So, Theodore wanted to give her gifts again.
Blanche let out a sigh at her lover's words. “Even though I told you that I didn't need anything. You need to get better at listening to your wife, Theo. Don't complain if you can't store your possessions in the dressing room anymore because mine are lying around everywhere. It will inevitably happen at some point.”
“Then we need to get a second dressing room. It's not like we don't have enough rooms in this palace.” Theodore showed her a bright smile as he gently tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear. “So, that excuse won't save you from accepting my gifts.” He opened his mouth to say something else but froze in the middle. His expression darkened as he continued. “Now that I mention gifts. I had someone look at that box you received from that person.”
Blanche perked up at that. She had almost forgotten about that present from Seraphina, but as soon as she was reminded, her curiosity grew. “And? What was it? Was there anything dangerous?”
Theodore's eyes were filled with hatred as he replied. “It was a replica of that bracelet with the fake gems that she gave you for your birthday last year. This time, with real ones. Even though I already gifted you one, she decided that she had to send you something similar, and that infuriates me. Does she think that you would ignore my present to accept hers? How ridiculous. There was a note inside as well. It was about her nightmares again. She described how she saw you as a ghost and told you to be careful while acting like she hadn't been the greatest danger to you. That arrogant piece of...” He didn't finish that sentence, but it wasn't needed to understand what he wanted to say.
The empress quickly reached for his hand to move it to the side of her face. “It's a bit stupid to gift me something that you already gave me. Obviously, I would take yours.” Most likely, this also had been more of a symbolic present, but she didn't point it out. She focused on calming her lover down for now. “I obviously don't need the gift, but throwing it away would be bad too. Store it in one of the dressing rooms where you put the noble's gifts that we didn't like. So that we can present it if someone from Ocrea ever shows up here. I would like to read the note though. I will have to respond in a letter after all.”
Her lover glared at someone that wasn't here with a cold look that greatly contrasted with how he gently stroked over her cheek. “I don't want to keep it. It makes me sick to have anything that was touched by that woman here. And she certainly won't ever step over the border to Artias again, so we won't need to prove anything either. I can give you the letter if you want to, but there is really nothing important there. She just described how you looked when...you know...you were following me around. A ghostly figure that was almost transparent with a white dress and long hair flowing around you. And a red line on your neck. Apparently, no one except for me saw you clearer than that. For me, you looked like always just with a bit of transparency, but most others only recognized you because you appeared around me.”
Blanche didn't try to discuss when it came to the necklace. She knew that she didn't have a chance here. She was lucky enough to get the letter. “Alright. Then I will write some typical formal reply and tell her that I'm perfectly fine. That should be enough.” Of course, she would also ask the other woman about her pregnancy and how she was doing after the wedding with Linden, but Theodore didn't care much about that. He probably thought that her letters were way too kind, but she had no intention of being mean to anyone.
She wouldn't be able to bargain with her consciousness, even if she knew that Seraphina technically had caused her death. It hadn't happened in this timeline, so Blanche found it hard to resent the former empress with all of her heart. After all, she had already seen the old Seraphina suffer for that. Now she just wanted everyone to live a happy life. As long as it was possible to do so without troubling each other, it should be fine. She didn't feel the need to harm anyone.
Except for maybe the dowager empress, but Camille should have enough problems after her stupid plan had failed. That woman could burn alive.
Theodore watched her as she was lost in thought and rolled a strand of her alabaster hair around his finger. “I will ask someone to bring us that letter later. Then I would like to move on to another topic before my mood sours. Is there anything else we need to discuss regarding the next two weeks?”
Blanche only had two things in mind, and she couldn't prepare for both. “We will welcome Erneis so that he can paint our portrait for the ancestral gallery, right? That will still take a while though. And we will...visit the doctor so that he can confirm whether I'm pregnant...” Her voice got quieter when she reached the second part.
She was still more than uncertain when it came to this subject. She knew that she was very young, but she wanted to have a child. That was why she needed to doctor to affirm her hopes.
