Just two days later, Harris was arrested. Apparently, he had brought some dangerous objects into the palace and had been caught in the act. He had used one of the popular side entrances that most servants took whenever they left to do to the capital, and he hadn't hidden the weapons well. They had only been stored in a basket under a blanket. A witness stated that he hadn't struggled or complained about being restrained and brought to a cell.
It was painfully obvious that he had purposefully let himself be caught
And it also became clear that Camille had to be planning something horrible. If she wanted weapons in the palace, nothing good was going on in her head. But she hadn't actually made another move. Theodore had been worried about her trying to harm Harris to silence him, but no one had even attempted to poison him. Still, the emperor stayed on guard.
Aside from that arrest, the palace had been completely calm. Fortunately, no one had approached Clark to harm him, which, unfortunately, also meant that they hadn't found whether there was another traitor in the palace. But Theodore still gave his best to find out what had happened and dealt with the investigation for the trial while also working out some other plans. He spent a bit more time in his office now and also personally went to interrogate Harris.
Blanche had to assure him that she was fine being away from him for three hours a day multiple times. That was barely anything in comparison to how little time they had spent with each other in the past. In fact, she was content having a bit of time to herself aside from the lessons with Leon, who refused to skip even a single one unless he absolutely had no other way to deal with his tasks.
When she was alone, she could take some walks with her maids again and talk to them about lighthearted topics without feeling like she ignored them because of Theodore. Thankfully, the threats aimed at Duke Vasquez and the dowager empress had become less intense, but they were still audible occasionally.
Right now, the maids were peaceful though, which was relieving since Blanche didn't want to hear vague descriptions of torture while walking through the garden. Instead, the topic of marriage came up. That was a bit nerve-wracking too, but she could deal with it without thinking about the problem of possibly being an empress in the near future.
After all, the subject was mainly what would happen if servants got married and wished to leave the palace. Angelica and Darlene held hands whenever they were in a slightly more desolate area and only let go of one another when they ran into larger groups of servants or guards. These two had gushed about wedding dresses for a while now without actually speaking about whether they wanted to marry.
At some point, Stella addressed that. “Say... You two have been together for at least two years now, right? Do you think that you could marry? Do you plan on doing that?”
The women froze at that. Angelica was the one to respond in a hesitant tone. “Well... I doubt that it would be possible. After all, we are both female, and the law states that there has to be a bride and a groom to go through with the wedding ceremony. Theoretically, we would be able to imitate a wedding within a temple. I heard about many couples that did that, and no one truly minded, but it wouldn't be lawful.”
Stella lowered her gaze and pouted a bit at that. “How unfair. What even is the definition of bride and groom? If one of you wears a uniform, will that count as you being a groom?”
Darlene shook her head. “That won't work so easily. We know it's unfair, but we can't do anything about it. There hasn't been a married couple of the same gender in Artias ever since our nation was founded.”
Blanche stopped in her tracks as she went through her mind once more. She was rather sure that she had learned something about this a while ago. “That's not true.” She had spoken before thinking about it, but now her maids already turned to her with wide eyes, so she had to explain. “Shortly after the revolution that made the Estien family the royal one, there was a very influential army. It was just called the emperor's army, as boring as that sounds. It doesn't exist anymore since it was made into the troops of the royal guards, but you probably heard about it. Their commander was one of the most important people that supported the emperor during the first decade after Artias was founded. So, he was rewarded at some point. He was allowed to wish for one thing.” She remembered how Leon had talked about that and her wondering whether it was truly important for her to know. But the story had still intrigued her, so she hadn't forgotten. “He wanted to marry the person he loved. That was his second-in-command. Both were men, and they actually feared being punished for voicing such a wish. But the emperor wanted to fulfill it. He was worried about ruining his reputation by getting involved in marriage matters though and made his wife deal with it so that he could use her being a romantic as an excuse if problems arose. She wrote a royal decree and let the two marry. The couple lived together until their dying days. No one complained since everything had been lawful.”
When Blanche finished, she asked herself whether Leonard had told her this to prove that the empress could help in more ways than anyone would guess at the first glance. But she didn't have much time to think about that.
Both Darlene and Stella were looking at her with shining eyes. The former one took a step forward and stared at her mistress. “Really? The empress can do that? So, if you become empress, you could allow us to marry?”
