Another week passed in the blink of an eye. Since Blanche wasn't pondering her issues the whole time, she was much more relaxed. She was still nervous about presenting herself like this in public though.
While trying on the dress that Theodore had chosen for the ball, she looked into the mirror and finally realized what this really meant. She would have to stand in front of all the guests and smile while they reacted to the news of her becoming empress. That thought made her a bit uncomfortable. “Theo... This will be exhausting, won't it?”
Before she had even voiced her complaints, Theodore already hugged her from behind. Her lover was wearing a new uniform too, and it was easy to see that their attires were matching. But in comparison to her, he was completely calm. He brought his mouth next to her ear and whispered to her. “I know, but it will be fine. Every single person will admire you. No one but the dowager empress will complain. There will be a group of people immediately coming to your rescue. Even Duke Duremont will not allow anyone to undermine the empress' authority. So, you only have to keep your head up, and everything will be fine. From now on, you have a higher rank, even in the official sense. No one can offend the person that will become empress. You don't ever need to hold back anymore.”
Blanche hoped so, but she was still unsure about that. “I definitely won't let them mock me, but I don't plan on picking fights. Shouldn't I try to curry favor with them instead of insulting them? After all, they will be the people that I need to support me. I should do my best to show them that I can be dignified and calm no matter what.”
“You don't have to do that.” Theodore pressed a kiss onto the side of her head. “Just be yourself. You don't need to hide your true personality to impress anyone. They will adore you without you having to do anything.”
Blanche doubted that, but she appreciated the comforting words. “Thank you. But I feel like this might be a bit more problematic than you think it to be. I won't act like a different person, but I will be kind and do my best to get them to join our side.” She told herself this while trying to seem confident but in reality, she was just nervous.
No matter how much her lover praised her, she couldn't forget that she would be met with a lot of dismay. She had to prepare for that before it came. Not everyone would be as kind as the people in the palace and accept her with open arms. Even if she knew that she would lose confidence as soon as she met those less accepting ones, she had to remind herself what to do and keep walking forward. She put on a more stubborn expression and met her own gaze in the mirror.
Theodore ran his fingers through her hair and gently readjusted the butterfly ornament before resting his chin on her shoulder. “Like I said, don't worry about that. For now, just focus on how we will go there together. You look absolutely gorgeous. Everyone will admire their empress, and I will need to make sure that they understand that you are mine. Because I'm a jealous man that won't allow anyone else to touch his beloved fiancée. Think about it like this. I want to present you to others to prove that you belong to me and that I belong to you. Don't feel nervous about that.”
“You have it easy at this point. Everyone knows that you are competent by now. You have the royal bloodline, were educated ever since your birth and have presented countless accomplishments. But they will assume that I'm stupid. I will have to prove that I am somewhat capable first.”
The emperor kissed her cheek and nuzzled against her. “You are capable. You are the most clever girl I know. But don't forget that I had to fight for the nobles' trust too. I remember how nervous I was back then, but I know that this will become second nature for you slowly. Much like I did, you will get used to it and become more and more comfortable talking in front of others. And at one point, you will be able to attend balls without batting an eye. I even look forward to events now. Because I can show the others how much I love you.”
Blanche should have expected that he would know what to say to calm her down. She leaned against him and tried to ignore how Madame Charture grinned at the two of them. “I'm glad that you're with me. Without you, I wouldn't know what to do.” Surely, she wouldn't have to attend balls without him either, but she would never want to change this.
Theodore stepped back to make her turn around and interlinked their arms. “I could tell you the same. I adore you much more than I ever loved anything else. And now look at us. We are perfect together.” He gestured toward the mirror, which showed the couple's reflection. “Focus on that image when you ever doubt that we are doing the right thing. You belong at my side, and I will show that to everyone.”
A smile grew on Blanche's lips as she leaned against her lover. “Alright. I will have to accept it then.” Even if she would still have to put in some effort to defend her new position. “It seems like I will also have to accept you giving me all of those lavish gifts. But at least I don't have a reason to complain about wearing clothes in the royal colors and putting on a tiara anymore.” As always, her dress was so eye-catching that she might as well entertain the ballroom by herself. The concubine loved it, as expected, especially since she didn't have to feel bad about wearing such extravagant clothes. She was the most powerful woman in the palace now, so it was even expected of her to dress accordingly.
Theodore had never worried about that though. “Wearing tiaras before was fine too. Whenever I offer something to you, you are free to accept it.” Theodore's smile widened as he pulled her backward. “With that being said...”
