“Naturally, some question the safety of the palace, but the new security measures will quickly erase those doubts. Aside from that, I don't think that there is much to talk about except for the shock that many people here suffered from. The only other important thing is that Lord Astame is currently dealing with everything. He wrote a report for the nobles and explained why Her Majesty, the dowager empress and His Royal Highness will be arrested now. Ah, by the way. His Royal Highness seems to be fine. The doctor told me that he only had a headache, which is why the doctor would like to examine the two of you today to make sure that you were not hurt. That was all, I think.”

Blanche carefully sipped on her drink and listened to all of that. It was good to hear that the situation within the palace could normalize quickly. She was still a bit worried about the staff's trust in the security now, but that should become less of an issue as time passed. “I see. Thank you for the information. It's truly a stressful day even today. We were looking forward to being lazy, and now this happens.” She slowly lifted her cup to the side and offered her lover a sip before continuing to drink the chocolate milk by herself when he shook his head. “Will we still see the doctor?”

Theodore's response was already clear before he even spoke up. “I didn't intend on doing it. Are you hurting or feel bad? If so, we will see him immediately, but I don't need him to examine me. I wasn't injured.”

Blanche could only thank the gods for that. She would have lost her mind if Theodore had been hurt. His emotional weakness right now was bad enough. But even if he said that he was fine, she was still a bit concerned. “Alright. I don't think I need the doctor either, but he is probably very worried. We both might have suffered from shock yesterday, so I would like to see him. We can ask for a very short examination and use that to instruct him to check on all staff members. That should be fine, right?”

Her lover was quiet for a moment before he mumbled his response into her ear. “But I don't want to let go of you.” To others, he probably sounded like a sulky brat if he said things like that to her, but she could guess that he was only barely clinging to his composure. He would need her affirmation that everything was fine for the next weeks, and she would happily give it to him.

Blanche turned her head to smile at him and leaned her back against him. “We can hold hands the whole time. That's why you will have to feed me too, right? There is no way that I can eat by myself and vice versa. Today, no... From now on in general, I will pamper you even more than before. You will see. No doctor's visit will stop me. I only want to make sure that you are completely fine.”

Her heart fluttered when Theodore returned a little smile. He still looked tired, but he was slowly getting better. “Then we will allow him to come in the afternoon. We need to bathe first though. You wanted candles and rose petals, right?” He waited for her to nod before stroking over her hair. Then he turned to the maid. “We want to take a bath after breakfast. We need warm water, towels, shampoo, scented candles and rose petals.”

Stella excitedly nodded at that. “I will take care of it immediately, Your Majesty. We will create a wonderful romantic bath. You needn't worry about anything. Is there anything else that I can do for you?”

Theodore responded in a voice that didn't hide his exhaustion. “No. Nothing comes to my mind. If we have something, we will call for you. You may leave for now.”

The maid bowed once again. “I understand, Your Majesty.” Then she looked at her mistress and bid her farewell with a bright smile. “I will wait right next to the door if there should be anything. Have a wonderful day, My Lady.”

Blanche returned a smile and put aside her cup to wave once. “You too. Until later.” She waited until Stella had reached the entrance before she couldn't hold back the words that appeared in her mind. “I'm really glad that you are unharmed. Take care of yourself, Stella. Of course, the same holds true for the others as well.”

The maid beamed at her. “Naturally. We need to continue to serve you for a long time. We could never neglect our health, or we would get scolded by you. I can assure you that we are fine. Enjoy your meal.” With that, she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Blanche couldn't stop grinning even when the other woman was gone. For some reason, she was truly extraordinarily happy to see Stella being well and with a smile on her face. Her mood had already been good after waking up in her lover's arms, and now she was filled to the brink with satisfaction. That meant that she could focus on indulging Theodore all day. She guessed that her expression already revealed that when she turned her head to look up at him to ask what he wanted to eat first.

Theodore was quicker than she was though. He had already scanned the different dishes and gestured toward a plate. “Your macarons are here. We didn't even need to say anything.” He wrapped an arm around her waist while leaning to the side to grab the plate and positioned it on the tray before her. He picked up a macaron between two fingers and brought it to her lips. “Say ‘Ahh’.”

She immediately did him the favor and opened up for him. Then she let the pastry disappear inside her mouth with a plop and purposefully caught her lover's finger between her lips too. She only released him after a short moment and happily chewed on her sweets while she leaned against him.

Theodore watched her eat and patted her head before moving her hair away from her face. “I feel like the chefs have to make the best macarons in this whole world by now. They always add one or two to every meal. Did you notice that? It's the same with small salmon pieces that seem to appear during lunch occasionally. Apparently, some people saw how you smile when you find your favorites too.”

