Stella didn't seem like she would leave this matter alone. She had been worried about her mistress way too often already, so she wouldn't accept not being given a reply. This meant that the concubine had to voice some sort of explanation.
“I appreciate it, Stella.” Blanche gave herself a moment to simplify her story in a way that made sense. Like this, she could talk about her problems without revealing anything that made her sound like a mentally unstable person, like the existence of a future-predicting novel. “There is something I have been pondering about all day and I would like to ask for your advice, if you are fine with that.”
Stella quickly nodded. “Of course, My Lady. I'm happy to listen.”
“As I told you this morning, I want to change into a better person. I've only noticed that I was selfish, greedy and disrespectful towards other people more often than not now. I want to improve my behavior. Since I live in the palace and often accompany Theo in public, I can't misbehave, or I will taint the royal family's reputation as well. Last year I ignored this completely and thus most nobles have a bad impression on me. Improving myself is hard enough, but changing their view on me might be even harder. As you could see by the interaction I just had with the empress, even if I act differently, it will take a while for others to reshape their opinion of me. And I fear that I will be unable to prove that I'm different now. As you know, my reputation isn't the best and I worry that it will stay like this in the future.”
Stella, who had listened to her mistress carefully, didn't seem to share those worries. She replied with a serious expression. “I understand that you want to improve yourself, and it is true that some people might not accept that. But for you this shouldn't be a problem, right? After all, you have His Majesty on your side. None of the nobles would dare to provoke him by attacking you, even if they are unsatisfied with your actions. Rumors might spread, but the aristocrats have too much time on their hands anyway. They will always talk about something. It doesn't matter what they think.”
Normally that might be right. But Blanche would lose the emperor's favor as soon as he fell for the heroine. In that case, being an eyesore to some nobles could cause many issues for her. But she couldn't admit that. “I guess you're right.” Blanche's response didn't seem to be satisfying.
The maid kept her gaze on her mistress as if she knew that this wasn't the whole truth.
The other's sincerity almost made Blanche want to explain the whole situation but if she did, Stella would most likely call for the royal doctor immediately. So Blanche hurried to change the subject. It might be good to talk to the other woman a bit so that they could get closer to one another. “By the way, have there been any new rumors lately? You sounded like you had something in mind when you mentioned that topic.”
The servant was quiet for a moment before responding. “Of course I can't say it for sure since I've only heard other maids talk about this. But seemingly there have been questions regarding your name.”
It was only to be expected that people kept asking this even though Blanche had been here for over a year. After all, the fact that the emperor's concubine had no known last name was an abnormality. Female nobles were addressed with the title ‘Lady’ followed by their surname. The only exception were members of the royal family and duchesses, who each had their respective titles based on their rank. But even they wouldn't be called by their first name which made Blanche the only person who was addressed like this.
Surely there were plentiful made-up stories surrounding this, but the real reason had been a lie to the emperor as a part of Marquess Sefare's scheme.
When Sefare had brought her into the palace, his main goal had been killing Theodore, even if he had told Blanche that it was to make her empress. He had prepared to make her poison the emperor after she had been in the palace for a long time. This way the concubine wouldn't be suspected as the perpetrator and the marquess didn't have to fear being found guilty as an accomplice. He had hoped that Blanche would have destroyed the relationship between Theodore and Seraphina so that they would have divorced at that point. If the emperor died then, Seraphina would not be considered the ruler. This would leave the second prince as the only righteous ruler of Artias.
Naturally, Theodore was aware of the fight for power and carefully avoided most intrigues. He knew that even if his mother and brother were in confinement, they could still harm him by using their followers. For this reason, he had made sure to find out who was on the dowager empress' side at the beginning of his reign. That meant that Theodore considered Marquess Sefare a danger.
Sefare was aware of that. To keep Blanche from revealing their connection he had forbidden her to talk about her past at all.