She already knew what would follow. It had been suspicious that she had received fewer gifts in the past weeks, and now her lover would definitely make up for that. And this time, Blanche wouldn't argue too much. For once, she could allow herself to accept his gifts without telling him to hold back with his presents.
It should be fine for her to be a little selfish when it came to the man she loved.
As expected, Theodore had gotten her quite a few accessories under the pretense of it being for the ball. But it was rather obvious that he was actually just giving it to her because he wanted to. After all, she was already wearing the tiara, the butterfly ornament and a necklace, which was more than enough. Still, she happily accepted the items she got and promised to show them to him later.
After chatting with Madame Charture for a while, the couple left, and Theodore prepared to go train. They said goodbye by hugging for a while and then promised to meet again in an hour.
Blanche had already finished her lesson with Leon today, and the secretary refused to do more than one per day, so she had some free time. And as usual, she decided to spend that in the kitchen. Today, she chose to make a citrus pie. The whole endeavor went by rather quickly and uneventfully.
After putting the cake in the furnace, she and her maids sat down at the table and chatted a bit. This time, a well-known topic seemed to interest the women again.
Darlene had a bright grin on her face while she talked about it. “Apparently, the dowager empress still has problems walking right now since Duke Vasquez hurt her while he was arrested. It's fitting that both of them were punished at the same time. She keeps complaining about her leg, which was sprained that day, and about the royal doctor not visiting her. It's pretty amusing to hear the other servants laugh about her.”
Angelica, who was raking her fingers through her lover's hair, showed a soft smile at that. “I find it more amusing that the royal doctor personally refused. She seems to have offered him a hefty sum if he agreed to check on her, and he just replied that he would give her poison the first chance he got. Seemingly, he wasn't too happy about her trying to kill His Majesty on multiple occasions. And it gets even better. The sprain seems to be so bad that she might limp for the rest of her life. It's rather funny if you ask me. Like this, she will always remember the day that she tried to harm our lady.” Her smile almost looked a bit scary when she said that.
Blanche would have liked to say that she wasn't complacent while hearing this, but that would be a lie. She knew that she probably should at least act like she felt terrible, but she didn't do that. In her opinion, Camille had lost all rights to complain after that incident. So, she only smiled when her maids told her all of this. “Truly? How amusing. Duke Vasquez seems to have hit the right spot. Let us hope that she thinks about this every single day from now on.”
Inwardly, she congratulated Leon for knowing exactly which part of the leg he had to attack. But since he had been an assassin, that should have been logical. It was good to have him on their side. For now, they could just hope that Camille would be too proud to stay quiet and ask for Duke Vasquez's punishment. Then they would be able to get rid of Claude immediately. But it seemed like the rest of the crimes he had committed were enough already, so that shouldn't be an issue anymore.
Stella's eyes beamed when she heard this. “Exactly! She got away with less than she deserves, but I'm content with her being punished immediately. The rest will follow later. His Majesty will make sure of that.” It looked like she wanted to add something else, but the door opened at that moment.
Clark came into the kitchen and closed the door behind himself. His shoulders sank in relief when he saw the women, and he steered toward the table without any detours. He plopped down on one of the chairs before sighing loudly.
Darlene was the first to speak up. “You look horrible.” That might sound harsh, but it was right.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Clark had dark rings under his eyes, which were reddened as if he had been crying. His hair was completely tangled, which made it seem like he had run his fingers through his hair quite a few times now. But most of all, his dejected expression told them everything they needed to know.
Blanche had wanted to address it too, but she wouldn't have done it in such a blatant way. She gave Darlene, who was already being scolded by Angelica, an annoyed look before turning her attention to her worried friend. “You came here while looking for us, right? It seemed like you were a bit down, so I assume that you wanted to tell us something. Is that true?”
Clark took a moment before he weakly nodded. “I...did want to talk about something with you. Mainly because I need to get it off my chest and also because you might know more about that issue. You probably already heard that Harris was arrested for bringing weapons into the palace. That was a little over two weeks ago. I just went to visit him.” He didn't have the courage to make eye contact with them while speaking.
The concubine and Stella exchanged a short look, but they both stayed silent.
Darlene was the one that spoke up. “Of course, we heard. There was no way we couldn't have noticed. What did he say to justify his betrayal?” It was surprising that she didn't use more harsh words, but she might have simply understood that Clark still cared for Harris and didn't overdo it because of that. In any case, it was calming.
