wasn't as important anymore. For that reason, she had expected it to be more relaxed, but still, no one dared to speak up.

Blanche had to hold back a sigh, but she took it upon herself to begin the conversation that had stopped for her again. “I hope that I did not arrive at an inappropriate point in time. If so, I apologize.”

Selena was the one that hurriedly spoke up. “No, there is no need for that. Please, Lady Blanche, feel free to join us. There are enough empty seats here. You may choose whichever one you like.”

“Thank you, your Grace.” The concubine didn't think about that for long and sat down on the edge of the sofa, from which she could see the whole group. The marchioness took a seat next to her, unfortunately, and it didn't take long before the conversation continued.

Selena's friends were interesting, to say the least. Sitting with the group of women was more stressful than it appeared to be at first. The issue might have been that Blanche was with a bunch of people she didn't meet often, but in any case, it was horrible. There were only two topics. Either they gossiped about someone else or bragged about what they owned or had been gifted.

Blanche felt a bit bad, but she could easily have listed a dozen gifts she had received that were much more gorgeous or valuable than whatever they owned. She could have also voiced some much more vile things about others. But she didn't say a single thing and just sat there while watching the others drink tea.

The only pleasant part was the one about Rebecca being praised. The little girl was indeed so adorable that the concubine couldn't bring herself to feel something like hatred toward her. That baby had nothing to do with her family's crimes, and while she slept soundly, she looked even more innocent.

Blanche was mostly quiet though unless someone addressed her directly. In that case, she replied with a soft smile and said what the others wanted to hear. It wasn't hard in itself since most people here were easy to read, but she became more exhausted with every passing minute.

That might be connected to how she felt a bit more tired as well. Her cheeks also felt warm as her head was a bit drowsy, which was probably one of the effects of that medicine. So, this drug had begun to affect her.

That meant that Blanche had to start acting now. Surely, it would work out somehow.

Hopefully.