Blanche finished her macaron and grinned up at him. “That's good then. I did notice that they appeared more and more, but I won't complain. If I can bribe the cooks by smiling, I will gladly do it. In the end, I get my macarons after all. But today, they seem to be overdoing it. They have brought everything I love. The mushroom soup that we shouldn't eat for breakfast is here too. And most importantly, my lover is here to feed me while I return the favor.” She randomly chose another macaron and brought it to his mouth.

Theodore parted his lips without hesitation and ate the pastry even though he normally didn't like this sugary things.

Blanche would have to find something better to offer him after this one, but for now, she just used the chance to caress his cheek before slowly letting her hand sink. “The choices are so good today that I won't be able to decide for myself. What a tough life. Let's see. What can we offer ourselves first?” She scanned the tray and quickly found something that her lover would like. Stuffed bell peppers usually weren't offered for breakfast, but she wouldn't complain. Theodore needed energy and she did too. In addition, she could easily feed him with this, so it was perfect.

Her lover seemed to have another idea though. “We should have our soup first, or it will cool down too quickly.” He gave her another macaron and took a third one off the plate before placing the dishware back onto the cart. Then he waited for her to finish before he handed over the last macaron. Then he grabbed the soup bowls.

Blanche was torn between looking forward to one of her favorite dishes and being disappointed that she wouldn't be able to feed her lover like this. She could balance food that was somewhat solid, but lifting soup over her shoulder just risked her spilling it everywhere. In the end, she was fine with it though. After all, she could still cuddle with her lover the whole time. She turned her body sideways so that she would be able to look at him without straining her neck and shuffled around just enough to move closer to him again.

Theodore had been unwilling to let go of her for even that moment, so he was glad to trap her in his arms again. He pulled the tray closer and picked up a spoon to fill it with soup. He brought the portion to his mouth to carefully blow on it before offering it to her. When she received it with a bright smile and sighed in satisfaction, he couldn't help but give her a soft smile as well.

That was a success for Blanche, but it wasn't enough. She had the goal of making Theodore smile as often as possible today. She wasn't sure whether she even had a chance to truly get him to forget about the past issues for a while, but she would work hard so that it would get better at some point.

Breakfast was a good start. As always, they were glued to each other the whole time and fed the other more than themselves. It didn't seem much different from any other day except for the fact that Theodore couldn't hide how exhausted he was. That was understandable. He had cried for hours at a time yesterday, and he had certainly been much more panicked than she had been. So, she gave her best to indulge, him which was hard when he kept trying to make everything about her. But in the end, the both of them got their fair share of affection.

After they finished eating, which took a while due to their extensive cuddling breaks in between, they stood up for the first time today. Their clothes from yesterday were still lying on the floor, and Blanche had barely avoided stepping into them while leaning against her lover. Her legs felt like pudding, so she had to rely on Theodore, who should be much weaker since he had fought a bunch of trained men yesterday. He almost carried her to the bathroom anyway.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Blanche felt way too lazy while letting him bring her to their destination, but she didn't have much of a choice. The warm bath made up for everything again. After a lot of massages, cuddling and kissing, the couple climbed out and dried each other before they changed into comfortable clothes.

After slipping into bed, Blanche would have liked to keep their conversation happy for a bit longer, but she could see that her lover was itching to speak about some things that had happened. She was a bit scared of regaining memories that she didn't want to have, but she would listen no matter what. So, she lay next to Theodore and stroked over his hair while waiting for him to begin. She wasn't sure whether it was fine for her to lie on his arm like this while he kept her in a tight hug. She feared cutting off his circulation, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

After a few minutes of silence, in which Theodore just looked at her and seemed to relish in her being in his arms, he whispered for the first time. “I'm scared of this sounding like an excuse. Because nothing I will say justified what I did, and I know that. Even if that wretched person manipulated me, I was the one that let it happen. I still turned away from you, didn't believe you and allowed people to kill you. That's why I want to make it clear that I don't just want to gain sympathy by telling you. It was true that everything was horrible ever since I was alone. To be honest, that world was a nightmare for everyone. Every single person suffered then. Some deserved it, like that woman and her brother as well as me. Others didn't. Like every single citizen of Ocrea and our population as well. I'm not exaggerating when I say that two nations and the whole continent suffered because of your...because I lost my mind without you.”

For some reason, she wasn't surprised about that. Even though she should be shocked since believing in the novel had made it seem like the main characters' future would be perfect. But Blanche had a feeling that she might unknowingly have a lot more on her mind than her brain allowed her to admit. Especially the fact that her lover said that all of Artias had suffered and that he had been in pain didn't seem to be new to her.