Clark already looked stressed enough. He didn't need more comments that would trouble him. He folded his hands on the table and fiddled around with the skin next to his fingernails, which already looked like it was a bit sore. His voice was barely audible when he continued. “He didn't tell me much. He refused to even look at me and just said that I didn't have to visit a traitor. Then he ignored me even after I got louder. I don't... I don't get why he did that, and he couldn't give me an explanation either. If it was just for the money, I...” He didn't finish that sentence and rubbed over his nose before resuming. “Bringing a weapon into the royal palace is bad enough. But apparently, he also had some connections to His Royal Highness and Her Majesty, the dowager empress. I can't believe that he actually betrayed His Majesty. I knew that he was...” He let out a shaky breath. “He wasn't always good, but him risking an assassination because of a few gold coins is...horrible.”
Immediately, Blanche felt the need to defend Harris. The man hadn't done it on purpose. He had been forced to follow orders because he had feared that his beloved person was hurt. There was nothing materialistic about that. He had believed that no one could help him with his problems, and he had done the only thing that he could come up with to save that person. Of course, he hadn't chosen a good way to do this, but what else could he have done?
Harris had needed to expect that there were other spies all around him, ones that would instantly inform the dowager empress or the prince of his decision. If he had chosen to tell Theodore directly, he wouldn't have had a guarantee that the emperor would trust that he was innocent. For him, the situation had been like a spider web that trapped him, and his only chance of escaping would have been sacrificing his beloved. So, he had allowed the spider to keep him hostage. No one should blame him for his decision.
But aside from Blanche and Stella, no one here knew that. It seemed like George hadn't told anyone else either.
Angelica looked rather frustrated upon hearing the news. “What did you expect? There is no way to justify betraying His Majesty. It should be obvious that he would be quiet upon seeing you. He has to feel ashamed because he got caught. Apparently, he didn't hide it well though. The guards immediately suspected that he was doing something illegal because he seemed so nervous.”
Darlene raised her eyebrow at that. “So, you are saying that even the perfect actor lost his composure? That is surprising. Why didn't he try to run away or lie to make someone else take the blame? The people here love him, so he could have gotten away with it in some way. I mean, it's easier like this, but it's still weird. Normally, you would assume that he would try to use his connections to flee.”
Normally, Harris would definitely do that. But he had wanted to be caught. That had been so obvious, and still, no one here understood it. Harris was a genius at acting. There was no way that anyone could be able to detect his nervousness if he tried to hide it.
Blanche opened her mouth and closed it again. It would be better to keep this a secret until Theodore decided to release Harris, right? But at the same time, she didn't want to wait that long.
Clark looked like he was absolutely devastated. “I don't know what I expected either. Maybe some sort of loyalty towards our ruler. But once again, I was disappointed in him. I shouldn't have tried to trust him from the very beginning, but I just...” His face scrunched up before he buried it in his hands. “I hoped that he would have some kind of explanation. A reason that would allow me to understand why he did that. But then nothing came. I was truly foolish.”
That was enough for Blanche. She shouldn't spread confidential information like this, but she couldn't keep quiet either. It pained her to see that everyone here misunderstood the current situation. Maybe it was because she knew that Harris had done it for Clark. Maybe it was because she had been in the position of the unwilling traitor too. Or maybe it was because of something she didn't remember. Something that made her heart ache when people talked that badly about Harris.
In any case, Blanche didn't hold herself back and spoke up with a clear voice to drown out the other's muttering. “Please don't judge him before you hear the full story. Harris didn't do it voluntarily. Cedar blackmailed him. We already knew about their relation for a while because he gave his best to leave evidence for us. Harris wanted us to find out so that we could free him from his dilemma. That is why he let the guards discover him too.”
Clark paled at that. He took a moment and scanned the concubine's expression for a sign of this being a joke. When he remained unsuccessful, concern took over his features. “What...are you... He was blackmailed?”
Blanche nodded in affirmation. “You saw how exhausted Harris was during the past few months. He even collapsed once. That was because he was forced to do things he didn't want to do. I personally saw how the prince threatened him. Harris was his usual petty self, but he became really upset as soon as Cedar started his schemes. Afterward, he seemed to be in a bad mood for quite a while. I assume that that wasn't the first event of the same kind.”
Clark just stared at her for a few seconds before he suddenly leaned forward. “Did that man hurt Harris?” There was an undeniable hint of panic in his voice. Normally, he tried to hide his worry as much as possible, but when it came to big issues, he was always the first to fear for Harris' health. That only made it even more heartbreaking when one thought about their situation.
The concubine hurried to reply while making a rejecting motion. “No, not that I know of. Cedar threatened him by hurting a beloved person. Of course, I have no idea who that might be, but...I have a suspicion. There is only one person that would come to my mind.” She gazed at Clark to underline her words.