Her lover had no problem reading her expression and took it upon himself to deal with her worries immediately. “Blanche, you know that there is no need to be dejected about any result. We're married now. This won't run away. We have years left to have children. Of course, I will be happy when that time comes, but if it isn't there yet, we will just be patient for a bit longer. Everything will fall into place at the right time. Until now, everything went smoothly, so it's fine if it takes a bit longer, right? If we still need to wait a bit, we will just use this chance to deal with politics first. You will get used to your work in no time since you already got to know much about it. There is more than enough for us to do here as well, so we will be busy in one way or another. And our children will come when it's time.”
Blanche did her best to smile at that. “You're right. I will stop worrying now. Everything will be fine.” She told him and herself a lie by saying that she would calm down. No matter how much she pondered this, even if she wasn't pregnant, her period had still disappeared for three months. That could indicate that something was wrong with her body, and she didn't like that thought at all. But she couldn't do anything about that. She would need to wait for the doctor's result and hope for the best. She would just pray to the gods that she was pregnant.
But for now, she didn't want to spend her days worrying about things like that. So, she pushed those thoughts as far away as possible while trying to calm down a little. There had to be something that she could address, some topic that would distract her. She quickly had an idea after she went through the conversation in her mind. “We just talked about response letters, didn't we? Will you send one to Cedar too?” She personally did want to send one after all.
Theodore was quiet for a moment as if he saw that she was trying to change the subject because she did worry, but he complied. “I am not sure yet. On the one hand, I would like to ignore it, but on the other, he did write kinder things than I ever heard him say. Which is surprising since he always uses flattering words. But he actually sounded rather nice in this letter. That can obviously be a trap, but I don't see how replying once would be an issue.”
Blanche almost wanted to say that Cedar could be quite nice if he wanted to, but she knew that Theodore was aware too. So, she tried to calm the voice in the back of her mind that basically begged her to try to contact her former friend and gave her best to approach this more logically. In this world, they were enemies, so she couldn't just address Cedar like she had done it in her vague memories of another life. Still, the desire to shift their relationship from this hostility to something slightly better was burning in her. She was quick to tell Theodore what she thought. “I would assume that there is nothing much that he can do with a letter thanking him for his kind words. This is the least we can do. If you don't mind, I would like to write the reply.” Since that was the closest she could get to interacting with Cedar now. “What exactly did he write?”
“I'll give you the letter tomorrow if you want to read it. Some of it was the typical part. He congratulated us and repeated the sentence about our union bringing luck to Artias. Then he wished us a happy future and told us to stay healthy. Cedar also wrote about us having great political accomplishments and you doing well as an empress. He did all of that in a much more detailed way, but in the end, it was just a long list of wishes for the future. I think the most important part was the note at the bottom though. He wrote that he was currently searching for a shovel that is strong enough to form stone. That has something to do with what you told him after the revolt, right?”
The empress' eyes widened at that. After the conversation with Cedar after the attack, she hadn't expected that she could actually hope that he would find his own way. He had said that he didn't trust the consequences of what trying to break out would bring. But now it sounded like he would attempt to change his life. She didn't know whether this was another plot to gain their sympathy, but she hoped that it wasn't. In the end, she couldn't help holding amicable emotions toward Cedar, who had been the closest friend she had ever had in her first life. She would be happy if he ended up freeing himself from his mother's clutches. That was why she hoped that he would be able to do it. If he didn't, he would only hate himself after looking back on his youth. Cedar deserved a happy ending too, so she could only pray that it would work out.
Slowly, a smile formed on Blanche's face as she thought about that. “Yes. I wouldn't claim that he trusts me here, but I did manage to bargain a bit. Cedar told me that you can't change the flow of the river anymore once the riverbed has been carved. I told him that some effort would make it possible. After he bet with me about you coming to save me and I won, I asked him to begin digging up the riverbed he wants. I hope that he will really try it.”
Theodore mirrored her smile and brought his face down to hers. “I thought that it was something like this already. Maybe he can really do it. I would support him if he manages to escape that woman's world of terror. After all, I do owe him a bit after what happened in that past. With a bit of money, he could easily live at the other end of the nation in a comfortable home. There is no need for him to cling to that person just because she is his mother, and I would be happy to see him changing his path. But that doesn't mean that I'll forgive him.”