Thus, Blanche had lied. When she had met Theodore for the first time, she had pretended to suffer from amnesia and claimed to only remember her first name. Surprisingly, the emperor hadn't decided that she was suspicious and had let her stay in the palace. After she had been his lover for a while, he had granted her the title of a baroness which led to her having the right to be addressed as ‘Lady’ along with the only known part of her name.
Of course Blanche didn't have amnesia though. She had all of her memories of her childhood. She had grown up in the Laister family and lived quite comfortably as her father had been a wealthy merchant. But when she became eighteen, her father had been convicted of smuggling weapons from Northern Ocrea into the country.
The kingdom of Northern Ocrea was located in the northeast of Artias and the two nations had been on the verge of war for decades. Bringing goods, especially weapons, from there into the country was considered treason and thus punished with death. Due to the laws of Artias the whole family was named guilty and all of them would be executed.
The Laisters hadn't been an exception.
Blanche had been lucky in some way. She had been able to flee from the prison and received Sefare's help. But at the same time, that day had been the worst day of her life. She had left behind her parents and two younger siblings, who were executed a day later.
The novel had made it seem like she was a heartless monster, but she knew that this wasn't true. She hadn't cried for her family in the last two years, but she could clearly remember how uncontrollably she had begun to sob after hearing about the execution. She had spent countless nights with tears in her eyes after that. Obviously, she had missed them and even blamed herself for not being fast enough to save them as well. Sometimes she had even regretted running away to survive. But of course, her staying to die alongside them wouldn't have made her family happy either.
These memories proved that the book had only shown the world from the protagonists' point of view while the antagonists were portrayed as detestable as possible. Distancing oneself from the original plot would probably be much harder if this reality also favored the main characters.
But Blanche didn't believe that the novel described this world accurately in all regards. There were too many differences. In this reality, she had cared for her family and still felt grief when she thought about them to this day. She loved Theodore and knowing that she was supposed to kill him terrified her. The thought of working together with malicious nobles to strive for power or poisoning Seraphina because she was pregnant disgusted her.
The real Blanche had morals and would honestly try to become a good person, even if the novel didn't describe her as being capable of that.
Nevertheless, a few of the book's lines had been correct. Blanche had been naive enough to trust Sefare and believe that she could become the empress without a noble background. She had also acted like an arrogant brat. These words had been used in the novel, and they definitely weren't exaggerated.
“My Lady, you're doing it again.”
Blanche shook her head to push away this wave of thoughts and focused on her maid, who was observing her with concern. “I'm alright. What did you say?”
Stella was quiet for a moment before repeating her words. “There have been multiple explanations about your name that were discussed but none of them proposed anything connected to memory loss.”
“I'm curious. What have they come up with?”
The maid almost looked like she enjoyed this topic and happily began talking. “Right now there are three rumors and most people believe in one of them. The one that most seem to favor is that you are actually a commoner. By hiding your full name, you intend to keep anyone from finding your family and then revealing your background.”
The part about Blanche being a commoner was true and more of a fact than a rumor. She didn't belong to an aristocratic household from the capital. If she did, someone would have spread that information long ago. This only left the possibility of her being from a family of commoners and everyone was aware of that.
Blanche waited for Stella to continue, but the maid suddenly stopped. “Is something wrong?”
The servant shook her head. “No, it's just that...” Stella fiddled with her hands and lowered her gaze. “I'm not sure if My Lady wants to hear the other two. One of them is rather disrespectful and the other is...” She got quieter with every word and glanced up to read her mistress' expression.
Blanche quickly gave her a little smile. “I would like to know what they say about me. I won't get angry at you for repeating what others believe especially since I was the one who asked.” To be honest, she couldn't care less about those rumors but talking to Stella gave her a good opportunity to get closer to the other woman.
Stella's gaze remained on the other woman's face for a bit and when she found no trace of anger, she resumed. “Some more romantic people speculate that His Majesty dislikes hearing your surname since it reminds him that you aren't legally married. They say that he would like you to be his wife, but he can't wed you because of the pressure of noble society. To not be reminded of that he refuses to use your maiden name.” It was easy to understand why Stella had been reluctant to voice this.