She gently stroked over his hair and pressed a kiss onto his nose. “I'm here now, and I won't ever go away again. You can tell me whatever you wish to share and keep what you don't want to talk about. I'm perfectly fine with that. As you noticed, my memory is a bit unreliable, and I only have bits and pieces. So, I may be a bit confused at times, but I will do my best to understand.”

Theodore looked at her with so much grief that she almost regretted speaking at all. “It's better if you don't remember much. But you deserve to know everything before showing me that much affection. I...was the worst person that could ever exist in this world. That's why your forgiveness is too much. But I will never let you go again. This time, I will do everything right. Before I start telling you, I...need to say it again. I always loved you with all of my heart. I should have never ignored that, and I should have thought about it for one second before doing something that hurt you. But now it's too late. I can never undo what happened. If there was a way to turn back time, I would have found it. Going three years into the past gave me another chance, but since we both remember, it is like all I wanted to make up for still happened. I know that I don't deserve the slightest bit of sympathy. But even if this is the case, I could not bring myself to give you up even if you pushed me away.”

Blanche knew that. He hadn't offered to be her servant for all his life for nothing. But she didn't want that. She slowly rubbed patterns into his scalp and only stopped in between to stroke her thumb over his quivering bottom lip. “I won't push you away. Being away for a month during the vacation was bad enough, so you don't need to worry about me being distant.”

Theodore let out a shaky breath and pressed a small kiss onto her fingers before replying. “I asked for you to stay without me for that month because I was selfish too. I didn't know whether Cedar or his mother had their memories. I needed to make sure they didn't have it first, especially for him. Because he loved you in that other world, and without a doubt, he wouldn't have allowed you to be with me after what happened. I was so glad that he didn't remember.”

Blanche was quiet for a moment as she pondered whether she should ask about this now or whether she should wait until her lover told her. In the end, she couldn't keep herself from asking. “So, I had known him in that world. But I really didn't remember his face here. There was just some vague feeling that I knew him. Why did I spend any time with him at all when I knew that he was your enemy?” Some very vague memories filled her mind but not the whole extent of what had connected her with Cedar.

Theodore raised his hand to stroke over the side of her face and couldn't hide the affection in his eyes as she leaned into him. “I know that you didn't recognize him here. I will always believe you. I made the mistake of not doing it in the past, so I will never ever doubt you again. In that other world, it was different. From what I gathered, you didn't know who Cedar was at the beginning. He had apparently wanted to meet you because you were the person I love, someone he wanted to use for his political plots. Duke Vasquez and Marquess Sefare arranged a meeting, and Cedar came to like you. So, you were asked to visit him more often, and at some point, you also came to him of your own volition. When he revealed his identity to you, you were probably already too fond of him to stop seeing him.”

How did that make sense? No one would claim that Cedar and Theodore looked identical, but one could clearly see the relation between them. Blanche was pretty sure that she had noticed that upon meeting Cedar for the first time. Why hadn't she understood that he had to be the second prince then? Maybe he had changed his hairstyle in the beginning to throw her off. Or he had just relied on his acting skills by confusing her until she couldn't think clearly anymore. The longer Blanche thought about that, the more still images and short scenes of her meetings with Cedar filled her head. It was painful in some way, which was why she focused on her lover quickly again.

Theodore already continued his story. “Harris always brought you to the southern palace. He had been the traitor back then too, which is why I knew immediately. You were rather close with him in that past. He took care of you after your former maid had betrayed you. Even if he became Cedar's friend over time too, I owed him. He kept you company while I was ignorant.” He got sad as he explained that even though he was desperately trying to hide it. “In any case, you only saw Cedar as a friend. You truly cared for him but nothing more. He grew to like you just as much. I think he even fell for you, but I can't be sure. My brother never shows his emotions well. I only know that you broke through that shell of his and made him like you. You were probably his only friend in the midst of criminals that tried to use a barely adult man to gain power. But he still didn't try to make you change sides, because he knew that you loved me. So, he lent you a shoulder to cry on whenever I hurt you.” He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath before continuing. “And you visited him more often with each passing week. In the end, I didn't even bother to listen to you and accused you of having an affair with him because of false letters and gifts, which that woman put into your room.”

Blanche remembered that part. She had seen it in her nightmare about her sitting in her cell. This explained why she had known Cedar's name despite not ever having met him in this world. To be honest, she was just calmed by learning that she hadn't actually had an affair. That was the one part she had never been able to believe in the first place. Finding out about this allowed everything to make much more sense.