Blanche fought the urge to kiss him to reply. “That's understandable. Of course, you can't just forget what he did. He did cause a lot of problems for us. He threatened me a few times too, and I wasn't too happy about that. I won't forgive him either.” Mainly not for him killing Theodore in that other world. “But he deserves a second chance in life. Maybe that would help him a lot.” The couple had needed a second chance to find their way, so others deserved one too. This was especially important to Blanche. “That is why I would like to write a letter to thank him for his kind wishes.”
Theodore seemed to notice. He only needed a glance before he guessed what she was thinking about. “Let me guess. You'd like to use this reply letter to coax him into giving another polite response so that you can keep exchanging letters. It's not a bad idea. This might be the only way we'll be able to interact with Cedar in the near future. I just worry about you hoping for too much, especially when it comes to forming some sort of friendship. You can certainly try it, but I wouldn't trust it to work. Cedar is quite difficult to get close to when he considers you an enemy. He'll probably reply if you send letters, but he will just give the typical polite responses.”
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Blanche almost let out a huff as she heard that. She reached up to pinch Theodore's cheek as she replied. “I know. You seem to forget that I went through all of that once already. I know that it will take ages to make someone like him trust a person at least a tiny bit.” It had originally taken months to make Cedar share the slightest things about his true thoughts, and the situation in this world was even more freezing. Blanche wasn't sure whether Cedar would even view her with anything but distrust here. If he had regained his memories, it would have been different, but he had never treated her with recognition here. She might have to start at the very beginning. This would be quite a challenge. Blanche let out a sigh as she closed her eyes for a moment. “I don't even know if our current situations even allow him to open up a tiny bit, but I want to try building up some kind of relationship. Maybe that will take years, but if it somehow shows Cedar that he has a chance to start anew while finding allies outside of that dumb faction that only tries to use him, it will be worth it.”
A part of her had wondered whether Theodore would have any doubts about this since the empress writing to a person that had committed treason not so long ago did seem strange, but he didn't seem to mind. “If that is what you want to try, do that. It certainly can't hurt as long as you don't forget that the Cedar here is quite different.”
“Oh, I already noticed.” The Cedar Blanche knew had been closed off and threatening in the very beginning, but seeing that version of him again after she had already gotten a hint of a more caring side had certainly made her notice the shift. She didn't delude herself into thinking that the Cedar in this world held any positive emotions for her. He viewed her as his brother's lover, someone that supported his enemy, and not much more. And even so, he hadn't wanted her to be hurt. That said all Blanche had to know about whether Cedar was evil or just misguided. So, she would do her best to support him a bit from the side. That would take years though. “I will start writing letters to him rather soon, alright? But let's not focus on that.” Blanche turned her attention to her lover again as she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Where were we? I think we had something else in mind.” She trailed up her lover's arm with her fingers.
Theodore grinned at her. “You certainly try to change the topic quickly. Weren't you the one telling me that you were tired just a short while ago? And now you want to try something like this?”
Blanche looked at him with round eyes. “I have no idea what you could mean.” She fluttered her eyelashes and slowly sat up to prevent her lover from having to keep straining his back to be close to her. “I had no ulterior motives at all. How could I when my beloved is sitting next to me on our bed after a long and exhausting day? It's natural that we will sleep immediately.” She sat on her knees in front of him and gave him an innocent smile before letting herself fall forward.
Theodore had already extended his arms for her and pulled her down onto the mattress with him. He smiled at her and covered them in their blanket before speaking up. “I see. So, my angel wants to cuddle. I have the sneaking suspicion that this will be our main activity during the next few weeks.”
She gently drew patterns onto his collar while smirking at him. “We deserve it, don't we? It's our honeymoon. You were the one that proposed this. So, you have to live with the consequences too.”
Her lover chuckled. “I think I can do that. I will be able to get used to this very easily.” He stroked over her cheek before finally leaning to her to kiss her.
It seemed like their honeymoon might be rather enjoyable even though they were staying at home.
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The weeks after that proved a few things.