Blanche was a bit taken aback. She hadn't thought about something like that yet. Surely, she would be able to write royal decrees as the empress, so she could basically order anything as long as it wasn't a direct contradiction to the law. But that wasn't even everything. As the empress, she could also change the law itself. Blanche would be able to deal with the topics that were concerning her. She could do things like making marriage for people that loved each other easier. She could also try her best to promote the rights of women and ensure that every citizen was being treated equally in general. At the same time, she could insist on raising the legal age for marriage to eighteen or twenty so that fewer children would be completely dependent on their parents' choice for their partner. Needless to say, getting rid of group punishments and making trials more fair seemed like an important thing too.
All of those were very ambitious goals, but for the empress, it would be fine.
But Blanche couldn't take that spot, right? Her very existence in the palace was a reason for some nobles to mock the royal family, and her being Theodore's future wife made that even worse. If she became empress, the aristocrats might lose all respect for the emperor and refuse to obey. It was questionable whether even a single person would still support Theodore's and especially her decisions if she was empress. So, thinking about what she could do with an unreachable position wasn't helpful. But dampening her maids' spirits was something she couldn't bring herself to do.
The concubine averted her eyes. “I...doubt that I will...have a chance to do anything like that soon. I already told you that. But once you want to resign, I can ask Theodore to make you such a royal decree. He will definitely do it.”
Angelica blinked at that and exchanged a confused look with her lover before replying. “My Lady, we don't plan on resigning. As long as we can be together, this is the perfect job. There is no need to search for another job even if we do get married. We promised that we would stay by your side, right? We won't break that promise.”
Blanche was actually surprised at that. She had assumed that the maids would retire at some point to settle down somewhere outside the royal palace like many servants did. “You want to stay? But you won't be able to raise children if you are my attendants.”
Darlene raised her arm and put on a confident smirk. “Don't you think that we can adopt even if we need to help you? I mean, right now, I have more free time than as a child. And since we are in the palace, we could ask others for assistance, much like how others did it for Stella, who was raised here by multiple people too. And if you end up having children, they might even play together.”
Blanche nodded before she could stop herself. She had heard enough about how lonely the childhood of the royal heirs had often been. She was more than grateful to hear that she might be able to grant her children a chance to make friends. It would be wonderful if they managed to do that so that even the princes and princesses had acquaintances of the same age. “I would be very happy if you could stay with me.” She showed the other woman a bright smile. “I wouldn't want anyone else as my attendants.” The other women returned her beam, but she spoke up before they could. “After all, you are-” She cut herself off when she caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of blonde behind her maids.
It was Seraphina, who was accompanied by her usual entourage. The empress was already looking at the concubine and steered toward her upon being seen. “Good afternoon, Lady Blanche. I hope that you have been doing well since that unpleasant incident. If you require any help, please do not hesitate to ask.”
Blanche quickly made a small curtsy, which caused her to realize how rarely she had done this in the past weeks. Whenever she met people, she had held Theodore's arm or sat on a throne, so she had barely had any chances to curtsy. She only greeted the empress like this. She had gotten so used to keeping her head upright that she had probably forgotten it a few times already. And she had almost forgotten it now too. Inwardly, she sighed in relief upon having remembered in the last second. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. I have been doing well. There weren't any issues, and the medicine quickly stopped affecting me.” That Marguerite had been killed was a pretty big issue, but mentioning that now was probably inappropriate. “Thank you for your consideration. How are things going for you, Your Majesty?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Seraphina gave her a little smile in her usual graceful manner and folded her hands in front of her stomach. “That is what I wished to talk about with you. Would you mind accompanying me for a short stroll? I believe there are some things that we need to talk about before that day arises.” She meant the divorce.
Blanche's stomach churned a bit at that. What could the empress need to tell her? It seemed like it was somewhat urgent too. “Of course, I don't mind. I assume that this is an issue that requires us to go to a place with a little privacy?”
The empress replied without letting her small smile fall. “Indeed. I wished to invite you to a small cup of tea. I asked for a table to be put near the fountain in the labyrinth. The last time we talked, we met there too, so I believed that that was a good choice.” So, she had actually planned on meeting with the concubine before they had run into each other.
And she wanted to drink tea together in private. Anything else would have been fine, but this specific activity was somehow unpleasant to think about.
That only made Blanche even more nervous. “I am fine with that. Then we should go there.” She intended to let the other woman leave first, but Seraphina waited for her. It felt weird to walk side by side with the empress, but at least the atmosphere between them was much more relaxed than it had been in the past.