A few days ago Blanche would have been extremely upset with her just for those words. Even if she wasn't angry now, she did remember becoming furious whenever someone reminded her that she wasn't Theodore's wife. She was only a concubine, a lover that he had taken in because he wanted to. Her influence was exclusively based on the emperor's favor and if he didn't need her anymore, he could throw her away within a second.
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A legal wife would have a significantly higher status and more power since she was considered a part of the royal family, while a mistress definitely wasn't. A wife would be treated with a lot more respect than an unmarried lover, who was often seen more like a prostitute that strove for power.
And yet this privilege hadn't mattered to Blanche.
She had just been angry because she couldn't marry Theodore. She already had been upset about not becoming the first wife, but the fact that the emperor of Artias was allowed to lawfully wed multiple women made it even worse. That had been the reason for the second-biggest fight that she had ever had with Theodore, right after the one they had had before his wedding. It had only been resolved within two weeks because of the many gifts her lover had sent as an apology.
In hindsight, it was only natural for him to refrain from agreeing though.
Without exception, the emperor only chose wives from the most powerful noble houses which were the daughters of dukes or marquesses. In addition to that, the potential wives had to know a lot about the ruler in noble society. The current empress was a perfect example of this. Seraphina had been Theodore's fiancée since their early childhood and her becoming the empress had been decided at that point in time as well. Starting from that day onward she had been educated in politics and etiquette to ensure that she would be able to aid the emperor.
Blanche, on the other hand, was born as a commoner and even now she was just a baroness. In comparison to most aristocrats, she had a very low rank and her title being given to her, instead of inherited, also decreased her social standing. Her behavior in public hadn't been exemplary either.
The consequence was obvious.
If Theodore married a person with no aristocratic background, someone who often caused trouble as well, and put her next to his first wife, it would insult Seraphina's family. The Duke of Duremont was Theodore's most important supporter and offending him would probably lessen the emperor's influence drastically. This would benefit the dowager empress which Theodore couldn't risk under any circumstance.
Blanche being his lover was offending enough to the Duremonts. So Theodore had done his best to hide their relationship. He had never introduced her as his concubine. He kept her at a distance in public and called her a guest in the palace. Still, every noble in the capital was aware of the true nature of their relationship despite them holding onto this useless act.
Since an affair already caused the empress to lose face, it was only logical that Theodore had refused to make Blanche an official wife. Now that the concubine began thinking about it that way, it made sense. She should at least had tried to listen to her lover in the past instead of becoming angry. Naturally, she also wouldn't lash out at Stella for talking about it.
“What's the third one?” Blanche asked this in an exaggeratedly calm voice to reassure her maid which only worked partly.
Stella bit her lip before answering. “This one is quite rude. I am only going to say it if you really want to hear it.” The concubine nodded and the maid continued with an uncertain tone. “It is similar to the first one but rather than believing that you are a commoner, some people hinted you actually might be, well...” She paused to find the right words. “A woman that serves men.”
Blanche furrowed her brows at that. “Oh.” It did make sense that some nobles would assume that, but she had expected something worse. Being called a prostitute wasn't enjoyable, but it wouldn't harm her reputation much anyway. The aristocrats already looked down on her as a married man's mistress. Her being a called a prostitute also wouldn't lead to them regarding Theodore differently as it didn't matter who his lover was. As long as she wasn't his wife nor from an influential noble family, they would ask why he had chosen her and spread rumors about his concubine.
Blanche slowly stood up. “Well, it doesn't really matter how they explain it to themselves anyway. But it is quite amusing to hear that these nobles spend so much time coming up with rumors. They must be bored enough to desperately search for some kind of way to pass time.” She gave her maid a smile and Stella nodded in approval.
As she turned her head to scan her environment, she noticed that everything looked different from before. The sun had already begun to set and the garden appeared to be tinted in a slight red. Blanche turned back to her servant in surprise. “Stella, what time is it?”
“It should be around eight o'clock.”