Clark only processed the information after a short moment before he leaned back. His expression shifted from concern to a mix of exhaustion and maybe even anger. A bitter chuckle escaped his throat. “No way. He hates me. Why would he risk getting executed for me? You saw our fights, and you know what happened between us. There is no way that he would actually-”
Blanche interrupted him to recount the recent events that had been the origin of her theory. “You were poisoned shortly before he was arrested. As soon as he heard that you were sick, he rushed there to visit you. After seeing how bad it was, he suddenly agreed to smuggle in weapons when he never did that before. That seems strange, right? The only explanation that would make sense to me is him wanting to protect you. He refused to bring weapons here, and then he was threatened. He hadn't believed that something would actually happen, but they had someone here that put poison inside your food. So, he realized that those people could actually punish you for his disobedience. Then he immediately complied with their demands to keep you safe but let himself be caught to avoid harming the inhabitants of the palace. Give me one other explanation that is more logical than this one.”
Clark completely stopped listening at that point. He froze in place and stared at the table with nothing but utter dread on his face. He probably went through everything that had happened during the past months that could have been a hint for what was going on with Harris. It seemed like he found quite a few things since his face got paler with each second. No one said anything during that time, which was why it was even more startling when he suddenly jumped up and slammed his hands onto the table. “Why didn't he tell me?” Clark looked like he was at his limit and was about to cry. His question had seemed so genuine and full of despair that the concubine wanted to answer immediately.
She didn't get a chance too.
Clark bolted out of the room before anyone could even open their mouths. He left behind the group of women, who exchanged shocked gazes with one another.
Especially Angelica and Darlene seemed to be speechless. It took a while until the latter one spoke up. “What was that just now? How come we didn't hear about this? Did Stella know?”
Stella nodded. “I told you about the incident during which the attendants of the former empress dared to accuse My Lady of stealing. His Royal Highness wished to cause the divorce and wanted to use that fight to make sure that His Majesty would get angry at Lady Duremont. And apparently, the one bringing those pieces of jewelry into My Lady's and my chambers was Harris. He purposefully did it carelessly so that others would notice, and those maids were still too stupid to get it. That is exactly why His Majesty explained the full story then. Aside from the part about Clark being the beloved person, I knew everything from back then.”
Angelica listened to the narration before putting her hand on her chin. “I see. Now that I know that, I do feel a little bad for Harris. If even His Majesty chose to forgive him, there must have been some serious cases of threats become realized in the past. That would explain why Harris acted like this. Thank you for the information.”
Darlene glanced at her lover before turning to the other two women. “No way! Why didn't you tell us earlier? Then we could have tried to pay more attention, or we wouldn't have said such mean things about Harris. More importantly, we could have found some sort of evidence that could help you. Please tell us about things like that in the future!” She almost looked like she was pouting, which was a bit adorable.
Angelica sighed and ruffled through the other's hair. “She'll be the empress, Honey. She can't tell us about confidential matters that concern the whole nation. That much should be obvious.” She retracted her hand after tapping Darlene's nose and gazed at the concubine. “What she wants to say is the following. You can trust us. If there is anything that worries you or if you need another opinion, we are right here. We are good at keeping our mouths shut if it depends on it.” She ended her short speech with a grin. “Even if Stella may be an exception.”
Stella narrowed her eyes at that, which just made her green irises seem even more vibrant. “What's that supposed to mean? I've been My Lady's first maid. I'm obviously the most trusted one. I'm your senior, so you should show a little more respect.” She pretended to throw her hair over her shoulder which only made a thin light brown strand fly up before it returned to the exact same position as it had before.
Despite the serious topic, a smile grew on Blanche's face too. “Of course, you've been with me since the beginning.” She waited until Stella raised her chin before continuing. “But you've also made the biggest mistake. You told them about my engagement, remember? After I explicitly told you to keep silent about it, you immediately ran to those two here.”
Stella's expression became apologetic. “I'm sorry. I know that doesn't-”
“It's fine. They would have been sulking if they had found out later.” Blanche paused for a moment, but she didn't have to say more. Her maids were already in the middle of a playful banter, and she just watched them with a soft smile on her lips while reminiscing.
Theodore had proposed to her over three months ago, and now it felt like the whole world had changed. The royal couple had divorced, and the concubine would become empress. At the same time, they had put Duke Vasquez into checkmate and cornered the dowager empress.
Blanche would never have believed it if anyone had told her about this being her future. In fact, it was still odd, but she was happy with her situation. She didn't want anything else, and she looked forward to what her life would offer her. Surely, there would be many surprises. She could only hope that these surprises were one of a good kind.
The winter ball was quickly approaching, and she already wondered which kind of surprises would wait for her there.