It was calm, but the concubine couldn't help being a bit worried. She always expected bad news when the heroine approached her, but for the past months, there hadn't been a big fight between them, if one ignored the incident with the alleged theft. So, she should try to be more relaxed when interacting with the other woman, but it was hard for some reason. Maybe Blanche still hadn't gotten over the fact that Seraphina was actually divorcing Theodore.
Maybe Blanche was just far too scared of being forced to drink tea with the other woman too. After all, the villainess had been in a similar scene once, and it hadn't gone well.
The group arrived at the labyrinth, and the empress led the way. She used her trick of orientating herself on the left side of the hedges and followed the pathway until they reached the middle of the maze. The fountain's water was the only noise in the otherwise silent plaza, where a table with cups of tea and a pot was already waiting along with some servants.
Seraphina walked forward and gestured to the table. “Please feel free to take a seat. I asked them to prepare some fruit tea, which I assume you will like.”
Blanche intended to wait for the empress to sit down, but once again, she had to give in and sit immediately. She scanned the different teas for a moment and quickly figured out that the orange one had to be hers. It already smelled heavenly, like orange and cinnamon. So, it would probably be tasty too. Not that she wished to drink anything right now. Somehow, she felt like consuming anything was the last thing she wanted to do here. But she couldn't say that. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I will enjoy it for sure.”
The empress took a seat as well and raised her hand to dismiss the servants. The maids all went to the fountain so that they stood a bit further away while Owen and Noah only took a few steps to the side. Seraphina waited for them to distance themselves before she lifted her cup and drank a sip.
Blanche picked up her cup too and was careful not to spill anything. She gazed at the tea with skepticism for a moment while being unsure whether she should drink it. For some reason, sitting at a table with Seraphina made her uncertain. She felt awfully stupid for it, but she considered simply pretending to drink instead of consuming anything. That made her compare herself with a child, but she still couldn't bring herself to swallow that tea. After holding it to her mouth and resting her lips on the porcelain for a moment, she placed the cup on the table again and watched the other woman. Blanche was much more curious than she admitted to herself, and that made her stomach tingle. She didn't dare to ask though. She needed to be patient and let the other woman speak.
The empress took her time drinking before she slowly put down her cup. “You are curious, aren't you?” Then she lifted her cup again and drank one more sip.
Blanche would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't so shaky. Surely, the other woman was doing this on purpose. Of course, she was curious after being brought here without an explanation. She only had one little clue what this could be about. “Yes, I am. I suspect that you wished to talk about the divorce since you mentioned a specific day in the future.”
Seraphina gave her a little smile. “Indeed. The supreme judge went through the documents and contacted me. He said that the contract was extremely harsh toward my side since I wouldn't gain anything and give up on all my relations with the royal family, but there weren't any secret troublesome paragraphs. I am fine with that. I will sign the contract within the next few days and bring it to His Majesty. When he signs too, everything will be legal. And then, according to the contract, I have exactly one month to move out. His Majesty originally wrote that I should have one week, but I was stubborn in this one aspect. I need at least two weeks to prepare everything if I wish to move back in with my parents.”
The concubine couldn't help but freeze at that. Why did this suddenly go by so fast? She had counted the days that had led to the divorce finally being processed, but now that time seemed to have gone by in a flash. She could barely imagine that she was now in this situation when her world had looked so grim a year ago. After gaining the novel's memories, she hadn't believed that she could ever reach such an ending, and now she was here. She was drinking tea with Seraphina, and it wouldn't end with her being arrested this time.
At least she hoped that.
Blanche forced herself to snap out of it and reply. “I see. That surely is fast. It's good that you have a month now.”
Seraphina picked up her cup again. “It is good. Anything else would have been impossible. I will need to pack my things first. After all, I doubt that you wish to take over my old dresses and my jewelry. The room has to be empty when I leave. Even if I doubt that you will ever move in there since you live in His Majesty's chambers. When did he manage to convince you of that?”
The concubine averted her eyes before hesitantly replying. “After my birthday. I slept there ever since the vacation. So, we brought some of my clothes there. And the longer I stayed, the more we put into his room. At some point, he just proposed that I should move in officially. I know that it wasn't too clever, but I had a hard time refusing. I hope that the resulting rumors were not too bad.”
