Blanche was much more intimidated by the dark staircase that led to the cells than she should be. She couldn't even give a reason to make that illogical fear disappear. Luckily, she didn't have to. Within a second, all of that tension was wiped away when someone spoke up.

Clark had been walking next to Blanche and came a bit closer to talk without the guards eavesdropping on them. “I saw that you are wearing the flower ornament that I made for your birthday. It's the best out of all the ones you got, right?” It almost seemed like he had noticed that she was feeling unwell and wanted to distract her.

Blanche gave him a gentle smile. “It is very pretty, isn't it? I've always loved roses, so wearing one is wonderful. But the others I got were beautiful as well. You have tough competition.”

Stella, who was walking behind them, leaned forward to chime in. “Exactly. Mine are beautiful too. But to me, it doesn't matter whether mine are the best. I'm happy as long as those clasps make My Lady more gorgeous.” She beamed while saying that in a cheerful voice.

Clark let out a snort at that and turned his head to the maid. “Are you sure that you don't like girls too? Lady Blanche has to be careful around you. Or rather, His Majesty has to be careful because you want to steal his beloved.”

The maid lifted her hand and threw her hair over her shoulder, only for it to fall back to its original position. “I'm wonderful enough to win even My Lady over. His Majesty is lucky that I'm just content staying by her side.”

The concubine chuckled at that, but her attention was pulled away from her friends. They had reached the end of the staircase. In front of them, a long hallway with a few doors waited. She was pretty sure that those led to the different parts of the cells.

All the doors looked exactly the same, but when they arrived at the third one on the right side, her stomach churned.

For a moment, she worried about gagging, but she wasn't nauseous. She just felt like the air around her got colder and constricted her chest. In an instant, the aura from before returned and hit her without warning. She didn't want to go through that door. She couldn't.

That was such a ridiculous thought, but Blanche was sure that her body wouldn't go along with anything else. She forced herself to calm down for a bit, but it didn't help much. So, she turned to her friends and prayed that they wouldn't pick this door. If Clark went inside, she wouldn't be able to follow, she knew that. Being downstairs here was fine, but she wouldn't go there.

When Clark put his hand on the door handle of the door on the opposite, a wave of relief crashed over her. She slouched her shoulders and followed him after letting out a deep breath. She tried her best to seem unaffected despite her previous terror and held her head upright while walking forward.

It seemed like they were heading toward the nicer cells. There weren't as many guards, and there were fewer rooms. Only the people that were supposed to testify for the emperor were brought here.

Blanche was glad that she didn't see Sefare anywhere and used that thought to push away the ones about the other door. She kept her eyes on Clark's back and only looked around when they had passed a few cells.

Clark seemed to know exactly where he needed to go. He rounded a corner and reached the bars to one of the cells. He stopped there and stayed quiet for a moment while smiling down.

It took a moment before the concubine noticed Harris, who was sitting at a desk and reading a book. Apparently, he had even gotten some entertainment, which was rather unusual for prisoners. That only proved that Theodore truly didn't intend on punishing the victim of blackmail and only did this to keep up appearances.

Harris continued to read for a bit before Clark cleared his throat. That made him look up in surprise. “Ah. You're here already? You're a bit early.” He closed his book after putting in a bookmark and stood up to walk over to the bars. “I'm happy to see you too, but shouldn't you finish your work before coming here? Otherwise, you will end up being even slower than you normally are.” He smirked up at the other man. “Or did miss me too much to endure even a few hours without me? You truly are absolutely enamored-” He cut himself off when he noticed the two women there. He stared at them in shock for a moment before turning to his friend, who was definitely his lover too. “You...”

Clark didn't even bother correcting that statement. He grinned and pulled over a chair and a small table that proved that he had been here a few times already. “I didn't mention that I would bring guests, did I? The future empress helped me come here. You should be honored.”

Harris faced the concubine again and lowered his head as if he wanted to bow to her.

Blanche quickly raised her hand. “That's not necessary. I just happened to meet Clark while he was on his way here. I only came to make sure that no one stopped him. I won't stay for long or disturb you.” At least she hadn't planned that, but it seemed like she might change her mind. Theodore had interrogated Harris a few times, but she hadn't ever found out much about that. Wasn't this her chance to inquire a bit more? It only took a second before she used a different approach. “But since I'm here already, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

Harris seemed a bit surprised at that. “I don't mind. I already told His Majesty everything, but I can repeat it again. There aren't many helpful things I know about though.”