Blanche quickly noticed that the blur in her mind regarding her memories of that other world disappeared more with every passing day, but she didn't pay much attention to that. Her emotions still remained the same to some extent. She had some conflicted opinions on some people, which mainly applied to Cedar, whom she now saw as a threat and cared for, but she managed to live with that. It was a bit odd to remember how he had become her close friend, but those memories still made her smile when they resurfaced. That made her quite uncertain how to address Cedar in her response letter when she eventually sat down to write it. She took a while before even deciding on whether she wanted to use his title or first name, eventually picking the latter as she hoped that a more friendly tone could change the mood from an official letter to a more personal one. She didn't expect much to come out of this, but she found herself hoping for a quick response when she sent her letter to be delivered to the prince. But aside from her view on Cedar, not much shifted.
Remembering everything that had happened should have made the world around them seem different, but that wasn't the case. Maybe because only little fragments came back to Blanche each time that she saw specific things, but in any case, it didn't change much about her life.
Thus, even the next two weeks were relatively relaxed despite the upcoming memory fragments, which had been to be expected. Only two things needed to be done first, and both didn't require the new empress to do too much.
The first part of those was the one where she needed to do a little more, but even that wasn't problematic. She only had to dress up in her most lavish attire again with crown and cape. Thanks to her lover, she could use a light crown though. It still wasn't pleasant since she was worried about dropping it the whole time, but at least her head didn't hurt. All she had to do now was sit on the throne and smile at the painter, who had returned to create a portrait of the new empress and the emperor.
Blanche had been a bit surprised by that, but she hadn't asked many questions when Theodore had helped her get dressed and brought her here. Now that they were sitting here, they had enough time to discuss this though. “Say, Theo. Normally, this kind of portrait is drawn a year after the empress married into the royal family. To make sure that she deserves to be placed in the ancestral gallery or something like that. Why exactly are we doing it now already? When you said ‘after the wedding’, I thought you were referring to a few weeks afterward. Apparently, you meant ten days though.”
Theodore squeezed her hand and just continued to smile at the painter. “The reason they usually wait is to make sure that the emperor and the empress get along. They believed that, if they would divorce, it would happen within the first year and thus only wanted to pay someone to paint the portrait afterward. Since we obviously won't divorce, we can just take care of this now. There is no need to delay it. You know that it would be illegal for us to even try to divorce, right?” She did.
Blanche had read the marriage contract after all, at least mostly. After skimming through the first three pages of thirty, she had just signed the contract, but she had skimmed the most important parts. All in all, it was now impossible to ever bring the couple apart in a legal way, and Blanche had received many more benefits and rights than an empress normally had, including being able to rule on her own if Theodore didn't complain. She didn't intend on using most of those extra rights for now, but it was nice to be sure that she could basically do everything she wanted. That mainly meant that she wouldn't need to keep quiet when anyone insulted the emperor and the empress, which was certainly a very pleasant feeling.
Still, it was concerning to know that Theodore didn't seem to care for his family's history at all. He would change everything his ancestors created without hesitation. Most of these changes were good for the nation, and some were just supposed to empower his lover, but those were all risky steps.
That was a little worrying, so Blanche couldn't help but point it out. “By that, you mean that we are breaking all traditions again. I don't really mind that since I have no intention of ever leaving your side. But is it really fine for us to hold hands and smile in this portrait? We already have a painting of us being happy. Shouldn't this be the one with us intimidating the spectator by staring into their soul? Like the rest of the paintings in the ancestral gallery?”
Theodore looked at her this time. “Why would that be an issue? I don't think that we should be punished for being happy. Can't everyone see that there was finally a marriage of love in the royal family? I think it would be wonderful if our story is the beginning of a new era for nobles. Don't you think that seeing the difference between our predecessors' paintings and ours will make a lot of things clear? Just looking at how grim they are and comparing them with our smiles will be enough to show exactly when we began letting people be happy. I don't want our children to live a life that is predetermined by some marriage proposals that came before their birth. I want to make sure that they can marry out of love as well. So, we will do our best to create a future in which they can decide about their own life.”