She continued to caress her lover's scalp while replying in a soft voice. “Maybe that was why I felt the urge to run away from him this time from the very beginning. I wasn't really scared of him. I was more...worried about being close to him, I think. I always wanted to run to you and hide behind you when I saw him. It's good that I don't remember anything about him.” Even if she was almost sure that the memories would slowly flow back if she thought about it for longer.

Her lover sniffled a bit and grabbed one of her hands. “I was happy too. Way too happy. I was also shocked to hear that you didn't remember meeting him, but I was more overjoyed. He had fallen in love with you once, so it could happen again. And if you remembered that I turned away from you so horribly, you might have searched for the person that consoled you once. And if he had developed feelings for you again, you might even have let him sway you. I was scared of that. So, I wanted to keep the both of you as far away from each other as possible even if that was selfish again. I'm sorry.”

Blanche gave him a little smile as she patted his face gently. “There is no need for you to apologize. I didn't want to be close to him in the first place. I must have learned about his name later in that other world. Because I would never have spent time with a person that was connected to assassination attempts on you. I'm not upset if I can't see him.” Even if she had to admit that there was still that small part of her that was very fond of Cedar. “Even if you wanted to keep him away from me because you worried about something impossible, I was happy with the result too. So, don't apologize. That holds true for everything you will tell me now. I will never ask for an apology. I just want to hear what you wish to share until you feel better. Alright? No rebuttals.” She waited for him to hesitantly nod and gently stroked over his ear shell a few times before adding something. “Good. Then tell me what I need to know.”

Theodore breathed in and out a few more times before he continued. “I... I need to talk about what happened at the very beginning. Even if it's the most painful part. Because I know that no amount of manipulation justifies me abandoning you for some vile piece of garbage. But even so, I have to tell you that because it seems to be the part that you pushed out of your brain.” That was true.

Even Blanche had to admit that she probably remembered barely anything but the things that had allegedly happened in the novel. But she truly didn't want to hear much about that. She could imagine how it had happened due to the bits of the book.

The emperor had ended up fighting more and more often with his concubine because of her jealousy. So, he had come to see her less and spoken to the calm empress instead. This had only caused Blanche to become even more envious, and more problems had arisen. Even if hearing that probably was the most unpleasant part, she would listen and gave him a slight nod.

Her lover averted his eyes for a moment and gathered his courage before looking at her again. “Do you remember the clock problem? Where one of that witch's maids made sure that I would arrive one hour late for our dinner? Something like that was used often. That vile witch caused fights between us and then acted like the kind person that understood my worries. She also used your jealousy, which developed because of my stupidity, to try to make you seem like the bad one. I don't even understand how, but that manipulative wench somehow made me believe that I cared for her. I'm not sure what she told you, but our relationship was never truly romantic from my view. I knew that it wasn't love like I felt for you, but I thought that spouses getting along was good. I was so damned stupid. She didn't even hide her intentions that well if I look back at it.”

Blanche knew that it might be foolish, but just hearing that Theodore might not have fallen for someone else during their relationship did cheer her up a bit. She didn't interrupt though.

Theodore took a few deep breaths as he tried to calm his anger, but the pure hatred he felt for Seraphina was undeniably there. “That witch somehow seemed to know what my greatest fears were and used them against me. She told me that I could never be in a healthy relationship with you because of our difference in status. She explained how you would feel indebted to me and that you were way too dependent on me to allow honest communication. You can't imagine how much that scared me. But I didn't dare to ask you about it because I feared hearing the words that would crush my heart. That you don't really love me. And I was an absolute moron and didn't talk to you while just continuing on with those worries. As a result, I distanced myself from you. That woman just kept on adding more of those things without ever giving me a break. And then she started her whole elaborate plot.”

And now things would become ugly.

Theodore gritted his teeth before he continued. “She came up with more and more small things that you had allegedly done to bully her. Back then, I should have noticed and shown her what she really deserved to be done to. But I was so blind. I defended you at first, but later, I fell for her lies. She knew exactly what to tell me so that I would be scared of facing you, which ensured that we couldn't ever have a proper conversation about our feelings. This way, the path was clear, and she kept on doing her dirty work. The things you remember include some of the grave crimes she framed you for, so you have a general idea of what she did. That happened because she found out that you were meeting with Cedar. She just assumed that you were trying to betray me and generously decided that she would have the final say in that matter. At least she pretended to have that motive. Later, she claimed having wanted to protect me and the nation from getting hurt because she loved both me and Artias with tears streaming down her face.”

He stared into the distance and seemed like he had the image in front of his inner eye. Those tears hadn't gotten him to pity Seraphina. All one could see in his gaze was unfiltered resentment and wrath.