The concubine stepped closer to the cell and once again noticed that the interior was rather cozy for a cell. There were a normal bed, a chair and a desk as well as a wardrobe and a curtain that could hide the biggest part of the room. Seemingly, Harris' imprisonment wasn't very harsh. That was a stark contrast to what Duke Vasquez had to experience.

Blanche stopped in front of the bars. “It's fine if you don't have anything new. I don't really need to know anything special either. I'm just curious since I overheard Cedar threatening you once.”

Harris responded while averting his eyes. “I remember. I thought that you hadn't heard that part, but it seems that you did. His Majesty also said that you were the first one to find out they used Clark to blackmail me. That was impressive. I'm pretty sure everyone thought that I hated him and vice versa.”

Blanche let out a huff. “That's what you two thought. Do you know that every single person was able to see that you two still cared for one another? You did way too much for each other. Clark was worried when you were sick and helped you when you fainted. You panicked when he was poisoned, and the way that you genius actor stopped acting when you fought with him was odd too. By the way, I feel like you stopped acting entirely. Did that happen after those people began threatening you?”

Harris almost seemed a bit embarrassed upon hearing that first part and looked to the side. He quickly became serious when she finished though. “You are right about that. I was used to acting so that people like me. But my goal was getting fired after the dowager empress began ordering me around. I thought that that was the easiest way to prevent damage.” Slight annoyance came upon his features as he continued. “But no one cared enough to dismiss me no matter what I did. At the same time, everyone seemed to ignore all the hints I was giving you about me being a spy. That was pretty frustrating. And then I heard that His Majesty already knew for a long time. Well. Life is odd, I guess.”

Blanche glanced over at Clark, who was already setting the table while listening to them. She didn't want to bother them for too long, so she would try to hurry. “I see. Can you tell me what those people made you do? They must have planned to use you and your connections for something that would benefit them.”

“You would think that. To be honest, most things until now were rather petty.” Harris looked more frustrated regarding that conclusion than he was angry. “I obviously didn't bring any weapons inside because you found them, luckily. That was based on the dowager empress' order. It seems like she truly wishes to harm His Majesty, but she lacks any sort of patience or tactical thinking, so she ended up barely using me. It was different with His Royal Highness' orders. He does have the strategic ideas he could do damage with, but... Most of the things I was supposed to do for him were basically useless. Like spreading rumors about you and His Majesty, which I didn't really do because they had no way to confirm whether I had obeyed. But mostly, it was bringing letters and gifts from Cedar to you, or rather His Majesty, who got rid of them for you. There was also one case of me breaking into the previous empress' chambers and putting some of her jewelry in your room.” He paused at that before continuing while being a bit quieter. “I am sorry about that. I tried to make it very obvious that there was something strange about it, but I heard that there were still a few issues. I want to apologize for that. To you and to Stella.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Blanche had already forgotten about that, so she didn't have any problems just leaving it behind them. “It's not like you did it voluntarily, so it's fine. Lady Duremont got her jewelry back, and everyone knows that Stella and I didn't take it.”

Stella, who had previously been silent, walked over to her mistress now. “You're lucky that His Majesty places unconditional trust in My Lady. He immediately knew what this was about, but those stupid servants of the former empress tried to cause trouble anyway. If My Lady had been hurt because of that, I would not let you off the hook. But it's fine like this. If you work to make up for that mistake now.” She crossed her arms as she refused to look at Harris. This was probably the closest to an ‘I accept your apology’ they would get.

A faint smile appeared on Harris' lips before he remembered that he had been in the middle of explaining something. He quickly faced Blanche again. “I should probably admit that the worst thing I did was give them information. If I was asked something, I had to reply truthfully to some extent. I didn't know how much they truly knew, so I told them about the layout of the palace for example. They wanted to know something about secret passageways, but luckily, I had no idea. Servants aren't really told much about such escape routes, but you should probably keep in mind that those people are searching for them.” That did seem like an issue.

Blanche wasn't too scared though, so she gave him a little smile. “I can calm you in that regard. Those two spent a lot of time in the palace. The dowager empress certainly knows about countless passageways. She wouldn't be aware of any new ones though, which means that Theo has an advantage. He knows about everything she knows after all. But enough about that. Can you tell me a bit about how she and Cedar acted?”