Seraphina replied without changing her expression. “The rumors were full of the truth, so there weren't any issues. Everyone knows that the emperor dotes on his lover. Haven't you been aware of that? Gossip about your rings also spread among the nobles, so they know basically everything. But let us return to the original topic. You do not need to justify it if His Majesty allowed you to sleep in his room. He is free to welcome whomever he wants to. It is not like you two spending the night together ever was a secret. Besides, I will not be here much longer, so there won't even be a jealous wife bothering you.”
Blanche paused at that. For a moment, she didn't know whether she had heard it right, but she was rather sure. So, she didn't ignore it. “I don't think that you ever were a jealous wife, Your Majesty.”
Seraphina drank a bit of her tea before replying in a calm voice. “It is strange to sit with you now. There was a time during which I resented you more than you could imagine. Aside from the fact that I was upset about knowing that your actions were understandable from your point of view and that you always seemed to be able to find my weak spots, there was another reason. I was jealous of you.”
The concubine blinked a few times. Her mind momentarily stopped working before her response came out against her will. “But I was the one being jealous of you. You are Theodore's wife, and you are the empress, whom everyone adores. No one criticizes you, and all the nobles look up to you. They didn't make fun of you for wanting to spend time with him. Your parents adore you, and they and your siblings are there to support you at all times. And you are the most beautiful woman in this nation and probably the most intelligent one too. Why would you need to be jealous of anyone...especially me?”
Blanche was just a commoner with a deceased family, the annoying villainess. Seraphina was the heroine of “To Be Empress” and was perfect in any way. There was no way that such a woman would need to be envious.
She might have wanted the villainess dead above all, but that had been her single flaw. Now she was supposed to be jealous?
Seraphina drank her tea before taking one more sip. It almost seemed like she was stalling for time, but at some point, she finally set down her cup. “It seems like you didn't see most of the facts here then. While I am the emperor's lawful wife, at least for a few more days, he never even looked at me. I do not wish you to misunderstand and think that I had romantic feelings for him because that would not be true. I never saw him as more than a political partner, and he saw the same in me. But I have to admit that I was envious to see him loving you unconditionally. He always took your side and defended you no matter what. In front of you, the perfect emperor acted like a normal human being that just wanted to be with his lover. He even allowed you to call him by a nickname just a few weeks after you came here. I've known him since he was five, and he never even offered that I could address him with anything but his title. I was a bit...disgruntled about that.”
Blanche had noticed. She had seen the other's expression as she had first called Theodore's nickname in front of her.
The empress paused for a moment and gazed to the side. “I didn't have any interest in him specifically, but I longed for love in some way too. I wanted to fall in love. Now that I finally did, I fully understand what about this feels so great.” She took a moment to drink again before resuming. “But back when I didn't know that feeling, I was jealous. That you, who had been blessed with this unconditional love, wished to take even more from me upset me a lot. Especially since you had no reason to be jealous. You had His Majesty's love, and now you will marry him soon. You may not be the most intelligent person in the world, but I am not either. I only learned as much as possible to help the nation, and it seems like you are a quick learner, so I wouldn't worry too much. Your appearance is certainly not lacking either, which you would notice if you looked into a mirror or watched others' expressions when you enter a ballroom. And I can assure you that the nobles criticize me all the time. They just don't dare to do it publicly.”
Blanche was a bit surprised to hear all of that. It almost sounded like the empress wanted to console her, which felt unusual too. She was silenced by all of this and had no idea how to summarize her feelings. She felt a bit guilty for having acted like a brat in the past without seeing that the other woman might have been uncomfortable with this arrangement too. The concubine almost wanted to apologize again, but she was rather sure that Seraphina had asked her to stop doing that already. So, she kept quiet.
For a moment, both were completely silent.
Blanche took a moment until she found something that she wanted to say. “Then it seems like both of our positions were a bit difficult. I'm...” The words were already prepared in her head, and she was seconds away from apologizing again, but she voiced it differently. “I regret that we had to meet each other in such a stressful situation. I always admired how dignified and calm you were and how easily you were able to follow the protocol. Of course, I never saw all the effort that you put into that and was just jealous. I regret that a lot.” She balled her fists under the table and averted her eyes.
And somehow, even voicing that small bit of praise made her feel a tiny bit bitter. That wasn't just because Blanche had always been jealous, was it? Maybe there was something else too, and as much as she tried not to remember it, it was getting hard to deny it.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.