The concubine froze at that. Hadn't she come here at three o'clock or so? “Really? I didn't even realize how late it was.”
Stella crossed her arms in front of her chest. “That's exactly why I've been worried. First, we ran around the garden with no destination. Then you just stared at the flowers for hours and didn't say anything. Even when I asked whether you wanted something for lunch, you didn't respond. You only woke up when I got louder.”
Blanche sighed at that. It was true that she hadn't eaten anything besides breakfast today, but she didn't have any appetite either. The novel's memories were distressing, so she wouldn't be able to swallow her food even if it was delicious. However, she didn't wish to worry Stella even more by saying that she didn't want to eat. “I'm sorry I didn't hear you. It's late, so we should go back and have dinner.”
The maid nodded and followed her mistress, who took the pathway back to the terrace.
The garden still looked beautiful beneath the setting sun and gave off a mysterious aura due to the red light making the plants appear reddish. Blanche couldn't truly enjoy this when her doom was a constant reminder in her head though. She turned at the corner of the building and began walking towards the terrace.
To her surprise, a person stood next to the fountain. She squinted her eyes and tried to identify whom the shape could belong to. Based on the silhouette it seemed to be a tall and muscular man. The figure wore a white uniform with golden ornaments, which glowed in the sunlight. That alone proved that they were a royal guard.
As Blanche came closer to the man she quickly identified him. She couldn't see his face, but his hair color allowed her to guess who this was. There was only one knight with dark green hair and such a muscular build.
Apparently, the man was searching for something. His gaze was fixated on the garden, and he slowly let it wander across his surroundings. When he spotted the women, he took a few steps towards them. When he reached them, he bowed to the concubine. Once he raised his head again, she could be sure that her initial thought had been true. He was unmistakably a person that one wouldn't forget.
All of his features were striking, but the most prominent ones were his scars. While they looked like they were old, they still clearly stood out from the rest of his skin. They ran across his whole face, so they were certainly impossible to miss. His scars weren't the main reason everyone inside the palace would immediately be able to identify him though.
This was Owen Maillont.
He was the emperor's personal guard and also the leader of the royal guards. Without a doubt, Owen was the most skilled warrior in the capital, if not in the whole country. He only proved that he was more than suitable for the two important positions he occupied over and over again. The knights would sometimes complain about his strict training or his stoic face, which didn't allow them to guess what he was thinking. But in reality, they were proud to be part of the same group as him and admired Owen as their leader.
Blanche gave him a little smile. “Good evening, Sir Maillont. How are you? It's unusual to see you without Theodore.”
Owen bowed his head again before replying. “Good evening, Lady Blanche. I am in good health. The reason that I am alone is that His Majesty is currently waiting in the dining room. He has requested your presence for dinner.”
She froze at those words and felt her stomach churn. She had anticipated that she would have to meet Theodore sooner or later but she hadn't expected being forced to face him already. Until now, she had only planned out the most basic strategy to survive and the necessary actions for that. She would need another week or more to gather more ideas and lay out a more detailed concept, one that included more than being nice to others and being invisible.
For now, she hadn't thought about how she would treat her lover at all.
Continuing to stay as close to him as usually seemed impossible, now that she had found out what would happen in the future. By clinging to him, she would not only be forced to continuously remember that he would leave her, but also risk becoming an obstacle to the romance between the main characters.
But being distant with Theodore didn't seem like a useful choice as well. Running away from him would be a great contrast to her previous tendency to cling to her lover and smother him with affection. He would notice and question her sudden change. How was she supposed to explain that? It would be hard to justify avoiding the emperor, especially as his concubine. And more importantly, pushing him away and thus hurting him wasn't something she could do.
In the end, every option was unfavorable for Blanche. She adored being with Theodore, but she didn't want to face him yet. She couldn't meet him now.
During the last fifteen months she had imagined a future at his side and only today that hope had been crushed. This morning she had been forced to acknowledge that no matter what she did, she wouldn't be the woman he ended up with. He was destined to choose Seraphina. And while she knew that, he didn't. Theodore would act like always without realizing that Blanche's heart would hurt just by looking at him. She still needed time to process all of this. She had to complete her strategy before meeting him.