For a moment, Harris looked like he was extremely annoyed upon thinking about that reply. “I should have remembered that she lived here for a while too. It makes sense for her to be aware of some secret passageways. But if His Majesty knows as well, that is good.” He calmed down a bit after sighing, but it was still obvious that those two had irritated him a lot. “Regarding those two... Cedar is...a difficult case. When you saw us in the pavilion, he acted like he did when we met. A constant smile on his lips, a great actor and you can only see through him when you know what he is like. If you provoke him, he stays completely in character for the most part. And then at some point, he just suddenly becomes intimidating while still grinning like that. He certainly has the necessary aura an emperor would need to have.” Harris admitted that outright without even being upset about it. Seemingly, he didn't hate Cedar as much as he could. “At first, I was more scared of him. After all, he was the one that found out about me being rather popular and about my weak point without setting foot into the palace. But he actually never did more than threaten me when I made some snarky comments. The more often I interacted with him, which was pretty often since I needed to work their mansion every second day, the less he mentioned that they were blackmailing me. Instead, he acted a little different.”

Now Blanche was definitely intrigued. “I see. What do you mean?” She furrowed her brows while listening carefully.

“He is a very sarcastic person once you get to know him. I'm serious. Cedar constantly has snarky comments ready whenever someone annoys him. Sometimes, he voices more ironic things than normal ones.” Harris turned to his lover. “He is similar to you in that regard. The first time he made a joke, I thought that I had misheard. But he can actually be rather funny. Of course, I don't think that this meant more than him trying to win my trust, but some conversations were interesting.”

Clark lifted his gaze from the table and looked at Harris with a somewhat skeptical expression. “You know, I appreciate you thinking about me, but I'd rather not be compared to a sociopath. You should be a bit careful how you view him too. That man definitely doesn't have anything but causing trouble in mind.”

Harris scanned his expression. “You sound like you're pouting. Don't tell me that you are jealous now.” He ignored how Clark opened his mouth and continued. “I'm not saying that Cedar is nice. He's really not. I'm saying that he's actually not a bad person to have a conversation with. It's a just shame that he was raised by a horrible woman. He might have turned out as a good person if he hadn't been in her presence, but I don't think that he can escape her claws anymore. It's almost like she trained him to listen to her. He would do everything for a tiny bit of affection, and he only receives that if he is doing what his mother asks of him. He seems annoyed and tired and even says that he is aware that the dowager empress is sick, but he can't reveal too much. Of course, I have no idea, but I feel like his constant smiling is an unhealthy coping mechanism. The worse he feels, the brighter his grin. He can stop smiling, but that only happens when he puts on another expression on purpose or when you truly catch him off guard. That rarely happens though.”

Blanche nodded to herself as she made a mental note to remember that. “I saw it a few times. When he pretends to be worried or something like that. Or after he refused to follow his mother's order to abuse my allegedly drugged state to pull me into some bedroom.”

Stella was the only one here that knew about that, so both men were shocked. Clark probably had no idea what they were talking about, but Harris quickly understood.

Harris might have had a somewhat clear grasp of what that drug had been and paled when she said that. “No way. She actually did that?” It only took a few seconds before his shock was replaced with anger. “The dowager empress is the worst person I ever got to know. That despicable woman is filled with nothing but wrath and sadism. I have no idea how she managed to fool anyone. She makes it very clear that she doesn't care about anyone around her unless they benefit her somehow. I barely talked to her, and I'm relieved about that. It's just horrible that she was the one that raised Cedar. It's a wonder that he made his own decision, but I'm pretty sure that she wasn't happy about that.” He looked down at the floor. For a moment, Harris was silent before he slowly lifted his head. “I don't think that I can tell you much more than that. I don't know anything about other spies nor did they talk to me about their plans. Officially, they obviously don't want to harm His Majesty, but that is a lie. The most I can testify about is Her Majesty wanting weapons to be brought here, but a single servant's word won't mean much. If I had any proof, I would show it to you, but...” Of course, he didn't have anything.

Blanche understood what that meant too. Harris had nothing left to tell her, so she could spare herself the trouble of asking more questions. Since the two men here obviously wanted to eat, she wouldn't disturb them any longer. “I see. Thank you for the information. Then I will take my leave now. I don't want to trouble you after all. Please have a nice meal together.” She already prepared to turn around, but Harris stopped her at the last second.