Blanche felt how a soft smile spread on her lips. She leaned over to her lover and gave him a quick kiss before returning to her original position and looking at the painter again. She was very content with their children being able to escape the chains of an arranged marriage. Of course, this wasn't certain yet, but Theodore was stubborn. He would definitely succeed if he wanted to do it.
For a moment, the couple was silent before Theodore spoke up. “Now that Erneis is here, do we need any more paintings? I already asked him to draw a copy of this one. I want to hang both paintings of us in our office, the traditional one and the first one. But I want both to hang in the entrance hall as well, so I needed a second version of the new picture too. Do you have any idea of what kinds of paintings you need? You could also ask for something to decorate our room.”
The empress thought about that for a moment, but she had no clue what she could ask for. “We don't really have any empty walls in our room. There are too many cabinets and mirrors. But they look good, so I wouldn't take them out. Our office is full if we have two paintings too. I don't think I need anything. I'm just happy to see the result this time. Do you remember how stunned we were upon seeing the old portrait back then?”
Theodore let out a soft chuckle. “How could I not remember? It was gorgeous. I was overjoyed to have such a wonderful picture of us and wanted to see it as much as possible. That's why I put it in my office, even though you were against it. And now we will get a second version. It will be perfect to show how everything changed in one year. I look forward to seeing it.” She did too. But they would have to be patient for a little longer.
Blanche shuffled around carefully and leaned against the backrest again while watching the painter.
Erneis, who gave her a warm smile before returning his attention to the portrait, seemed to be as skillful as always. His brush flew over the canvas, and it was clear that he was much faster than many other artists once again. He would without a doubt create another masterpiece this time.
After watching the painter for a moment, Blanche whispered to Theodore again. “I'm pretty sure that it will be beautiful again. After all, he drew us together in the most wonderful way imaginable once. He will do it again. We will probably be surprised by the result. We just need to wait for maybe an hour, and it should be done.” That sounded like it would be boring, but it was fine as long as she could hold her lover's hand and talk to him.
Theodore turned her head to her and grinned. “You are in the painting. How could it not be so beautiful that it evokes the gods' jealousy? My angel is definitely the most heavenly person in this entire world, so it isn't surprising if this painting will be a masterpiece.”
Blanche couldn't help but smile at that. She confirmed that Erneis was drawing something right now before leaning over to her lover. “Since you are extremely handsome, I have to be somewhat pretty. I need to be on your level after all. I have to stand next to you, so being similar to you in terms of beauty is a requirement.” She led his hand to her face and gave it a kiss.
Her lover leaned over to her as well, and their lips met in the middle. They remained like this for a few seconds before someone cleared their throat. The two returned to their original positions and were met with Erneis' warm grin.
That was enough to make Blanche hold still from now on. She didn't want to disturb the poor man once again, so she would speak with Theodore without moving around too much.
For a few seconds, it was silent before Erneis spoke up. “If I may say this, I have rarely seen such a wonderful couple. The both of you seem to be enamored with one another. It's refreshing to see that. I've always enjoyed painting, but if the people in the portrait are this passionate, it is much more fun.”
Theodore squeezed his lover's hand and glanced at her for a moment. “See? I told you that anyone would see how close we are.” He turned back to the painter before replying. “It is pleasing to hear that others notice it. We have been madly in love for years, and now it seems like the world finally understands. Our efforts have paid off. You knew it before though, didn't you? After all, you drew us the most wonderful painting that I've ever seen. It was easy for everyone to guess that Blanche and I were in love after they caught a glimpse of it. You have a talent for drawing expressions with so much care that they tell entire stories.”
Erneis laughed at that while he continued to stroke his brush over the canvas. “That is what a painter needs to do, so it isn't very special. Putting what you see onto paper requires skill and is without a doubt beautiful too. But if you wish to touch people's hearts, you will have to pour emotions into your art. That is what I was trying to do too. I am glad to hear that I've succeeded. But to be honest, you were an easy couple to draw. You have always been glowing. Now the picture should be even more wonderful.” He paused and looked up. “Please do not misunderstand. When I first met you two, you were happy without a doubt. But there was a bit of sadness in your gazes when you came into the ballroom. Now I cannot see any of that anymore, which is a pleasant surprise.”
He couldn't know how correct he was about that judgment