Avoiding him for one more day wouldn't possibly create issues, right? Blanche prepared to explain that she was feeling unwell and would go to bed early. But she stopped quickly as soon as she remembered how careful Theodore was when he suspected that someone was sick. He always called the royal doctor to check on her, no matter how small the suspected issue was. Once he had told Blanche that this was a precaution because he feared that the people around him could have been poisoned. If she didn't want to unnecessarily worry him, she couldn't use this excuse.
The concubine stared at Owen while trying to come up with a believable reason for her unwillingness to visit Theodore. But soon her thoughts wandered. Wasn't it strange for Owen to be ordered to get her? Normally he was always with the emperor. It made no sense for him to be here alone. She voiced that question before she could stop herself. “Sir Maillont, may I ask something?” When the man nodded, she continued. “While I feel honored to be escorted by you, you normally have quite different tasks as Theodore's guard. Why hasn't he ordered a maid to search for me?”
The answer followed immediately. “He has. In fact, he sent multiple servants to escort you after the first one was unable to find you. None of them found you inside the palace, so His Majesty got worried and asked me to escort you. I also needed some time before we met, but that was my fault since I didn't go into the garden earlier.”
While Blanche was known to barely leave her chambers unless it was to visit the emperor or complain to the servants, it was still unusual that none of the maids had thought about looking for her in the garden. Still, she felt bad for causing trouble for them, Owen and Theodore. Revealing that she wouldn't eat with the emperor now would render all the servant's efforts useless, and she couldn't bring herself to do that. “I'm truly sorry for worrying you and creating more work for the maids. I was simply in the garden and enjoyed the nice weather.”
“You don't need to apologize, Lady Blanche. It was our fault for not checking the garden sooner. But it would be good to inform His Majesty that you are safe now. We shouldn't keep him waiting any longer. Please follow me.” Owen strode towards the stairs leading to the balcony and turned around to confirm whether she was able to keep up with him.
Blanche swallowed and accepted that she would have to face Theodore now. But that didn't mean that her body was fine with it. Her stomach flipped and her heart pounded loudly at the prospect of meeting him. She desperately told herself that she would have to visit him eventually anyway. Trying to postpone this wouldn't change her situation much. She would just act like she always had and talk to him for a bit. Being kind and showing a smile on her face shouldn't be too hard.
Unless her heart felt like it was being pierced with countless daggers.
After motivating herself with a few more or less calming thoughts, Blanche followed Owen. Despite her brain telling her that everything was going to be alright and that she wasn't in actual danger, her legs shivered. Her knees threatened to give in with every step, and she almost tripped. She had to focus on putting each foot before the other one to even keep herself moving forward.
Owen led her to the main stairs in the entrance hall instead of the large dining room downstairs which meant that he would bring her to the small dining room on the second floor. She normally also ate there with Theodore, so it wasn't surprising, but she still groaned at the thought of trying to climb the staircase with her trembling legs. But complaining didn't get her far. She had to go upstairs now. So she forced herself to take each step while grasping the railing and slowly moved forward.
Stella noticed her mistress' struggle and offered her a hand, which Blanche gladly took.
The concubine reached the second floor with her maid's help and followed Owen through another corridor. The knight stopped to wait for her and observed her unsteady pace, but his face didn't show what he was thinking. When she caught up with him, he continued until they reached a large double door.
Two guards were positioned next to it, one on either side. As they saw the people approaching, they prepared to open the door for them.
Blanche tried to calm herself down clenching her fists as tightly as possible. She shouldn't be nervous when she was just visiting the man she loved, right? She was unsuccessful in convincing herself of that. Her mind was still in a whirl and could barely think clearly. Still, she went through a dozen scenarios and tried to lay out answers for everything the emperor could ask her.
But as soon as the doors opened and she made eye contact with Theodore, she forgot all of them.