“Please wait for a moment!” When Harris noticed that she was listening, he hurried to resume. “I just wished to ask you a question that I was wondering about for a while now. Did His Majesty tell you why he owes me something?”

Clark furrowed his brows and paused in the middle of pouring juice into a cup. “What are you saying? Obviously, our emperor doesn't owe you, a little servant. What made you think that?”

Harris crossed his arms and gazed at the other man from the side. “He told me that he did. He said that I did something for Lady Blanche and that he is thankful for that. When I said that I had no idea what he was talking about, he just claimed that it was normal for me not to remember. I am slightly confused about that, so I wanted to ask her.” He turned to the concubine again and looked at her with an expectant gaze.

Blanche would like to respond, but she had no idea. She remembered telling Theodore to be careful because she had thought that Harris might be a dangerous person. But she surely hadn't mentioned anything that she didn't remember either. “I'm sorry. I have no idea. I don't think we really talked about you. Maybe he is referring to how you brought Cedar's gifts to him instead of giving them to me? But that would be a bit exaggerated. I really don't know.”

“I see.” Harris put his hand to his chin as he pondered it for a moment. “Well. It seems like I will need to wait until His Majesty tells me then. That is a bit strange, but we should find out at some point. Hopefully.”

Blanche nodded. “I hope so too. It was nice to talk to you. I will take my leave then. May you enjoy your romantic candlelight dinner.” She turned around before the men could complain, which they would have done based on their expressions. She couldn't hold back a grin as she went back through the hallway. Since Owen had stood behind her, she had almost run into him, but of course, he avoided her in time. That wiped away her smile. “Owen! You scared me. You really blend in like a shadow. Maybe you need colorful clothes to avoid people from bumping into you. I feel like I didn't see you for hours.”

Owen replied without showing any emotion. “It is my task to blend in with the environment. I am supposed to disturb your daily life as little as possible.” It was nice that he thought about that, but wasn't it a bit stressful for him?

Blanche scanned him for a moment before continuing to walk the way back to the staircase. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I like you. You can talk a bit more often and stop standing behind me all the time. I know that you are rather quiet in general, but don't hold back because of us. We would be happy to chat with you more.”

“I will remember that. In the near future, you may wish for your guard to speak a bit less though.”

The concubine stopped in her tracks. “Are you talking about another knight? Will you go back to Theodore?”

Owen stopped as well and gazed at her. “No, I will not. If I may say this, I doubt that His Majesty will ever order me to leave your side, even if he may officially let me keep the title of being his guard to calm you. You will most likely receive a second guard though. After all, you will be the empress and lack any knowledge of how to defend yourself. Safety is the most important thing from now on.”

Blanche couldn't keep her face from scrunching up. “I know. But I'm in the palace. This is the safest place in this whole nation. There are walls around the estate and guards are everywhere. Theo, who happens to be a great sword-fighter, is glued to me, and you, the most skillful knight in Artias are protecting me. Who is supposed to do anything to me?”

Owen gestured to the stairs, which made her move forward, but they continued the conversation. “There may be a time in which the guards of the palace cannot help you. It may be necessary for us to split our forces to gain an advantage, and then it would be good to leave one person at your side while the other is fighting. This most likely sounds odd to you, but please keep in mind that His Majesty is aware of what he is doing. He would not order something without thinking about it.”

The concubine definitely believed that, but still. Having one extremely strong guard was enough, wasn't it? She opened her mouth to complain but forced herself to stay quiet. Owen was right.

Theodore knew what he was doing. There was a reason why he was this overprotective. She had witnessed the attack in the forest herself. She remembered exactly how the arrow had pierced the ground next to her hand and how Theo had killed a man in front of her. Only a little bit later, she had been poisoned too. She wasn't completely safe in the royal palace, not while the dowager empress and the second prince were still roaming around freely. Having another guard for the time being wasn't too bad. When the situation with their enemies got resolved, she would just ask Theodore to withdraw that guard. That should be fine.

For a few seconds, Blanche thought about that before pushing those ideas away. She had no way to argue against her lover anyway. She would just accept his decision. For now, she had other things to do than worry about a possible future guard.

She needed to visit the doctor for her regular examination. Even if that man didn't have much to do, she didn't want to let him wait. She quickened her steps a bit while moving toward the doctor's office.